The award categories for the Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Business Awards are:
The Sir Allen McClay Young Business Person Award
This award recognises the exceptional work of young professionals or managers in any aspect of business. This category is open to all young business people, including entrepreneurs and managers, 30 years and under on 17th January 2022. Applicants will need to demonstrate the most impressive business successes in their career to date and show significant promise as a future leader in business.
Applicants can put themselves forward, or be nominated by another person. The judging panel will be looking for applicants who have demonstrated a track record of young entrepreneurship.
Applications will be judged on the following criteria:
- A summary of professional achievements and business successes
- An endorsement from the employer or a client (if applicable)
- Measurable evidence of successful business performance
Best New Business Award
The Best New Business Award recognises a successful new business in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area that started trading from May 2019 and will be judged on the following factors:
- Description of the business and how it was established to address a market need
- Business growth in the past two years and plans for future growth
- Challenges the new business has faced and how the business has pivoted to overcome these challenges
Commitment to Sustainability and Responsible Business Award
This award recognises businesses that embrace their responsibility to the environment, consumers, employees, local communities and/or other stakeholders in the public sphere with a view to celebrate the positive impact of business on the local community in the Borough of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon.
Applications will be judged on how the company embraces their responsibility to one or more of the following:
- Environment
- Employees
- Local communities
- Other stakeholders
Best Hospitality Business Award
This award celebrates the best hospitality businesses in the Borough. The award is designed to attract applications from establishments such as accommodation providers, restaurants, pubs, cafes and any form of tourism businesses and the talented individuals behind them. This award category is open to all private sector related hospitality businesses based within the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area.
Applications will be judged on the following criteria:
- How they meet and exceed customer expectations
- Accolades and Achievements
- Range of services offered
*please note that all finalists will need to have a satisfactory approval rating from Environmental Health if their business serves food.
Excellence in Manufacturing Award
This award specifically recognises excellence in manufacturing and will identify those organisations in the Borough of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon which have delivered remarkable performance and results and made a significant contribution to the manufacturing and engineering sectors. Entrants will need to demonstrate that their business is rooted in high quality research and development, the use of the most up-to-date equipment and processes, and is committed to developing a highly skilled workforce.
Applications will be judged on the following criteria:
- An outline and profile of the business and how it demonstrates manufacturing excellence
- Challenges the business has faced in the past and how the business has pivoted to overcome these challenges, identifying manufacturing innovation and sustainability
- Clear indications on quality standards, efficiency and sales performance
Excellence in Customer Service Award
This award recognises a business that can demonstrate across its organisation a commitment to providing the very highest level of customer service, and in doing so can be described as truly customer focused. The Excellence in Customer Service Award is open for applications from service providers of any size in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area.
Applications will be judged on the following criteria:
- Customer service strategy/policy
- How they exceed customer expectations
- Accolades and achievements in relation to customer service
Best Innovation Award
This award celebrates new ideas, processes, products, services, technologies and applications that have the greatest impact on an organisation’s success and the Borough’s reputation as an innovative place. This award will recognise a business that has most successfully applied innovation to their own or another organisation and can demonstrate how they have improved business results and financial performance through innovation.
Applications will be judged on the following criteria:
- Briefly outline the issue the innovation was designed to resolve & how has the innovation achieved this?
- Evidence of how a culture of innovation has been adopted within the business
- Evidence of how the innovation improved business performance?
Best Social Enterprise Business Award
The Social Economy Business Award is for businesses that trade for social or environmental purposes in the community sector, the voluntary sector or the social enterprise sector. This award recognises the outstanding work carried out by social entrepreneurs in the Borough of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon and marks the contributions they have made in changing the future of their communities for the better.
This award is open to all social enterprises located in Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council area that have applied commercial strategies to maximise improvements in human and/or environmental well-being.
Applications will be judged on the following criteria:
- How the business has a clear social or environmental mission that is set out in its governing documents
- How the business is an independent business and earns more than half of its income through trading
- The company’s aims and objectives for working with the local community
- Initiatives or strategies that the organisation has implemented to make a positive impact on the local community or individuals
- Reinvests or gives away at least half of its profits or surpluses towards its social purpose
- Is transparent about how it operates and the impact it has
Best Business Growth Award
This award is for businesses that have achieved demonstrable growth by implementing a growth strategy for their business within the past three years. This award is open to all businesses in the Borough of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon that can demonstrate growth in one or more of the following areas; turnover, profit, staff numbers, market share and or geographic coverage.
Applications will be judged on the following criteria:
- The specific areas in which the business has grown and over what timeframe
- The factors that influenced the business growth
- How the business facilitated this growth
Best Family Business Award
This award celebrates and recognises the achievements of established family owned businesses across all industry sectors that have successfully blended strong business acumen and family engagement. The applicants will be judged on distinctive business practices that have helped the business prosper and grow alongside the family commitment to smooth succession planning.
Applications will be judged on the following criteria:
- Story of the business including the family members involved and their job roles
- Evidence of business growth over the years of the business
- The contribution the family business has made to the local community
- Accolades and achievements of the family business
Best Apprentice Employer Award
In this category we are looking for the best apprentice employer within the Borough. Whether you are an employer with a great scheme or an apprentice in an amazing workplace, let us know why your company deserves to win.
Applications will be judged on the following criteria:
- Showcase your ongoing commitment, contribution and the success that apprenticeships have brought to your organisation.
- Include examples of best practice which makes your organisation’s apprenticeship programme better than the next.
Best Place to Work Award
Are you a company that can demonstrate success in attracting and retaining staff by creating a rewarding and supportive workplace in which employees feel engaged, trusted and appreciated? Let us into the secrets of how your values have led to a committed, effective and motivated workforce.
Applications will be judged on the following criteria:
- Briefly outline your success in attracting and retaining staff.
- What sets your company apart as the best place to work?
Best Agri-Food Business Award
The Borough is now firmly established as the Food Heartland of Northern Ireland such is the significance of food and drink production in this area. This award is for businesses operating in the agri-food sector within the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area. This includes food and drink producers, farm-based enterprises and companies providing products and services to the agri-food industry.
Applications will be judged on the following criteria:
- Information on the product portfolio offered by the company
- Evidence of business growth
- Current or future export opportunities
- Information on the marketing activities conducted by the company
- Commitment to product innovation and Research & Development.
Best Transport and Logistics Award
This award recognises a business whether small or large that can act as a ‘champion’ for the Transport and Logistics sector in the borough and beyond. A business that demonstrates its key position in the supply chain and its dedication to the growth of the economy through its business development, innovation and commitment to its people and the environment.
Applications will be judged on the following criteria:
- Outline how you can be a Champion in the Transport and Logistics Sector
- Briefly outline your key position in the supply chain during the past two years
- Describe your business success in the areas of development, innovation, commitment to people and environmental
- Demonstrate the level of growth the business has achieved in the past two years.
