Entry Form

Small Business of the Year

They may be small but they’re making a big impact on the business community in our region and beyond. To celebrate a small business that combines commercial success with other elements, such as customer service, social impact, innovation and developing talent.

The judges will be looking for a business that:

• Combines commercial success with other elements, such as customer service, social impact, innovation and developing talent.
• Can provide financial performance information which gives evidence of success and potential for growth.
• Can outline its long-term plans and company strategy.
• Can provide an overview of product and service development.
• Can detail plans for staff training and development.
• Has fewer than 50 employees.

PLEASE ENSURE YOU DETAIL YOUR FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE.

Note: Businesses are only eligible to submit one entry across the following categories: Start-Up Business, Growth Award, Small Business or Large Business of the Year.

Choose the category where you believe you have the strongest chance of success.

Best Place to Work

Who goes out of their way to create a workplace where people thrive and the days fly by?

• Judges will be looking for a business that:
• Provides a good work-life balance and well-being initiatives.
• Offers rewards and recognition.
• Delivers exceptional training and offers career progression.
• Opens opportunities to all.
• Can provide evidence of a motivated workforce.

Tell us how you meet staff needs and retention rates remain consistently high.

Charity of the Year Award

Which organisation is making a real difference to the lives of others? Let’s put their name in lights! 

Judges will be looking for a charity that:

• Is demonstrably successful financially.
• Can show transparency, accountability, and good governance in its operations, including financial management and reporting.
• Engages with the local community and forms partnerships with other organisations and/or stakeholders.
• Has innovative approaches to fundraising and delivering support.
• Shows tangible impact, achievements and positive changes to its beneficiaries. Include details about the beneficiaries and the number of individuals the charity supports.
• Can demonstrate a clear business plan and measurable results.

The winning charity will need to demonstrate not just how much money it raises or spends, but also how it uses fundraising and the contribution of volunteers to make a significant difference to those it works for and the local community.

Environment and Sustainability Award

Who’s not just talking the talk, but walking the walk when it comes to sustainability.  They’re leading the way and pushing the boundaries.
 
Judges will be looking for a business that:

• Has a clear, joined-up plan for sustainability—not just one-off actions
• Can show real progress, with evidence of the impact it’s having
• Has found business benefits or new opportunities through being more sustainable
• Has buy-in from the whole team—from leadership to the shop floor
  Works with customers, suppliers, or the community to make a wider difference
• Is thinking about people and planet, not just profits—and is linking their work to the bigger global goals like the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
• A business that’s taking action to reduce its own impact, but also thinking bigger – creating positive change in the wider world too.

You don't need to be a big company to enter. What matters is your passion and the impact you’re making.

Innovation Award

Who is doing things differently? Who is really pushing the boundaries and creating an example for others to follow?

Celebrating inventive thinking, groundbreaking ideas, products or system developments and creativity in business.

Judges will be looking for a business that:

• Has a clear vision of what the innovation project, product, system or process had to achieve.
• Can detail how it was developed.
• Can evidence a gain in revenue or market share as a result of the innovation.
• Is able to detail the overall benefits.

Entrepreneur of the Year

A business person who can’t stop having ideas, creating prosperity for themselves and for others.

Judges will be looking for a person who:

• Can show how their actions and strategies have been instrumental to the success of their business.
• Provides evidence of strong financial performance, including the clear identification of an opportunity that has had a measurable impact on the success of business.
• Demonstrates enterprising behaviours such as participation, risk-taking, management and leadership, vision, originality and innovation.
• Can detail how they have overcome barriers to achieve at a high standard (ie social, geographical or physical).
• Can show a positive impact on the wider economy and local communities through employment, additional work as mentors or in the voluntary sector.

Nominations can be made by the entrant if they run their own business, or a sponsor or nominee from the business they work for.

Team of the Year

A group of people who have made a huge difference to their organisation, their community or the local economy.

This category recognises exceptional teams who have demonstrated an outstanding performance over the past year. The Team of the Year award celebrates close knit, well-drilled teams who have achieved significant business objectives and are pushing the wider business forward. 

This award is specifically for individual teams, departments or collaborative groups, rather than the business as a whole.

The judges will be looking for a team that:

• Can demonstrate achievement of objectives.
• Has evidence of collaboration, communication and teamwork both within the team and with other departments.
• Shows innovative approaches, creative problem solving and implementation of new ideas which have contributed to the team’s success.
• Has evidence of the measurable positive impact the team has had on the business, such as improvements on efficiency, productivity, profitability or customer satisfaction.

Eligible entries include departments within companies (eg. IT/HR), project teams or teams which have come together in collaboration.

Growth Award

They’ve expanded quickly and sustainably, or they’ve supported others to do so.

Judges will be looking for a business that:

• Is a growing medium-sized company.
• Has taken tangible steps to increase its scale and impact.
• Can demonstrate strong financial performance including evidence of increase in turnover and/or profit.
• Shows inspirational leadership and effective management.
• Can detail how the company has performed against its growth plan and give an overview of future plans to sustain and further this growth.

PLEASE ENSURE YOU DETAIL YOUR FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE.

Note: Businesses are only eligible to submit one entry across the following categories: Start-Up Business, Growth Award, Small Business or Large Business of the Year.

Choose the category where you believe you have the strongest chance of success.

Large Business of the Year

A leading light in the region, making a difference through employment and using local supply chains. This category is open to companies with more than 51 employees.

Judges will be looking for a business that:

• Has demonstrated exceptional performance and serves as a benchmark of success and inspiration.
• Can show evidence of a strong managerial and financial performance including revenue, profitability and market share.
• Has future growth and development plans and clear strategic vision.
• Demonstrates staff training, career development opportunities, employee welfare and a positive workplace culture.
• Has more than 51 employees.

PLEASE ENSURE YOU DETAIL YOUR FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE.

Note: Businesses are only eligible to submit one entry across the following categories: Start-Up Business, Growth Award, Small Business or Large Business of the Year.

Choose the category where you believe you have the strongest chance of success.

Rising Star

They’ve got heaps of potential and they’re already making a difference in their businesses. A leader of the future and the ‘one to watch’.

Judges will be looking for a person who:

• Is 25 years of age or under on 19th November 2026.
• Is thriving in the workplace and has the potential to become a future leader.
• Demonstrates commitment to personal development and progression.
• Shows outstanding contribution to the workplace – in particular, areas or projects where they have exceeded expectations.
• Demonstrates inspirational levels of achievement and attainment.
• Is a role model for peers.