Liverpool ECHO Regional Business Awards 2017 to be hosted by TV presenter Ranvir Singh on June 22

Leading TV presenter Ranvir Singh has been announced as the host of the ECHO Regional Business Awards next month at St George’s Hall.

It is the third consecutive year that Ranvir has hosted the Liverpool City Region’s flagship business honours event - now in its 23rd year.

The event is being staged at St George’s Hall on the night of Thursday, June 22 as more than 500 of the region’s key movers and shakers come together to celebrate outstanding achievement among companies big and small and across a variety of sectors.

RBA 2017, sponsored by leading names DLA Piper and KPMG, is staged by the ECHO in association with Business Post - the acclaimed free new monthly magazine for the business community throughout the Liverpool City Region.

Judges have praised the outstanding calibre of entries for the 2017 honours, which they say ‘proves the economic renaissance of the Liverpool city region continues apace.”

In all 10 prestigious honours will be presented on the night, including the KPMG Business of the Year (for a business with over 250 employees) with the event culminating in the announcement of the DLA Piper Business Person of the Year - won last year by Peel Ports CEO Mark Whitworth.

Said Carl Wood, Regional Managing Director for Trinity Mirror Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales and who will welcome guests to open the black tie night: “Year after year it is fantastic to see the flair, enthusiasm and talent for business which we have in our region.

Liverpool Echo Regional Business Awards 2016 at St Georges Hall. Carl Wood Regional Managing Director Trinity Mirror North West And North Wales Ltd

“We are delighted to be able to recognise the achievements and successes of companies in the region’s most prestigious and established business awards.”

And he pledged: “The Liverpool Echo and Business Post will always champion business for the Liverpool City Region.”

Host Ranvir Singh started her career at the BBC in local radio as a bulletin producer and reader, then moved to reporting.

By the time the Manchester Commonwealth Games came around in 2002, she was in the thick of it, presenting live programmes every morning.

A screen test for regional TV beckoned soon after, and Ranvir quickly became a very well known face across North West England, co-presenting the daily evening show, which she did for four and a half years.

Liverpool Echo Regional Business Awards 2016 at St Georges Hall. DLA Piper Business Person of the Year Mark Whitworth Peel Ports with Ben Miller, Liverpool Office Managing Partner DLA Piper UK LLP, and Ranvir Singh

Alongside this, she was a regular voice on BBC Radio 5 Live, presenting almost every show going, from Breakfast with Nicky Campbell to Drive with Peter Allen, and the late night phone ins.

In 2012, ITV came knocking, and the prospect of working on national and international news everyday, and interviewing the main players on live television, was ‘far too tempting to resist’.

She says her most memorable moments so far have been reporting ahead of the G20 summit from Sierra Leone’s slums, appearing on the University Challenge Christmas special - and meeting Kermit the Frog!