Startups Awards 2014: Open for entries

Entries for the 11th annual Startups Awards, in association with the UK’s largest business insurance broker Simply Business, are now open.

New businesses launched within the last three years have the opportunity to emulate great British businesses such as Ella’s Kitchen, Notonthehighstreet.com, Naked Wines, YPlan, Raspberry Pi, The Cambridge Satchel Company, Secret Escapes, and Beatthatquote.com as previous winners of the awards.

All interested companies need to do is click here to download their entry form.

There are 13 categories for start-up businesses to enter, including entirely new awards for Restaurant of the Year, Independent Shop of the Year, and Crowdfunded Business of the Year.

A long list of 50 companies will also compete for the Startups Awards’ People’s Champion title, voted for by Startups.co.uk’s readers.

And all category finalists will be eligible for the ultimate prize of Simply Business Startups Business of the Year, as selected by our judges, the panel for which will be revealed over the coming weeks, with famous entrepreneurs, former winners, national newspaper journalists, investors and small business experts among the line-up.

Alongside headline sponsor Simply Business are a number of great supporters of start-up and small businesses.

The Venture Funded Business of the Year is sponsored by chartered accountants and tax advisory firm haysmacintyre. The Made Simple Group, which has helped more than 300,000 people form their own business, is the Young Entrepreneur of the Year category sponsor.

One of the world’s leading internet registry companies Nominet, through its .uk domain, is sponsor of the Tech Business of the Year title. And Big Red Cloud, the fast-growing supplier of online accountancy software to small and mid-sized businesses, is sponsor of the Service Business of the Year award.

Run by Startups.co.uk, the Startups Awards has an unrivalled track record of picking outstanding fledgling businesses destined for market domination as well as some of Britain’s best-run small businesses and franchises.

Head of marketing & communications at Simply Business, Jasper Martens, commented: “From the next-generation marketing platforms to innovative swimming class franchises and flexible working solutions, the products and services entered to the Startups Awards each year give us enormous pride in our sponsorship, and enthusiasm for the years to come.

“There is simply no better celebration of business achievement in the UK right now than these awards and we’re more proud than ever to be a part of it.”

The founder of Startups.co.uk David Lester added: “Eight years ago a guy called Paul Lindley was starting a children’s food business in his kids’ playroom. He named it after his daughter, Ella’s Kitchen. In the company’s first year it won the Micro Business of the Year title at the Startups Awards. Last year, Paul sold his multi-million turnover business to a US giant with revenues of $1.37bn.

“This month, Paul was part of the United Nations Global Accelerator summit, where a select group of entrepreneurs met to discuss solutions to global issues. While very few new business owners will do half of that in eight years, if you want evidence that the Startups Awards spots real winners before the world knows about them, this is it.

“We can’t wait to start seeing the entries for the businesses that in future years will be leaders in their markets, great employers, and innovators admired throughout the UK and beyond.”

The deadline for entries is September 12, 2014. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony held at Kensington Roof Gardens on Thursday 27 November 2014.

If you think your start-up has what it takes to win, enter here now!