Dear Reader, I am delighted to once again be declaring that our annual Bradford Means Business Awards are open for entries.

Together with Bradford Council and the Bradford Chamber, the Telegraph & Argus is proud to host the biggest event in the business calendar in the Bradford district.

We’re going to be celebrating the best of Bradford businesses for our sixth gala awards event and we expect the cream of the district’s companies to be joining us in June for the spectacular ceremony.

That will take place at the Aagrah Midpoint Suite, in Thornbury – the home of another Bradford business success story – on Saturday, June 11.

And while that might seem a long way off, there’s a great deal of work to do before then... and it starts with you and your colleagues and companies submitting your entries.

Enter our 2016 Bradford Means Business Awards here

There are 11 different categories celebrating a wide range of types and sizes of firms and individual business people and culminating in our Winner of Winners Award, chosen by the judges from all those who are successful in the ten main categories.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained as they say – and the best thing is there’s no risk taking involved!

The Bradford Means Business Awards aim to give much-deserved recognition to those businesses, large and small, and those entrepreneurs, new or established, who have not only survived some of the worst trading conditions for decades, but forged ahead.

When we started these awards, we knew there were a lot of strong companies and ambitious business people in the Bradford district. But over the past years, the numbers and strength of entries in the Bradford Means Business Awards have delighted and surprised us, year after year.

We enjoy seeing the big names from Bradford’s business landscape entering, of course, but we also love to hear from firms and individuals who perhaps have been under the radar, yet quietly moving ahead in their chosen field.

Once again, we’ll be asking our readers to nominate the businesses which offer great customer service in our best Retail and Hospitality businesses category and also asking workers to put in a good word for their bosses in the Employer of the Year category.

We run the awards each year in partnership with Bradford Council which, alongside the T&A, recognises the massive contribution that business makes to our community and the economic success of our city and district.

We couldn’t do it without their help or without the magnificent support of the city’s leading business organisation, Bradford Chamber, and the backing of all the other established and important supporters – businesses and organisations who sponsor our individual awards.

The T&A’s Bradford Means Business Awards are a fantastic example of the public and private sector working together for the good of the whole district. With the continued support of those who enter, may they long continue.

So here’s to another fantastic celebration of the best of Bradford!

Perry Austin-Clarke, T&A Editor