THERE are just three weeks left to enter for the first quarterly final in the 1999 Lancashire Evening Telegraph East Lancashire Business Awards.

Entry forms will be sent out this week for the awards, a flagship for business achievement, entrepreneurial excellence and innovation throughout East Lancashire.

The awards build on the success of previous years but this year we have introduced a quarterly award scheme in addition to the annual presentation .

The competition aims to recognise and reward flair, enterprise and business achievements, as well as initiatives to improve training and individual development for both employees and employers.

The awards will also spotlight individual people who make a real difference to the success of their business.

With mainstream support coming from ELTEC, Business Link, Ultraframe and Macdonald Hotels, the competition is organised by the Lancashire Evening Telegraph in conjunction with Cartmell Public Relations.

There are four categories and entries can be submitted for any number of these. They are:

Company of the Quarter

Small Business of the Quarter

Personal Achievement Award (focusing on training and staff development for employees or employers)

Judges' Special Award (each quarter this will be themed to spotlight key areas of the commercial world such as use of technology, export achievement and marketing).

A special awards presentation luncheon will be held each quarter at either the Dunkenhalgh Hotel, Clayton-le-Moors, or the Tickled Trout, Samlesbury, both part of the Macdonald Hotels group . For the first quarterly awards, the presentation luncheon will be held on Friday, February 26, at the Dunkenhalgh Hotel, with each of the category winners being invited to attend.

Details of further quarterly awards will be announced in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph and East Lancs 2000.

The judging panel will include Mark Price, chief executive of ELTEC, Phil Burgess, chief executive of Business Link East Lancashire and Brenda Rudge, managing director of the Lancashire Evening Telegraph. The non-voting chairman is Peter Butterfield, editor of the Lancashire Evening Telegraph.

All of the entries for each of the quarterly awards will automatically be entered into the annual awards.

The winners of the annual awards will be announced at a special gala dinner at the Dunkenhalgh Hotel early in the year 2000.

The closing date for entries is Friday, February 12.

If you have already applied for an application form, it should arrive early this week . New applicants should contact the awards form hotline on 01253 628928/01253 627940 (fax) or 01254 678678 ext 258.

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