HUNDREDS of people are expected to gather for a fourth annual business awards ceremony later this month.

PWS were crowned Company of the Year during the 2016-17 Make Your Mark awards final, which is open to companies on Aycliffe Business Park, in County Durham.

Seven businesses are hoping to follow in the footsteps of PWS by winning this year’s coveted company of the year award, including Arlington Automotive, Eldon Financial Planning, M5tec, Newton Press, Roman, Stiller Warehousing & Distribution and Virtual College.

And the event organisers, Aycliffe Business Park Community (ABPC), say they’re expecting another bumper turn-out for what has become the business park’s biggest annual event.

A total of 52 nominations have been received for the fourth annual awards event being held on Aycliffe Business Park in three weeks.

The submissions involve 32 separate companies all vying for 11 different awards which will be dished out during the grand final at the Xcel Centre on Thursday, May 24.

ABPC chair Kerina Clark said: “Make Your Mark has very much become a firm highlight on the business park’s calendar, and the excitement is already building for this year’s event.

“We’re delighted to have received so many nominations again, which will provide our judges with the unenviable task of picking out a shortlist and then the 11 winners.

“But the night itself will be a fantastic collective celebration of all our achievements across the whole of Aycliffe Business Park, so we’re very much looking forward to it.”

Headline sponsors this year include Business Durham, Gestamp Tallent and Ebac, while other category sponsors include Razorblue, Handelsbanken, County Durham Engineering & Manufacturing Network (CDEMN), Endeavour Partnership, Teesside University, Fleet Recruitment, Logico and Maven Capital Partners.

An independent panel of judges are due to meet on Friday to whittle the nominations down to shortlists, before winners for all 11 categories will be chosen.

This year’s nominations in full are:

Company of the Year (sponsored by Business Durham): Arlington Automotive, Eldon Financial Planning, M5tec, Newton Press, Roman, Stiller Warehousing & Distribution, Virtual College.

Export (sponsored by Ebac): Crafter’s Companion, Mill Masters International, Roman.

Apprenticeships and Training (sponsored by Gestamp Tallent): M5tec, South West Durham Training.

Apprentice of the Year (sponsored by Razorblue): Arlington Automotive – Dominic Mincher, Arlington Automotive – Kaylee McNally, Arlington Automotive – Martin Clutterbuck, A-Tech Fabrications – Andrew Archer, Beaumont Grounds Maintenance – Luke Shaw, Gregg Little – Ben Clemmet, M5tec – Thomas Lavender, More Time – Sophie Bartlett, Sporting Force – Adam Holland, Thrive Marketing – Rachael Farley, Tree Tops Children’s Occupational Therapy – Simon O’Hanlon.

Employer of the Year (sponsored by Handelsbanken): Arlington Automotive, Eldon Financial Planning, Thrive Marketing.

Engineering and Manufacturing (sponsored by CDEMN): Aycliffe Fabrications, Formula Plastics, Palram DPL, Roman, Senstronics.

Heart of the Community (sponsored by Endeavour Partnership): Beaumont Grounds Maintenance, Planet Leisure, Ruff ‘N’ Tumble, Sporting Force, The Work Place.

Innovation (sponsored by Teesside University): DISC, Excelpoint.

Newcomer (sponsored by Fleet Recruitment): Bee Happy 2gether, Pixel Media, Sporting Force.

Service (sponsored by Logico): Avec Partnership, Beaumont Grounds Maintenance, Eldon Financial Planning, Stiller Warehousing & Distribution, Thrive Marketing.

Small Business (sponsored by Maven Capital Partners): Beaumont Grounds Maintenance, Eldon Financial Planning, Fleet Recruitment, M5tec, Thrive Marketing, Tree Tops Children’s Occupational Therapy.

Tickets for the Make Your Mark event are priced £21 (including VAT), from aycliffeawards.co.uk