UK businesses have less than one week left to apply for The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise.
Now more than ever, is a vital time for great UK businesses to be celebrated and recognised, so The Queen’s Awards Office have compiled a list of top tips to help you put together a winning application!
- Register on the application system
You will then be able to download a PDF and Word version of the application form, which will help you to plan your responses and share the form with others in your business such as your accountant, marketing team and CEO. It is important to note, your application must be completed on the online system.
- Use plain English
Winning applications avoid technical jargon when describing their product/service/approach and why it is particularly successful, innovative or sustainable. The application must be easy to read and understand to assessors, even if they are not necessarily experts in your sector.
- Provide evidence
Please provide qualitative and quantitative evidence to support your statements.
For example:
a) If you are talking about how innovation has increased efficiency of your business, provide quantitative evidence of this increase.
b) If you are talking about a social mobility programme, provide evidence of how your programme has benefited your organisation, community, staff and workforce. We also need to see evidence that your organisation has improved the employability of the people engaged in your programme.
- Tell your story
We cannot emphasise enough how important it is to tell your story in your own words. We want to hear about your personal journey; why did you start the business and the key drivers for you in making your business successful and how you have tackled any hurdles along the way.
- Add collaborators to your application account
This will allow others such as the business owner, and colleagues to help and contribute to your application, as well as ensuring that someone else will have access to the form in your absence. You can also add external collaborators such as a PR agency or other contractor.
- Allow sufficient time
Plan your application properly, to allow enough time to complete it. You can do this by:
- Downloading the application form, adding collaborators and asking them to start completing specific sections.
- Using readily available information from your website/strategy/corporate plan.
- Asking your Board or management team to discuss and agree the narrative. Many winners tell us that the application questions prompted some key discussions in their business which either helped them to set new goals or made them recognise their achievements.
- For those who have previously applied, consider the feedback you have received and highlight how you have taken it on board.
The Queen’s Awards Office are here to help you with any questions you may have.
Our Helpline is available Monday – Friday, 9-5pm:
Contact us:
Email: queensawards@beis.gov.uk
Telephone Helpline: 020 7215 6880
The deadline for the 2023 Queen’s Awards for Enterprise is 1pm on 6 September. Apply now, before it's too late: https://www.gov.uk/queens-awards-for-enterprise
Good luck to all the UK businesses applying for the Awards. We look forward to receiving your application!
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