There is just two weeks left to get your nominations in for this year's Dorchester Business Awards.

The business awards, open to companies in the Dorchester and Poundbury area, are being organised by Marketing West Events, which promotes and supports local businesses with similar awards across the county, including in Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch, Wimborne, Weymouth, Bridport, Shaftesbury, Sherborne, Lyme Regis and Charmouth, and Swanage and Wareham.

Director Nigel Reeve offered local business people an updated on the Dorchester awards at a recent networking breakfast held at The King's Arms.

He said that the focus of these grassroots awards are to celebrate and promote the quality and range of local businesses in the Dorchester area, offering a chance for local businesses to get together, while the awards presentation will also be live-streamed to reach the maximum number of people. 

He also told those at the breakfast about additional perks in entering this year's awards – the overall winner will be offered free sponsorship of one of the categories at next year's awards, and a networking lunch will be held for all winners after the awards ceremony.

"The Dorchester Business Awards are a significant marker of our local post-Covid recovery, a really encouraging and optimistic event that I was honoured to be part of." – Lord Fellowes of West Stafford

Nominations for this year's Dorchester Business Awards will be open until February 10. Entry is free and judging is carried out independently. The awards ceremony will be held at The King's Arms in Dorchester on Thursday, March 30.

Categories for this year's awards are as follows:

• Green/Eco-Business of the Year 
• B2B Business of the Year
• Young Entrepreneur 
• Independent Business of the Year
• Family Business of the Year
• New Business of the Year
• Best Use of Digital Innovation 
• Retail Business of the Year
• Best Place to Work 
• Cafe, Pub, Casual Dining 
• Excellence in Customer Service 
• Health and Fitness 
• Overall Business of the Year

"The Business Awards are the best thing to happen in Dorset for many years. It is so rewarding to see how businesses across the County recognise their value and have responded by entering the various categories. Onwards and upwards!" – Barry White, retired Chartered Legal Executive, Poundbury

There are also still some opportunities for local businesses to sponsor award categories.

For more details on sponsorship or to nominate a business, visit https://www.dandpbusinessawards.co.uk/