The annual Excellence in Business awards are up and running

The seventh annual awards highlight the world-class companies and individuals who are playing a vital role in delivering prosperity and growth to Yorkshire through ingenuity, inspiration and, of course, plenty of hard work.

The Yorkshire Post is inviting entries from all businesses with a great story to tell, so long as they are based in Yorkshire or have significant operations in the region.

The winners will be announced at a prestigious ceremony in Leeds in November with a heavyweight political speaker.

Last year, our special guest speaker was Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who paid tribute to the “resilience, optimism, innovation, inventiveness and even in these very difficult times, absolute bloody-minded Yorkshire gritty determination to see opportunity where others see pessimism and to see growth where other people see a contraction”.

Past speakers include the Chancellor George Osborne, the former Schools Secretary Ed Balls and David Cameron, while Leader of the Opposition. The deadline for entries is July 2.

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

The title of Outstanding Employer of the Year, sponsored by the Bradford University School of Management, is always highly sought after.

The Young Entrepreneur of the Year category, for all promising owner-managers and directors aged 35 and under, is sponsored by O2, the telecommunications giant.

The SME Manufacturer of the Year category, for manufacturing companies with a turnover of under £10m, is sponsored by KeyedIn, the cloud-based software solutions firm.

Drax plc is sponsoring the Innovation of the Year category, open to companies that demonstrate innovation in their approach to future growth and development. Language services provider thebigwordGroup is sponsoring the Exporter of the Year category, which is open to all businesses, big or small, that have made significant progress in overseas markets.

This year, we welcome QBE Insurance, which is sponsoring the Business Community Award for the best examples of businesses working in the community to improve education and skills development. More details: www.yorkshirepost.co.uk