Award deadlines coming up (scroll down below text for a list of awards organised by industry) 

Welcome to my latest award deadline update. As you are all experiencing, the world has completed changed in the last few weeks. Most importantly, I hope that you and your families are staying safe and healthy. The work that our front line key workers and the NHS staff are putting in to support us all is beyond words. It is also interesting to see how many businesses are adapting to the new challenges faced.
In terms of the awards industry, we have a carried out some research into how awards organisers are planning to respond (a summary of our survey findings can be found here) and the overall message here is the vast majority of schemes are postponing their events but not cancelling, so it is business as usual. A small handful of ceremonies have switched to online events (less than 10%) and the number of schemes that have cancelled entirely is thankfully less than 3%. We are finding that, in the face of adversity, we are getting a lot of companies contacting us and placing even more importance on awards, many with the same message that ‘this award would be a way of paying something back to our people.’ So with this in mind, it is on to my recommendations for awards to consider in April and May and beyond.      

It is often the case that some industries see their awards bunch together. For example, financial services in autumn, IT and technology over the new year, while the construction industry prefers the first few months of the year.

Well, with this in mind, it is fair to say that this time of the year is very much HR awards season, as well as there being some significant training awards deadlines. But it’s not all about HR, there are plenty of other great awards schemes approaching in customer contact, marketing and technology, and some of the big general business awards like The National Business Awards are now open so definitely worth including in your planning.

As ever, contact our team here at Boost if you need help with your entries or guidance on which awards to enter. But please bear in mind that we work on a first-come-first-served basis – and our capacity is filling up fast, so don’t leave it until the last minute. Okay let’s get started…

HR awards and training awards

I wanted to share a quick summary here, but for more information please check out our more detailed guides – ‘Which are the best HR awards to enter?‘ or ‘Which training awards should I enter?‘

The HR Excellence Awards (HR Magazine): These UK awards did have a March deadline, but as with many organisers timelines have been shifted, with a new deadline 30th June and the prestigious event moved to 29th October. One of the most popular schemes with our clients, they feature all the usual HR categories that you might expect, but also some more quirky ones like: Best CSR strategy and the Best Transformation Strategy Award. 

Another of the highest profile awards in the UK HR awards calendar, The HR Distinction Awards, currently display a 14th May deadline – so plenty of opportunity to re-purpose your entry for both schemes.

The Princess Royal Training Awards: These prestigious UK awards recognise good, solid, well-evaluated training – both in terms of the company-wide strategy, and one particular headline case study. It is a robust process with a huge entry form, three supporting documents and a lengthy site visit; BUT the reward at the end is royal recognition. The scheme attracts big brands, is extremely credible, and – being a multi-winner scheme – winnable, too. Very worthwhile if you put in the investment of time. While the publicised deadline was 29th March, we have spoken with the organisers and they will still accept entries in the coming weeks.

The Brandon Hall Excellence in Human Capital Management Program: These are US-based but open for international entry. A decent sized application form, but with loads of awards up for grabs. They have a deadline of 17th April. These awards are great in terms of having ninety categories covering every aspect of learning and development, leadership development and talent acquisition. We are a seeing a big increase in large companies entering this year.  

The deadline for this year’s CIPD People Management Awards is 30th April, but as with many of the more prominent awards, they offer a significant discount if you enter before the early bird deadline of 9th April, so well worth starting your entry soon.

Business awards

For a well-run, credible and well-established general business award to enter, you need look no further than The UK Business Awards. Run by Awards International, they feature some fantastic categories, for example: Best
Place to Work, Wellbeing at Work, Innovation of the Year and Best New Business. The submission deadline has been moved to 9th April so you will need to be quick.

As already mentioned, the prestigious National Business Awards are now open. You can save £100 on your entry before 24th April or wait until the final deadline 5th June. 

The Institute of Directors (IOD) Director of the Year Awards are now open for entries. The deadlines for these highly credible awards do vary by region, the majority fall in March and April, so you will need to check your area. Winners of regional events then go on to be up against other regional winners at the national event usually held in October.   

Customer contact awards

For a more comprehensive overview, please read our guide, Which are the best customer service awards to enter?

The UK Digital Experience Awards are pretty unique, in that they are the only awards that are focused squarely on customer experience in the digital space. They attract lots of big name companies keen to promote their online consumer offerings. Lots of great categories such as Best App, Best Website, Best Marketing Campaign and Best Online User Experience. You will need to get your entries in before 3rd April, although considering the circumstances I would imagine an extension could be given. 

Comms, Tech and IT awards

The CRN Sales & Marketing Awards are UK-only awards, but with a deadline of 8th April. They are aimed at the wider tech marketplace – all the way up and down the supply chain with similar sounding categories for distributors, vendor, resellers and best channel marketing/PR Agency. The Comms Business Awards are also open until 3rd April, and feature the usual categories you might expect for vendors, resellers and providers, but a few interesting new ones like Diversity in the Workplace and Women in Channel. Their event has been moved from June to 23rd October. The IT World Awards are another option. They feature a common format for US-based awards in that there are hundreds of categories to choose from, but remain both credible and winnable if you are looking for global recognition. The regular deadline is 10th April but there is a last chance deadline (with a fee) enabling entries until 8th May.     

Marketing awards

The Hermes Creative Awards, so-named after the ancient Greek messenger, are a US-based scheme open to international entry. They honour the messengers of traditional and emerging media, and are also both credible and winnable. Featuring over 200 categories, there is sure to be something suitable for you or your team to enter (16th April).  

If you are seeking global recognition, do consider The Muse Creative Awards, which aim to recognise all those pushing the creative boundaries. They feature a huge number of categories, covering everything from advertising to events, social media to content marketing. They are still accepting entries, so definitely a good choice if you are after international recognition. Also worth noting that they run a sister programme in the form of The Muse Design Awards which follow a similar format.

The Marketing Week Masters Awards: These UK awards have undergone a number of name changes over the years, but remain very credible amongst agencies in particular. Deadline here is 3rd April, with categories falling into four camps: Sector Masters, Channel Masters, Special Masters and Nominated Masters. They hold a prestigious event in London usually at the start of October. 

Finally, another pair of sister schemes to consider are the NYX Marcom Awards and NYX Video Awards – global creative awards recognising the world’s best marketing, communications and video concepts. The entry deadline for both is 7th May. 

Hopefully these highlights have provided some insights to help you plan which awards to enter. Below you will find all the awards with deadlines occurring within the next two months, organised by industry sector. Remember, do please contact Boost if you need a helping hand entering any of these – our in-house team of experienced award writers have won over 1,300 awards and can increase your chances of a win significantly.

You can also sign up for our email deadline reminder service, so that the next two months of deadlines arrive in your inbox – completely free of charge. Handy, I think you will agree!  

Stay safe and well, and let’s all keep recognising the outstanding people, teams, projects and businesses out there.

Chris.