Awards honour region's 'bright young things'

The judging panel for the awards, which are now in their fifth year, will include Sir Ken Morrison, the man who transformed Bradford-based Morrisons into one of Britain's top supermarket chains. Sir Ken won the individual award for excellence in 2008.

The awards have grown to become one of the most eagerly awaited events in the corporate calendar, and reflect the incredible range of business talent in our county. Past winners have included household names and small firms with just a handful of staff. Due to demand, the deadline for entries for this year's awards has been extended to June 29.

The Yorkshire Post is particularly keen to attract entries from the county's leading exporters.

If Yorkshire is to prosper, it must attract and retain talented young entrepreneurs. That's why telecommunications company 02 is sponsoring the Young Entrepreneur of the Year category in the Excellence in Business Awards.

Yorkshire has a host of owner-managers and directors aged 35 and under. Many have had a baptism of fire. They are probably too young to have worked through the recession of the early 1990s, which means the slump caused by the financial crisis will have been their first experience of hard economic times.

02 has a passionate commitment to Yorkshire. It employs 2,500 people at its base in Leeds. It has a keen interest in ensuring that young business people stay in the county.

Andy Smith, 02's head of corporate customer service, said: "We are a UK company, and our largest presence by far is in Leeds.

"There have been some tough times over the past year or so and it's important that young people should be recognised for some of the fantastic work they are doing.

"02 is a relatively young company and we are committed to bringing out innovative ideas. We want to encourage tomorrow's success. The winner of this award will set the pace and become role models. We have our own role models at 02 who mentor and support other people in the business.

"There's such a large number of students in Leeds and we have got some great academic institutions. We want to encourage the bright young things to stay in Leeds."

The winners and shortlisted companies in this year's Excellence in Business Awards will be able to hear from the man who has been given the job of reviving Britain's economic fortunes.

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne will deliver an update on plans to tackle Britain's deficit at the awards dinner, which is being held in Leeds in October.

Past speakers have included the Prime Minister David Cameron, who attended the 2008 awards when he was leader of the opposition.

Impressionist Jon Culshaw will make a welcome return as master of ceremonies. Mr Culshaw, who recently starred in BBC One's The Impression Show with Culshaw and Stephenson, was MC at last year's event, where the keynote speaker was Ed Balls, who is now a candidate for the Labour Party leadership.

The main categories are Young Business of the Year, sponsored by Yorkshire Forward; Companies with a turnover under 10m, sponsored by Yorkshire Bank; Companies with a turnover between 10m and 50m, sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers; and Companies with a turnover of more than 50m, sponsored by DLA Piper.

Apart from the Young Entrepreneur, the other categories are Best Company to Work For, sponsored by the Bradford University School of Management; SME Manufacturer of the Year category, sponsored by the Government-funded Manufacturing Advisory Service; Innovation of the Year, sponsored by Drax; and Exporter of the Year, sponsored by thebigwordGroup.

Apart from Sir Ken, this year's judging panel includes Paul Fullerton, the Bank of England's agent for Yorkshire and Humber, Yorkshire Post Editor Peter Charlton and Business Editor Bernard Ginns.

To enter, visit www. yorkshirepost.co.uk/excellence

A study in excellence

The region's leading business personalities have until June 29 to submit their entries for the Yorkshire Post Excellence in Business Awards.

Judges will be looking for signs of outstanding enterprise and innovation. Companies and entrepreneurs are welcome to submit entries in a number of relevant categories.

Peter Charlton, the Editor of the Yorkshire Post, said: "We know there are many excellent businesses in York-shire and we invite them to showcase their outstanding work by entering the awards.

"The economic environment remains very challenging, which is why it is important to champion the major achievements and advancements being made in Yorkshire."