Awards Celebrate Women in Business

The search is on for the most successful Women in Business in Swansea Bay. The South Wales Evening Post and Swansea Bay Business Life Magazine is today officially launching its fourth annual Women in Business Awards. The ceremony, which honours the best businesswomen in the Swansea Bay area, will be held at the Marriott Hotel in Swansea on Friday, October 4. Nominations can now be made online for the awards which recognise everything from rising stars and eco-friendly females to high fliers on the international stage and those who innovate in their given sector. Anna Bastek, co-founder of Swansea-based Wolfestone Translation, was named Woman of the Year at last year's ceremony and also took the title of rising star. The 32-year-old said: "The past 12 months have been really busy for us. "The company is still growing and we are investing a lot. "We are expanding and increasing our numbers of staff. "Competition in our industry is UK wide and it is a very competitive market. "We don't really compete locally." The entrepreneur said European language were among the most popular translations required by her firm, although demand was growing for Brazilian Portuguese. She added: "Apart from the personal satisfaction of winning last year's award, it has been good for the business. "I have had a lot of requests after the award to do inspirational talks locally. "It has raised our profile and we picked up some customers as a result." Nominations are now being accepted in various categories at this year's awards. Honours will be presented in the areas of Rising Star of the Year, Go Green Environmental, new business start-up, international achievement, innovation in business, business mentor of the year, lifestyle business of the year, lifetime achievement and an overall title of Woman of the Year. Anyone interested in nominating a potential winner should visit www.southwales- eveningpost.co.uk/womenin business. A total of three candidates will be short-listed for each category.