The diverse range of finalists for this year's Deloitte Top 200 Awards - shaping up as one of the biggest yet - reflects the wider recovery of the economy, says judge Neil Paviour-Smith, managing director of Forsyth Barr.

In their 25th year, the awards celebrate the success of New Zealand's business sector, listing the top 200 companies by revenue as well as presenting awards in nine categories including company of the year, executive of the year and a diversity award, sponsored by the Prime Minister's office this year.

Deloitte chief executive Thomas Pippos said the awards had become a key event in the business calendar. "It's incredibly satisfying to be associated with an event whose relevance not only continues but in fact grows."

Paviour-Smith said the diverse range of finalists this year was a reflection of the country's recovering business sector and highlighted the number of companies and industries that were performing well. "If you go back two or three years when times were a little tougher and the economy was struggling, it was a little harder.

"There weren't so many companies performing well, and there was a lot more overlap of companies." Paviour-Smith said the awards had a lot of mana associated with them.

"The awards night itself has become a bit of a must-attend."

Paviour-Smith said the judges had been looking for success across a business or strategy as a whole, something that was not usually achieved in just one year.

According to Pippos the event was one of the biggest yet and a good chance to celebrate success.

"New Zealanders are uncomfortable with celebrating success of all kinds, and some of our greatest success stories are business success stories. [It] adds to our confidence as a nation, but public recognition of these success stories can serve to model best practice for others."

The awards dinner will be hosted at Vector Arena on November 27.

NZME. is event manager and media partner for the awards.