WITH just three days to go until the closing date for entries to the 2004 Hampshire business Awards, legendary yachtsman Sir Chay Blyth CBE BEM has been announced as the special guest speaker at this year's event.

The Daily Echo-backed awards are an annual search to find the best business talent in the county and entries need to be submitted by this Friday. The winners will be announced at a gala dinner in September, which will be held at the Ocean Village-based headquarters of Challenge Business, Sir Chay Blyth's company which runs the spectacular 10 month Global Challenge yacht race.

This year's awards dinner will be held just a couple of weeks before the Global Challenge begins and will be a chance to put the focus on some of the yachts before they embark on their voyage, as well as meet their crews.

Starting from Portsmouth in October, the race features 12 identical 72 foot race yachts, each carrying one professional skipper and 17 crew, which will race, head to head, around the world, against prevailing winds and currents, stopping off at six ports around the globe.

Commenting on the awards, Sir Chay Blyth said: "Challenge Business is delighted to be hosting this year's Hampshire Business Awards in Southampton. With our fleet of Challenge yachts operating out of Ocean Village we have always received strong support from local businesses, many of which are official sponsors of the Global Challenge 2004/05."

Mark Price, regional corporate director at The Royal Bank of Scotland, says: "With a great speaker and an exciting and unusual theme to this year's event, close to the beginning of the Global Challenge, this year's Hampshire Business Awards should prove to be a really memorable occasion for the county's business community."

Nick Page, commercial partner at law firm Bond Pearce in Southampton adds: "The Hampshire Business Awards are a real opportunity for businesses to celebrate their success and showcase the depth of talent and skills the county has to offer. With just a few days left to go until the closing date, we are urging companies throughout the county to get their forms completed and submitted to be in the running for one of this year's awards."

The three categories open for entries this year are:

The Bond Pearce Innovation Award.

KPMG Company of the Year.

The Royal Bank of Scotland International Trade Award.

As well as a being a part of the fantastic awards evening, the finalists and winners can expect a host of benefits. Tony Cottam, senior partner at KPMG's South Coast office, comments: "Past finalists have told us that they have increased their profile, experienced a boost to staff morale and generally received a real 'feel-good' factor, making them an attractive company to work for.

I'm sure this year's participants will enjoy hearing from Sir Chay Blyth, who has been successful in the demanding worlds of both sailing and business, at this year's event. As an additional bonus this year, Challenge Business has generously offered a day's sailing for each of the winners - the perfect way to celebrate being named one of Hampshire's finest!"

The winners will join a number of high profile companies already in the Hampshire Business Awards' hall of fame, including last year's winners, Industrial Acoustics Company from Winchester, which won the Bond Pearce Innovation Award; Basingstoke-based consultants Scott Wilson, named KPMG Company of the Year; and Ford Motor Company, which won the Community Award.

It's not too late to take part in this year's awards and entry forms are available by e-mailing HBA04@KPMG.co.uk or by telephoning 023 8020 2051.

For further information please contact: Rachael Halliday, PR manager. Tel: 0117 905 4373.

Mobile: 07747 102909. e-mail: rachael.halliday@kpmg.co.uk