Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already having a profound impact on how we work and live, achieving a wide range of labour-intensive tasks in seconds and creating time for creativity and invention.

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

This award recognises AI solutions and applications demonstrating the highest levels of innovation, impact and customer value, enabling organisations to improve productivity, delivery and commercial performance.

** Judging will take place in London on Friday 09th October, please ensure a senior member of the team/founder/board level are available **

Britain’s mid-tier businesses make up just 0.5% of UK companies but they generate over a quarter of national turnover. In 2025, mid-market firms from all regions of the UK defied economic uncertainty to achieve growth, whether it was accessing new markets, expanding relationships with existing clients, or launching new products and services.

Has your business increased sales, profitability, client value or market share to achieve exceptional growth and commercial performance over the last 2 years?

Open to any type of organisation across all sectors with revenues above £25m, this award recognises mid-tier 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 18th September, please ensure a senior member of the team/founder/board level are available **

Organisations across all sectors and global markets rely on products, solutions and services that enable them to build and deliver value. From technology to advisory, business enablers enhance productivity, engagement and performance. Do you provide an outstanding service, solution or product for your customers? Do you consult 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 Monday 14th September, please ensure a senior member of the team/founder/board level are available **

The number of female-founded businesses has increased by 45% in the last decade to 1.58m. According to the Scale-Up Institute’s 2025 Annual Report, 144 female-led or co-founded SuperScalers with revenues above £50m collectively generated £22.5bn in sales and employed over 128,000 people.

This 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.

Focusing on the personal contribution of a dynamic female 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 Monday 28th September, please ensure a senior member of the team/founder/board level are available **

Customer loyalty is the strongest foundation for growth and resilience, enabling businesses to prosper in all market conditions.

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 innovating to increase client value?

** Judging will take place in London on Monday 07th September, please ensure a senior member of the team/founder/board level are available **

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?

Has a new overseas venture grown quickly, or have you expanded into new markets? 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 25th September, please ensure a senior member of the team/founder/board level are available **

Competition to find and keep the best talent has intensified 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.

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

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

** Judging will take place in London on Friday 09th October, please ensure a senior member of the team/founder/board level are available **

Are you an inspiring and visionary founder who has proved a concept, built a new business model or demonstrated 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 Monday 14th September, please ensure a senior member of the team/founder/board level are available **

Family firms champion economic growth, social impact and employer values. There are over 5m family firms in the UK, employing more than 14m people, according to the Institute of Family Businesses. 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 having a positive impact on their communities.

** Judging will take place in London on Monday 07th September, please ensure a senior member of the team/founder/board level are available **

Brand building is a game-changer for leaders and businesses. Combining story-telling with the right platform to reach the right audience at the right time, brand is a growth accelerator.

This new accolade, launched in partnership with award-winning broadcaster ITV, recognises a high-growth UK business that has built outstanding commercial momentum and accelerated growth through brand, reach and customer engagement. The winner of this award will demonstrate clear ambition to scale nationally, supported by strong leadership, operational excellence and a compelling brand proposition.

** Please note you cannot enter this category if you are currently or have been previously a client of ITV **

** Judging will take place in London on Monday 21st September, please ensure a senior member of the team/founder/board level are available **

Inclusive employers create an environment where anyone can thrive. They tap into the widest pools of talent, and shortlist people from a variety of backgrounds, to ensure diversity and capability that builds resilience.

Inclusion and belonging brings out the best in people, who stay longer and provide consistency for clients. Inclusion drives both employee and customer engagement, improves productivity, enables more profitable growth, and builds long-term value.

The Inclusion Award celebrates organisations and individuals that have demonstrated exceptional commitment to inclusivity, driving the right initiatives, defining the most meaningful metrics and proving the commercial case for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

** Judging will take place in London on Monday 05th October, please ensure a senior member of the team/founder/board level are available **

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 28th September, please ensure a senior member of the team/founder/board level are available **

With three quarters of mid-market firms exceeding growth targets in 2025, mid-sized businesses are forecast to contribute £745 billion to UK GVA and create an extra 1.9 million jobs by 2028 (BDO).

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 how their investment in employee engagement and development has delivered exceptional customer service and well-executed innovation to achieve impressive financial returns, sustained growth, purpose aligned with profit, and market leadership in their sector.

** Judging will take place in London on Monday 21st September, please ensure a senior member of the team/founder/board level are available **

Small to medium-sized businesses are the UK’s biggest employers and wealth generators. In 2025, there were 5.68m SMBs in the UK (up to 250 staff), employing 16.9m people and generating £2.8 trillion in revenues. Are you proud of what your company has achieved, how you have been successful, and why people choose to work 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 Friday 11th September, please ensure a senior member of the team/founder/board level are available **

Has your organisation embedded sustainability 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. The Sustainable Business of the Year Award highlights the role of organisations of all sizes in addressing social, economic, environmental and ethical challenges and achieving commercial success.

This Award will recognise those organisations that have achieved meaningful and sustainable impact through partnership, investment, employee led initiatives to demonstrably show community and environmental impact.

** Judging will take place in London on Friday 11th September, please ensure a senior member of the team/founder/board level are available **

A shared vision and purpose give direction to teams, galvanising people to achieve meaningful goals beyond commercial performance. An ambitious long-term mission engages all stakeholders, from employees and customers to potential investors.

This special award recognises organisations that have a strong purpose beyond profit, can demonstrate that integrity, ethics and a social conscience make commercial sense, have made a real impact in their community or inspired positive change in their industry.

** Judging will take place in London on Friday 02nd October, please ensure a senior member of the team/founder/board level are available **

In 2025, the number of UK scale-ups grew to a record 44,595, contributing £2.19 trillion to the UK economy and employing 3.9m people (Scale-Up Institute 2025 Annual Report). Despite representing less than 1% of UK businesses, scale-ups account for nearly half of the total economic output generated by 5.5m SMEs.

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 Friday 18th September, please ensure a senior member of the team/founder/board level are available **

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

In 2025, 5.6m small businesses with up to 50 staff employed 13m people and generated £1.88 trillion in revenues (gov.uk).

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 25th September, please ensure a senior member of the team/founder/board level are available **

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 05th October, please ensure a senior member of the team/founder/board level are available **

The UK economy has tested the resilience of firms of all sizes over the last few years, but against this challenging backdrop small and scaling businesses have proved their agility by adapting, innovating, and seizing the right opportunities to achieve growth.

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

This award recognises businesses with revenues up to £25m that are achieving growth across a range of metrics and a robust plan to deliver sustained financial success.

** Judging will take place in London on Friday 02nd October, please ensure a senior member of the team/founder/board level are available **