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SME News proudly presents...

UK Enterprise Awards (2023)

SME News are delighted to present to you the annual UK Enterprise Awards, proudly encompassing a multitude of exciting and vibrant business industries from across the UK.

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Home  »  Awards  »  UK Enterprise Awards

Meet our amazing team

The Nomination Team can assist with answering any queries that you have regarding a nomination, or the process involved in taking part in one of our award programmes.

Please get in touch with us via email or over the phone if you have any questions - we are happy to help!

Meet The Team
Our Amazing Team - AI Global Media
Key Dates - Award
Key Dates

Entries Open:Thursday 22nd December 2022

Entries Close:Sunday 26th March 2023

Winners Announced:July 2023

About the SME UK Enterprise Awards

SME News is proud to announce the UK Enterprise are returning! Now in the seventh year, the UK Enterprise Awards is a highly regarded awards programme. Since the launch in 2017, the UK Enterprise Awards have shown the best and the brightest SMEs in the UK. This award is a highly successful snapshot for all the hardworking SMEs.

We at SME News are immensely pleased with the success and reach of this national awards programme. From SMEs with one employee to businesses with 200, from ecommerce to brick-and-mortar stores, the UK SME sector is a huge diverse portfolio of businesses. SME News, therefore, wants to praise these businesses and provide them with the recognition they so rightly deserve.

It goes without saying that times are tough right now for UK businesses. However, this is not the time to lose hope. Retaining and gaining new customers is the way forward, as well as using successful promotional tools to expand your network. The UK Enterprise Awards have proved successful in both of these instances. Who doesn’t want to be recognise for their hard work? Who doesn’t want to stand out amongst their competition? Who doesn’t want to display their success? The UK Enterprise Awards is one of the best tools to achieve all of these goals. SME News understands that many businesses are struggling to stay afloat, and it is for this reason why the UK Enterprise Awards are returning. Simply put, SME News wants to help all of the UK SME businesses by providing them with an equal opportunity to showcase their success.

Similar, to other awards programmes in the SME News portfolio, the UK Enterprise Awards are an innovative awards programme with our own unique method of judging. Alongside nominations and submissions, we utilise our in-house research team to source, analyse and reward businesses that we think deserve to be congratulated. Using this method, means SMEs of all sizes, and from all industries, are able to be judged equally and fairly. A novel approach to many awards programmes. We are proud of this method, and believe it allows us to justly reward those in the UK SME sector.

If you know of a business, or are a SME owner, that deserves to be recognised in the UK Enterprise Awards, then please do get in touch. Our Nominations Team are more than happy to provide any additional information, or answer questions, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

The UK Enterprise Awards have returned for seven years, because we at SME News believe in this programme. We know how important it is to recognise those in the SME sector, and we deem the UK Enterprise Awards to be a perfect opportunity to do this. Good luck to all the nominees!

FAQ's
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How long has SME News been in circulation for?
SME News was first launched in 2017 making it one of AI Global Media’s newer publications. SME News is a quarterly magazine circulated to just over 78,000 recipients. The publication seeks to inform, entertain, influence and endorse the start-up and SME business culture in the UK. We aim to achieve this by providing quality editorial and rigorous research utilising a multimedia platform capable of targeting key stakeholders of dedicated advisers, experts and contributors.

SME News is owned by AI Global Media, a UK based publisher which has over 200 issues to its name since 2010.
Where did the nomination come from?
In the interest of nurturing an environment proven to produce a high response rate, we don’t ask nominees to reveal any personal identity. With regards to methodology, we often nominate candidates ourselves and, when it comes to voting, if you didn’t cast a vote through a self-submission, it is likely to have been cast via a colleague or client who has received one of our direct invitations.

One of the main mantras of our awards system is that your ability to succeed is not linked to the number of votes received, meaning your award is presented purely on merit. In the interest of security and fairness, we track unusual behaviour on our website to identify repeat votes and cyber-threats.
What happens if I agree to be shortlisted?
In the interest of focusing our efforts on relevant and eager candidates, we ask all nominees to accept their position on the shortlist giving people complete control in the decision on whether they would like to move forward with the award. Nominees who accept are subject to our scrutiny during the internal vetting procedure and are given the opportunity to present their own data to be considered alongside information collated by our research team. This can take up to 8 weeks for final assessments to be rendered.
Who makes the final decision?
We employ an entirely impartial panel of 5 individuals to conduct all research. At the helm of the panel, is a veteran academic leader with international academic and training experience and is well versed in research, fact-checking and mediation. SME News’ research is overseen by Martyn Walters, who holds a master’s in history and experience in coaching, sales and hospitality.

This two-tiered system allows for a neutral mediator which we feel allows a more efficient method when determining individuals and companies most deserving of winning an award and has brought us much success and commendation throughout its use.
Is there a winner’s ceremony/award dinner and if so, when does it take place?
The short answer is, no.

We decided to not focus our efforts on a celebratory event. Despite being an enjoyable occasion, it doesn’t support our group’s philosophy of cost-effective marketing. We follow the belief that optional costs associated with an award are better placed in a year’s worth of online marketing for the winner rather than spending large sums on a ceremonial evening.

Our press announcements are made digitally, online and across our network to enforce our position as digital publishers. We aim to provide you with the tools (both digital and physical) to generate real-world value.
What happens if I am deemed successful?
After you have been notified we enforce a short press embargo while the programme manager will liaise with you to establish your preferred method of coverage. Generally, our coverage takes the form of a digital celebratory magazine, we also offer physical trophies, wall mounted certificates and plaques and digital certificates, web-based advertisements and press releases which can be custom designed for you or your company.
Are there any costs involved?
As mentioned there are no compulsory costs in accepting a nomination or winning an award with SME News. We do offer a variety of paid additional benefits for our winners, but these are completely optional. To demonstrate our commitment to no mandatory fees, all our winners are offered a free of charge promotional package. Our company policy will always remain: regardless of budget, our clients should always be able to garner the full value of the award and our seal of approval. We offer a variety of promotional opportunities to our winners, as we have an extensive network and we know, more than anyone, the wider business benefits from promoting industry awards.
Why does your email domain differ from your website domain?
Because we send a large volume of emails, we separate our campaign email sends from our transactional ones. This structure helps to ensure a prompt and thorough response from one of our diligent team members. The sending email address will always be recognisable but please contact us via the address on this page if you have any concerns.
Methodology
Methodology 1: Researching nominees - Full Width BannerResearching nominees

The SME News team work ardently to identify market leaders, innovators and enterprising start-ups, driving many of the nominations themselves.

We also encourage external nominations via the SME News subscribers, online visitors, social media followers, clients and wider circulation.

Nominating parties are invited to put forward either third-party businesses whom they hold in high regard, or their own organisation.

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Methodology 2: Shortlisting nominees - Full Width BannerShortlisting nominees

All nominees are formally requested to accept their nomination. Should any firm or individual rather decline at this point, they are simply taken out of the running.

Those formally accepting are given the opportunity to submit additional materials in support of their nomination. Although there is no obligation to complete and supply material, we have found that many nominees value this stage, in the process, as much as our research team do.

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Methodology 3: Evaluating and judging - Full Width BannerEvaluating and judging

Our dedicated research team will assess all information presented to them.

The team gather information independently from a variety of publicly accessible sources, which are assessed alongside any material supplied by a nominating party or the nominee themselves.

The research team casts their final judgment, based on various criteria including: client dedication, innovation, business growth, longevity, online reputation, customer feedback and business performance.

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Methodology 4: The lucky winners - Full Width BannerThe lucky winners

Once winners are determined, they are personally notified before any public announcement is made, allowing time for any communications throughout the wider business and the coordination of marketing strategies.

Unfortunately, not everyone can be a winner; however, all who take part are encouraged to come back next year.

Once the press embargo is lifted, details of our SME award winners will be made public via the website, award winners’ magazine and subscriber newsletter.

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Methodology 5: Making the most - Full Width BannerMaking the most

We are prepared to offer a range of promotional packages and items to SME award winners, which vary from inclusion in the free-of-charge winners’ directory, to trophies, content in our magazine and on our website.

We encourage all winners to publicly announce their win independently. Announcements via company websites, social media, via publicly released press releases, and through local and national press are all great ways of maximising the exposure which can be gained from such an amazing achievement. If you have need of further advice, on how to gain maximum exposure from your win, please feel free to get in touch. We are happy to assist our clients with their needs.

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The winners hall of fame

View all winners of the SME UK Enterprise Awards.

Hall Of Fame - Year Background Image2018

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Hall Of Fame - Year Background Image2019

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Hall Of Fame - Year Background Image2020

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Hall Of Fame - Year Background Image2021

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Hall Of Fame - Year Background Image2022

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Hall Of Fame - Year Background Image2023

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Every quarter we offer a new issue of SME News which is published on our website, shared to our social media following and circulated to in excess of 78,000 individuals from various sectors across the UK SME marketplace.

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