Restaurants that have been trading for three years or less have been encouraged to enter the 11th edition of the competition, which is introducing the new Restaurant of the Year category. David Lester, founder of Startups.co.uk, said: “The quality of entries so far has been very high, and due to high demand we have decided to extend the deadline to give everyone a chance to enter. If you are proud of what your business has achieved then take a look – there are a wide variety of categories and the recognition gained from just taking part, let alone winning, is so valuable.”
Previous hospitality winners include Ella’s Kitchen, Naked Wines, Joe & Seph’s Gourmet Popcorn and Secret Escapes.
2014 categories
This year’s awards include 15 categories, among which Independent Shop of the Year – another new entrant.
- Simply Business Startups Business of the Year
- Venture Funded Business of the Year
- Service Business of the Year
- Tech Business of the Year
- Young Entrepreneur of the Year
- Innovative Business of the Year
- People’s Champion
- Crowdfunded Business of the Year
- Franchisee of the Year
- Home-based Business of the Year
- Independent Shop of the Year
- Mumpreneur of the Year
- Product Business of the Year
- Restaurant of the Year
- Woman in Business Award
Entries will be assessed by 21 judges, including entrepreneurs, CEOs and managing directors, as well as media experts.
Winners will be announced at a ceremony organised by Startups.co.uk and sponsored by Simply Business, at Kensington Roof Gardens, London, on Thursday 27 November 2014.
Head of marketing and communications at Simply Business Jasper Martens added: “This is an awards ceremony that is one of the most eagerly-awaited in the calendar and which regularly provides some incredible stories of entrepreneurship. There is simply no better celebration of business achievement in the UK right now, and we have some of the country’s greatest business brains on our judging panel. I would advise companies to get their entries in as soon as possible.”