Over the past two months finalists have made presentations to independent judges to reach tonightsglittering final.

Last year's Orange Business Leader award was won by Sir John Rose, chief executive of Rolls-Royce, and Decade of Excellence in Business was taken by Paul Walsh, chief executive of Diageo.

The Orange Business Leader of the Year award will be put to vote for the first time this year, with 50pc of the decision up to the judging panel and 50pc the result of a ballot among the business community.

"The economic climate continues to present UK businesses with an unprecedented challenge and some sectors have suffered in its wake," said Philip Forrest, chairman of judges for the National Business Awards. "It is therefore encouraging that entries in this year's awards have shown no drop in quality or performance. This reflects the resilience and optimism that are the hallmarks of UK enterprise."

The 17 awards, sponsored by Orange have provided scope for businesses to show how they are helping to improve the health and wellbeing of employees, as well as recognising achievements through the use of technology, innovation and growth. Customer and marketing focus is also taken into account.

The Government's Better Regulation Executive (BRE), attached to Lord Mandelson's Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, is sponsoring one award to promote the better approaches to business regulation.

The programme is also a sponsor of the Duke of Edinburgh Award helping raise much needed funds to help their activities.

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