How it works

Nomination to
announcement

Six steps, from a local favourite to a winner. The community puts a business forward, the business decides whether to take part, and then the community votes.

Six steps

The community decides, everywhere we run.

Steps one to three

Getting on the ballot

Nothing in this half costs anything, and no business reaches a ballot without saying yes to it first.

  1. Someone puts
    them forward

    A customer, a neighbour, a supplier, or the business itself. Self-nomination is allowed; the rule here is about money, not about who does the nominating. Every nomination carries a reason, because a name on its own tells a voter nothing.

  2. The business
    accepts

    We email them. Opening the link confirms nothing. They read the category, then choose to accept or to decline. A business that never accepts never appears on a ballot, and taking part is entirely optional.

  3. They get
    their own page

    Accepting gives them a voting page at their own address, and the Promotion Studio for posters and social graphics. The link is theirs for the whole cycle and does not change.

What a nominee gets

Their own page, their own link

The voting page is the thing a business actually shares. It goes live the moment they accept, and it is where every vote is cast.

The shared link
Live from the day a nomination is acceptedOne page, one business

Share it before voting opens

Until voting opens the page shows a countdown instead of a form, so a business can post the link, print the poster and be ready on the day. Nobody can vote early.

The Promotion Studio

Social posts, story graphics and printable posters, generated with the business name and its award already on them. Free, and included with every accepted nomination.

Steps four to six

Getting a result

Voting opens on a published date and closes on a published date. What happens between the two is the part most awards never explain.

  1. The town
    votes

    A voter gives a name, an email and a mobile, then enters a code sent by text. One vote per person, per business, and they are welcome to back a café, a plumber and a dentist in the same afternoon.

  2. Every vote
    is checked

    Duplicates, unverified numbers, incomplete entries and unusual activity come out before anything is counted. Whoever is ahead when the countdown reaches zero is not automatically the winner.

  3. The winners
    are announced

    Winners are emailed, confirm their details, and get a winner page and a written citation. Businesses that did not win hear from us too, a few days later.

Whose decision it is

The count is
the whole decision

Every vote here comes from somebody who actually walks through the door, tied to a real mobile number, one per person per business. Add those up and you have the whole decision.

One vote per person, per business

Free to enter
There is no fee to be put forward, to accept, or to win. A winner can buy a trophy or a promotion package afterwards if they would like one, and turning it down changes nothing about the result.
The community decides
The votes decide who wins. We check every one of them before a result is published, and nobody in our office has a hand in it.
A vote, not a scoreboard
We never publish vote counts, for winners or for anyone else. A running score turns a ballot into a bandwagon, and a final score turns a win into a scoreboard line rather than a recognition.

Straight answers

Questions people actually ask

Set out in the open rather than folded into an accordion, because these are the answers most worth reading.

Can a business nominate itself?
Yes. Anyone can put a business forward, including the business itself. What matters is that somebody had a reason.
Is there a judging panel?
The community is the judge. The people closest to a business are the ones who vote, every vote is confirmed by text, and there is no shortlist decided behind a door.
Can a business pay to win?
No. Optional packages are offered after the result is settled, and buying one has no bearing on the vote. Declining one leaves the award exactly as it is.
Why do voters need to give a mobile number?
For the one-time code that confirms the vote. It is what stops one person voting twenty times, and it is never used for marketing.
Can somebody vote for more than one business?
Yes, for as many as they like, once each. The same number simply cannot vote twice for the same business.
Does a vote count if it is sent another way?
No. A message, a comment or a phone call is not a vote. Every vote is cast on the business’s own voting page and confirmed by text.

More detail for nominees and winners is in help and FAQs.

Now find what is
open near you

We run every region on its own dates, so what you can do today depends on where you are. Find your community and it will tell you.

No account needed. One vote per person, per business.

Choose your regionSee who has won