THE crme de la crme of businesses in Worcestershire and Herefordshire are to be honoured at the area's biggest awards ceremony of the year.

The date has now been set for the fifth annual Chamber Awards, organised by the Chamber of Commerce Here-fordshire and Worcestershire, and the ceremony will be at a new venue. Moated Birtsmorton Court, near Malvern, will be playing host to the prestigious event on Thursday, June 8.

Previous winners of the Chamber Awards have included all kinds of companies, from large manufacturers to small, specialist firms, and have represented almost every industry sector in the two counties, from a children's toy library to a manufacturer of large commercial grass-cutting machinery.

Mike Morgan, managing director of MilSys UK, Hereford, which sells rapid-assembly shelters to the armed forces, said winning last year's award for skills and workforce develop-ment had been an "incredible boost" to the morale of his company's workforce.

"We already had buy-in from our staff with regards to our workforce development prog-ramme before the award, however, since winning, the staff are really motivated and are striving to excel even further," added Mr Morgan.

Michael Whitefoot, of document storage firm Whitefoot-Forward, Hartlebury, said winning the Entrepreneur of the Year award last year was a tribute to his "excellent staff" .

"To receive this award from such a prestigious organisation as Chamber of Commerce Herefordshire and Worcester-shire is a milestone achievement," he added.

As well as the associated publicity, winners of the Chamber Awards receive a cheque for £500, a trophy and the right to put their award and the chamber name on their letterhead and company literature. The Business of the Year winner also receives £1,000.

This year there are eight award categories, including Award for Skills Development, Business Commitment in the Community, Business of the Year (sponsored by Business Link West Mercia), Entrepreneur of the Year, Best New Exporter of the Year (sponsored by UK Trade & Investment), the Innovation Through Technology award (sponsored by the Central Tech-nology Belt), Most Promising New Business and a new category, Employee of the Year, sponsored by the Worcester News.

In a first for the Chamber Awards, the exciting new Employee of the Year category will be won by someone working in Worcestershire and Hereford-shire who has been voted for by readers of the Worcester News.

Entries will close on Friday, May 5, 2006, and tickets are already on sale for tables at the prestigious Gala Awards dinner.

All businesses who enter will receive a 10 per cent discount on tickets and sponsorship packages are also available. For more information telephone Lynne Marshall on 0845 641 1531.