Introduction

Entering business awards can be very worthwhile for your business. There can be a diverse range of benefits. The UK website for the family business awards sums up some of these benefits very well.

“Putting your business forward for an award can reap a host of benefits and values beyond the trophy and title. For any business, entering awards requires time and energy, but the investment can return dividends, both internally and externally. One of the clearest benefits of winning an award can be the immediate boost to workplace morale, particularly if employees have been involved in the entry process. Employees enjoy working for successful companies and winning or being shortlisted for an award gives you the opportunity to recognise your employees for their contribution to the business – as well as gaining an edge in the recruitment market.

Perhaps the value to profile, reputation and market positioning are more measurable, and in particular for existing customers, there's the reassurance that they have made a good choice in working with a business that has been recognised with a prestigious award. For prospective customers, an award win can set you apart from your competitors, and can help persuade a potential buyer to appoint your business.

Then there's the judging process itself. We've had some interesting feedback from companies reaching the final interview round of the Midlands Family Business Awards. Whilst most agree it is a daunting prospect, judging, in fact, proved to be a supportive and highly useful consultation process. The awards finalists had the rare chance to discuss their business with successful business leaders, who often gave them serious food for thought for how they could create an edge to maximise business potential and plans.

Very often there are also opportunities to build contacts, meet and network with other award participants, businesses, potential customers and advisers, building the all-important network of contacts within a forum for business development and best practice knowledge exchange. A strategic approach to entering awards gives you the opportunity to take a step back from the business, assess your achievements, and consolidate this for the award entry. Identify the features of the business that really matter to you and your customers – whether client service, working to support the local community, or raising your environmental credentials and standards, and then identify and utilise an award to help you position the business as an expert in this field.

The right award and any successes within it will raise profile and brand awareness, and entrants should always strive to embrace this and take advantage of the PR and profile opportunities it brings. More than this, it will provide recognition of your hard work, bring a positive and celebratory vibe, differentiate you from your competitors, and provide an independent seal of approval and quality.” (from

Business Award competitions are great for exposure and SEO (search engine optimisation), even if you are ‘just’ nominated. And one of the best things about winning an award is that you are pretty much guaranteed some nice SEO links back to your site. Following a win of a business award it is usually possible to include the awards logo on your marketing material, stationery and packaging.

In the following pages we have outlined a range of awards that may be most suitable for Westmeath small and medium businesses to enter. This is by no means an exhaustive list. We have divided the awards into broad categories, in reality some of the awards could slot into several categories. Of course there are many very specialist business sector awards for businesses from hairdressers to butchers to architects. We have not outlined these here as they are very sector specific;a business operating in the sector will already be aware of them.

Some of the awards have an entry fee but most do not. Many of the awards speak about a ‘nomination’ but in most cases self nomination is possible. If this is not the case it will be clearly stated. The actual prizes vary greatly from cash to trophies to business mentoring and advertising etc. The intangible benefits of awards can be huge and varied as outlined in the piece above from the ‘Family Business Awards UK’. Do not dismiss an award if there is no cash prize. It is a good idea to look through previous award winners to get an idea of what is required.

Awards schemes can change over time. Some come and go depending on sponsorship. In others award schemes categories are added and removed. A business interested in entering will need to keep a close eye on the relevant websites and business media.

A business also needs to look carefully at all the awards schemes before choosing which to enter. The awards under the ‘IT’ heading can be relevant to a business in any sector if the business has a website, blog or is active on social media. Other awards such as environmental or corporate social responsibility awards can also be relevant to businesses in many sectors. At first glance some awards may appear to be geared towards very large businesses but there is often a special category for small and medium enterprises. Also take note that many of the awards are active on social media as well as having websites. Many have facebook pages, twitter accounts and blogs.

Do not despair if you do not win awards. It can be a great learning process and a chance for a small business team to take a step back and reflect on the big picture for the business. The whole process will motivate you and drive you to strive for constant business improvement. Best of luck….

General Business Awards

LEO National Enterprise Awards –

TheNational Enterprise Awards celebrate the achievements of Ireland’s micro-enterprise sector. The awards recognise and celebrate the success stories of small business owners from all over the country. The winner of the 2013 National Enterprise Awards was Paul Collins, Founder and Managing Director of DesignPro Ltd. Previous winners down through the years have included Irish Yogurts from West Cork, Hot Irishman Irish Coffee from Carlow and Grouse Recording Studios from Westmeath. Each Local Enterprise Office holds it’s own County competition and the winner in each County goes forward to the national competition. For further information contact your Local Enterprise Office

Tel: 044-9338945E-mail:

Midlands Gateway Chamber – Best in Business Awards –

The Midlands Gateway Chamber serves as the representative lobby group that supports issues and projects that are critical to enhancing business growth in the Midlands region. Representing Athlone,Tullamore and Mullingar as a single entity, the Midlands Gateway Chamber was formed in 2007 by forward thinking members of the town Chambers who recognised the need for one regional voice representing the midlands. Every year the Midlands Gateway Chamber celebrate the best businesses operating from the Midlands. The Midlands Gateway Chamber Best in Business Awards are open to all businesses operating in Laois, Offaly, Longford and Westmeath whether they are a Chamber Member or not. The 2014 ‘Best in Business Awards’ were presented in May 2014. Categories of awards presented included - Emerging new business award, Best multinational business award, Best cultural tourism award, Green initiative award, Employer of the Year award, Retail excellence award, Best business website, Best customer focus award, Outstanding business award, Business person of the year award and lifetime achievement award. Keep an eye on the website and local media for details of the 2015 awards.

Tel: Pat O’Neill, President 086-8255223

E-mail:

SFA National Small Business Awards-

The Small Firms Association (SFA) is the national organisation exclusively representing the needs of small enterprises (i.e. those employing less than 50 employees) in Ireland. The SFA runs an annual business awards competition. There are eight Categories – Manufacturing, Food and Drink, Services, Outstanding small business, Innovator of the Year, Energy & Environmental Sustainability, Small business exporter of the year and emerging new business. As of Dec 2014 six finalists have been chosen for each of the eight categories. The winners will be announced at a special event in March 2015. A company can enter for the awards or be nominated for the awards. After March 2015 the process for entering and nominating for the next years awards will begin with an official launch in Aug / Sep 2015.

e-mail : or / Tel: 01-6051664 / 6051500

Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards –

These well known awards culminate with a televised awards ceremony in October each year. There are 3 award categories – EY International Entrepreneur of the year, EY Industry Entrepreneur of the year and

EY Emerging Entrepreneur of the year. Applications / nominations can be made online. In 2014 the deadline was 17th March. 24 businesses were shortlisted for the 2014 awards.

Tel: 01-2212250E-mail:

Inaugural Irish SME Awards sponsored by Blacknight –

This event will take place in the Radisson Hotel, Cork on April 25th. The closing date for nomination is Feb14th. Businesses can be nominated in up to 3 categories including – Family run business, Under 30s business, Retailer, Online retailer, Food & Drink, Customer focus, Startup, Community minded, Environmentally minded, Company transformation using IT, Company transformation, New product/service, B2B Exporter and B2B SME growth. To enter visit the SME Awards nomination page. You need to be the owner or agent of a company in order to nominate it, and you can go back anytime up to the closing date to modify entries.

Ulster Bank Business Achievers -

“By entering the Awards you will have the opportunity to be one of our provincial winners in Leinster, Ulster, Munster and Connacht, in one of our eight award categories. You will also compete to be our overall national Ulster Bank Business Achiever Award winner for 2014! Entries are open to all businesses north and south of the border. There are eight categories in total and businesses can enter a maximum of two of these categories choosing the ones that best match their business description.”

E-mail:

Ulster Bank Group Centre, George’s Quay, Dublin 2

The Marketing Institute All Ireland Marketing Awards –

There are 19 categories in all but the ‘Small business marketing award’ may be the most relevant for LEO clients. It is possible to enter online through the website. There is an entry fee, the closing date for 2015 entries is 5th Feb. 2015 and the awards will be presented at an event in May 2015.

Contact person is Monica Hallinan 01-2160154 /

Tel: 01-2952355 E-mail:

All Ireland Seedcorn Competition – Intertrade Ireland –

This is an investor readiness competition. The Seedcorn competition mirrors the real life investment process and can greatly improve your ability to attract investment for your business by helping you and your business become investor ready. The competition is aimed at early and new start companies that have a new equity funding requirement and has a total cash prize fund of €280,000. The competition normally launches around April each year with a closing date at the end of May. The application process involves filling in a short application form telling us about your business and provision of a visual representation of your business idea. This can either be a short video clip or a slide show presentation or both. You will be given a time slot in early June in which to upload your visual. For further information contact Conor Sweeney.

Tel: 048-30834151E-mail:

Bank of IrelandStartup Awards -

The Startup Awards are all about recognising the very best of young Irish businesses and rewarding them for their innovation, endeavour, and graft. The 2014 awards had up to 15 categories with gold, silver and bronze awards given in each. These awards have been running for 3 years. There are four rounds in the competition. Entry is via on online entry form on the website

Food / Restaurant and Hospitality Sector Awards

Blás na hEireann Irish Food Awards -

Blas takes place annually on the first weekend in October each year. “Our aim is to recognise and reward the very best tasting Irish food and drink products and the passionate people who make them. The awards are now in their 7th year and all Irish companies are invited to enter. The products are tasted by panels of selected judges in two tranches resulting in the winning products being awarded Gold, Silver & Bronze as well as some key awards such as Best in Farmers Market and Chef’s Choice.” There is a facility for online entry through the website. Initial judging takes place in Aug & Sep each year.

General enquiries to Fallon at 087-9029329 /

Postal address: Blás na hEireann, 10 Emlagh, Dingle, Co. Kerry

Great Taste Awards- greattasteawards.co.uk or finefoodworld.co.uk/awards/great-taste-awards

Great Taste, organised by the Guild of Fine Food, is the acknowledged benchmark for speciality food and drink. It has been described as the ‘Oscars’ of the food world and the ‘epicurean equivalent of the Booker prize’. Quite simply the Great Taste logo is the sign you can trust when buying food and drink in your local, quality retailer. Over 400 judges, including 40 specially trained food writers inputting judges’ comments, come together at 50 judging days from April through to mid-July including a week in Belfast, with the remainder done at Guild HQ in Dorset. The judges, from all corners of the food world, blind-taste in teams of 4 or 5 ensuring a balance of expertise, age and gender.

Entries open in Feb each year. In 2014 entries were limited to 10,000.Members of the Guild of Fine Food were allowed submit entries earlier than non members. About 496 Irish Food Producers got Great Taste Awards in 2013. There is a 1*, 2* and 3* award.

Contact e-mail is / Tel: +44(0)1963-824464

The Irish Quality Food and Drink Awards -

Open to all Irish retailers, food producers, wholesalers, and food service operators in both the North and South.A 'Q Award' is presented to the winning product in each of the retail categories. Commended and highly commended products will also receive awards and be given a corresponding logo that they can use to promote their achievement in their marketing and on-pack. A 'Gold Q' is the ultimate accolade which is awarded to the one product that stands out from all other entries within a category. It is selected from the winners of all the main categories and represents the ‘best of the best’. The inaugaural Irish Food and Drink Awards took place in 2013. Each year there are categories for food, drink and small producers. The awards are launched in March each year with the final award ceremony taking place in September.

Contact Lara MonahanProject Manager - Tel: 01-817 6363
Email:

Bord Bia Food and Drink Awards –

The Bord Bia Food and Drink Awards are designed to recognise and reward excellence in the Irish food and drinks industry. These awards take place every two years. They last took place in 2013 so they should be taking place again in 2015.

Irish Cheese Awards (Cáis – The Irish Farmhouse Cheesemakers Association) -

These awards take place at the Bloom Festival in the PhoenixPark at the end of May / early June each year. This is the only competition dedicated entirely to Irish cheese. Bloom provides a great platform for the awards and Irish cheese attracting over 100,000 consumers.

Contact Helen from the Cáis Group on 021-4882336

National Organic Awards –

The National Organic Food Awards returned in 2014 to mark the achievements of Irish organic food and drink growers and manufacturers. There are several award categories(some categories are fresh, processed, new, export, innovation and direct selling). and entry forms could be e-mailed or posted. The closing date was in September. For further information contac Linda Cullen at Bord Bia.

Tel: 01-6142278E-mail:

World Cheese Awards (The Guild of Fine Food) – /

For the 2014 awards “close to 2600 entries were staged in a massive 1000m2 area within the main BBC Good Food Show London with judging taking place on the opening day, November 14, in front of a live consumer audience. Our 250 experts from around the world worked in teams of four, identifying medal-winning cheeses through the morning. Each team awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze or ‘no award’ to each cheese on its own merits.” The closing date for entries in 2014 was 3rd October. Contact Charlie Westcar through the website for further details on the 2015 event.

John and Sally McKenna –

According to their website “The McKennas' Guide Plaque is the most respected badge of merit in Irish contemporary food. Awarded only to those who are described in the McKennas' Guides, the plaque is the ultimate signal of culinary creativity and imagination.” The guide plaques indicate some of the best places of eat, shop and stay in Ireland.