The Categories

The awards categories have changed a little this year and have been opened out to include the wide variety of businesses we are lucky enough to have within the Forest Heath Region:

New/Start-up Business

This award is open to new businesses between one and three years old.The judges will look at how the business has progressed since the initial concept and the feasibility of the ongoing business plan.

Small to Medium Business - up to 25 employees

This award is open to any company that normally employs no more than 25 full-time staff. The judges will pay particular attention to sales growth, employment and entrepreneurial flair as well as key areas including business evolution, promotion and marketing, strategy, success and local support.

Medium to Large Business - over 25 employees

This award is open to any company, which normally employs more than 25 full-time staff. The judges will look for excellence in all areas of the business, a proven record of success, adaptability, good turnover and profitability, a strong market share or who have diversified to meet the needs of the current economic climate.

Innovation Award

Whether it's a new idea, product, method, technology, process or application this award will go to the organisation with an innovation that has transformed their business. The judges will look for evidence of a clear and innovative strategy and imaginative use of both internal and external resources.

Business Enabler

This new award recognises the contribution of providers offering value beyond support products and services for the public or private sector. This Award is for business ‘enabler’ organisations whose primary aim is to help other businesses become more profitable, cost-efficient or competitive. Judges will be looking for a business enabler who is able to identify, and instigate opportunities for key business improvement. Enablers will have the ability to continuously challenge and look for ways to improve another business’ systems, processes and practices to ensure the long term success of that business, providing reassurance of resilience, profitability and corporate reputation.

Employee of the Year

Open to all local businesses to recognize an outstanding employee who has demonstrated qualities and skills that exceed expectations. The judges will look for evidence of regularly exceeded targets and objectives. Employers wishing to nominate an employee should provide judges with an outline of the reasons why they want to nominate and relating evidence.

Customer Focus

Judges will be looking for companies with a strong customer-focused ethos, which underlies everything they do. Entrants will need to show how they go above and beyond customer expectations, ensuring everything that the company does has the customer at its core. Also entrants will need to show a strong focus on listening and acting on their customers' feedback while maintaining high customer satisfaction levels. Additionally evidence of how companies deal with specific customer care issues will be required.

Online Business

Open to all size businesses whose core business is online trading. This new award will go to the business that can best demonstrate the highest levels of delivery, site engagement & usability, security, innovation, and ethical practice.

Community Focus

Open to any size business and who can demonstrate their engagement and involvement with their local and wider community. Entrants should demonstrate consistently good citizenship and show commitment outside normal business practice to people, places and events that are not directly aimed at improving their own business profit.

Environmental Awareness Award

This award seeks to recognise businesses that have built environmental considerations into their business plans. The judges will be looking for evidence of improvements in the company’s recycling, use of scarce resources, or reductions/eliminations of pollution. Judges will be looking for evidence of a clearly articulated and widely communicated environmental strategy, together with examples of policies that have improved businessperformance and innovative approaches to environmental management.

Retailer of the Year Award

This award is open to any local retail outlet, restaurant, pub or café. The judges will look at presentation, merchandising, customer engagement and service, new concepts, staff training and community involvement. Retailers should briefly summarise their marketing strategy.

Effective Use of Marketing Award

This award is open to any business that has implemented a successful marketing campaign for it own business or that of a client. The campaign can be local or national, via hard copy or internet-based. The judges will look for a clear strategy which shows a clear return on investment and the measurement criteria used to gain this.

Judges Award

Entries to any category will automatically be entered into the Judges Award. The Award will be made to the business that the judges feel has demonstrated excellence in all areas.