The big win, announced at a dinner attended by more than 600 people in Central Auckland, follows on from the Club's "maiden win" with the Excellence in Marketing award at November's Westpac Auckland Central Business Awards.

Missing out on the evening due to a recently-broken ankle, ARC CEO Paul Wilcox says he was "gutted I couldn't be there with the team to celebrate the win in person, but had the doctor allowed, I would have been jumping on the couch when I was sent the great news.

"As I said following November's win, for our club to get such recognition from business leaders and to have had the opportunity to have sat amongst such wonderful finalists is a win in itself.

"This award though was certainly the icing on top and great testament to the work that gets put in here at Ellerslie.

“I'm thrilled too to see my marketing team, headed up by Olivia Kinley and with Laura Madden and Brooke Cartwright in support, get such great recognition for their efforts.

"I take this opportunity too to thank Westpac for their sponsorship of the awards, Cordis for the category sponsorship and Auckland Business Chamber for all the hard work they do in both facilitating these awards and putting on such a great show.

"Thanks too to the judges and also to our fellow finalists who are wonderful examples of just how great kiwi businesses are - we thoroughly enjoyed the ride!"

Westpac NZ acting general manager of institutional and business banking Andrew Bashford congratulated all winners and finalists from the evening saying Auckland businesses have proved remarkably adaptable in the face of tough conditions.

“Whether it’s hitting the phones, spotting new gaps in the market, building an online presence to connect with customers or changing their operating model virtually overnight, tonight’s winners have not only survived the past 12 months but developed new and better ways of doing business,” Mr Bashford says.

“The landscape for the year ahead remains uncertain, but Westpac will continue to get behind businesses who are helping rebuild the economy in a strong and sustainable way.”

All winners from last night had previously won their category at the Westpac Business Awards events held for each respective north, south, east & west region in late 2020. The purpose of last night's event was to work out who then was the 'Best of the Best'.