LawNet is delighted to be supporting the new Lloyds TSB Enterprise Awards, by offering an element of free legal advice to the winners.

Entrepreneurs across Britain are being urged to enter the race to find the country’s best Student and Graduate businesses, and compete for a £50,000 investment and mentoring prize. Nominations for the Awards will close on 30 January.

Applications will then be considered by a judging panel in one of eight finals across England, Scotland and Wales, during February - and in a grand final on 13 March at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Liverpool.

The Awards are open to entrepreneurs currently studying at universities across England, Scotland or Wales - or who graduated within the past five years and have been trading for more than one year.

All entrants will be considered for two titles - Best Start Up, which will be awarded to a business in its early stages; and Best Enterprise which will be awarded to the business judged to show real potential to grow over the next five years to become a recognised SME within its respective sector.

The overall winner of the Awards will receive £50,000 to invest in their business, together with a comprehensive two-year mentoring programme, involving senior executives from Lloyds Banking Group, designed to provide coaching and support on critical business issues such as planning, finance, recruitment and marketing.

Each of the winners will also receive free legal advice with an independent specialist law firm, through LawNet.

• The 14 Best Start-up and Best Enterprise winners in the initial heats will each receive two hours free legal advice
• The two overall winners in each category will each receive a total of five hours free legal advice.