Enter the IW Chamber Business Awards 2026
With 17 categories to choose from, entries for the 2026 Awards are now open! Please ensure you read the FAQ section at the bottom of the page before entering.
Start-Up Business of the Year Award
This award recognises exceptional success for start-ups established in the last three years. Judges look for strength, performance, and future growth potential. You must demonstrate how your business has achieved outstanding results in a short period of time.
Young Entrepreneurship Award
Recognising Isle of Wight entrepreneurs aged 14–30 who show flair, innovation, and resilience. Judges reward ambition, creativity, and real business impact. Entries should focus primarily on activity and achievements during the 2025 calendar year.
Entrepreneurship Award
This honours success underpinned by entrepreneurial spirit. Judges look for outstanding growth, vision, and innovation that excels against sector trends. Focus on 2025 activity, though context from 2023–24 is accepted to demonstrate your driving force.
Customer Service Award
Recognising exceptional service and care. Judges look for businesses going above and beyond expectations with a strong service ethos. You must demonstrate investment in training and how high standards of care have directly contributed to business success.
Community Award
Strictly for the ‘third sector’, this awards charities and groups for exceptional success. Judges assess traditional outcomes (people helped, funds) alongside growth and sustainability. Commercial firms should enter the Business Social Impact category.
Employer of the Year Award
Recognises businesses that nurture employees through positive rewards, mental health support, and training. Judges look for exceptional investment in career progression and evidence that a holistic, supportive environment has raised business performance.
Training and Development Award
Open to all sizes, this awards commitment to staff development via training, apprenticeships or upskilling. Judges look for evidence that staff investment is a key growth strategy. Entries should focus on 2025 but may reflect on longer-term training impact.
Environment and Sustainability Award
Recognising commitment to climate action. Judges look for operational changes, such as reducing waste or carbon footprints, and nature support. Impact is judged relative to business size, rewarding those actively changing how they work to protect the environment.
Technology and Innovation Award
Honours businesses leading by example through technology. Whether it is a new product or a modernised operational method, judges look for forward-thinking organisations using tech to drive success and set themselves apart in their sector.
Tourism and Leisure Business of the Year Award
Celebrating attractions, events and leisure providers that have had an exceptional year. Judges look for distinct, high-quality experiences that enhance the Island’s visitor offer. Note: Accommodation and dining providers should enter the Hospitality Award.
Hospitality Business of the Year Award
Recognises accommodation providers, restaurants, pubs and cafés that have enjoyed an exceptional year. Judges look for distinct, high-quality customer experiences that enhance the Island’s offering, backed by outstanding business performance data.
Manufacturing and Export Business of the Year Award
For Island businesses excelling globally. Judges require evidence of exceptional performance and innovative products—from food to high-tech—that reach beyond the UK. Demonstrate strong data and how you help put the Island on the global map.
Creative Impact Award
Celebrating the creative sector. Open to agencies or businesses using creativity (digital, arts, PR, etc.) to drive results. Judges look for evidence of how creative work reached wider audiences, impacted the community or increased the bottom line.
Business Social Impact Award
For commercial businesses making a positive contribution outside typical operations. Whether supporting charities or leading campaigns, judges look for ‘giving back’ to the community. Impact is judged relative to business size. (Third sector: enter Community Award).
Growth Business of the Year
Recognises significant, sustained expansion. Demonstrate how your business is surging ahead with increased profits, market share, or staff numbers. Entries are judged relative to size and must include clear year-on-year comparisons showing remarkable growth.
Micro Business of the Year Award
For outstanding micro-businesses employing up to 3 staff. Judges look for evidence of enterprise, sustainable growth, and exceptional performance compared to similarly sized peers. You must also demonstrate a clear future strategy and potential for further growth.
Small Business of the Year Award
For outstanding small businesses employing 4 to 10 staff. Judges look for evidence of enterprise, sustainable growth, and exceptional performance compared to similarly sized peers. You must also demonstrate a clear future strategy and potential for further growth.
Entering the Awards
Yes. Your business must be based on the Island and must have completed your first full year of trading.
Yes. Any business can enter in two categories for free. Subsequent entries will be charged at £110 plus VAT per entry for IW Chamber members or £220 plus VAT for non-members.
No. The awards are open to any Island based business.
Entry criteria and application forms will be available from Monday 1st December 2025.
The Awards Entry Deadline has been extended to the 28th February 2026. All applications must be submitted via email to Awards@IWChamber.co.uk before 11.59pm on Saturday 28th February. No entries will be accepted after this time.
No. This date and time are final and any entries received after this time will not be included.
All entries must be submitted via email and to the awards@iwchamber.co.uk email address.
We will aim to acknowledge receipt of your submission via email within 4 working days.
The strongest advice we can give you is to read the entry requirements for each category thoroughly and supply the evidence required. Remember that the judges may have no prior knowledge of your business or your activity. This is your opportunity to tell your story and show them, with evidence, what makes your business so exceptional.
Your Entry and Eligibility
Entries should reflect activity in the calendar year of 2025, from January 1st to December 31st 2025. Entries should reflect activity within this time frame although year on year and historical comparisons can be included to show growth and scale.
Your award entry will be judged on your activity within the time frame of the awards not the lifetime of your business.
An award winning entry will tell a strong story well, with supporting evidence to back up the claims. Facts and figures are important but so is context – don’t forget to explain the background to your numbers and the way that your business operates. Keep things in the relevant context – the Isle of Wight business community, your sector in the UK, the global market etc.
Include photographs if necessary or they would help the judges understand what you do. Supporting materials can be submitted but your entry should stand up on its own. Make sure that all the key facts and evidence are in your main entry. Supporting material should provide further detail if required. You can include website links within your entry and this can include links to video material (eg Youtube).
If you are supplying additional material, please do so as a PDF or limited selection of documents, attached to the same email as your application form. All submissions should be less than 10MB in total for your email.
The judging panel is comprised of impartial business experts. Some are Island based, others on the mainland and some are internationally based. Your business will be judged wholly on your entry and the information that you provide. Your entry will be treated in confidence.
The judging panel will assess all valid entries. Submissions that are incomplete or exceed the word limit or any other entry requirements will not be judged. Shortlists for each category and the number of nominations will reflect the quality of submissions within each individual category. The judge’s decision is final.
Results and Feedback
A shortlist will be published following the judging process. Please look out for further communications from the Chamber.
Winners will be announced and presented with their award at the ceremony in September 2026.
The strongest advice we can give you is to read the entry requirements for each category thoroughly and supply the evidence required. Remember that the judges may have no prior knowledge of your business or your activity. This is your opportunity to tell your story and show them, with evidence, what makes your business so exceptional.
Explore the Awards
Past Winners
Explore previous award winners and discover the businesses recognised for excellence.
Sponsorship
Learn how sponsoring the Awards can raise your profile and support Island business.
Photo Galleries
View highlights from past ceremonies and relive the atmosphere of awards night.