Businesses excelling in diversity were honoured at the annual CURE Excellence Awards and Luncheon yesterday afternoon.

The awards ceremony took place at the Fairmont Southampton Hotel with representatives from leading Bermudian businesses dining on an elegant lunch while the ceremony took place.

The five categories for awards included Representation by Race, Equality of Opportunity Initiatives, Adoption of the Code of Practice, Employees Choice and Overall.

The Representation by Race, awarded to M3 Wireless, was presented to those organisations that have racial representation that is equal to near equal.

Equality of Opportunity Initiative, won by KPMG, is an award given to an organisation that has undertaken outstanding initiatives in promoting equal opportunity in the workplace, i.e. scholarship funds, group-specific mentoring programmes, personal development programmes and empowerment initiatives.

The award for Adoption of the Code of Practice, given to an organisation which has embraced CURE's code of practice through all areas of work, was given to Bermuda Yellow Pages.

Employees Choice, awarded to Amlin Bermuda Ltd., is presented to an organisation which is nominated by its employees for practicing equal opportunity, i.e. hiring and promoting fairly, training, mentoring and investing in Bermudians, and making outstanding efforts to promote the upward mobility of black Bermudians.

The final award, Overall, an award presented to an organisation that demonstrates all of the aforeminded criteria and is judged overall to excel in practicing equality of opportunity, was given to Bermuda Yellow Pages.

Minister of Community and Cultural Affairs Wayne Perinchief said he was "delighted to see such a broad spectrum of the business community in attendance".

He said: "Excellence in equality of opportunity is a subjective concept in many ways.

"I feel in order to effect change, we must recognise change leaders and place them in a position that will give others a chance to emulate their efforts and to improve upon them.

"As employers, it is important that you, all of us in fact, become trendsetters in promoting equal opportunity amongst our peers.

"Bermuda is a country diverse in its employee base and should be recognised and celebrated as such."