The original Midlander of the Year award was set up by the local brewers, Mitchells & Butlers in 1969 and sponsored by Bass until 1998.
Viewers vote to determine the sub-regional winners in the Central News West, East and South areas.
Previous overall winners include: The nine special category winners for 2001 were: The 2001 judging panel comprised Carlton representatives, leaders from industry, education, regional government and community groups, and senior staff from the award's media partners which include the Birmingham Evening Mail, Birmingham Post, Burton Daily Mail, Century 106 (East Midlands), Coventry Evening Telegraph, Express & Star (Wolverhampton), Oxford Mail, The Sentinel (Stoke-on-Trent), Shropshire Star and Worcester Evening News.
The panel was chaired by Mich Stevenson OBE, himself a winner of the Enterprise Midlander of the Year Award in 2001.
The judging panel was chaired by Mich Stephenson OBE, a member of ITV Central's Regional Advisory Council.