Spettacolo
Dot London Small Business Awards Shortlist Revealed
Judges for the inaugural , headed by entrepreneur and BBC 'Dragon' , have announced the shortlist for the awards. Now, the general public can visit http://www.awards.london to decide which London-based small businesses will be crowned Dot London Small Business Awards 2015 winners - voting opens at 5pm on 17 November.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151117/288274 )
The Awards recognise a range of industries across 12 categories, from Best Places to Eat and Drink, to Creative Agency of the Year. The winners of each category will receive £1,000, one-to-one mentorship on how to improve their online business presence, and a free Dot London domain name for a year*. There is an additional prize for the winner of the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award of a year-long membership to the Federation of Small Businesses.
Joining Sarah Willingham on the judging panel are the leading business minds behind some of London's most successful brands including health-led fast-food chain, ; folding bicycles pioneers, ; online designer furniture retailers, ; craft beer brewers, ; and fashion and gift retailer, .
, said: "We have been overwhelmed by the quality of the entries for the Awards. The ingenuity of these London-based small businesses, their drive and ambition to succeed, has been inspirational. It was really tough for us to choose our shortlists. I'm very excited to see who the public will choose as their 12 worthy winners."
Amongst the categories is the Dot Londoner of the Year award which is only open to businesses with a Dot London web address. The six finalists in this category are: , social enterprise and online fashion outlet selling hand-made clothes and accessories; , festival organisers and listings website for the capital's best bars; , British stationery gifts company; , micro bakery and tutor; , street food vendor; and , Peckham based yoga studio.
, said: "Through the Dot London Small Business Awards we are aiming to recognise the entrepreneurs who have successfully brought innovative ideas to London's business community, ensuring that the capital continues to be recognised as a global centre for talent, skills and business acumen. We're very proud that Dot London can pay tribute to the growing small business sector through these Awards."
According to recent data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS)**, London has the highest concentration of small businesses in the UK with over 436,210 small businesses registered in London in 2015, 43,600 more than the previous year, making up a staggering 98 percent of all companies registered in the capital.
The public voting will close at 5pm on 8 January 2016 and the winners will be announced at the Awards ceremony on 21 January. For more information and to vote visit http://www.awards.london.
*Subject to availability
**The sources are the 2015 ONS paper "UK Business: Activity, Size and Location"
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/bus-register/uk-business/2015/stb-uk-business--activity--size-and-location--2015.html
The 12 categories for the Dot London Small Business Awards 2015 are:
For the full awards entry criteria visit http://www.awards.london
London & Partners has set up a subsidiary, Dot London Domains Ltd, to operate the new registry. It has procured a Registry Services Provider, Minds + Machines, which is working in partnership to set up and operate the domain. Dot London domain name is one of more than 1,000 new gTLDs being released by ICANN, the global internet body, along with other city based domain names, including '.paris', '.berlin' and '.nyc'. Dot London domain names are available to buy through a number of partner registrars.
Dot London is operated on a commercial basis and any surplus profits is re-invested for the benefit of London. More information can be found at http://domains.london/