Nominees for this year's Newcomer to Business award - sponsored by The Northern Echo - are brushing off their dinner suits and cocktail dresses ready for the presentation on Thursday night.

That's when the business community of the Tees Valley will gather at the Tall Trees Hotel in Yarm for the sixth annual Business Show.

Speakers at the event will include Sir John Banham, chairman of Kingfisher and Tarmac, and Joe Docherty, chief executive of the Tees Valley Urban Regeneration Company.

The Newcomer to Business award will be presented by The Northern Echo's editor, Peter Barron.

The shortlist of five comprises Robert Hardman, from All Events Security; Ray Newell, of Signs Express; Deborah Allan of Nail Bar 1; June Milner, of the Belasis Bistro and Paul Welch, of SSG Technologies.

Robert Hardman's company controls crowds at large regional events.

He is no stranger to awards success having already taken home the New Business of the Year award at Darlington Business Venture's annual ceremony in July.

Mr Hardman, formerly safety officer at Darlington Football Club, started his company in Barton Street, in the town, in May, 2000.

It employs two part-time staff, taking on others as and when needed.

Some of the events Mr Hardman has provided security staff for include the Orange Darlington Festival and the Royal Enclosure at Royal Ascot.

Ray Newell started his graphics company, based in Henson Road on the Yarm Road Business Park in Darlington, at the end of March.

The business, a franchise of Signs Express which has 75 sites across the UK, employs three full-time and one part- time member of staff.

Mr Newell has already celebrated success, having won the Institute of Transport Management Graphics Company of the Year award and received the Best Vehicle Livery award in this year's Sign Industry Awards, for its work for a fleet of more than 100 Mercedes-Benz sprinter vans.

Deborah Allan started Nail Bar 1, in Northumberland Street, Darlington, in June. She employs two full-time and two part-time staff.

June Milner began the Belasis Bistro in October last year.

She was previously chef manager at the business under its former owners Hallmark Catering, but was keen to take on the operation when Hallmark decided to pull out.

She has since introduced a new menu and now employs four full-time staff. She also has a database of 20 casual workers she uses for business functions.

Paul Welch is the managing director of SSG Technologies, which moved into the Lingfield Point complex in Darlington in May this year.

The business is the UK arm of the Starlim-Sterner Group GmbH, a major Austrian automotive and IT supplier. Although new to the UK, it has been operating in the Austrian market for more than a year. It is a distributor of PC components to personal and commercial users.

* The major sponsors for this year's Tees Valley Business Show are Dickinson Dees, with associate sponsors including One NorthEast, The Northern Echo, Keith Robinson and Co, the Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest and the University of Northumbria.