SIX of the county's top companies have just a few more hours to go until they find out which of them are winners in this year's Hampshire Business Awards.

The Daily Echo-backed awards, sponsored by Bond Pearce, KPMG and The Royal Bank of Scotland, are the annual celebration of the county's business high achievers.

The event culminates tonight with a prestigious awards dinner at Royal Navy showcase Action Stations in Portsmouth's historic dockyard.

Nick Page of Bond Pearce said: "We rotate the awards around unusual venues in different parts of the county and this year's choice seems particularly fitting given the number of finalists which are from Hampshire's aerospace and defence sector. It promises to be a great evening and we are looking forward to naming this year's winners."

Coverage of this year's awards will appear in tomorrow's Echo.

The finalists in each category are: The Bond Pearce Innovation Award: Gurit UK - composite materials company, based on the Isle of Wight Radio Tactics Ltd - Southampton provider of solutions for the acquisition and management of digital information technology KPMG Company of the Year: Chemring Group plc - manufacturer of products for the global defence, security and safety markets, based in Whiteley CTC Aviation Group plc - Southampton provider of aviation training, consultancy and management services VT Group plc - Hedge End-based defence and support services company The RBS International Trade Award : Chemring Group plc CTC Aviation Group plc IAC Ltd - Winchester-based noise control company