The search is on again to discover and recognise the south west’s best and brightest small businesses.

Britain’s biggest business group the FSB (Federation of Small Businesses) has launched their annual ‘FSB Celebrating Small Business Awards’ which will culminate in a regional final in Weston-super-Mare followed by a national final later in the spring.

Small business owners and the self-employed throughout the south west will have a choice of 12 different categories to enter including best family business, start-up, micro and larger business as well as awards for SMEs that excel with customer service, with their diversity and inclusivity practices and those who shine in their local communities.

The 2022 south west awards produced a record amount of entries and included winners from a wide variety of sectors from Dorset, Bristol, Devon, Gloucestershire, Bath, Cornwall, North Somerset and Wiltshire and organisers hope that this year will see an even bigger response from the region’s innovative small businesses.

FSB regional chairman Lee Nathan said “As we all know this is a very challenging time for small businesses, so this is the ideal opportunity for SMEs to remind everyone of the incredible work they are doing and showcase how important they are to our communities.

“We were overwhelmed with both the quantity and quality of the entries we had last time, and we hope many more of the amazing south west SME owners and the self-employed will take part this time around to prove again just how diverse and innovative our local small business communities are.’

The 12 FSB Celebrating Small Business Awards 2022 categories are:

• Exporter of the Year

• Sustainability Award

• Diversity and Inclusion

• Self-Employed/Freelancer

• Service Excellence

• Micro-business of the Year (0-9 employees)

• Larger Small Business (10-100 employees)

• Start-up Business of the Year

• Young Entrepreneur (aged 30 and under)

• Business and Product Innovation Award

• Family Business of the Year

• Community Award

For further information or to enter the awards – which are open to both FSB members and non-members alike - visit www.fsbawards.co.uk