THIRTY-nine Dorset businesses have made the shortlist for the county’s top business awards.

More than 30 judges for the Dorset Business Awards have spent the last month analysing entries and scoring them.

The finalists are as follows.

Business Leader of the Year (sponsor: Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership): Georgina Hurcombe, LoveLove Films, Bournemouth; Tony Lockwood, BOFA International Ltd, Poole; Jamie Sergeant, Crowd, Bournemouth.

Dorset Environmental Business (Dorset Wildlife Trust and Poole Harbour Commissioners): Neals Yard Remedies, Gillingham; Tops Day Nurseries, Bournemouth; Upton Country Park, Poole.

Exporting Excellence (HSBC and PSP Worldwide Logistics): Atlas Elektronik UK, Dorchester; Haystack Dryers, Ringwood; Modulift, Poole.

Outstanding Customer Service (Beales Gourmet and Teachers Building Society): Bluebird Care (Bournemouth & Poole), Bournemouth; Blue Sky Financial Planning, Poole; Sontronics, Poole.

TeamJobs Team of the Year: Inspire, Poole; Siemens, Poole; Sunny Bird PR, Bournemouth.

Developing Talent Award (Sunseeker): Greendale Construction; Inspire; Ward Goodman.

Young Apprentice Ambassador (Superior Seals Ltd): Tilly Cuttler, JP Morgan, Bournemouth; Tom Davis from Cloudserve, Bournemouth; Gareth Holford, Weymouth College.

Creative Impact (Liz Lean PR and Digipigz): Coastal BID, Bournemouth, for Go Bournemouth Coast; Salad Creative Ltd, Poole, for Commonwealth Games England website; ID Group, Poole, for You Are The Media.

Employee Health and Wellbeing (BWT Physio and Ouch Training Team): Health-on-line, Bournemouth; Organix, Wake up to Wellbeing, Bournemouthl Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Lester Aldridge Company of the Year: Actisense, Poole; Alfatronix, Poole; BV Dairy, Shaftesbury.

PKF Francis Clark Family Business: BV Dairy, Shaftesbury; Hall & Woodhouse, Blandford; Marsham Court, Bournemouth.

ScaleUp for Business Growth (Enhanced): Beyond Retail Ltd, Bournemouth; DJS (UK) Ltd, Bournemouth; Unicorn Training Group Ltd, Bournemouth.

UK Health Insurance Investing in Dorset: BV Dairy, Shaftesbury; Sea-NC Engineering / Network Enterprise Complex, Portland; Sontronics, Poole.

A Meet the Finalists event on Monday, October 15, at the Italian Villa in Poole, will bring together the shortlisted entries and sponsors. The winners will be announced at a gala dinner at Bournemouth International Centre on Thursday, November 1.

The awards are organised by Dorset Chamber of Commerce and Industry in association with the Daily Echo and Dorset Echo, and backed by Wave 105.

The awards evening will begin with a drinks reception sponsored by Caterpillar Marine UK Ltd, followed by a three-course dinner before the awards presentation begins. Brighter Productions has come on board for the fourth year as production sponsor.

Stuart Dixon, head of marketing and communications at Dorset Chamber, said: ‘‘Huge congratulations to those who entered and have reached the penultimate stage of this year’s competition. It’s fantastic to see a wide range of industry sectors based from all corners of the county represented in this year’s awards.”

Tickets for the awards dinner cost £86 plus VAT for chamber members of £96 plus Vat for non-members; £800 plus VAT for a table of 10 for members, or £900 plus Vat for non-members. To book, or find out about further sponsorship opportunities this year, contact the chamber on 01202 714800.