For the Women In Business Awards, we’re looking for the best female apprentices out there who have made a difference in your workplace.

There are thousands of apprentices across Leicestershire who are working hard to earn their keep and learn new skills each year.

We have a wide variety of apprentices who work in the county, from kitchen assistants and tool cutters to business administrators and nursery assistants.

Perhaps they have come up with new ideas, or they’re hardworking and are willing to go the extra mile.

Leicester College, which is sponsoring the Apprentice of the Year category, has been running its Apprenticeship Training Agency since April 2010.

For the 2014/2015 academic year, the training scheme has 391 apprentices, which is 112 more than last year’s intake.

Marie Cart, director of employer engagement at the college, said: “Both women and apprentices make an enormous difference to the workplace.

“Women now represent 55 per cent of all apprentices across the country and 54 per cent of young people would now put an apprenticeship as their first choice.

“More and more employers are recognising the importance of female apprentices in traditionally under-represented sectors such as construction and engineering.

“As a college, we are very proud to be working with a number of businesses who have developed incredibly innovative programmes designed to specifically recruit female apprentices to these sectors.

“Women are not only making a name for themselves within these traditionally male-orientated industries, but also across apprenticeships generally.

“On a daily basis, we celebrate the successes of our female apprentices within their current workplaces.

“But increasingly we are hearing about the continued success of our past apprentices, who have now progressed to setting up their own businesses and employing their own apprentices.

“Leicester College is the largest training provider for apprenticeships within Leicester, we work with hundreds of employers and thousands of apprentices each year.

“There is a startling breadth of apprenticeship careers now available for young people.

“We support their recruitment of these apprentices by advertising their vacancies on our website and providing support through the application, screening and interview process.

“We also host a very popular bi-annual Apprenticeship Recruitment Fair, which brings together employers who are currently recruiting for apprentices, and young people who are looking for an apprenticeship.

“By sponsoring the Leicester Mercury’s Women in Business – Apprentice of the Year Award, we are furthering our support of both apprenticeships and the young women who are thriving within their workplace and training programmes.”

The winner will be announced at the inaugural Women in Business Awards ceremony, which takes place on Tuesday, September 29.

The headline sponsor will be the University of Leicester, which is also sponsoring the Lifetime Achievement award.

The university is also the main sponsor of our Business Executive Awards.

Other sponsors for the Business Awards include:

Entrepreneur of the Year – sponsored by Torr Waterfield. Recognises the woman who is building a business of outstanding potential.

Innovation Award – sponsored by Easy Internet. Recognises the women who make an innovative contribution by providing bespoke and innovative products and services.

Rising star – sponsored by Search Consultancy. Recognises women who own or run new businesses or are fast-rising career professionals.

Apprentice of the Year – sponsored by Leicester College. Recognises the best female apprentice.

Small Business of the Year – sponsored by FSB. Recognises the best female-owned small business.

Inspirational Woman of the Year – sponsored by Spearing Waite. Women who inspire and motivate others, or those who have overcome exceptional circumstances.

Community Champion – sponsored by the Holiday Inn. Recognises the woman who has made a excellent contribution to the community.

Women in the Public Sector – sponsored by Weightmans. Recognises the achievements of inspirational leaders working for local authorities, the health service, police, fire service or any other public service organisation.

Business Woman of the Year – sponsored by Costco. Selected from the other category winners.

You can nominate yourself or somebody else for the Business Awards. Entries, including a few words about the nominee and their business, can be sent via e-mail, post or through the Mercury website.

Write to Nikki Kandola, Leicester Mercury, St George Street, Leicester, LE1 9FQ.

Read more here.