Companies keen to enter one of Gloucestershire's premier business awards should act with urgency - the closing date is upon us.

The closing date for the Cirencester Chamber of Commerce Business Awards 2019 is tomorrow, Friday, March 29.

With a new category this year celebrating apprentices and the awards now in their ninth year, the event is designed to champion the town's many and diverse firms - big and small.

Punchline happens to know that the chamber is particularly keen to gather as many entries as possible in the retailer of the year and young enterprise categories.

"We have such a range of businesses here. This is about celebrating what is going on in the town and really, really supporting what is happening in our market town and shouting about what it is doing," said Adam Vines, from the chamber of commerce, who also runs the town centre business Lounge Design Limited.

"This year we have also introduced the apprentice award because we feel it is important to champion the next generation."

New to this year is also the business/organisation of the Year category.

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"We also want to champion retail in the town. We have lots of great independent businesses and micro businesses here. It is a good town for business."

The main sponsor for this year's awards - due to be staged on May 10 - is chartered accountants Morris Owen, which has offices in the town.

Other categories include Business Person of the Year, Team of the Year (teams of two or more), Corporate Social Enterprise Award, New Business of the Year (maximum three-year trading history), Professional Services Provider of the Year, Hospitality/Entertainment Provider of the Year and Young Enterprise of the Year.

Cirencester Chamber of Commerce currently has more than 140 businesses registered and holds two network meetings per month.

To find out more about entering the awards visit http://www.cirencesterchamber.org.uk/business-awards/