Food & Drink Entrepreneur of the Year

Napkins at the ready! From mouth-watering burgers, to silky craft ales and fiery street food; show-stopping noodles to ethical juices and eco-conscious confectionaries, the Food & Drink Entrepreneur of the Year Award will recognise and champion those entrepreneurs who are running the businesses that are taking the nations taste-buds by storm.

The winning entrepreneur(s) will have used their culinary and business prowess to create an established business that delivers a product as tantalising in taste as their entrepreneurial story!

Remember, the Great British & Northern Irish Entrepreneur Awards celebrate and champions the stories of entrepreneurs. True entrepreneurs are as much about their story as they are about their balance sheet. The Great British Entrepreneur Awards celebrate the truly inspiring entrepreneurs who are the agents of positive change in our country.

Application top tips:

Don’t fall back on cliches and tired story lines.
Don’t undersell yourself, your business and your hard work.
Give us the truth, not just the formula.
You (the entrepreneur) are the hero/heroine of your story; tell us about your ingenuity, your insight.

FAQs

What is the entry criteria?

There is no specific entry criteria for the Great British & Northern Irish Entrepreneur Awards. As long as you are an entrepreneur, and your business is registered and operates in the UK, you are free to enter!

Can applications be saved?

Yes, you will have the opportunity to save an application. In order to do this, you will need to register for an account and ensure you remember your login details, as these will allow you to access your account in the future.

Can I enter more than one category?

Absolutely! If you feel that your business is suited to more than one category, we actively encourage you to enter more than one. However, do be sure to tailor each application to the relevant category, rather than using the same generic application across all.

Can I include supporting documents?

Yes, there is the opportunity to upload supporting documents along with your submission during the application process. All supporting documents will be provided to the judging panel alongside your application. There is a maximum upload limit of 10MB for these supporting documents.

Should I use client testimonials?

Absolutely! If you have any testimonials that you feel would help with your application, you can submit them along with your supporting documents.

Can I alter an application once submitted?

An application can be amended after it is submitted up until the entry closing date, however we advise against this. It is for this reason that we highly recommend that submissions are thoroughly proofed beforehand.

When is the entry deadline?

The entry deadline for the 2020 Great British & Northern Irish Entrepreneur Awards is 22/05/2020. Any extensions to entry deadlines will be announced via the website, social media and email.

What is the judging process?

The Great British & Northern Irish Entrepreneur Awards have a stellar panel of judges across multi sectors.

Each judge is allocated entries which match their areas of expertise. Your entry will be judged based on answers to the 4 qualitative questions on the entry form along with supporting documents uploaded.

The judges will mark each question and give a rating out of 10 and make comments to justify their scoring.

Based on the ethos that these awards celebrate the story of the entrepreneur and not just the balance sheet, there is an element of subjectivity around judging. Applicants should make sure they really use the space to highlight the key milestones within their journey.

In previous years, judges have scored applications highly that shine a light on innovation, challenges overcome, adversity, vision, passion and tenacity.

Judges will review applications independently, however judges within a category may also collaborate with one another, particularly if the scoring is close.