Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is starting to have a profound impact on how we work and live, achieving a wide range of labour intensive tasks in seconds and creating time for creativity.

This game-changing technology has a wealth of applications, with AI and machine-learning already disrupting industries and services like healthcare, financial services, logistics, retail, and marketing to name just a few.

This award recognises AI solutions and applications demonstrating the highest levels of innovation, impact and improvement to deliver impressive customer engagement and commercial success.

** Judging will take place in London on Tuesday 23rd September, please ensure you are available on this judging date when entering **

Britain’s mid-market businesses make up just 0.5% of UK companies but they generate over a quarter of national turnover and have posted 13 successive months of growth (NatWest UK Business Growth Tracker, Jan 2025).

Has your business delivered exceptional customer service, impactful innovation, and an investment in people with purpose to increase sales, profitability, client value or market share over the last 2 years?

This award recognises mid-market businesses achieving growth across a range of metrics and a robust plan to deliver sustained financial success and impact.

** Judging will take place in London on Monday 15th September, please ensure you are available on this judging date when entering **

Do you provide an outstanding service, solution or product for your customers? Do you consult to businesses to enable their growth or improve their productivity? Has your company given your clients a competitive advantage that has enabled them to attract or retain their own customers?

This award celebrates businesses who help their customers to increase sales, profitability or performance through a competitive advantage, recognising the impact of ‘enablers’ that offer value beyond products, solutions and services.

** Judging will take place in London on Friday 12th September, please ensure you are available on this judging date when entering **

A shared vision and purpose gives direction to teams and galvanises people to go beyond to achieve a meaningful and ambitious goal. A clear purpose engages a range of stakeholders, from customers and employees to investors, who are reassured by a long-term plan for impact and growth.

This special award recognises organisations who put their purpose before profit and prove that ethics, integrity and a social conscience make commercial sense. The British Business Excellence Awards pay tribute to those organisations that have gone above and beyond to make a real impact in their industry or community.

** Judging will take place in London on Friday 19th September, please ensure you are available on this judging date when entering **

Do you provide an outstanding service, with market leading feedback scores and reviews to prove it? Have you built long-term client relationships?

Do you have high levels of repeat or referral business? Are you continually adapting or innovating to gain a competitive edge?

Customer loyalty is the strongest foundation for growth and resilience, enabling businesses to prosper in all market conditions. This award celebrates businesses who can demonstrate the highest levels of customer loyalty, engagement, and experience.

** Judging will take place in London on Monday 08th September, please ensure you are available on this judging date when entering **

With international markets offering opportunities for higher growth from a new client base, have you maximised global growth with your solution, product or service? Has a relationship with an overseas business partner delivered significant growth in your sales and profits?

This award recognises British businesses that have achieved the highest and most sustainable levels of international growth through exporting products, services and solutions.

** Judging will take place in London on Friday 26th September, please ensure you are available on this judging date when entering **

With higher costs of hiring and demand for new skills to meet the expectations of more global and tech-enabled clients, employers of all sizes need the right blend of training, incentives and career pathways to attract, retain and develop a multi-generational workforce.

Being recognised as an employer of choice is vital to attract those with the most sought-after skills and retain the best people to offer customers the consistency of service they expect. Employee and candidate expectations about where, how and why they work have changed, with wellbeing, personal & professional development, and flexibility as important as salary and other financial incentives.

This award celebrates the organisations that go the extra mile through all stages of the employee lifecycle, from recruitment to inclusion and career progression.

** Judging will take place in London on Tuesday 23rd September, please ensure you are available on this judging date when entering **

Are you an inspiring and visionary founder who has proved a concept, built a new business model or has a track record of successfully scaling businesses? Have you created value for your team, your investors or the wider community? Why are you an exemplary leader and what can the wider entrepreneurial community learn from your philosophy and approach?

Focusing on the personal contribution of a dynamic leader, this Award recognises an enterprising individual who has achieved sustained growth and strong financial performance by building an engaged and productive team with a culture of innovation and resilience, effective management and inspirational leadership.

** Judging will take place in London on Friday 12th September, please ensure you are available on this judging date when entering **

Family businesses champion economic growth, social impact and employer values. There are over 5m family firms in the UK, employing more than 14m people and contributed 67% of GDP in 2023 (Institute of Family Businesses / VisualCapitalist). Large or small, the best family businesses have a long-term vision aligned to legacy, integrity and values with loyal employees and inclusive leadership.

This award celebrates family businesses that are exemplary employers, growing sustainably, delivering profit with purpose and a positive impact on their communities.

** Judging will take place in London on Monday 08th September, please ensure you are available on this judging date when entering **

According to data from Companies House, there are just under a million female led businesses in the UK, 19.1% of all active firms, but they received just 5.8% of all investments in 2024.

The Treasury estimates that if women started and scaled businesses at the same rate as men, they would add £250 billion of value to the UK economy. Last year, EY identified 45 SuperScaler female-led businesses with revenues over £50m and 240 with sales between £20m and £50m, who are inspiring the next generation of female founders.

This new award celebrates the economic contribution of female founders, from high potential start-ups and scale-ups to established businesses, who have delivered on their vision and plan, proven a new business model, or have a track record of successfully scaling one or several businesses.

** Judging will take place in London on Monday 29th September, please ensure you are available on this judging date when entering **

Innovation has made the UK world-leading in a variety of industries and enabled it to create new ones. Is innovation or a culture of continual improvement at the heart your organisation? Has your business successfully challenged established market leaders or proved the commercial success of a new product, process, solution or service?

This award celebrates British innovation in all of its forms across the private, public and third sectors, and recognises organisations of all sizes and stages of scale that have successfully applied innovation.

** Judging will take place in London on Monday 29th September, please ensure you are available on this judging date when entering **

The business case for diversity, equity & inclusion grows year after year, with a wealth of evidence that it drives both employee and customer engagement, improves productivity, and enables more profitable growth. Yet it still hasn’t been fully embraced by the majority of organisations.

Often, it is a visionary and influential individual or market leader who drives diversity as a role model, advocate, challenger or champion. Diversity champions are pro-active in driving the right initiatives, defining the most meaningful metrics and proving the commercial case for DE&I.

They encourage open conversations, challenge the status quo and bring people together with a shared vision of a more inclusive future.

The DE&I Champion of the Year Award is open to any individual or business that is able to demonstrate the success of DE&I policies and initiatives to improve diversity, equity or inclusion.

** Judging will take place in London on Monday 22nd September, please ensure you are available on this judging date when entering **

Have you consolidated your position in the market with clear competitive differentiation and a loyal client base? Have you exceeded growth expectations, stayed ahead of the curve, and cemented your position as a champion of your industry?

This award celebrates the contribution of Mid-Sized Businesses, or MSBs, to the UK economy in creating employment and value. Contenders for this award can demonstrate exceptional financial returns, sustained growth, effective customer and innovation strategies, and market prominence in their sector.

** Judging will take place in London on Tuesday 16th September, please ensure you are available on this judging date when entering **

Has your new business demonstrated impressive growth and resilience over the last three years? Have you scaled your new business and proved the success of your product or service? Has your mission, plan and team impressed a lender or investor enough to help fund your growth – or have you grown organically with profitable sales? If your high performing new business has been trading for fewer than three years and you have an inspirational success story to tell, this could be your award. New Business of the Year recognises companies that have exceeded their initial targets for growth and made an impact in their industry with great innovation, service and leadership. Tell us how your concept and business plan has met and overcome challenges, how you have adapted to the demands of your market, shown significant innovation, built a strong team and why it has the foundations for continued success and further growth.

** Judging will take place in London on Tuesday 16th September, please ensure you are available on this judging date when entering **

With 5.55m SMBs in the UK, generating £2.7 trillion in revenues, they are truly the backbone of the British economy as drivers of employment, value and impact. Are you proud of what your company has achieved, how you have been successful, and why people choose to work for you and with you in such an intensively competitive market?

Celebrating the economic contribution of Small to Medium-Sized Businesses, this award recognises SMBs that have maintained consistent growth and strong financial performance, understand their customers, have an engaged workforce with effective leadership, and are continually innovating to support future growth.

** Judging will take place in London on Tuesday 09th September, please ensure you are available on this judging date when entering **

Has your organisation embedded sustainability, social and environmental impact into your strategic decision-making, operational activity and business planning? Is sustainability a key part of how you measure your overall success? How are you driving this in your supply chain and local community?

Open to private, public and third sector organisations, including social enterprises and B Corps, this award recognises those demonstrating the commercial case for a sustainable and ethical approach.

This award highlights the role of organisations of all sizes in addressing social, economic, environmental and ethical challenges and achieving commercial success. The Sustainable Business of the Year will recognise those organisations that have achieved meaningful and sustainable impact through partnership, investment, pro-bono work or employee led initiatives.

** Judging will take place in London on Tuesday 09th September, please ensure you are available on this judging date when entering **

UK scale-ups generate £1.3trn in revenues and 8% of SME employment, despite representing less than 1% of businesses, according to the Scale-Up Institute. If you have achieved average annualised growth of at least 20% over the last three years, and exceeded expectations over the last 18 months, you deserve the recognition of your peers.

Has your business entered a new phase of growth, with a substantial increase in sales, headcount, profitability, market share or geographical expansion in recent years?

This award recognises scaling businesses that are demonstrating the highest levels of growth and a robust plan to deliver sustained financial success.

** Judging will take place in London on Monday 15th September, please ensure you are available on this judging date when entering **

At the end of 2024, there were 5.45m small businesses, employing 12.9m people ad generating £1.8 trillion to the UK economy. Small businesses, with between 10 and 50 employees, employed 4.3m people and generated £780million.

Small businesses are the backbone of the UK economy, creating wealth, employment, social impact and opportunity.

This Award celebrates the overall contribution of Small Businesses and recognises innovative and impactful firms with inspirational leaders that have built high performing teams, delivered for loyal customers, and achieved commercial success.

** Judging will take place in London on Friday 26th September, please ensure you are available on this judging date when entering **

The UK economy has tested the resilience of all businesses in recent years, but against this backdrop small and scaling businesses have innovated, adapted, and seized the right opportunities to achieve growth.

Has your business demonstrated strong leadership, exceptional customer service, impactful innovation, and an investment in people with purpose to increase sales, profitability, client value or market share over the last 2 years?

This award recognises small businesses achieving growth across a range of metrics and a robust plan to deliver sustained financial success and impact.

** Judging will take place in London on Friday 19th September, please ensure you are available on this judging date when entering **

Technology continues to transform industries, changing how and where people work, improving the way organisations transact and deliver impact. The UK tech sector is driving change and innovation across all industries with solutions to enable scale, improve efficiency and increase profitability.

It’s helping challengers to compete with market leaders and industry giants to become more agile.

This award recognises technology businesses that have re-written the rules on how to grow and create value, demonstrating the highest levels of innovation, customer engagement and growth and a robust plan to deliver sustained financial success.

** Judging will take place in London on Monday 22nd September, please ensure you are available on this judging date when entering **