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The finals of the first ever Sunderland Echo Business Excellence Awards are just hours away.

A packed audience at the Stadium of Light will hear who has won categories such as Employer of the Year and Entrepreneur of the Year on November 17.

The awards journey began way back in June and a huge number of firms put themselves in the running for honours.

The finale of this year's Sunderland Echo Business Excellence Awards is almost here.

The judging panel was hugely impressed with the sheer range of industry which was represented in the entries and with the quality of the nominations.

Each of the finalists must wait until the awards night at the Stadium of Light on November 17 to find out if they have won but they have all done wonderfully to be chosen for the shortlists which were brimming with business excellence.

Categories include Apprentice/Trainee; Best Independent Business; Best Large Business of the Year; Business in the Community; and Employer of the Year.

They also include Entrepreneur of the Year; Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Business of the Year; SME Business of the Year; Social Enterprise of the Year Award; and Sustainable Initiative of the Year Award.

Some of last year's winners. Who will follow in their footsteps?

The winners of other trophies will be revealed on the night.

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This year’s awards backers include Sunderland City Council who are our partners in the competition as well as being the headline sponsors.

Also on board are the North East BIC, Chilli Mangoes, Marelli, Wilf Husband, Harrison and Brown, Thompson Waste, Gentoo, Sunderland University, The Stack, BGL, Audi, North East Ambition and Sunderland College.

Sunderland City Council Leader Coun Graeme Miller and Sunderland Echo Editor Gary Oliver, pictured at the launch of the awards in July.

We thank them all for their outstanding support.

To find out who is in the running for awards this year, click here.

We will also have a media team at the awards night itself to make sure you keep up to date with the winners in each category.

And to cap the whole competition off, there will be post awards coverage which will feature interviews and photos with all of the winners.

Make sure you get your copy which will be in the Sunderland Echo on Friday, November 25.

And good luck to all of this year’s finalists.

Sunderland Echo Business Excellence Awards 2022: The wait is almost over to discover the winners