THE Hunts Post Huntingdonshire Business Awards 2009 will be launched at a special event in Hemingford Abbots next Wednesday afternoon, May 6. Eleven awards are up for grabs this year, including the overall winner, which will be chosen from the victors in

THE Hunts Post Huntingdonshire Business Awards 2009 will be launched at a special event in Hemingford Abbots next Wednesday afternoon, May 6.

Eleven awards are up for grabs this year, including the overall winner, which will be chosen from the victors in the corporate categories.

The awards are open to all companies and other organisations in Huntingdonshire from sole traders to multi-nationals, and entry forms can be found on the Hunts Post website.

The keynote speech at this year's launch will be given by Andy Campbell, managing director of Stagecoach in Cambridgeshire, which operates local bus services in Huntingdonshire and will shortly begin running its brand-new fleet of air-conditioned, leather-seated guided buses on the soon-to-be-completed guideway between St Ives and Cambridge Science Park.

The launch will take place at the Cambridge Golf and Conference Centre, itself a previous overall Hunts Post Huntingdonshire Business of the Year winner. The company is run by Peter Durham, who was Business Person of the Year in 2007.

The independent panel of judges will again be chaired by John Bridge, chief executive of Huntingdonshire and Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce, and the winners will be announced at a black-tie dinner in November.

The awards programme is sponsored by Archant Herts & Cambs, parent company of The Hunts Post and by Huntingdonshire District Council.

Sponsors of the individual categories are:

Haines Watts, chartered accountants of Huntingdon (New Business Award)

Anglian Water (Employee of the Year Award)

D H Barford & Co, St Neots-based property specialists (Retailer of the Year Award)

Environment Agency (Environment/Community Award)

Federation of Small Businesses Huntingdonshire Branch (Small Business of the Year Award)

Greater Cambridge Partnership (Innovation Award)

Huntingdonshire District Council (supporting all awards and sponsoring the Business Website of the Year Award)

Huntingdonshire Regional College (Training and Development Award)

Luminus Group, Huntingdon-based social landlords (Employer of the Year Award)

Leeds Day, solicitors with branches across Huntingdonshire (Business Person of the Year Award)

Winners in 2008 were:

Business of the YearThe George Hotel & Brasserie, Buckden

Small Business of the YearThe Nail Retreat, St Ives

Retailer of the YearThe George Hotel & Brasserie, Buckden

Employee of the YearCorrine Garbett, Huntingdonshire District Council

Business DevelopmentMaxine Lester Residential Lettings

Business Person of the YearMaxine Lester, Maxine Lester Residential Lettings

Environment & CommunityHuntingdon County Squash Club

New Business of the YearThe Nail Retreat, St Ives

Innovation AwardTensor PLC, Hail Weston

Employer of the YearThe Huntingdon Marriott Hotel

Training and DevelopmentVindis Audi, Huntingdon

InternetISC Software Solutions, Huntingdon

Judges' Special AwardTackwood Services, St Neots

INFORMATION: An entry form for the awards will appear on The Hunts Post website after the launch.