CASH prizes are on offer to local e-commerce champions that follow in the footsteps of last year's Kent winner.

The E-Commerce Awards 2002, sponsored by SAP and set up by the Government-backed UK Online for Business and InterForum, are designed to celebrate and reward UK small and medium sized organisations that have successfully used e-commerce and the internet.

The awards consist of regional heats and four different categories. Each regional category winner will receive £2,000 and go on to the national finals for a chance of the top prize of £8,000. The final four winners will then compete for the title of National E-Commerce Awards Champion 2002 and a £30,000 prize.

Last year's regional winner was Gerrard Dennis from Swale diving firm Simply Scuba. He said: "Winning the regional final definitely brought us a lot of publicity and raised our profile in the marketplace.

"This in turn improved our credibility with suppliers and supported new business development. Ultimately our aim is to deliver customer satisfaction and the award reinforced customer confidence in us."

There are four categories: voluntary and community, micro business, E-Trading, and E-Business.The final date for entries is May 17th. Applications are by an online form at the web site www.ecommerce-awards.co.uk. Companies can also be nominated by post or online.