In November last year, 17 growing British businesses were recognised for their ambition and achievements at the Amazon Growing Business Awards.

The awards honour the UK’s small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) leaders, recognising the achievements of growing UK businesses. Created by Real Business and backed by the CBI, the Awards are now the most respected and well-established national recognition programme for SMEs and entrepreneurial success, with previous VIP guests including Bill Gates and Gordon Brown.

Now the 2018 Amazon Growing Business Awards are opening up for nominations from businesses across the UK.

At Amazon, we are passionate about supporting growing businesses – large or small, urban or rural, up and down the country.
Doug Gurr, UK Country Manager, Amazon

Previous award-winners have grown to become some of the UK’s most recognisable and successful brands, including Revolut, Go Ape, Innocent Drinks, Betfair and Fever-Tree. Signifying the importance of these awards and the value of the SME sector to the UK economy as a whole, previous VIP guests to have graced the ceremony include Bill Gates, Gordon Brown and Stelios Haji-Ioannou.

At last year’s awards, London-based makers of nut butter, Pip & Nut, won the award for Consumer Business of the Year. Since winning, Pip & Nut has gone onto further success by launching across 800 grocery stores in May 2018, meaning Pip & Nut products are now stocked across the four largest UK supermarkets. Pip & Nut also raised a further £1m investment in April 2018, allowing the business to accelerate export plans.

Pip Murray, founder of Pip & Nut said, “I was thrilled to win the Consumer Business of the Year Award last year, amid such a strong set of dynamic brands on the final shortlist. At a time when consumer experience and satisfaction are of utmost importance, I’m pleased to see this category called out in its own right for a dedicated award. Over the past year I have met so many fellow entrepreneurs who take pride in delivering a quality consumer product or service. So I’m sure there is no shortage of excellent consumer businesses deserving of accolade at this year’s Amazon Growing Business Awards.”

Other 2017 winners have experienced significant international expansion since last year’s awards. Since collecting an Amazon Growing Business Award last year, social darts business, Flight Club Darts, has opened its new Chicago venue. The company looking at Melbourne, Oslo and Hong Kong, as well as new locations in the UK, such as Bristol and Manchester. Steve Moore, founder and CEO of Flight Club Darts, said: “We triumphed at the Amazon Growing Business Awards in our second year of business, during which 400,000 guests had thrown 27 million darts in our two London venues. Winning the award set us up for a big year in 2018 and I highly recommend entering the Amazon Growing Business Awards for small businesses and entrepreneurs around the UK who’d like to get their work recognised on a national scale.”