JUDGES in the Echo-backed Dorset Business Awards are poised to begin scrutinising entries for the county's "business Olympics".

Up to five judges will read and evaluate each entry to produce a shortlist of finalists for each award category:

KPMG Company of the Year;

Lester Aldridge Business Person of the Year;

Dorset Business, the Chamber of Commerce & Industry, International award, sponsored by Business Link Wessex;

IoD Innovation award, sponsored by Bournemouth University.

Winners will be announced at the awards' gala dinner at the Royal Bath Hotel in Bournemouth on December 9.

IoD Wessex deputy chairman Kelvyn Derrick said: "It is evident that many Dorset businesses are aiming high as the quality of the completed entry forms has been excellent.

"Judges will be seeking out those companies and business people that represent the very best in Dorset business achievement.

"Following the shortlist procedure, finalists will either receive a site visit or will be required to give a short presentation.

Several past winners have been chosen as judges.

They include McCarthy & Stone chairman and chief executive Keith Lovelock, winner of last year's Lester Aldridge Business Person of the Year and Paul Young, director of training at Ceuta Healthcare, which won the 2003 IoD Learning to Achieve award.

Judges for the awards also include KPMG's South Coast office senior partner Tony Cottam; Lester Aldridge managing partner Roger Woolley; IoD Wessex deputy chairman Kelvyn Derrick; Dorset Business honorary vice-president Geoff Warde and Daily Echo business editor Roan Fair.