A Lancashire supermarket chain is up against a textiles firm and a haulier for the top prize at one of the county’s leading business awards.

Booths, which has 15 branches across Lancashire, is among the finalists for the Business of the Year category at the Be Inspired Business Awards, The BIBAs.

It is one of eight finalists along with Burnley-based Panaz, Blackpool haulage firm Fox Brothers and Connect 2 Cleanrooms based in Lancaster.

The awards will hand out prizes at its ceremony at the Blackpool Tower on Friday, September 17.

Babs Murphy, Chief Executive of the awards’ organisers, the North & Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, said the winner of each of its 19 categories would win a £2,000 cash prize.

She said: “The BIBAs has become a hallmark of quality of Lancashire businesses, a sign of a business which excels and given everything we have been through in the past 18 months, this year is no exception.

“We have never taken a profit from our awards and in previous years we have put the money back in to the business community through grants given to young entrepreneurs.

“But this year we felt the money would be best spent directly supporting businesses who have been through so much which is why we will be giving out cash prizes to each of our winners.”

Former winners The Fun Experts and Roccia are up against Fleetwood’s Rossall School and Mike England Timber of Preston in the Most Resilient Business of the Year category.

In the awards’ other categories, Blackburn’s Vital Life Nutraceuticals is up against Nybble IT and Blackpool-based Training Works (NW) for the Small Business of the Year prize.

In the Apprentice of the Year category, the finalists include Burtons Foods, Suresite Group and Breathe Therapies.

The winners will be unveiled at a ceremony hosted in the world-famous Tower Ballroom next month alongside The BIBAs’ lifetime achievement award, Lancastrian of the Year.

For further details visit the awards’ official website at www.thebibas.co.uk.