The Precious Awards in November will celebrate the outstanding contributions that women of colour have made to UK plc in 2008.

The Precious Awards return for another year to celebrate Black and Asian female entrepreneurs and those women making their entrepreneurial mark within the workplace.

The awards, organised by Precious Online Magazine and Network and sponsored by Pearson plc, will be made at a ceremony in London on 20 November and serve to promote those inspiring individuals that generate ideas and turn them into action and change.

"We wanted an awards ceremony that truly focused on the achievements of those women who have taken the plunge and, in many cases, followed their dreams and launched their own enterprises," explains the founder of the Awards, Foluke Akinlose.

A journalist and herself a multi-award winner for her Precious Online Magazine and Network for women, Akinlose’s aim has been to profile and celebrate the professional and entrepreneurial achievements of women of colour in the UK. "Positive people doing their own thing inspire us. There is so much talent out there, we want to play our part in exposing it and we hope that people see Precious as a vehicle to global success."

Akinlose knows the power in awards and recognition. "Since winning a Precious award last year, these innovative women have gone from strength to strength," she says.

"Jessica Huie, The Precious Entrepreneur of the Year, has launched her colour blind cards business in the U.S and has a string of high profile TV appearances under her belt including one as an expert on the BBC’s The Apprentice: You’re Fired."

The winner of the Precious Best Start-Up Award last year, luxury jewellery brand La Diosa, now stock their products in Harrods. Natasha Faith, co-founder of La Diosa, is justly proud of the Award and what it represents.

"What an honour it was to win the Precious Online Best Start-up Award! It was La Diosa's first award and we could never be prouder of the fact that it came from our own community," she says. "Awards like this are what keeps businesses like us motivated. The whole night was a true success and we couldn't be prouder of ourselves or the other star winners of the night."

For Angel Jones, the winner of the Best Online Business in 2007, the award was recognition that her gamble in starting her business, Shoe Lagoon, had been the right move.

"‘Speechless!' that's how I felt when Shoe Lagoon won the Precious Award for Best Online Business," she says. "After all those months of working hard, sometimes until late at night, and having my social life take a complete nosedive, the thought that someone out there recognised all the hard work I had put in was probably the biggest boost I had since I started my business."

Achieving a win at the Precious Awards, she says, has given her even more determination to continue. "It meant so much to me and the award will sit on my shelf and in my heart for years to come. This year I hope to keep growing my business and, with a little determination and the award under my belt, I have a funny feeling that anything is possible!"

In 2008, Social Enterprise, Creative and Online Entrepreneurs are amongst those set to be honoured.

The categories include:

Business of the Year - for those businesses that develop innovations or processes that substantially improve the commercial performance or prospects of the company.

Creative Business of the Year - for those whose business is based in PR, design, TV, music, advertising, marketing, film or architecture.

Service Business of the Year - for owners of event management companies, hairdressers, high street or local shop owners, and consultancies.

Online Business of the Year - for those businesses where 55% of their turnover is gained from online transactions.

Start Up Business of the Year - for the business woman who has just started out.

Social Enterprise Business of the Year - for the businesses where the main goal is to benefit a social or environmental cause.

Young Entrepreneur of the Year - for a star of the future, running a business and aged under 30.

The Precious Entrepreneur of the Year Award: The Judge’s Prize – for the most passionate and dedicated woman business owner who the judges feel has overcome significant challenges to achieve outstanding business success.

Leadership within the Workplace Award - for a women working within a small, medium or large enterprise, who has taken on an entrepreneurial role within the company.

Book your place at the forthcoming awards and find out more at  www.preciousawards.com.