Judges from this year's Hampshire business Awards announced today the nine finalists in the race to find a winner for each of the three award categories - The Bond Pearce Innovation Award, the KPMG Company of the Year, and the Marsh Business in the Community Award.

This year's finalists for the Bond Pearce Innovation Award in alphabetical order, are:

CITY TECHNOLOGY - based in Portsmouth, City Technology are acknowledged as leading worldwide suppliers of gas sensors technology to a wide range of Industrial OEMs across many different industry sectors. Innovation has always been a fundamental part of City Technology's philosophy and they have built up a large patent portfolio over the years and have a strong IP position on many of their products.

INDUSTRIAL ACOUSTICS COMPANY (IAC) - Designers and manufacturers of noise control products based in Winchester, IAC established themselves in 2002 as Europe's largest company in the market with the number one or number two position with each of their products in every region in every market in which they operate.

SCOTT WILSON - an international consultancy providing a comprehensive range of integrated planning, management, engineering and environmental services in the built and natural environments throughout the world. Based in Basingstoke, Scott Wilson is an acknowledged leader in its field of activity, widely recognised for the excellence of its service.

Commenting on the entries for the Business Innovation Award, David d'Arcy Hughes, partner, Bond Pearce, said: "The judges all agreed the quality of entrants was as impressive as in previous years, however there can only be one winner. Innovation is about more than just technology and the three finalists have demonstrated a clear and well-defined approach to their products and services and help put Hampshire on the map of innovative successes."

On the home straight for this year's KPMG Company of the Year Award are three excellent Hampshire businesses. In alphabetical order they are:

CITY TECHNOLOGY - a manufacturer of gas sensors, based in Portsmouth;

PAULTONS PARK - a family leisure park in Romsey;

SCOTT WILSON - a Basingstoke-based engineering consultancy.

Tony Cottam, chairman of the judging panel and senior partner of KPMG's South Coast office, comments: "Choosing the three finalists for the Company of the Year award is always an incredibly difficult task and this year was no exception.

"Once again, we found that Hampshire has some extraordinary, inspirational companies and it's great to be able to help them shout about their success and give them an opportunity to shine.

"What is particularly encouraging is that this year's finalists hail from a wide geographical area, with different sectors and types of businesses represented.

"The final three includes successful family owned firms and world leaders in their fields, which is a real tribute to the assets, skills and business talent that Hampshire has to offer."

The Marsh Business in the Community Award finalists in alphabetical order, are:

ASSOCIATED BRITISH PORTS (ABP) Port of Southampton - One of Britain's leading ports. It has been part of the local business community for over 200 years; works with some of the world's largest shipping companies and exports the highest volume of automobiles from anywhere in the UK. It works closely with schools and colleges, keenly sponsors art and art-related activities and provides its facilities to community groups for little or no cost.

Ford MOTOR COMPANY - The Ford assembly plant in Southampton provides 1,300 jobs to the local community. Building relationships in partnership with local community groups is a fundamental feature of its commitment to the local community. From basic skills training programmes and specialist on-line centres to the promotion of diversity awareness amongst the business community, Ford has been keen to maximise opportunities for individuals and businesses.

HAMPSHIRE FIRE & RESCUE - In order to curb the incidence of child-related arson, which is the reason for an alarming number of fire calls, and to reduce the number of deaths and injuries related to fires, Hampshire Fire & Rescue has put in place an impressive set of measures aimed at prevention. These include a series of initiatives to alert children to the dangers of arson as well as raising charitable funds for fire detectors and other worthwhile causes.

Harvie Carswell, Head of Marsh's Southampton office, says: "Despite the fact that our three finalists operate in totally different sectors, community giving is as important to each of them.

"Each one is providing very tangible benefits to the community and it's good to see that some of the more difficult social issues are being tackled 'head on'. This shows they're in it for the long haul which is very commendable."