Now in it's fifth year, the Five Counties initiative was created by ngb2b, the Newport & Gwent Chamber of Commerce, to provide opportunities for its members and local businesses to network, share experiences, promote their products/services and celebrate achievements.

The Five Counties Business Week includes several events offering something for everyone - networking breakfast and lunch, awards dinner and business-to-business exhibition.

Peacheys Chartered Accountants is sponsoring the Five Counties Business Week 2006 for the second consecutive year.

Peacheys look at the whole business picture - business start up to business sale, sole traders, partnerships and limited companies in a wide range of sectors, assisting with profit improvement, strategic planning, tax mitigation, tax planning, business planning, grant funding, wealth management, mergers, acquisitions and business development to exit planning and retirement, offering the complete business life solution, tailored specifically to individual needs.

Who is the week for?

Anyone can participate in one of more aspect of the Business Week. Whether you have just started/are about to start a business and want to network with local decision makers, or if you have an established business and want to source new suppliers, promote your services or shout about your successes - the Five Counties Business Week is for you. Make a note of the week starting October 9 in your diary!

The opportunities Guru Lunch Tuesday October 10

The Business Week will be launched at this event where the audience can expect a high calibre speaker who will have to follow in the footsteps of some outstanding previous speakers, including:

Sir Ranulph Fiennes - 'the World's Greatest Living Explorer'. Fiennes attracted a record number of attendees to the event in 2005. He captivated the audience with recollections of his adventures and his mix of dry wit, enthusiasm and passion left the audience inspired, motivated and bursting to know more. Sir Ranulph's expeditions have raised more than £4.2m for the Multiple Sclerosis Society and £1.9m for Breakthrough Breast Cancer. In 1993 he was awarded an OBE for 'human endeavour and charitable services'.

Charles Cohen - The Dot Com Kingpin Charles Cohen made and lost two fortunes by the age of 32 and lived to tell the tale. A natural entrepreneur (first venture, aged 13), he founded beenz.com - the web's currency - in 1998. His plan was to create a global currency for the internet and take on the world's central banks. By 2000 he sat at the top of a company worth $300m with operations in a dozen countries and $90m in venture capital.

Marc Lewis - The Million Dollar Sinner! Marc attempted to persuade businesses that the Seven Deadly Sins (pride, envy, lust, greed, avarice, anger and sloth) are essential attitudes found in every winner. His speech inspired and everyone at the lunch as Marc told all about his journey from lone businessman to the founder of a large, expanding company.

Exhibition

Wednesday October 11, Cwmbran Stadium With the number of exhibitors expanding each year, this exhibition promises to be the best ever - bringing suppliers, distributors, government agencies and customer under one roof. This is your opportunity to:

meet your most active prospects and customers;

demonstrate products and meet your market face-to-face;

drive home your business messages;

further almost all of your marketing goals at the same time from building brand awareness to immediate sales; from researching the market to generating media coverage; from launching new products to entertaining loyal customers; from educating prospects to collecting high quality leads.

Business Awards

Sponsored by the South Wales Argus

Launch event

Thursday, April 6, 4.30pm for 5pm - 7pm, Celtic Manor Resort.

Gala awards ceremony and dinner:

Friday, October 13, 6.30pm for 7pm, Celtic Manor Resort The categories

Most Promising New Business of the Year - for businesses less than three years old

Business of the Year - for businesses trading for at least three years

Exporter of the Year

Innovation Through Technology

Entrepreneur of the Year

Business Commitment to the Community

Skills & Workforce Development

Plus an award for Outstanding Achievement will be presented to the Winner of Winners from the above categories.

The winner of each category will receive:

£500 prize money

one year's complimentary membership of ngb2b

a Five Counties award for their achievement to display on the premises

valuable publicity

Who can enter?

All businesses that are members of ngb2b or have an NP postcode can enter one or more categories.

How are the awards judged?

A small panel of judges from the public, private and education sectors will judge all entries and short-list three finalists in each category. They will all receive two complimentary tickets to the gala awards ceremony and dinner where the winners will be announced.

How to enter

For entry forms e-mail info@ fivecounties.co.uk stating which categories you would like to enter, or download from www.fivecounties. co.uk. Closing date: August 31, 2006.

All entries received from chamber members by June 23, 2006 will also be entered in the national British Chambers of Commerce Awards, where one business will win £25,000 courtesy of Microsoft. In 2005, five ngb2b members were short-listed in the national awards and Ontracks.co.uk won the Award for Innovation Through Technology

For more information on the Five Counties Business Week and Sponsorship Opportunities, contact ngb2b on 0845 600 2760, e-mail: info@fivecounties.co.uk.