Don’t miss the chance to enter these prestigious awards. Closing date 2 September

£115,000 cash prizes & professional services offering support to entrepreneurial projects in the world of  business and in charities and social enterprises in Cheshire, Merseyside, North Wales, Shropshire and Wolverhampton.

The categories for 2011 are:

• Best New Business
• Best Business Providing Economic or Social Contribution
• Best Entrepreneurial Charity or Social Enterprise
• Best Young Entrepreneur
• Best New Business Idea by a Young Entrepreneur
• Against All Odds

Closing date: 2nd September: Free to enter & simple to apply.

With prizes of up to £2o, 000 in each category, plus invaluable professional support and publicity, these awards could help you go on to even greater success.  

Please visit www.mf-awards.co.uk for more information and to apply. Entries open on 22nd June 2011 and the closing date is 2nd September 2011.

The Morgan Foundation was established by businessman Steve Morgan OBE in 2001. Its purpose is to support charities and voluntary organisations, targeting funds to where they can make a real difference to the lives of people across the North West.

Visit www.morganfoundation.co.uk to find out more.

If your workplace is leading the way in first aid, then you could be in the running for a St John Ambulance First Aid Award.

These new Workplace Awards recognise organisations in the public and private sector that have gone above and beyond first aid legal requirements to provide an outstanding workplace for employees.

If your business or public sector organisation is shortlisted, you’ll be synonymous with first aid excellence and best practice. It will highlight your leadership in creating a safe and caring environment for staff, customers and visitors, and help to attract new recruits, investment and business. What’s more, you’ll have the opportunity to celebrate the outstanding contribution that your employees have made to a safer workplace, and encourage others to be the difference.

Entries will be judged by a panel of experts including Roger Bibbings MBE, Occupational Safety Adviser at Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and Louise Aston, Director of Business Action for Health at Business in the Community (BITC)

Winners will be announced at an inspirational ceremony at the Lancaster London hotel on Wednesday 30 November, hosted by BBC news presenter and journalist Sophie Raworth.

It’s free to enter so visit www.sja.org.uk/firstaidawards

Deadline extended until 5 August

Organisations wanting to promote their IT excellence still have the time to enter the UK IT Industry Awards organised by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, and Computing magazine. 

This year, three new categories have been added to the awards; UK innovation and entrepreneurship, embedded software and mobile technology. The deadline for entries has now been extended to 5 August.

“The Awards are about celebrating those who have excelled in IT throughout the past 12 months and always attract high quality entries from a diverse range of organisations.“ says David Clarke, MBE, Chief Executive Officer, BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, “This year we have introduced several new categories including the UK innovation and entrepreneurship Award. We hope this will encourage entries from some of the exciting start-ups in the UK. These young organisations are really important to our economy and this Award forms part of a wider BCS project; BCSEntrepreneurs, which aims to foster and support entrepreneurs.”

The annual Awards are a platform for the entire IT profession to showcase and celebrate best practice, innovation and excellence. The categories provide an opportunity for organisations and individuals involved in IT across the public, not for profit and commercial sectors.

In total there are 23 categories that cover project, organisation, technology, and individual excellence and include awards such as Security Innovation, Infrastructure Innovation, Business Project, Environment Project and CIO of the Year.

Entry is via an online application process. The winners will be announced at a gala evening event at the magnificent Battersea Park Events Arena, London on November 10 2011.

All entries must be received by 5pm on 5 August 2011. Full details of how to enter can be found at: www.ukitindustryawards.co.uk

Liverpool Chamber member Riverford Organic was last night voted Best Online Retailer in the Observer Ethical Awards for the second year in a row, voted for by the public.

The award was presented by The Observer’s Lucy Siegle at a ceremony at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London on Thursday 9th June. Other hosts of the awards were actor Colin Firth and model Lily Cole.

This is Riverford’s fifth Observer award: the company won Best Ethical Business 2009 and its restaurant, the Field Kitchen, won Best Ethical Restaurant 2009 and 2010 in the Observer Food Monthly Awards.

The organic home delivery company beat off competition from Offset Warehouse, an online shop for ethical clothing and interiors and Wiggly Wigglers, selling natural gardening supplies.

Guy Watson, Riverford founder, said “We are amazed and thrilled to have won this award for the second year in a row. The Observer Ethical Awards celebrate businesses and people that are trying to do something genuinely useful. At Riverford we aim for good food, good farming and good business so to be recognised for this is fantastic. Thank you to our customers for all your support over the years.”

Other winners included Compassion in World Farming, James Lovelock and The People’s Supermarket. The Observer Ethical Awards are now in their sixth year.

Do you know a business that deserves recognition for their animal welfare standards?

Would you like your own business to be recognised?

The annual RSPCA Good Business Awards are free to enter and open to restaurants and caterers that know their free range from their fair trade, and to fashion retailers that wouldn’t be seen dead stocking fur.

The awards are a great opportunity for one of your local businesses to gain national recognition from the leading animal welfare charity and stand out above their competitors.

Recent research shows that more consumers than ever want ethically produced goods.  For the first time, 50 per cent of UK eggs are now laid by cage free hens (source: DEFRA) and an RSPCA survey found that an overwhelming 95 per cent of people agree that fur is a fashion faux-pas.

However, around two thirds of all eggs used in restaurants, pubs and cafes - whether whole or in liquid form in quiches and cakes - continue to be sourced from hens kept in battery cages. The RSPCA wants to hear about your local food and fashion businesses that prioritise animal welfare when sourcing their products.

Previous winners  include The Co-operative, Sainsbury’s, Abel & Cole, Finisterre , Izzy Lane and George at Asda.  This year we want even more entries and are looking for catering companies, restaurants, cafes, farm shops, butchers, pubs, fashion manufacturers’ and retailers, clothing designers and brands  to enter, with seperate categories for small and large businesses.

We need you to encourage your members to seek recognition and reward and enter these prestigious annual awards.  There is no fee to enter and the award deadline has been extended to the 24th June 2011.

To nominate a business, email jaslett@rspca.org.uk or tweet @RSPCA_GBA.

To enter, visit www.rspcagoodbusinessawards.com and download an entry form.

To find out more about animal welfare in food and fashion go to www.goodthings.org.uk

Join our Linked In group at http://linkd.in/kdo2QN

Be recognised as the best by entering the Fast Growth Business Awards

Raise your company profile by entering the Fast Growth Business Awards which reward the UK’s most pioneering businesses that demonstrate significant growth and entrepreneurial flair.

The winners will be judged by a high calibre entrepreneurs, including Richard Reed, Innocent drinks and James Averdieck, Gü Puds. To be eligible to enter you need to have been trading for at least two years, be UK-based and have fewer than 500 employees.

With 12 categories the awards are tailored so you will get the recognition you and your business deserve. These include ‘New Business of the Year, ‘Innovative Business of the Year’ and ‘Online Business of the Year’. There will be one overall winner crowned the Royal Bank of Scotland Fast Growth Business of the Year’.
The benefits to enter are almost limitless; you will not only raise your profile but also receive invaluable press coverage, use of the Fast Growth Business Award logo and will no doubt witness a boost in staff morale and interest from investors, the media, and customers alike; just to name a few.

Ian Wallis editorial director of Growing Business said “The Fast Growth Business Awards never disappoint in terms of the ingenuity, ambition and hard graft of the companies that enter. The awards have a fantastic track record of picking out brands on the cusp of great things.

“Three examples of previous winners stand out for me, although there are many more: Maximuscle was sold to GlaxoSmithKline for £162m; Multimap was sold to Microsoft for an estimated £30m-plus; and LOVEFiLM sold a 58% stake to Amazon in a deal valuing the business at around £200m. For founders, employees and investors alike such deals are the culmination of what goes into that determination to be the best in their field – and to let everyone know about it.”

The deadline for entries is 24th June 2011 and winners will be announced at an awards ceremony, held at the Marriott Grosvenor Square on 4th October 2011.

For more information about the awards and to apply online, visit the http://www.growingbusiness.co.uk/fast-growth-business-awards

A share in £108 million lending available and a financial reward of up to £240,000…

At HSBC we believe that some of the world’s best thinkers are right here in the UK. Last year, we launched Business Thinking, an initiative designed to identify and support leading thinking businesses, stimulate international growth and reward those who were truly innovative.

This year it’s back and we’re inviting you to be a part of it.

Eighteen businesses will each benefit from up to £6 million of lending and a financial reward of up to £120,000, as well as the opportunity to network and gain valuable business insight into an overseas market through the campaign’s Thought Exchanges.

This initiative to find the UK’s best business thinker culminates in the prestigious International Insights finale, attended by business leaders from around the world.

Along the way businesses gain exposure in national and regional press and online.

We want to hear from you if your business:

• is based in the UK
• has been operating for 2 years or longer
• has an annual turnover of £2 million or more
• can provide Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet information for a minimum trading period of 12 months
• can provide projected financials for a minimum of 2 years
• can demonstrate how your forward thinking translates into business action
• could benefit from HSBC lending to further develop your business

Visit https://www.businessthinking.hsbc.co.uk/ and tell us why your business thinking is among the UK’s best and you could secure up to £6m funding – with 2% being paid back if you’re a regional winner.

Thursday 19 May - BT Convention Centre

Join Everton FC for the most prestigious event in the Club’s calendar during which the will celebrate and honour the outstanding performers of 2010/11.

David Moyes and members of the First Team squad will be in attendance
at the BT Convention centre for this black tie event.

Tickets - £149 (+VAT):
Pre-dinner drinks reception
Sumptuous 4 course meal served with wine
Reserved table seating
Commemorative gift

For more information or to book call Christian on 0151 530 5327 visit evertonfc.com/awards or email christian.nolan@evertonfc.com

Sponsorship packages are also available. Please call for details.

Finalists in Four Categories to Receive Commercialisation Opportunities

yet2.com, an intellectual property services firm, in partnership with NASA Tech Briefs, Clean 15, RadTech,  Steinbeis Center for Technology Transfer India and yet2 Ventures, is pleased to announce its new Step2Change Technology Competition, with submissions accepted now until March 15, 2011. 

The competition is designed to connect exciting technology companies in four leading areas to the commercial market: 

1) Sustainable Packaging;
2) Materials—lighter/stronger/better/cleaner;
3) Consumer home/health medical devices; and
4) Electronics. 

yet2.com’s Step2Change Technology Competition is organised in conjunction with yet2.com’s annual Executive Briefing conference, to take place in Boston in May, 2011. 

Competition finalists will have a chance to present their technologies at the conference to yet2.com’s exclusive audience of 100+ representatives from the Global 1000, in addition to other promotional services.  

The top Step2Change finalist will also receive a package of customised partnership/commercialisation services from yet2.com. This company will benefit directly from hands on commercialisation services from yet2.com’s global team of technology transfer specialists.

yet2.com is the world’s largest intellectual property exchange. Its client base consists of about half the Global 1000, along with hundreds of small-to-medium enterprises. Approximately 120,000 individuals involved with Open Innovation visit its global marketplace web site annually in search of new technologies. 

For its conference, yet2.com convenes Chief Technology Officers, R&D Executives, Strategic Intellectual Asset Managers, Licensing Executives, and Business Managers from companies around the globe to share open innovation best practices and to scout technology acquisitions to build into their businesses.

“This new competition is specifically designed to connect leading edge technologies to the partners and capital necessary to accelerate their access to the global market,” said Phil Stern, yet2.com CEO and co-founder.  “We hope small companies working on cutting edge technologies will realise the unprecedented access we can offer them and will decide to participate.” 

Submission details and more information are available at http://www.yet2.com/app/about/competition/home.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Liverpool Art Prize 2011 – Call for Sponsors

Liverpool Art Prize is looking for private or corporate sponsors. This is a great opportunity for you and your business to get some high-profile coverage at one the city’s leading cultural events:

• An opportunity for local businesses or individuals to sponsor and support an established major annual art prize in Liverpool.
• Exposure across the region’s rail network as well as throughout Liverpool city centre’s shops, art galleries and institutions and Liverpool’s thriving art scene.
• Promoting Liverpool’s unique creative landscape and giving national profile to artists and makers based in the city.
• Supporting the growth and development of local artists and creative industries.
• Encouraging debate and acknowledgment of the quality
  contemporary art produced in the region.
• Invitation to and business opportunity at exhibition Private View and Awards Ceremony attended by over 400* people (*based on 2010 attendance)
• The prize is founded by ArtinLiverpool.com the region’s first point of call for up to date arts and culture news receiving over 40,000 unique visits each month.

About the Liverpool Art Prize

Artinliverpool.com founded the Liverpool Art Prize in early 2008. It was one of the first major art events in the Capital of Culture year.

The exhibition and prizes acknowledges the outstanding achievements of the artists and their contribution to contemporary art within Liverpool, as well as further afield. It aims to promote national awareness and discussion of
contemporary art in the city and to support individual artists in developing their practices

It is an annual exhibition and award for artists from or based in the Liverpool City Region. The Prize has continually attracted sponsors from the local business community.

Now in its fourth year, the exhibition will take place at METAL Edge Hill Station in May/June and is now a firmly established part of Liverpool’s annual visual art diary.  This year the exhibition coincides with the University and HE colleges degree shows as well as the re-opening of the Open Eye gallery and the Look International Photography Festival.

The overall prize is £2000 and there is a People’s Choice Prize of £1000. 

The overall winner of the Art Prize is also invited to show at the Walker Art Gallery offering increased exposure to the Art Prize brand.

Last year’s winner David Jacques is exhibiting ‘The Irlam House Bequest’ from 2 February to 3 April.

The open nomination process each year attracts over 60 emerging and established artists practicing within the city region.

This year outreach activity with schools, colleges and Universities will encourage younger audiences to engage with the prize as well as artists talks and other creative activity planned for the Liverpool City Region boroughs; Liverpool, Wirral, Sefton, Knowsley, St Helens and Halton.

The Judging Panel for 2011

• Laura Davis (Arts Editor, Liverpool Daily Post)
• Moira Lindsay (Curator, Victoria Gallery and Museum, University of Liverpool)
• David Jacques (Artist, Winner of 2010 Liverpool Art Prize and shortlisted artist of the Northern Art Prize 2011)
• Paul Domela (Curator, Liverpool Biennial)
• Paul Hyland (Duncan Sheard Glass, Sponsor of Liverpool Art Prize)

Liverpool Art Prize Key events & dates:

Private View: Thursday 5 May evening
Open to Public: Friday 6 May
Awards Ceremony: 1 June 2011 evening
Exhibition Closes: 11 June 2011

Please visit the dedicated website www.liverpoolartprize.com for full details.