Buckinghamshire Business Awards Terms and Conditions
General
Any registered private sector organisation or company located in Buckinghamshire that has been trading for at least 12 months is eligible to enter the awards.
If your organisation is part of a larger business or a franchise your organisation must function as a separate business unit in the county of Buckinghamshire.
Sponsors of awards are eligible to enter the Buckinghamshire Business Awards, but not within the category that they are sponsoring.
Entries cannot be accepted from any business which is part or wholly funded by any local authority.
All entrants are expected to declare if they consider themselves to have any interest in the sponsoring organisation of the category(ies) that they are entering. Our conflict of interest policy is designed to preserve the impartiality of the judging process by ensuring that all parties recognise and disclose any potential conflicts. All steps will be taken to avoid and/or manage these situations as they arise.
All entrants must agree to be interviewed by awards judges.
Additional supporting information, such as photographs and testimonials, is acceptable, and should be relevant to the last 12 months.
All entrants and finalists are invited to attend the Buckinghamshire Business Awards Dinner. This is a formal event during which the awards ceremony is held and the winners are announced. No results will be announced before this date.
Judging
Once your entry is submitted, the hard work begins for the judges tasked with assessing all entries. Sponsors usually take on the role of judging their award or nominate a member of the Buckinghamshire Business First team to shortlist on their behalf.
Shortlisted entries will receive site visits in order to determine finalists and category winners. If your entry is shortlisted, you will need to be available between mid-April – mid June 2019 to receive a visit.
Being shortlisted and visited by a sponsor/judge doesn’t necessarily secure your place as a finalist and we ask that you treat this visit as confidential at this stage.
All selections of finalists and winners will be reviewed by an independent judging panel made up of experienced business professionals and representatives from Buckinghamshire Business First.
Category finalists will be considered for the overall Buckinghamshire Company of the Year 2021 Award. No ‘entry’ is required for this award as this is judged on the overall application of category finalists as well as subsequent finalist site visits.
Charities will not be considered for the overall Company of the Year Award.
All entries are treated in confidence. Judges, including the independent judging panel are required to sign a non-disclosure agreement that prevents them from sharing any information in relation to entrants outside of the judging process.
When judging has concluded, entry submissions will be destroyed by the judges.
The judges’ decision is final and no communications will be entered into.
Finalists
Judges will choose 3 finalists for each category, and finalists will be officially announced on 11th July 2019.
A representative from each of the finalist companies will need to attend the awards ceremony. One free ticket will be provided and more can be bought for staff and family in order to make the night a true celebration.
Each finalist must agree to take part in publicity and by entering the awards you agree to this.
The winner of each category will be announced from the 3 finalists on the night.
Entries submitted by anyone under 18 will require a signature from his or her parent or guardian.
Successful candidates will be shortlisted and invited to pitch to a panel of experts within three weeks following the respective deadline in April 2019.
All entries are treated in confidence. Judges, including the independent judging panel are required to sign a non-disclosure agreement that prevents them from sharing any information in relation to entrants outside of the judging process.
When judging has concluded, entry submissions will be destroyed by the judges.
The judges’ decision is final and no communications will be entered into.
The winner will be notified in May and the name will be announced at the Business Awards Ceremony on October 2019. The Winner will receive 2 free tickets to attend the awards ceremony.
Entries can be submitted by anyone of any age but anyone under 18 who is chosen as a Finalist must be accompanied by an adult to the Awards ceremony.
The successful candidate can and will start in September 2019 if desired and an application for this course does NOT need to go via the UCAS process.
The typical A-level offer is normally BCC-BBB, IB:30-32, BTEC: DDM from relevant National Diploma or equivalent UCAS Tariff points and other factors may be taken in to account.
Applicants with BTEC qualifications are welcome to apply, including if you have a mix of BTEC and A levels.
Applicants must also have GCSE English and Maths at Grade C / Grade 4, or above (or equivalent).
Use of data and how we communicate with you
Your data will be held/stored by Buckinghamshire Business First and we will retain a copy of your Award entry and any supplementary information. We are committed to looking after your data and complying with all relevant legislation. For more details please see our Privacy Policy.
By providing your email address you agree to receiving emails from the Buckinghamshire Business First Group. You can unsubscribe at any time.
We will collect, process, store and use the data you provide to enable us to run the Awards, judge your submission and manage our relationship with you effectively, lawfully and appropriately. This applies when you register for the Awards, whilst you’re at the Awards and after the Awards in line with our wider Privacy Policy. This includes using information to enable us to comply with the Awards terms and conditions, to comply with legal requirements, to pursue the legitimate interests of Buckinghamshire Business First and protect our legal position in the event of legal proceedings.
When registering to attend the Awards, you give your consent for Buckinghamshire Business First to share your data with the Awards Judges and Sponsors and for us to use this data to keep you informed about those specific Awards and any subsequent Awards that we believe would be relevant to your interests. Judges and sponsors change from year to year for the most up to date list see here or email info@bbf.uk.com.
You also agree to your data being shared with our production partners including PR company and video production company. Please email us at info@bbf.uk.com if you wish to know the details of our current production partners.
All entries are treated in confidence and Awards Judges and Sponsors are required to sign a confidentiality agreement that prevents them from sharing any information in relation to entrants outside of the judging process without the Applicants prior written consent.
Judges and Sponsors are required undertake to use the same degree of care to protect the Confidential Information of applicants and to destroy confidential information within 1 month of the date of The Buckinghamshire Business Awards Ceremony.
Information provided in support of entries will not be returned and paper copies will be destroyed securely post awards.
For reasons such as security and health and safety, we may share the data you’ve provided with the venue hosting the Awards. This will always be limited only to data required for specific purposes. For example, if you have specified dietary requirements or food allergies we will pass on your name and request to the venue.
You may, at any time, update and amend your preferred method(s) of communication or, opt out of receiving communications from Buckinghamshire Business First by emailing info@bbf.uk.com.
Whist registering for the Awards, we will also ask if you are a member of Buckinghamshire Business First. If not, and if you give your consent, we will contact you to provide information about the benefits of joining.
By submitting the application you consent to us taking pictures or recording video of you at the Awards to use on social media, the website, event and/or Awards marketing or in a press release to promote our activities. If you wish to withdrawn your consent for us to use images/video of you please email info@bbf.uk.com with your name and the Awards at which the image was taken.