Marking a decade of The Yorkshire Post's Excellence in Business Awards

We believe that Yorkshire is the best place in Britain to do business. Over the years, the biggest names in politics and the corporate world have attended our awards dinner to praise our region’s innate economic strengths.

The awards, which were established in 2006, are open to firms of all shapes and sizes. We welcome entries from large multi-nationals, and companies that were established on a kitchen table or inside a laboratory.

The awards honour household names, and help to spot the rising stars of the corporate world. Over the last decade the awards have attracted a host of high profile speakers, including David Cameron, who attended when he was leader of the opposition, and the Chancellor George Osborne.

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Other senior figures who have spoken at the awards include the former Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, and Nick Clegg, the former Deputy Prime Minister.

A large number of captains of industry have played prominent roles at the glittering awards dinner, including Lord Rose, the former chief executive of Marks & Spencer.

Launching the awards, Greg Wright, The Yorkshire Post’s Deputy Business Editor, said: “We are thrilled to launch this year’s Excellence in Business Awards, which promise to be the biggest and best ever.

“Over the last decade we’ve celebrated Yorkshire entrepreneurs who are bringing jobs and investment to our region.

“We are extremely grateful to our main sponsors, who have supported the awards since they started – DLA Piper, PwC and Yorkshire Bank.

“We’re also delighted to reveal that we’ve secured two new associate sponsors for this year’s awards; Plusnet and the Sewell Group.

“We’ve revamped the awards this year to reflect the way the world of business is changing. Many companies, and the entrepreneurs behind them, will want to enter a large number of categories.

“The winners will be revealed at a glittering awards dinner which will be held on November 4 in Leeds. We will reveal more about our guest speaker and presenter over the next few weeks.”

The awards aim to highlight the real strength in depth of our region’s business community.

Altogether, there are 14 categories. Apart from awards linked to the size of a company’s turnover, there are also categories that celebrate great exporters and the teams behind the region’s most inspiring commercial spaces.

Among the innovations this year is a new category to celebrate the champions of diversity in Yorkshire.

We welcome entries from companies that are fighting discrimination and ensuring that the contributions of every worker is valued.

The awards honour outstanding employers who understand that it always pays to value your staff.

Apprenticeships are also making a long overdue comeback. We’ve created a new category for firms that have a far-sighted approach to promoting apprenticeships.

There’s a new turnaround category, which salutes the professionals who are skilled at bringing firms back from the brink, and allowing them to finally achieve their potential.

The Young Business category will celebrate smaller firms with big ambitions.

There is a special lifetime achievement awards, which is sponsored by The Yorkshire Post. This award will honour an individual who has consistently gone beyond the call of duty to promote our region’s business interests at home and over-seas.

For full details about how to enter the awards, and information about the different categories, visit bit.do/yorkshirepost.

The closing date for entries is Tuesday, May 17.

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