We know that many small business owners, entrepreneurs and larger organisations don't like to pay up front for awards, where fees range from £99 to more than £250 per category. With us, all your entries are free.
It just makes sense. Why pay an entry fee when you get nothing in return? If you enter an award sector with Business Awards UK and win, you pay an Award Acceptance Fee, then enjoy a raft of benefits for winning.
As a winner or finalist, you get credible industry recognition & publicity from National press releases, Google and Yahoo! News features, content marketing and case studies.
Social media marketing is important for all businesses, which is why we announce your accolades on social platforms, and regularly engage with you and your followers.
We can create quality, in-depth content with your team, making you a trusted voice in your industry, and highlighting the achievements & success of your business or enterprise.
* Trophy included: The Award Acceptance Fee includes 1x Winner’s trophy only. If you win multiple awards, additional trophies may be purchased at £99 +VAT.
** Interviews & PR: We will contact you regarding all publicity and PR opportunities based on the options you select in the entry form
We’ll send you relevant reminders
so you don’t miss key dates
Award for the best overall private equity firm
Recognition for the best newly established private equity firm, launched in the last two years
Award for the best private equity firm in raising capital from investors.
Recognition for the best private equity investment deal
Award for the best private equity exit in the past year.
Recognition for the best private equity-backed IPO
An Award for the best private equity-backed merger and acquisition deal.
Recognition for the most innovative private equity firm.
An award for the private equity firm utilising technology the best.
Award for the best private equity firm in protecting their clients and firm against cyber threats and ensuring business continuity.
Recognition for the top individual private equity fund manager.
For an outstanding and up-and-coming individual in the PE industry
Recognition for the top leader in the private equity industry.
An award recognising the private equity firm promoting diversity and inclusion
Recognition for the best private equity firm in building and maintaining relationships with investors.
Award for the best private equity team managing portfolio operations.
An award for the top private equity firm specialising in buyout investments.
Award for the best private equity firm investing in growth-stage companies.
Recognition for the top private equity firm specialising in early-stage investments.
An award for the best private equity fund focused on secondary market investments.
Award for the best private equity firm focused on environmental, social, and governance investments
Award for the best private equity firm investing in companies with a social impact.
Recognition for the best private equity firm specialising in a specific sector or strategy.
This is an exclusive category and it’s not available on the main entry form as we only accept 3rd party nominations (others nominating you on your behalf).
Please share the link to this mini form with your customers and wider community.
The full link is https://business-awards.uk/nominate/
It takes 5 minutes of their time and it means you enter this category completely free of charge, even if you win the award, it’s absolutely free.
Most UK awards out there charge an entry fee (usually £99 - £200+) per category.
With such a high barrier to entry, larger companies are often disproportionately represented.
With Business Awards UK, there's zero risk in taking part. You only pay an Award Acceptance Fee if you win.
We've made the process sleek and simple so you don't have to spend hours on each application.
Just select the categories you're interested in and complete one single submission form. You can also apply for as many categories as you like, and - should you win - choose which awards to accept or decline.
We do not hold an award ceremony. Our award winners tell us this is typically just an added expense for no real gain, with awards companies cashing in on sponsorship from entrants.
Typical expenses are around £199+ per person to attend traditional ceremonies, with costs such as employee time lost, travel, food etc.
Our optional trophies are custom designed, and manufactured by the UK's premier trophy companies.
All trophies are personalised with your company and/or individual winner's name, delivered free of charge to UK Mainland addresses.
All award holders receive free digital badges to share on websites, email and social media.
There’s absolutely nothing to pay! Only entries that subsequently win the top award within their category will be charged. Finalist (runners up) awards will be offered for each category free of charge.
We encourage companies from all over the world to enter our awards, but you must do a significant amount of business with UK based companies to qualify. If we need to ask you any questions during judging, we’ll contact you via email to confirm the above.
There is no official limit on the amount of awards or award categories you can enter. Increase your chances of winning by applying for multiple awards and award categories.
In order to reduce bias on our part, we don’t run awards in areas / sectors in which we may have a commercial interest.
Our private and public judging panel is composed of internal staff, guest/external industry experts. All judges need to declare any possible conflict of interest.
We follow a stringent scoring process which has been carefully designed to ensure entries are judged fairly and consistently within each category.
We are constantly reviewing our practices and procedures to further strengthen the process.
In April 2023, our public judges panel was launched.
We score entries on a number of areas but the key criteria is how different you are from others in your sector. We also check if an example/review/testimonial/case study is provided, quality of example provided and validity.
The best way to stand out is to be as succinct as possible while providing enough detail, with a specific example related to category.
If you win an award we’ll send you a private email (ahead of the official announcement) congratulating you on your achievement.
You will receive a link to an Award Acceptance Form where you can accept or decline your awards and select trophies.
We can only announce you as a winner if you accept the award and agree to be invoiced for your Award Acceptance Fee.
We will send you a NET 30 invoice for any fees. The invoice includes our bank details and options to pay by all major credit / debit cards using PayPal or Stripe.
No, we do not offer discounts on Award Acceptance Fees. To make our programme fair to all, we have a strict policy regarding discounts. Any sector specific, sponsor related or seasonal offers will be communicated to your privately.
The applications deadline will be announced and when this is reached, no additional applications will be accepted.
In most cases, the awards will be announced 30 days after the final deadline date.
We frequently launch new awards across additional sectors. The deadlines and scheduling may be different depending on the award so please visit the relevant award page or Shortlist page for more information, or shoot us an email/Live Chat message!
Trophies: We ship all trophies FREE to UK Mainland within 2 – 4 weeks of received payment. We are unable to ship any trophies until full payment of the invoice has been received. This is to prevent fraudulent use of the trophy and award. Any errors will be responded to within 24hrs of receipt of complaint, and trophies will be remade/resent (at our cost) should a trophy be received in error. Please note: remanufacture and redelivery can take up to 7 days.
You’ll only get an award if you deserve it (after all entries have been assessed and compared against our scoring matrix).
Even if you’re the only entry in a particular award category, we won’t automatically give you the award – we’d invite additional entries instead.
We’ll never accept any money or offer of payment upfront (before you are offered the award).
Yes. The prices displayed on the website are ex VAT. VAT will be charged at the point of payment.
We consulted some of the UK’s leading accountants, and the general consensus is YES – you can claim business awards as a deductible marketing expense! You can read more here: Entering or Winning Business Awards – The Tax Advantages
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