Businesses in Caerphilly County Borough have just five days left to get their applications in for the 2012 Caerphilly Business Forum Awards.
The 11th annual Caerphilly Business Forum Awards, held in association with Business Edge, Coleg Gwent, are open to businesses of all sizes from across the borough, regardless of whether or not they are members of the Business Forum.
The deadline for entries is Friday September 21.
This year the Business Forum has introduced three new categories allowing the awards to reflect the variety of businesses in the county.
Tony Sheehan, Chair of the Caerphilly Business Forum, said: “These annual awards are a real showcase for Caerphilly businesses and a great opportunity to demonstrate the outstanding success of companies in the borough.
“Ultimately, businesses have nothing to lose and everything to gain by taking part. A win would be a real boost for any company profile.”
Last year’s Women in Business winner, Esther Apoussidis, said: “When I entered, I never thought that I would win, I was just happy to be a finalist but when I heard my name called out on the evening I was ecstatic. We definitely maximised the win and I have no doubt that it generated a lot of new custom for the business.”
The new categories for 2012 are: the New Business of the Year, sponsored by Business in Focus; Social Enterprise of the Year, sponsored by South East Wales Community Economic Development and the Contribution to the Rural Economy, supported by Caerffili Cwm a Mynydd.
Five well established categories remain; the Young Business of the Year (High Growth), sponsored by the FSB Federation of Small Businesses; the Business of the Year (with 25 employees or Fewer), sponsored by CCBC; Business of the Year (with more than 25 employees), sponsored by Mollertech; the Young Achiever Award, sponsored by PHS and the Women in Business Award, sponsored by Glenside Commercial.
The winners of each of these eight categories will then be put forward for the Premier Award, sponsored by Broomfield and Alexander.
Businesses of all sizes and in all sectors are welcome to enter the awards but they must have a base of operations within the County Borough of Caerphilly. Businesses which are part of a group based outside the County Borough or a branch or sub-office of a business based outside the County Borough are also eligible.
For more information, or to view past winners, visit www.cbforum.co.uk