Small Business Awards

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Need Help With Your Nomination? We can point you in the right direction.

The Nomination Team can assist with answering any queries that you have regarding a nomination, or the process involved in taking part in one of our award programmes.

Please get in touch with us via email or over the phone if you have any questions - we are happy to help!

Meet The Team
Entries Open:Tuesday 18th July 2023
Entries Closed:Sunday 24th September 2023
Winners Announced:December 2023

About this award

Small Business Awards

Introducing the Small Business Awards

Small businesses are rightly regarded as the primary catalysts of social and economic development. According to Forbes, small businesses account for over 50% of global employment and constitute 90% of all worldwide businesses. As the predominant drivers of economic growth and employment, small businesses are invaluable to both innovation and the strength of each nation.

Corporate Vision Magazine’s Small Business Awards 2023 was established both to bring recognition to these often overlooked champions and to highlight the extent of small businesses’ beneficial contributions to society. From everyday services which add convenience and joy to our lives, to the supplementation of emergency services such as medical transport, or the delivery of aid to those in need; small businesses enhance almost every element of our lives, no matter how big or small.

Most recently SMEs have helped to provide financial and employment support to Ukrainian refugees; an undeniably valuable service for those whose future is uncertain. During the pandemic, many small businesses paused their regular operations and decided to begin producing sterilisation and PPE equipment to assist in combating the crisis. These are just two examples of how small businesses often act as vital supports to society, and how their impact does not stop at social and economic development.

Thus, the value of the Small Business Awards 2023 is indisputable and Corporate Vision Magazine is proud to celebrate small businesses of all kinds. There is no restriction as to which industry or sector that nominees operate in. The Small Business Awards 2023 is inclusive, and almost all worldwide small businesses have the possibility of being put forward.

As with all of our awards, the Small Business Awards 2023 is merit-based, and winners will not be decided by factors such as turnover or number of votes received. Our unbiased Research and Judging team work tirelessly to determine our worthy winners.

If you manage to impress our judging panel and emerge a winner, you'll have an amazing chance to showcase your accomplishments. The Corporate Vision Magazine platform reaches a substantial audience of 82,000 industry professionals, giving you an unmissable opportunity for promotion. Even if you don't feel the need to capitalize on extra promotional resources, you'll still benefit from the reputation boost provided by our complimentary accolades. These accolades serve to inform your employees, stakeholders, and clients that you're firmly ahead of your peers.

So, if you believe that your business or a business you know of is worthy of recognition, please do not hesitate to submit a nomination using the voting form below. If you would like any further information regarding the Small Business Awards 2023, you can contact us at [email protected] or by clicking the link above.

Winners

You will find details of all our award winners here. Our featured winners are included in our digital award supplement on our website and distributed to the greater circulation. All winners are included in the online directory, which can be viewed in full on the website once the embargo has been lifted and a public announcement has been made. Please feel free to browse through our archived winners lists by clicking on the appropriate year below.

201720182019202020212022

Our Awards Team

Martyn Walters - Corporate Vision Lead Researcher
Martyn has a genuine interest in business. He understands the work that goes into making a business successful and the sacrifices business leaders make in order to ensure their business thrives. Martyn is dedicated to ensuring that such commitment and hard work is recognised and that the most deserving of businesses are showcased by Corporate Vision.

Jeremy Roe - Head of Research
Jeremy is dedicated to his research team and to the readers, subscribers, visitors, nominees and award winners of Corporate Vision. Jeremy's diligent approach is carried across to this team members ensuring quality in the research carried out on behalf of the brand.

Laura Hunter - Awards Manager
Laura’s priorities lie with the clients and award winners of Corporate Vision and the team members integral in ensuring the brand showcases truly innovative and forward-thinking businesses. Growth-focused businesses make up the lions share of Corporate Vision’s target market. Laura is steadfast in ensuring that such businesses receive some great benefits for being a part of Corporate Vision and its awards programmes.

Our Methodology

Gathering Nominees

Researching nominees

The Corporate Vision team work diligently to identify market leaders, innovators and enterprising start-ups, driving many of the nominations themselves.

We also encourage external nominations from Corporate Vision subscribers, online visitors, social media followers, clients and from our wider group circulation.

Nominating parties are invited to put forward either third-party businesses whom they hold in high regard, or their own organisation.

Shortlisting

Shortlisting nominees

All nominees are formally requested to accept their nomination. Should any firm or individual rather decline at this point, they are simply taken out of the running.

Nominees who formally accept their nomination are given the opportunity to submit additional materials in support of their initial nomination. Although there is no obligation to supply material, we have found that many nominees value this stage in the process as much as our research team.

Evaluating and Judging

Evaluating and judging

Our dedicated research team will assess all material submitted by the nominee in order to determine winners based on merit, not popularity. The team also gather information independently from a variety of publicly accessible sources.

Ultimately, the research team casts their judgment based on various criteria, including:

  • Client dedication
  • Innovation
  • Business growth
  • Longevity
  • Online reputation
  • Customer feedback
  • Business performance
The Lucky Winners

Winners

Once winners are determined, they are personally notified before any public announcement is made, allowing time for any communications throughout the wider business and the coordination of marketing strategies.

Once the press embargo is lifted, details of the winners will be made public via the website, award winners’ magazine and subscriber newsletter.

Making the Most of Your Win

Making the most of your win

We are prepared to offer a range of promotional packages and items to Corporate Vision winners, which vary from inclusion in the free-of-charge winners’ directory, to trophies, content in the magazine and online advertising.

We encourage all winners to publicly announce their win independently. Announcements via company websites, social media, press releases, and through local and national press are all great ways of maximising the exposure which can be gained from such an achievement. If you have need of further advice, please feel free to get in touch. We are happy to assist our clients with their needs.

FAQs

How long has Corporate Vision Magazine been in circulation for?+
Corporate Vision was launched in December of 2014. Since then, the magazine has been published monthly to a global circulation of 155,000 business leaders, managers, recruiters and experts. The platform is bought to you by AI Global Media, a B2B digital publishing group founded in 2010. The group currently has 13 brands within its portfolio including luxury lifestyle, construction, healthcare and small business focused publications. AI Global Media is dedicated to delivering content you can trust to each of its readers, subscribers, clients and visitors.
Where did the nomination come from?+
In the interest of nurturing an environment proven to produce a high response rate, we don’t ask nominees to reveal any personal identity. With regards to methodology, we often nominate candidates ourselves and, when it comes to voting, if you didn’t cast a vote through a self-submission, it is likely to have been cast via a colleague or client who has received one of our direct invitations. One of the main mantras of our awards system is that your ability to succeed is not linked to the number of votes received, meaning your award is presented purely on merit. In the interest of security and fairness, we are able to track unusual behaviour on our website to identify repeat votes and cyber-threats.
What happens if I agree to be shortlisted?+
In the interest of focusing our efforts on relevant and eager candidates, we ask all nominees to accept their position on the shortlist giving people complete control in the decision on whether they would like to move forward with the award. Nominees who accept are subject to our scrutiny during the internal vetting procedure and are given the opportunity to present their own data to be considered alongside information collated by our research team. This can take up to 8 weeks for final assessments to be rendered.
Who makes the final decision?+
We employ an entirely impartial panel of five individuals to conduct all research. At the helm of the panel, is a veteran academic leader with international academic and training experience and is well versed in research, fact-checking and mediation. This two-tiered system allows for a neutral mediator which we feel allows a more efficient method when determining individuals and companies most deserving of winning an award and has brought us much success and commendation throughout its use.
Is there a winner’s ceremony/award dinner?+
The short answer is, no. We decided to not focus our efforts on a celebratory event. Despite being an enjoyable occasion, it doesn’t support our group’s philosophy of cost-effective marketing. We follow the belief that optional costs associated with an award are better placed in a year’s worth of online marketing for the winner rather than spending large sums on a ceremonial evening. Our press announcements are made digitally, online and across our network to enforce our position as digital publishers. We aim to provide you with the tools (both digital and physical) to generate real-world value.
What happens if I am deemed successful?+
After you have been notified, we enforce a short press embargo while the programme manager liaises with you to establish your preferred method of coverage. Generally, our coverage takes the form of a digital celebratory magazine, but we also offer physical trophies, wall mounted certificates and plaques and digital certificates, web-based advertisements and press releases which can be custom designed for you or your company.
Are there any costs involved?+
As mentioned, there are no compulsory costs in accepting a nomination or winning an award with Corporate Vision. We do offer a variety of paid additional benefits for our winners, but these are completely optional. To demonstrate our commitment to no mandatory fees, all our winners are offered a free of charge promotional package. Our company policy will always remain that, regardless of budget, our clients should always be able to garner the full value of the award and our seal of approval. We offer a variety of promotional opportunities to our winners, as we have an extensive network and we know, more than anyone, the wider business benefits from promoting industry awards.
Why does your email domain differ from your website domain?+
Because we send a large volume of emails, we separate our campaign email sends from our transactional ones. This structure helps to ensure a prompt and thorough response from one of our diligent team members. The sending email address will always be recognisable but please contact us via the address on this page if you have any concerns.