Bass Coast’s best businesses to be revealed soon.
Finalists for the 2026 Bass Coast Business Awards will be announced later this month.
With the finalists for the 2026 Bass Coast Business Awards set to be announced later this month, one past winner is reflecting on what the awards mean for local businesses, and it’s a lot more than just a trophy.
Phillip Island Tenpin Bowling & Entertainment Centre is no stranger to winning trophies though, most recently winning the Environmental Sustainability category in 2025.
Managing Director Jeremy Westaway believes the awards are important, providing an outcome for all the hard work and commitment behind the scenes.
“We’re pretty heavily reliant on resources like electricity, being an entertainment centre,” he said.
Understanding this, the business has installed 120 solar panels, focused heavily on recycling and waste sorting, and changed its game points system from tickets to a card-based system.
Mr Westaway said the gaming change alone made a major difference, with the centre previously going through about 1.5 million tickets in a year.
“It worked out to hundreds of kilos of wastage products, so little things like that just made a big difference for us,” he said.
This year, Phillip Island Tenpin Bowling & Entertainment Centre has again entered the Environmental Sustainability category, as well as the Business Innovation, Marketing and Communications, and Access, Equality and Inclusion categories.
The centre is no stranger to award success, even prior to winning last year’s environmental sustainability award.
Mr Westaway said the Phillip Island business has won the Good Access is Good Business category multiple times at the Gippsland Business Awards and was inducted into the Bass Coast Business Awards Hall of Fame in 2017 after winning the award on three separate occasions.
Last year, it even finished third in the Victorian Business Awards, beating out massive competition like the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Mr Westaway said the awards give his team a chance to reflect on their efforts.
“It’s been pretty amazing,” he said.
“It’s nice to be recognised for what we’ve done really well for a very long time, since day one.”
He said the awards present a great opportunity to bring the team together.
“All our staff love being a part of it, and I guess they take a lot of pride in what we’ve all been able to achieve together,” he said.
The 2026 Bass Coast Business Awards will mark its 19th year, and finalists for the awards will be announced on June 29.
Mr Westaway said the process could be time-consuming, but it was well worthwhile for businesses taking part.
“Get involved, it’s good fun, it’s great networking, it’s great to meet other like-minded businesses,” he said.
“It’s tricky these days with time restraints and everything else, but I think it’s well and truly worthwhile.”
