Business Awards
- The National Business Awards – submission deadline: 1st July
- The Dragon Awards – submission deadline: 19th July
- Startups Awards – submission deadline: Late July
- 02 X Awards for Small Business – submission deadline: Early August
- Sussex Business Awards – submission deadline: 27th August
- Shell LiveWIRE Awards – submission deadline: 6th September
- Technology Fast 50 Awards (Deloitte) – submission deadline: Mid September
- Virtual Business of the Year Awards – submission deadline: 15th September
- Growing Business Awards – submission deadline: Mid September
- IAwards – submission deadline: Late September
- The Internet Business Awards – submission deadline: 30th September

Business Leader Awards
- Stevie Awards for Women in Business – submission deadline: 28th July
- NatWest Everywoman Awards – submission deadline: 30th July
- Women of the Future Awards – submission deadline: 3rd September

Training and HR Awards
- Pay Awards (Pay Magazine) – submission deadline: Early July
- International E-Learning Awards – submission deadline: 10th July
- IPP Awards (Institute of Payroll Professionals) – submission deadline: 16th July
- National Graduate Recruitment Awards – submission deadline: 23rd July
- eLearning Awards (Bizmedia) – submission deadline: 30th July
- Recruitment Business Awards – submission deadline: 23rd July
- National Management and Leadership Awards – submission deadline: 31st July
- Remote Worker Awards – submission deadline: 31st July
- CiB Communicators of the Year – submission deadline: 20th August
- HR in Hospitality Awards for Excellence – submission deadline: 31st August
- National Online Recruitment Awards (NORAs) – submission deadline: 10th September
- IT Training Awards (IITT) – submission deadline: 30th September
- ELTons Awards – submission deadline: 30th September

Customer Contact Awards
- NOA Awards (National Outsourcing Association) – submission deadline: 9th July
- National Customer Service Awards – submission deadline: 30th July
- WOW Awards – submission deadline: 27th August

Corporate Social Responsibility Awards
- BURA Awards Best Practice in Regeneration – submission deadline: Early July
- RSPCA Good Business Awards – submission deadline: 9th July
- VIBES Awards) – submission deadline: 9th July
- Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards – submission deadline: 19th July
- Green Awards – submission deadline: Mid September
- Social Enterprise Awards – submission deadline: Late September

IT Awards
- Retail Systems Award 2009 – submission deadline: 30th July
- Open Source Business Awards 2010 – submission deadline: 31st July
- Real IT Awards – submission deadline: Summer
- Hot Companies and Technologies – submission deadline: Late Summer
- Construction Computing Awards – submission deadline: 10th September
- The Internet Business Awards – submission deadline: 30th September

Marketing and Communications Awards
- DADI Awards – submission deadline: 2nd July
- Screen Marketing and Distribution Awards – submission deadline: 16th July
- Roses Design Awards – submission deadline: 16th July
- AMEC Communications Awards – submission deadline: 16th July
- Recruitment Business Awards – submission deadline: 23rd July
- Marketing Design Awards – submission deadline: 30th July
- Corpcomms Awards – submission deadline: 30th July
- The Eventia Awards – submission deadline: 3rd August
- BIMA Awards (British Interactive Media Association) – submission deadline: Early August
- CiB Communicators of the Year – submission deadline: 20th August
- Word of Mouth Marketing Awards – submission deadline: 17th September
- The DMA Awards – submission deadline: 10th September

Public Sector Awards
- Sustainable schools award – submission deadline: Ongoing
- Guardian Public Services Awards – submission deadline: 16th July
- BETT Awards – submission deadline: 21st July
- CSP Awards – submission deadline: 30th July
- The Civil Service Awards – submission deadline: 6th August
- The Compact Awards – submission deadline: Mid August
- Education Business Awards – submission deadline: 17th September
- Queen’s Anniversary Prize Scheme – submission deadline: Late September

Industry Specific Awards
- Telecoms – Radio Advertising Awards – submission deadline: 2nd July
- Printing – Printweek Awards – submission deadline: 2nd July
- Transport & Logistics – UK Bus Awards – submission deadline: 2nd July
- Financial Services - The Financial Innovation Awards – submission deadline: 2nd July
- Construction – British Urban Regeneration Awards – submission deadline: Early July
- Supply Chain – The European Supply Chain Excellence Awards – submission deadline: 2nd July
- Construction – World Architecture Festival Awards – submission deadline: 2nd July
- Telecoms & Mobile Technology – World Communication Awards – submission deadline: 2nd July
- Digital and Media – Guardian Student Media Awards – submission deadline: 2nd July
- Publishing – The Henries awards – submission deadline: 5th July
- Retail – Garden Retail Awards – submission deadline: 6th July
- Digital and Media – The Fresh Awards – submission deadline: 7th July
- Financial Services - Insurance Fraud Awards – submission deadline: 9th July
- Healthcare- Military and Civilian Health Partnership Awards – submission deadline: 9th July
- Security – Security Excellence Awards – submission deadline: 9th July
- Health and Social Care – Occupational Health Awards – submission deadline: 9th July
- Property – European Property Awards – submission deadline: 11th July
- Construction – What House? Awards – submission deadline: 16th July
- Financial Services - IPP Payroll and Pensions Excellence Awards – submission deadline: 16th July
- Recycling services – Wales Recycling Awards – submission deadline: 16th July
- Charity & Not for profit – Guardian Charity Awards – submission deadline: 16th July
- Health and Social Care – Mental Health Media Awards – submission deadline: Mid July
- Hospitality – The product Innovation Awards – submission deadline: 23rd July
- Financial Services - Accountancy Age Awards – submission deadline: 23rd July
- Health and Social Care – HSJ Awards (Health Service Journal) – submission deadline: 23rd July
- Manufacturing – Elektra – European Electronics Industry Awards – submission deadline: 23rd July
- Manufacturing – Manufacturer of the Year – submission deadline: 30th July
- Retail – Retail Systems Awards – submission deadline: 30th July
- Financial Services - Cover Excellence Award – submission deadline: 30th July
- Financial Services - Insurance Times Awards – submission deadline: 30th July
- Financial Services - Financial Adviser Service Awards – submission deadline: 30th July
- Manufacturing – Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards – submission deadline: 30th July
- Healthcare – Private Dentistry Awards – submission deadline: 30th July
- Freelance – Remote Worker Awards – submission deadline: 31st July
- Engineering – The British Engineering Excellence Awards – submission deadline: 31st July
- Telecoms & Mobile Technology – The M E Awards – submission deadline: 31st July
- Manufacturing – Future Manufacturing Awards – submission deadline: 31st July
- Legal services – Justice Awards – submission deadline: Late July
- Digital and Media – Institute of Videography Awards – submission deadline: 1st August
- Financial Services - Health Insurance Awards – submission deadline: 6th August
- Financial Services - Banking Technology Awards – submission deadline: 6th August
- Transport & Logistics – Greenfleet Awards – submission deadline: 6th August
- Telecoms & Mobile Technology – Mobile Content Awards – submission deadline: Early August
- Regeneration – Brownfield Briefing Remediation Innovation Awards – submission deadline: 12th August
- Digital and Media – Digital Magazine Awards – submission deadline: 15th August
- Design – Spark Awards – submission deadline: 15th August
- Financial Services - Gold Standard Awards – submission deadline: 20th August
- Agriculture – Farmers Weekly Awards – submission deadline: 28th August
- Travel & Tourism – Fleet Hero Awards – submission deadline: 29th August
- Manufacturing – Strategic Manufacturing – submission deadline: 31st August
- Food and Drink – SIBA Brewing Business Awards – submission deadline: Late August
- Travel & Tourism – International Travel Journal Awards – submission deadline: Late August
- Journalism – The Paul Foot Award – submission deadline: 1st September
- Food and Drink – The British Curry Awards – submission deadline: 1st September
- Construction – The Builders Merchants Awards – submission deadline: 3rd September
- Healthcare – Premier Awards – submission deadline: 3rd September
- Legal services – The Personal Injury Awards – submission deadline: 6th September
- Publishing – International Customer Publishing Awards – submission deadline: Early September
- Legal Services – The British Legal Awards – submission deadline: 8th September
- Construction – Architectural Review Awards – submission deadline: 10th September
- Financial Services - Asset Finance Europe Awards – submission deadline: September
- Financial Services - Consumer Moneyfacts Awards – submission deadline: September
- Utilities – Utilities Industry Achievement Awards – submission deadline: 10th September
- Financial Services - IPE Awards – submission deadline: 11th September
- Healthcare – Dentistry Awards – submission deadline: 13th September
- Construction – The Civic Trust Awards – submission deadline: Mid September
- Travel & Tourism – Business Travel World Awards – submission deadline: 13th September
- Financial Services - Mortgage Finance Gazette Awards – submission deadline: 17th September
- Education – Education Business Awards – submission deadline: 17th September
- Travel & Tourism – Fleet Europe Awards – submission deadline: 21st September
- Health and Social Care – GSK Impact Awards – submission deadline: Late September
- Transport & Logistics – London Transport Awards – submission deadline: Late September
- Property – International Property Awards – submission deadline: 26th September
- Overseas Projects – The British Expertise Awards – submission deadline: Late September
- Education – Queen’s Anniversary Prize Scheme – submission deadline: Late September

The hyperlinks for these and numerous other awards can be found at http://www.boost-marketing.co.uk/awards/

 My Little Wrapper is brought to you by Sue Botterill, founder of MyMag and Raring2Go franchise opportunities. Together with husband Nigel, who spearheads theBestOf website business op, I suspect Sue does know what she’s doing in the way of business, whatever my doubts.

Anyway, this month Sue has over-ordered the chocolate for My Little Wrapper. Not a big problem? Well, it is if you have over ordered by a factor of 10 due to a fax error. So, if you can get the money over to them by the end of Monday 29thth September, you can get a My Little Wrapper business for les than half price:

Mini Business Pack   WAS £1,999 with 1 box of chocolate     NOW £800  (plus VAT & P&P)  
 INCLUDING 4 boxes of chocolate (that’s 400 bars worth over £140!) that’s a saving of over £1,200 

Professional Pack       WAS £2,749 with 4 box of chocolates    NOW  £1,400  (plus VAT & P&P)  
INCLUDING 8 boxes of chocolate (that’s 800 bars  worth almost £300!) a saving of over £1,400 

You can get the full details about My Little Wrapper on the website www.getmylittlewrapper.co.uk.
To take advantage of this ‘one off’ offer  call Steve or Thom on 0121 765 3400 and tell them that you’d like to take advantage of Sue’s Incredible Chocolate Coated Deal. They’ll be able to take a card payment over the phone and get the Pack shipped to you straight-away.  If you prefer, you can buy online here. And if selling chcolate bars doesn’t appeal, read about lots of other flexible home business ideas at Family Friendly Working.

Recent figures released by Companies House and the British Banking Association show further signs of business confidence. Over 27,000 new Limited Companies were incorporated in England and Wales in July 2008.

The research was carried out by business consultants www.getsetforbusiness.com who surveyed Over 200 businesses established for less than six months on their motivations for becoming self employed.

Prizes include a range of useful business services including a practical business planning course and a year’s advertising on the MumsClub site , as well as goodies from lots of mums in business. The special prize will be awarded to an established Mumpreneur who best demonstrates how she intends to expand her business over the next 5 years. The total prize for the whole competition is £2,600! Four runners up will get a copy of A Guide to Promoting Your Business  to help them take their creative business ideas to the next level.

Jane Hopkins, the mumpreneur behind MumsClub says: “The competition is a bit of fun that aims to highlight the achievements of the growing number of mums who run businesses from home, and will hopefully inspire other mums to seriously consider fulfilling dreams of running their own business and encourage them to think up plausible business ideas. MumsClub is all about recognising the extra and demanding constraints that us mums have; we haven’t got time to search the internet looking for answers, so MumsClub is here to guide mums through by providing the essential business information and marketing tools needed to set up and build a thriving business from home.”

A group of established mumpreneurs will judge the competition and will be on the lookout for the most creative and original business ideas. Mums are welcome to enter as many ideas as they wish as long as their business concepts allow mum to be principally home-based to market, launch, and sell their products or services.

The overall winner will receive the services of a website designer who will create and host a website of their choice. The winner will also receive a huge bundle of other prizes kindly donated by mumpreneurs; from a custom made piece of hand or foot print art, a prepaid (and loaded) MasterCard, through to a range of useful business services including a practical business planning course and a year’s advertising on the MumsClub site. Four runners-up will receive a selection of goodies from mumpreneur businesses.

For full competition details and to download an entry form, mums need to go to the Mumsclub Website. Business ideas are to be no longer than 300 words each, and the competition closes on November 3rd at 23.30 pm. The winner and runners up will be announced on 1st December 2008.

The research shows six in ten (60%) business owners are the first born child, revealing their inner confidence and healthy self esteem. More than four in five (85%) have one or more siblings, putting to good use leadership and teamwork qualities learnt at a young age.Unlike the big egos and self-confidence often witnessed on-screen, the research reveals the character traits most successful entrepreneurs believe they have in common are actually being dependable (43%), considerate (22%) and a good listener (22%).

Private education seems to have little influence compared to natural entrepreneurial flair, with nearly three quarters (71%) coming from a state school background. However, further education does help. Nearly a fifth (17%) of business owners left education with GCSEs or O levels, while over a third (34%) were educated to degree level and almost one in five (18%) continued to secure a Masters or PhD.

Meanwhile, a wealthy background appears to deter entrepreneurialism, with more than nine out of ten successful business people describing themselves as either middle-class (50%) or working class (43%).

The research reveals that a third (33%) started their business between the ages of 26 and 35 and London is the most likely place for a small business to start up, with two fifths (40%) of entrepreneurs launching their future empire in the capital.

With nearly three in ten (29%) of small businesses failing before they reach three years (2), it seems business owners are learning to combat risk, with more than half (51%) saying that their approach to business is attention to detail and over a quarter (28%) saying it is being prudent with money.

Nearly all entrepreneurs are united in sharing the same motivations for starting up. Nearly two thirds (62%) wanted independence, over half (56%) wanted more control over their lives and almost six in ten (57%) wanted to be their own boss so they didn’t have to answer to anybody else.

Steve Jennings, Director of Business Banking at Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank, said: ““The research shows that some types of people are more likely to take the leap into business than others but, whatever your personality, there are certain things that everyone can do to ensure the success of their business.

“The secret of any successful businesses is remembering to temper bravery with prudence. Running a business does have associated risks, but it’s vital to make sure that contingency plans are in place should the worst happen. It is encouraging that many business owners say they pay attention to detail and take a sensible approach to their businesses’ finances. Setting funds aside in a high-interest deposit account and making sure that you have the best deal from all your suppliers will provide a financial cushion so that you can afford to grow and develop further.”

For further information on the full range of accounts available from Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank, business owners should call free 0800 587 0800 or visit www.alliance-leicestercommercialbank.co.uk ( ACPR has been using Alliance and Leicester Commercial Bank for the last few years and they seem fine!)

http://www.bytestart.co.uk/content/finance/funding/business-valuation-guide.shtml