STAND by for the launch of the Evening Press Business Winners Forum.

Creme de la creme winners of Evening Press business awards, going back ten years since the prestigious competition began, will meet at the Royal York's conference centre on Monday May 14. The aim: to set up an organisation to encourage by example the highest of business standards throughout the region.

The Forum, which will network not only among themselves but also with other firms in York and North and East Yorkshire, is the brainchild of Rosie Pressland, the dynamic three-category and overall winner of the 2000 awards last November.

Rosie, founder and principal of the Pocklington Montessori School, was the Evening Press Business Personality of the Year. Her revolutionary 170-place school earned Small Business of the Year and Progress Through People awards.

She has since been feted by regional and central government as well as European officials for her creation of a virtual university she is creating called I-C Eye to encourage top childcare training.

Already she has received enthusiastic support for the prospect of a forum of excellence from previous overall and category winners.

She said: "This will be no hobnobbing club revelling in its mutual success. It has a real job of work to do. Of course our mutual contact will benefit each other but a further drive in our remit will be to offer mentoring opportunities to new and existing businesses.

"By benchmarking the best standards and through mentoring we will enable new and existing businesses to benefit from good practice and encourage them to go for it and enter the Evening Press Business of the Year awards.

"And I foresee us passing on our experience to secondary schools to give students a clear insight into how business really operates and how exciting it can be. We need to excite our entrepreneurs of the future with the possibilities."

Rosie, who already has the ear of government - she was recently invited to tea with Prime Minister Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street - believes that the new forum could blaze a trail for standard-setting. "Such organisations would make wonderful regional 'think tanks' and perhaps set an example that government could universally encourage.

"After all, here is a group of people who have trod the hard path and made things happen - and this energy is such a valuable resource that the government would do well to use it effectively."

She wants previous overall winners and category winners to phone her at 01759 305436 or e-mail her at rosie.pressland@btinternet.com