ONLY a week has passed since we launched our Cheshire Business Awards and firms are already lining up for a chance to win one of our coveted accolades.

This year, for the first time, there is an added chance to win a title as we have an extra category for firms to enter. The Green Award is for firms which have applied environmental policies in the workplace or whose products or services have made a positive contribution to the environment.

This is the eighth year that we at Trinity Mirror have celebrated all that is great about Cheshire’s businesses with the launch of our 2011 Cheshire Business Awards.

Over the past eight years the awards – the most coveted recognition of business achievement in the county – have attracted hundreds of entries from firms of all sizes.

The accolades celebrate the innovation, hard work and team-spirit that makes Cheshire's businesses, from the biggest employers to the newest start-ups, so great.

Nominations can be made until the closing date of July 14. Judging will take place on August 1.

This year the prestigious awards presentation evening on September 16 will take place in the pavilion at Chester Racecourse, alongside the two-day 'Celebrating Cheshire' business exhibition.

The awards dinner is also a social occasion and provides the opportunity to meet business people from right across the county.

For further information about the awards and details about how to enter visit the website: www.cheshirebusinessawards.co.uk.