WHAT a last-minute deluge! Now that the deadline has passed, judges in our tenth annual Evening Press Business Awards have a lot of reading to do.

They have the unenviable task of finding the best among of scores of entries in a bumper year when regional standards have never been higher; when pride in achievement has rarely been greater.

The new millennium has seen our prestigious awards taking a step up by broadening its portfolio with more categories - a bigger net to find the best in boomtime.

Hardly surprising then, that firms ranging from massive to medium-sized to minuscule have thrown their hats into the ring - and that the variety has been huge.

All the effort to pinpoint our region's business excellence has received big name backing.

Sponsors are Barclays Bank (Small Business of the Year), North Yorkshire Training and Enterprise Council (Progress Through People Award), Compris (Best Innovative Use of New Technology), Yorkshire Water (Best Environmental Company), York and North Yorkshire Export Forum (Exporter of the Year), Torch Telecom (Growth Business of the Year), Garbutt & Elliott (Business Personality of the Year) and DE Ford insurance brokers (New Business of the Year).

Entrants range from an insurance giant, a top brewery, a national haulier and e-commerce wizards to hotels galore, film makers, estate agents and fast food outlets; from machinery exporters, engineers, signmakers and training establishments to waste recyclers, milliners , conference electronics experts and craftspeople. There are financial services firms, software manufacturers, and retailers.

And there are a lot more examples of the fascinating submissions we have received. Many of them have already featured in Business Press and in the Evening Press. On these two pages we outline a few more.

And expect further success stories to be told publicly both in the Evening Press and on our award-winning website www.thisisyork.co.uk before final judgement day.

That comes on November 30 at a glittering awards ceremony - fittingly at The Merchant Adventurer's Hall, York, when winners in each category will be announced - followed by the overall winner.

But first expect to learn who will be the 24 finalists - three in each category - whose ventures will each be the subject of a video for screening at the awards.

Watch this space...