ENTRIES are now being sought for annual awards run by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

Next year’s Small Businesses Celebrating Small Business Awards will celebrate the best of the UK’s 5.5 million small businesses and their vast contribution to both regional and national economies.

With 12 different award categories to enter, a series of 12 area award ceremonies will be held across the UK. Each area category winner will go forward to the national UK awards final, where the category winners and the overall FSB Small Business of the Year 2018 will be announced. The awards are free to enter.

Dave Stallon, the FSB’s commercial and operations director, said: “For a chance to be recognised as the best small business at an area level, as well as in the whole of the UK, I’d encourage all small businesses and the self-employed to enter the FSB Celebrating Small Business Awards.

“Small and medium-sized enterprises are a vital part of the UK; 99.9 per cent of all private sector businesses are small and medium-sized enterprises, providing 60 per cent of private sector jobs and having a combined annual turnover of £1.8 trillion.

“The past year has been one of the most challenging the small business sector has ever faced and the FSB Celebrating Small Business Awards will recognise and celebrate that.”

The 12 award categories are Business Exporter of the Year, Ethical – Green Business of the Year, Business and Product Innovation Award, Digital Business of the Year, Microbusiness of the Year, Start-up of the Year, Scale-up of the Year, Family Business of the Year, Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Employer of the Year, The Triumph Over Adversity Award, and Community Award (area level only).

The 12 UK award areas are Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, East Midlands, West Midlands, North East England, Yorkshire and The Humber, South West England, South East England, East of England, North West England, and London.