CALLING all Gwent business people - the South Wales Argus Business Awards are back and entries will soon be open.

The awards, which are being held in association with the University of South Wales, will once again be held at the university's Newport campus in the city centre.

They will take place on the evening of November 16 at glittering ceremony, which will include a panel discussion and plenty of networking opportunities.

Monmouthshire Building Society, Premier Forest Products and Newport Transport were among the winners at last year's awards.

And the Lifetime Achievement Award, meanwhile, was awarded to Cintec International’s Peter James.

South Wales Argus editor Gavin Thompson said: "We are delighted to be staging the South Wales Argus Business Awards again this year and are delighted to once again be holding them at the University of South Wales' Newport campus.

"We want this to be a celebration which is open to all businesses. Things continue to be tough for businesses from all sectors and it will be great to be able to get together and celebrate some of the fantastic businesses of all size we have here in Gwent."

Businesses and individuals will be able to enter the awards by using our easy-to-use online entry forms, which will be going live shortly.

This year a total of 16 awards.

These are: Business of the Year, sponsored by the University of South Wales; Marketing Campaign of the Year, sponsored by Local IQ; Business Person of the Year; Young Entrepreneur of the Year, sponsored by Newport Transport; Lifetime Achievement Award; Best Place to Work Award, sponsored by Cintec; Family Business of the Year; Large Business of the Year; Micro Business of the Year; SME Business of the Year; Start Up Business of the Year; High Street Business of the Year; Diversity and Inclusivity Award, sponsored by Monmouthshire Building Society; Customer Service Award; B2B Business of the Year; and Sole Trader of the Year.

There are still opportunities for sponsorship of the awards, which are now in their sixth year. For more information contact head of events Cathy Parson on 07977 967777 or email her at catherine.parsons@localiq.co.uk.