About the Business Excellence Awards

Acquisition International is very proud to host the Business Excellence Awards for it’s seventh year!

The Business Excellence Awards 2023 aims to reward a vastly diverse range of hardworking businesses from across the globe, which are demonstrating innovation and excellence throughout a turbulent economic climate many firms are suffering through.

With the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic still lingering, as well as the energy and cost-of-living crisis starting to emerge around the world, the global economy is paying a high price. Global GDP stagnated in the second quarter of 2022 and output declined in the G20 economies, furthermore, high inflation is persisting for longer than expected.

However, despite these challenges, many businesses are managing to weather the storm and still provide outstanding levels of service.

We aspire to reward anyone who has demonstrated excellence within their industry, regardless of whether they are from a huge conglomerate or a small enterprise.

Involvement within the Business Excellence Awards 2023 can showcase your firms’ position as a significant player within your industry, as well as introducing potential collaborators, colleagues, and clients of your award-winning product or service!

The Business Excellence Awards 2023 are judged purely on merit, and to determine our successful awardees, our dedicated in-house research team will analyse all information available in the public domain, before our judging panel make their assessment.

This firmly established awards programme is completely free to enter and if your business is lucky enough to be successful this year, you will be promoted to our circulation of over 85,000 established professionals and showcased on our official website for a minimum of 12 months. Our readers are always eager to discover businesses at the pinnacle of their powers, and the story behind how they got there.

Whether you have been in business for the last few months, or established across years, the Business Excellence Awards 2022 represents an opportunity for you to be rewarded for your efforts.

If you would like to either nominate yourselves, or indeed another business you feel is worthy of recognition in this years awards, then please complete the online voting form found at the top of this page. Alternatively, if you would like further information about how the Business Excellence Awards 2023 can benefit your business, then please do not hesitate to contact our awards team via the contact details provided.

Meet The Team

Need Help With Your Nomination? We can point you in the right direction.

The Nomination Team can assist with answering any queries that you have regarding a nomination, or the process involved in taking part in one of our award programmes.

Please get in touch with us via email or over the phone if you have any questions - we are happy to help!

OUR APPROACH

STEP 1: GATHERING NOMINEES

Nominees are gained via our online nomination form from magazine subscribers, online visitors, social media following, clients and our wider circulation.

Those putting forward nominees are welcome to nominate their own firm or colleagues within their firm as well as third party businesses.

Acquisition International is part of the publishing house AI Global Media, the publishers also put forward nominees for consideration.

STEP 2: EVALUATING THE NOMINEES

All those who formally accept their nomination will be asked if they would like to submit material for further consideration as supporting evidence.

We consider materials supplied by nominees, information on those nominated businesses available online and any information supplied with the original nomination.

STEP 3: RESEARCH AND JUDGING

Our research team who are highlighted below will assess all information presented when it comes to determining winners.

The team gather information independently from a number of publicly available sources, they will assess the material supplied by the nominees and by those who put them forward originally.

They will cast their final judgment based on various criteria including client dedication, innovation, business growth, longevity, online reputation, client feedback and business performance.

STEP 4: CONTACTING AND ANNOUNCING THE WINNERS

Once winners have been determined each winner will be contacted directly.

Details of those winners will be embargoed until Acquisition International formally announce the winners publicly via the website and award winners' magazine.

STEP 5: PROMOTE YOUR WIN

We encourage all of our winners to publicly announce their win independently.

Announcements via company websites, social media channels, via publicly released press releases, and through local and national press are a great way of really maximising the exposure gained from such an amazing achievement.

Our awards panel

Martyn Walters

After joining the business in 2015, Martyn has been involved with numerous award programmes on Acquisition International and has thus developed a keen interest in corporate finance matters. Gaining an understanding of the trends affecting how businesses perform has been hugely important in his role as lead researcher on AI.

Martyn is honoured to be the figurehead for AI award programmes, after witnessing the brand develop over the last four years.

Laura Hunter

Laura is our awards manager overseeing a number of our key Acquisition International awards programmes

Jeremy Roe

Jeremy is head of the research team, a diligent individual committed to Acquisition International’s customers and award winners

Kathryn Hall

As one of AI Global Media’s Directors, Kathryn is passionate about delivering maximum value for each award winner.

FAQs

How long has Acquisition International been in circulation for?

Acquisition International has been running for nine years and in that time the publication has grown substantially, now having a circulation of 108,000 readers in over 170 countries. AI is a monthly magazine that seeks to inform, entertain, influence, and shape the global corporate conversation. We aim to achieve this through a combination of high quality editorial, rigorous research and an experienced worldwide network of dedicated advisors, experts and contributors. Acquisition International is one of the many publications by AI Global Media, a UK based publisher which has over 200 issues to its name since 2010.

Where did the nomination come from?

In the interest of maintaining high response rates, we do not ask nominees to reveal their personal identity. As per the methodology, we frequently nominate candidates ourselves and, when it comes to the process of voting, if you didn’t cast a vote by self-submission it is likely to have been cast via a colleague or client who has received one of our direct invitations. One of the main mantras of our awards system is that your ability to succeed is not linked to the number of votes received. This means that your award will be received purely on merit. However, we do track unusual behaviour on our website to identify repeat votes and cyber-threats.

What happens if I agree to shortlist?

In the interest of focusing our efforts on relevant candidates, we ask all nominees to accept their position on the shortlist. This also gives people complete control in their decision on whether they would like to move forward with the award. Nominees who accept will be subject to our rigorous internal vetting procedure. They have an opportunity to present their own data which gets considered alongside the information collated by our research team. It can take up to 8 weeks for research to be completed.

Who makes the final decision?

We employ an entirely impartial panel of 5 individuals to conduct all of the research to our high standards. At the helm, the panel is led by a veteran academic leader with international academic and training experience and is well versed in research, fact-checking and mediation. We believe this method is the most efficient in determining which individuals and companies are most deserving in winning an award and has brought us much success and commendation throughout its use.

Is there a winner’s ceremony/award dinner and if so, when does it take place?

We do not focus our efforts on a celebratory event, despite being an enjoyable occasion, it doesn’t support our group’s philosophy of cost-effective marketing. As well as the lack of cost efficiency, AI is a company who runs awards worldwide and we believe it would be logistically difficult for some of our winners to attend an awards ceremony. We follow the belief that any of the optional costs involved with the award would be more beneficial in a year’s worth of online marketing for a winner, rather than spending it all on a ceremonial evening. All of our press announcements are made digitally, online and across our network to enforce our position as digital publishers. We aim to arm you with the tools (both digital and physical) to generate real-world value.

What happens if I am deemed successful?

There is a short press embargo in place where we ask you not to make the news public. During this period the programme manager will liaise with you to agree on the most appropriate coverage. Our main coverage takes the form of a digital celebratory magazine, but we also offer physical trophies, wall mounted and digital certificates, web-based advertisements and generic press releases which are bespoke to you or your company.

Are there any costs involved?

As previously mentioned there are no compulsory costs in accepting a nomination or winning an Acquisition International award. We do offer a variety of paid additional benefits for our winners, but these are completely optional. To demonstrate our commitment to no mandatory fees, all our winners are offered a free of charge promotional package. Our company policy will always remain: regardless of budget, our clients should always be able to garner the full value of the award and our seal of approval. We offer a variety of promotional opportunities to our winners. as we have an extensive network and we know, more than anyone, the wider business benefits from promoting industry awards.

"As a freelance business adviser, it was a fantastic feeling just to be noticed amongst all the other larger consulting firms in the UK.

I’ve used the award in a number of ways already: to assure clients that they are, and are continuing to, work with recognised excellence; and to assure my parents that their son didn’t turn out all that badly after all!

"This recognition has also meant that my credibility when submitting evidences and ideas to inform future government policy and wider business support practices is enhanced. It’s offered me a great excuse to rekindle relationships with lapsed colleagues and network contacts who reached out to congratulate me on this achievement."

Adrian Ashton – www.adrianashton.co.uk

"Winning an award is a third-party endorsement of your capabilities and should be highly treasured and promoted.

"AI Global Media have gone out of their way to help me promote the award, they have taken the awards to the next stage, it is not a bye-bye when you have the certificate but a concentrated effort to ensure that your achievements reach a wider audience. Our award has been seen on all the social media platforms, by clients and competitors, friends, and family. The logo is on every email we send out and all of this is due to the encouragement of the team at AI.

"The award has endorsed our capabilities, made people think more seriously about our work and most importantly has influenced our bottom line. People are more likely to trust an award winner and accept that if you employ an award-winning agency there is a cost for this extra layer of professional advice."

Tricia Topping, Carlyle Consultants - www.carlyle-consultants.com

"I am the deputy managing partner of Danubia Patent & Law Office, an IP Boutique Law firm in Budapest Hungary and have been working with AI for several years.

"They gave me time to make the publication, however, owing to my involvements in other cases I sent the material in the very last moment.

"The staff at AI were still friendly and made a wonderful editing job, as well as leaving time for me to read and approve it.

"The article was published, and they did a good job, especially in comparison to comparable offers.

"I was more than satisfied with how the how the staff works and reported my pleasant experience to my partners. We will utilize these friendly services in the future."

Mihály Lantos, Danubia Patent & Law Office - https://www.danubia.com/

"We always have a great experience working with AI Global, they are easy to communicate with, organised and very professional. Thanks for your continued hard work!"

Hannah Wharton, Waldeck Consulting - https://www.waldeckconsulting.com/

"We have worked with AI since about year one and it has been a pleasure every time. They do great work and have a very fast response time."

Stephan Roider, Roider IP - http://www.roider-ip.de/en/home/

"We have been working with AI Global Media for a number of years, they have always been great to deal with, very flexible and we are always happy with the final article."

Michael Brown, Geo-Environmental Services Limited - https://www.gesl.net/

"From the moment of first contact Al Global we very professional timely in all communication, and very responsive when I asked questions. It was a pleasure to work with them and hope the relationship can continue in future years."

Paul Hardiman, Quality Partner Limited - https://qualitypartner.co.uk/

"We have had two articles published in AI magazine and have found the copywriting and graphic design to be of a high standard. They are responsive, and open to feedback, which is great when trying to ensure the right message is published.

"The PDF copies of articles are great for handing out at exhibitions and the link to the online article provides a quick and easy way to impress a new client."

Michael Coates, Protostar Leadership Development LTD - https://www.protostar-uk.com/

"AI Global were easy to work with and provided a smooth process."

Oliver Tregoning, JM Finn - https://www.jmfinn.com/

"Stiltz has enjoyed some great exposure on the back of our recent spotlight article in AI. It’s been a great morale booster and the perfect platform to highlight all the great work the team here at Stilz have done. Not only have we experienced an increase in web traffic, but some positive communications from clients, old and new.

"A great team and a really professional outcome, I’d thoroughly recommend them."

Chris Ainscough - ELF Productivity Ltd - https://www.timeandattendance.co.uk/