Norfolk construction company Bateman Groundworks has been shortlisted in the 2016 Lloyds Bank National Business Awards.

The Great Yarmouth-based company, which provides groundworks and civil engineering for bluechip house builders, was chosen from hundreds of businesses that entered or were nominated across 18 award categories.

Bateman Groundworks is a finalist for the Small to Medium-sized Business of the Year, and will now prepare for a live presentation to a judging panel who will decide the overall winners.

Bateman Groundworks, which will have a £20.5m turnover for 2016, is recruiting 40 staff to bolster its 180-strong workforce based Marine Park, on Gapton Hall Road.

Managing director Richard Bateman said: 'We are thrilled to be recognised in the Lloyds awards, because we are still a relatively small regional business.'

This year's award ceremony will take place on Tuesday November 15, at the Grosvenor House, Park Lane in London, where the winners will be revealed.

It is the second major award boost for Bateman Groundworks this year.

In February it was named among the London Stock Exchange Group's 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain. The listing flagged it up as one of the most inspiring, dynamic and high-growth small and medium sized businesses in the country for the second consecutive year.

Group brand director of the Lloyds Bank National Business Awards, Tom Broughton, said: 'Due to the high number of entries for this years' awards, narrowing the entries down to 140 finalists was a difficult task.

'But through a thorough and comprehensive judging process, the selected finalists demonstrate exceptional quality and diversity across a range of business sectors within the UK. We are now looking forward to the next step of the process and meeting some of the finalists face-to-face.'