THE future stars of business in the county will be celebrated at the Worcestershire Apprenticeship Awards 2014 ceremony later this year.

The event, hosted by the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership, will be taking place on November 27 from 6.30pm at the Tree Tops Pavilion inside West Midlands Safari Park.

There are 12 gongs up for grabs at the Apprenticeship Awards and nominations for the awards finished on Friday.

Judging will begin next week to decide the shortlisted candidates, who will then be visited by a film crew to create a short clip to be screened on the night of the awards.

But there is still time to buy tickets to watch the brightest business minds of the younger generation rewarded for their hard work.

The night will be hosted by Nick Hewer, who rose to fame as Sir Alan Sugar's side man in the BBC’s ‘The Apprentice’.

He said: "I firmly believe that apprenticeships offer a great start for young people, providing them with the skills, experience and knowledge they need for their future careers.

“It will be a pleasure to host the Worcestershire Apprenticeship Awards and to celebrate all the great achievements being made."

The event is being supported by West Midlands Safari Park and Darren Chorley, operations director at the Safari Park, said: "As we grow, our team grows with us and this is really important. We can give back to the region, offer local people the opportunity to learn new skills that have been passed down from decades of industry experience in a fun and friendly environment."

Winners of the 12 awards will each be given a special trophy designed by a Worcestershire school. The successful design - to be decided later this month - will be turned into trophies by Worcester based company, Yamazaki Mazak UK Ltd.

Tickets are available at a cost of £85 each or £750 for a table of 10 from awardsbookings@worcestershire.gov.uk.

The evening will include canapes & cocktails on arrival, a three course meal (including wine) and coffee.

Gary Woodman, executive director at WLEP, added: “The awards dinner will be the perfect opportunity to celebrate the many exemplary apprentices and apprenticeship programmes that are operating in the county. We are looking forward to recognising and rewarding the achievements being made."

For more information visit business-central.co.uk/apprenticeawards.