Bhagwan Marine top Rising Star

Bhagwan Marine has been named the 2013 Business News Rising Stars award winner, capping off more than a decade of strong growth for the Geraldton-based company.

Celebrating its 10th year the Rising Stars awards recognise the achievements of fast-growing, privately held businesses headquartered in Western Australia.

The 10 finalists in the 2013 awards are featured in this lift-out, including four companies that were short-listed for the top award.

Bhagwan, which also won the People's Choice award, sponsored by Synergy GRID, primarily services the offshore oil and gas industry, and with backing from private equity investor Catalyst plans continued expansion around Australia.

Other businesses to make the short-list were engineering consultancy BG&E, food manufacturer Vesco Foods, and engineering construction contractor Primero Group.

The six other winners in the 2013 awards were digital agency Alyka, transportable housing firm Site Projects Group, coffee roaster Yahava Koffee, fire and safety systems group Global Electrotech, construction company Monford Group and engineering consulting business Present Group.

A majority of this year's finalists built their business upon the rapid expansion of the resources sector, though the list also includes companies in sectors as diverse as digital advertising and coffee roasting.

The diversity is even more clearly illustrated by the list of former Rising Stars winners.

The first-ever winner, in 2003, was advertising agency Gatecrasher.

Other winners have included IT firms Empired and Datacom (WA), insurance broker Specialised Broking Associates, engineering firms Velocious and Calibre Global, and contractor Hagstrom Drilling.