Startups Awards 2015: The judges

With entries for the prestigious Startups Awards 2015 rolling in, we can now reveal the stellar list of names that will be judging your business for the 12th awards ceremony.

From products and food to technology and fashion, the 2015 judging line-up includes a diverse array of household name entrepreneurs, industry leaders and business experts – all keen to discover the UK’s best and brightest new businesses.

So without further ado, the 2015 Startups Awards judges include: Dragons’ Den’s Touker Suleyman, Innocent Drinks co-founder Jon Wright, design mogul Cath Kidston MBE of the eponymous Cath Kidston brand, Divine Chocolate founder Sophi Tranchell MBE, Charles Twyrhitt founder Nick Wheeler, notonthehighstreet.com co-founder Holly Tucker MBE and MyVoucherCodes.co.uk founder Mark Pearson. 

High-profile names such as Simon Devonshire; the director of Wayra Europe and government Entrepreneur-In-Residence, and Simon Franks; chairman of  the Redbus Group, co-founder of LOVEFiLM and founder of the Franks Foundation, will also be judging awards entries.

And there’s more. Judging up-and-coming tech start-ups will be Elizabeth Varley of TechHub and Mind Candy CFO Divinia Knowles, while Will Gibbs, ventures team at Octopus Investments, and Rory Stirling of MMC Ventures, will be looking to find the start-up with potential to become the next ‘unicorn’. 

From our sponsors, judges will include Chris Slater (COO of Simply Business), Natasha Frangos (partner at haysmacintyre), Eleanor Bradley (COO of Nominet), Marc O’Dwyer (CEO of Big Red Cloud), Howard Graham (CEO, Made Simple Group) and Simon Broughton (Head of business banking, Royal Bank of Scotland).

Following the entry deadline on Friday September 11, the awards judging day will take place on October 28 with winners announced at an illustrious ceremony at Vinopolis London Bridge, hosted by comedian Alun Cochrane on Friday 27 November.

More judges are still being agreed so make sure you don’t miss out on being part of the biggest night in the start-up calendar and enter your business for the Startups Awards here.

For more information about the Startups Awards and to view highlights from last year’s judging day click here.