With awards season now in full swing, May promises to be an exciting month! And if you still haven't entered that award, now really is the time. Because once you've missed the deadline, that's it. You'll have a whole year to wait to enter… and the results you have now may just be out of date by then. Can you really afford to miss out on that all-important recognition? We’ve hand-picked just some of the awards open now for entries. Take a look below. AWARDS OPEN NOW Stevie Awards for Great Employers The Stevie Awards for Great Employers are an international business awards competition that are open to all organisations worldwide. The awards recognise the world’s best organisations to work for, and the HR teams, professionals, achievements, new products, and suppliers that help to create and drive great places to work. Entry Deadline: 10 June 2026 Winners Announced: 16 July 2026 Sustainability Awards The Sustainability Awards programme provides the opportunity for your organisation to receive global recognition by a panel of volunteer judges who themselves are leaders and experts in business. The Sustainability Awards seek to applaud companies who have made sustainability an integral part of their business practice. Entry Deadline: 19 June 2026 Winners Announced: 4 August 2026 Lloyds British Business Excellence Awards The Lloyds British Business Excellence Awards are one of the UK's largest awards programmes recognising the best of British business. Celebrating the cream of the crop across all industries, championing sustainability, diversity, equality and those that have transcended expectations and limitations throughout the year. Deadline: 19 June 2026 Ceremony: 10 November 2026

We had the absolute joy of supporting and guiding two brilliant third-year work experience students from the University of Chichester, giving them first-hand experience of working in a global agency and insights to complete their dissertations. Between them they have achieved all sorts of ambitious tasks including analysing the complete customer journey, creating SEO website posts, social media reels, and more. And they didn’t just learn from us, they taught us a lot too. Before they left, we asked them to share their experience and learnings; James Mepham: Building Confidence Through Real Responsibility After 20 exciting, informative, and delightful weeks, my placement at August Recognition is coming to its end. I have had the best possible time learning from the best in the industry, improving not only how I see the awards industry and all of the work that has to be put into it to make everything work in the end, but improving how I see the business world as a whole. I have had the joy of working behind the scenes on all the data functions to get complex systems working, witnessing and partaking in client meetings to get the full experience of an awards journey, analysing and providing feedback on an entire customer journey and managing partner pages on August's website using WordPress. This experience has helped me feel more confident in how I approach work, allowing myself to be confident in my industry knowledge and apply it with more precision, more relaxed in unfamiliar work environments and tasks, as well as enabling me to learn about new industries and new areas of these industries to take forward into my future career. Additionally, the experience itself has broadened my horizons on what I would like to do in my future career giving me invaluable insight into industries that I didn't know existed let alone had an interest in. But I cannot talk about my experience without thanking the team at August for all of their help at not only showing me the ins and outs of the awards world as an equal rather than an intern, allowing me to experience the working world while feeling like a valued member of the team.

Every year, Earth Day serves as a powerful reminder that the future of our planet is shaped by the choices we all make today. It’s easy to see sustainability as something separate from business, and out of our hands. But the reality is that businesses and organisations of every size, in every sector, can play a vital role. Whether that be in reducing plastic pollution, conservation of wildlife and biodiversity, or innovating in manufacturing and business operations to be more sustainable. We’re passionate about making a difference and one area we’re supporting is reforestation of the world’s forests. Why Forests Matter More Than Ever Forests are one of the most powerful, natural systems we have. They support life, regulate our climate, and sustain communities across the world. Yet despite their importance, they continue to disappear at an alarming rate due to deforestation. - Forest cover is shrinking by 4.7 million hectares every year - 2,000 years ago, 80% of Western Europe was forested. Today, it’s just 34% - Forests are home to 80% of the world’s terrestrial species - Over 28,000 plant species from forests are used in medicine - They play a critical role in water cycles and soil health Reforestation isn’t just an environmental initiative, forests are extremely important to our health and wellbeing. They provide tens of millions of jobs around the world, and are a vital part of the food chain too. What “Who Wins When You Win” Really Means We believe success should create something bigger than itself. Which is exactly why we created our “Who Wins When You Win” initiative: Every time one of our clients wins an award, we plant a tree in their honour. Through our partnership with Evertreen, we’re building our very own Evergreen Recognition Forest. A living, growing symbol of achievement, where business success contributes directly to environmental progress.

March is always an exciting (and busy!) month for the team here at August Recognition. Business awards season begins to ramp up, the financial year draws to a close, and the first quarter of the year comes to an end. And it’s a time of year for both taking action but also taking a moment to take stock, re-evaluate goals set at the beginning of the year, and reflect on results. From record-breaking client results to shaping the future of the awards industry, take a look at what we’ve been up to and how we’re driving success for our clients, team and industry. Client Results Driving Real Impact We’re super proud to share that in the past 12 months, we’ve achieved a 5% higher win rate than last year, making this our most award-winning year yet. And we’re also achieving an industry-leading shortlist rate for our clients; 91% Shortlist Rate 68% Win Rate The reason we can achieve these impressive results for clients is not just because our clients deserve recognition for their achievements, but because each and every award we enter, we enter strategically. Every client has a bespoke strategy, built on evidence, expert positioning, and a deep understanding of what judges are really looking for in a winner. But the real story isn’t in the numbers, it’s the impact the wins have on our clients. From Recognition to Real Impact We’ve always stood by the belief that awards aren’t just about trophies. The value in entering and winning awards is all about what happens because of the win, or shortlist result. Winning awards can have an impact on a personal level, on a whole-business level, and on a team level, as well as for your customers, employees and community. For our clients, that impact is tangible; “I'm just over the moon and wanted to thank you so much. The last couple of years haven't been easy and I'm trying to celebrate each milestone. This is a huge one. Thank you for making such a meaningful difference to myself, my business and hopefully to countless children and young people as we try to scale. I am eternally grateful”

The Lloyds British Business Excellence Awards are open for 2026. And this year they have an exciting new media partner! ITV is the official media partner for The Lloyds British Business Excellence Awards 2026. The partnership brings with it a brand new category, the ITV Growth Accelerator Award, and the winner of this category will receive a massive £500,000 of television advertising on ITV. “The Lloyds British Business Excellence Awards has always been about celebrating the very best of British enterprise. This partnership with ITV marks an exciting new chapter, moving beyond recognition to active commercial support for the businesses shaping the next phase of UK growth.“ Sarah Austin, Managing Director, Lloyds British Business Excellence Awards The awards celebrate the resilience, innovation, and creativity of British businesses. They are one of the most prestigious and largest business awards in the UK and are considered by most ‘the ones to win.' And we are delighted to be a partner to the awards for yet another year. Lloyds British Business Excellence Awards Categories There are 20 categories available this year; - The Lloyds Leading SME Business of the Year - The Lloyds Outstanding Mid Market Business of the Year - The Lloyds AI Gamechanger of the Year Award - The Lloyds Scale Up Trailblazer Business of the Year Award - The ITV Growth Accelerator Award - The Cazenove Capital Femal Founder of the Year Award - The Blick Rathenberg Mid-Market Growth Business of the Year Award - The Gerald Edelman Family Business of the Year - The Vistage Small Business Growth Award - The Department for Business & Trade International Expansion of the Year Award - The Inclusion Award - The Small Business of the Year Award - The Business Enabler of the Year Award - The Entrepreneur of the Year Award - The Technology Business of the Year - The Innovation Award - The Customer Loyalty Award - The Employer of the Year Award - The Purpose Beyond Profit Award - The Sustainable Impact Award