Judges for the 2006 Oxfordshire Business Awards are now sifting through the 230 entrants to decide the winners. Organiser Stephen Dexter, of accountants Grant Thornton, said: "We are going to meet all the entrants over the next month, so that when we come to judging we have all the information to hand and can judge everyone on their merits.

"We have entries from all over the county, from Banbury to Henley. There is a satisfying number of entries for the Young Businessperson of the Year, a category which is in its second year, and there are a lot of entries for the Innovation and Growing Business categories.

"We are looking forward to some challenging times to decide three nominations for each of the 112 categories, and some high-quality winners."

Entrants range from large companies employing hundreds of people, like services provider Amey, Blackwell Publishing and Internet policeman' Nominet, to start-ups.

The categories are environmental, innovation, charity and community, creative, tourism, small business, property and construction, growing business, customer and staff care, young business person, business person and business of the year.

The winners will be announced at a glittering gala dinner on June 16 one of the highlights of the local business calendar at the Oxford Thames Four Pillars Hotel, Sandford on Thames.