About the Enterprising Britain Competition

What are the benefits of entering?

Watch the video to hear the real value of entering the Enterprising Britain competition.

The Rt. Hon. Lord Mandelson, Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, recorded this endorsement for the competition:

Who can take part?

Enterprising Britain is free to enter and is open to all organisations in the UK that are working in partnership to create an enterprising place.  The place can be a town, a city, a parish or a neighbourhood and organisations must demonstrate that enterprise is central to the economic and/or social transformation of the place.
 
This year there are five categories for the Enterprising Britain competition. Organisations can apply for one or more of the categories:
 
1. Enterprise Culture
2. Driving Entrepreneurial Skills
3. Business Support and Start-Up
4. Global Entrepreneurship
5. Social Cohesion
 
There is no limit on the number of categories that organisations can apply for as long as they meet the criteria. Organisations can therefore apply for one or more of the categories.
 
Each category has a separate application form. All the application form(s) are available here to be completed online.
 
Enterprise UK is working closely with the Regional Development Agencies and Devolved Administrations who manage the regional heats of the competition. All applications must be completed online and will be received centrally by Enterprise UK, however, if you would like to discuss your application with a regional contact or find out more about the competition and whether your organisation should apply, please contact your regional lead:

Timings

Closed for entries 31 May 2010
Regional awards ceremonies Mid July 2010
National judging – pitches by 6 shortlisted projects Mid August 2010
National judging – visits to top 3 shortlisted proejcts Sept 2010
National panel re-convene Early Oct 2010
National awards ceremony End Oct 2010

European Enterprise Awards

The Enterprising Britain competition is also used to identify the UK entries to the European Enterprise Awards. The 2010 Enterprising Britain categories have been aligned with the European Enterprise Awards categories.

The European Enterprise Awards were launched by the European Commission in 2005 and aim to recognise and reward outstanding initiatives that support entrepreneurship at the regional level. The Awards are open to public authorities in the EU and Norway.  More than 350 national, regional and local authorities - including towns, cities and regions as well as public-private partnerships between public authorities and entrepreneurs, educational programmes and business organisations - in 25 countries competed in the national round of the 2008/2009 European Enterprise Awards.  Further information about the awards can be found here.

NWES in Lowestoft and Pride of Hull as winner and  runner up in 2009’s competition have been entered into the 2010 European Enterprise Awards; the initial shortlist will be announced at the end of March with the awards ceremony in Madrid in May.

The 2008 winner of Enterprising Britain – Scarborough Renaissance Partnership – won the Grand Jury’s prize at the European Enterprise Awards held in Prague in May 2009.

BIS is the UK’s appointed contact for the European Enterprise Awards and is responsible for submitting the UK nomination to the European Commission.