BUSINESS AWARDS: The eight greats vying to be Business Person of the Year

They are all vying for the title of Business Person of the Year at the City Region Business Awards.

For tickets call Haroldine on 07803 505658 or go to: thestar.co.uk/cityregionawards

The shortlisters are:

n Marie Cooper of Parker President and James Bird of SleepCogni, who won a Sheffield Chamber business award

n Tony Houlihan of Twenty Four IT (Doncaster Chamber)

n Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford of Brighter Directions (East Midlands Chamber)

n Simon Dennis of Palmer Construction (Barnsley & Rotherham Chamber)

n Jillian Thomas of Future Life Wealth Management (Derbyshire Times business award)

n Sarah Stevenson of Astute Recruitment (Derbyshire Times business award)

n Ayesha Bell of Airr Clothing (Derbyshire Times business award).

The event, at Magna on July 7, celebrates the ‘best of the best’ in business.

It takes the award winners from four Chambers – Doncaster, Sheffield, Rotherham and Barnsley, and East Midlands – plus the Derbyshire Times business awards – and pits them head to head to discover the ‘first among winners’.

Some 13 categories will be contested, with judges from the region’s chambers.

Learning Unlimited, part of Chesterfield College, is headline sponsor,

Sir Nigel Knowles, head of the Local Enterprise Partnership and global co-chair of law firm DLA Piper, and financial commentator Justin Urquhart Stewart are headlining the event, now in its fourth year.

The categories are:

n Manufacturing Award

n New Business of the Year

n Customer Service Award

n People Development Award

n Business Person of the Year

n Export & Overseas Trade Award

n SME Business of the Year

n Business Growth Award

n CSR & Environment Award

n Innovation Award

n Technology Award

n Community Contribution Award

n Outstanding Business of the Year

For tickets call Haroldine on 07803 505658 or go to: thestar.co.uk/cityregionawards