Regular TAP blog readers will know that we offer up oodles of advice on how to make your award entry stand out (and succeed) and we like to try to keep everyone up-to-date with what the awards calendar looks like for the whole year ahead. In addition – and on an increasingly regular basis – we’re asked ‘What are you guys working on at the moment?’.

So, this week we thought we’d reveal three of the main awards we’re currently working on (or are getting geared up to start in earnest) for our wonderful clients; in our humble opinion, three very worthy events where finalists and winners benefit vastly from the experience. Hopefully we might just inspire you to have a look at these for your own business – perhaps a good, early addition to the 2020 planner?

The first awards for which we are, as we speak, crafting and shaping our clients’ submissions ready for the February deadline, is the EY (Ernst & Young) Entrepreneur of the Year Awards. These awards are open to UK-based businesses which have been incorporated for at least two years as of January 2019. The process here is, as you would expect, all about the business leader who must: –

• Have been in a role for a minimum period of two years
• Be responsible for the company’s success
• Hold a significant personal financial stake in the business

The awards recognise successful entrepreneurs who are making a positive impact on society and the economy, as well as building legacies for the future. There are four regions – London & South, Midlands, North and Scotland – and regional winners then go on to compete in the national finals in September, with the prestigious national awards presentation usually held in October.

We particularly love the networking opportunities which these awards present at every stage of the decision-making process and the ability to both meet the judges and benefit from their advice and guidance. One not to miss in our opinion!

Here’s one which hasn’t yet opened for 2019 but which we will have in our clients’ planners for sure – The Lloyds Bank National Business Awards. These are well-established, having run for more than 17 years, and include 17 individual categories which recognise many areas including: –

• Customer focus
• Data excellence
• Exporter of the year
• Employer of the year
• Business enabler of the year
• Positive social impact

The number and variety of the categories means that there will be something in there relevant to most businesses today, regardless of size or market sector. The finals take place in a much-anticipated ceremony in November and, as you can imagine, the networking opportunities are fabulous for all participants, not merely those on the winner’s podium.

The final of the three we’ve chosen to mention today is The Queens Awards for Enterprise. Prestigious, yes; not for everybody, perhaps but we have seen, first hand, the benefits to any business who takes part in the process, never mind get shortlisted or wins! There most probably no other awards like them.

We have covered the categories and the general requirements in some detail on a previous blog (dedicated solely to the topic) so rather than repeat what has already been written and risk boring our regular readers we just wanted to take the opportunity here to heartily recommend looking at the on-line information available and giving the awards some serious consideration.

Even if you can’t quite see it in your 2019 goals 2020 sounds just like the kind of year where aspirations should be realised…

We often speak about breaking down the award application into sections and tackling them one-by-one. Why not look at the Queens Award application with 12 months plus to spare and think about what you and your business would have to plan / achieve / put into place to become serious contenders?

Of course, if you’d love to reach for those heady heights but are still a little daunted then get in touch with us folks here at The Awards People and we will give you some tips and assistance to help you get there.