Companies in Birmingham and the West Midlands are being urged to celebrate their successes with just days to go until the deadline for the 2017 Birmingham Post Business Awards.

Businesses can enter the awards,until Friday 21 July to be in with a chance of making the shortlist for the 2017 ceremony - which has 13 different categories,

Around 800 guests are expected to attend the ceremony at the ICC, in Broad Street, on October 18.

The 2017 categories are:

- Business Entrepreneur of the Year

- Company of the Year

- Contribution to the Community Award

- Creative Communications & Digital Business of the Year

- Excellence in Manufacturing Award

- Excellence in Science & Technology Award

- Export Award

- New Business of the Year

- Not-for-Profit Organisation Award

- Professional Services Award

- Retail Business of the Year

- Sales & Marketing Award

- Small Business of the Year

The awards are open to companies of all shapes and sizes, from the SMEs with just a handful of staff to the largest corporates the city region has.

Last year's winners included hotel and golf resort The Belfry, high end department store Harvey Nichols and precious metal supplier Cooksongold.

The awards have their own dedicated website which you can see here which has more information about the entry criteria and also an online application form.

This year's awards are supported by headline sponsor HSBC and are being hosted in association with Champions (UK) plc.

Individual category sponsors are Birmingham Airport, Birmingham City University, Browne Jacobson, HSBC, ICC Birmingham, Inspirational Birmingham, Jaguar Land Rover, Janine Edwards, Jerroms, JLT, Morgan Reach and Ricoh Arena.

To discuss sponsorship opportunities please contact Ashleigh Kerr at Champions (UK) plc on akerr@championsukplc.com or 01509 852 927.