Terms & conditions for the Economic Innovator of the Year Awards
ENTRY
1. Entry for the 2025 Awards opens on Thursday 1st May 2025 and closes midnight Friday 11th July 2025. Any entries received after that time will not be considered.
2. The winners of the Economic Innovator of the Year Awards will be announced on Monday 24th November 2025.
3. You may only submit an entry for a company or business partnership of which you are a director, partner or senior executive, and not on behalf of anyone else. Entries must be submitted by one senior named representative of the entrant.
4. The person submitting the entry must be over 18 years of age.
5. For the avoidance of doubt, entrants for these Awards must be for-profit businesses whose products or services are already available to customers in their marketplace – by direct sale or via joint ventures or licensing agreements. Entries cannot be considered from businesses whose products or services were still in development and not yet commercially available at the end of their last financial year and have become commercially available prior to 1st May 2025 – and the judges’ decision on this point will be final. The Spectator and Rathbones will respect the confidentiality of all financial data provided but entrants must provide an accurate indication of the financial scale of their business, and in particular of actual and forecast revenue growth.
6. The Spectator and Rathbones cannot give an award to any entrant that cannot be contacted after the entry has been submitted.
7. The six regional categories are: London and the South East; Scotland & Northern Ireland; North East; North West & North Wales; Midlands; South West & South Wales. Awards will be given in two categories in all 6 regions: companies with annual revenue smaller than £3million; and companies with annual revenue exceeding £3million.
8. Entrants can only apply for one region. The entrants organisation must either have its registered address or its main place of business located within the region for which it has entered the Awards. In the event of doubt as to which region is most appropriate for any entrant, the decision of The Spectator and Rathbones will be final.
9. An additional Award will be given for a venture that shows excellence in its approach to sustainability. An additional Award will be given for a venture deemed ‘one to watch’ by the judges. Entrants for both these categories will be taken from the regional categories mentioned above.
10. Employees of The Spectator, or Rathbones, and their family members, and anyone else connected with organising the Awards, may not enter any category.
11. All Award winners will be asked to take part in promotional activity and by submitting your entry you give your permission to The Spectator and its headline partner, Rathbones, to use the details of your entry to promote the Awards. This could include but is not limited to websites, press releases and print.
12. Entrants to the Awards are required to complete and submit either the online or pdf entry form.
13. A shortlist of finalists will be selected in each region from the entries submitted by the closing date. The short-listed entrants will then be required to participate in a meeting with the regional judges at which they will be invited to make a short presentation about their business (or a telephone interview if unable to attend the judges lunch). Two podcasts will then be recorded by the judges and will be published on The Spectator’s website, discussing all regional finalists.
14. Shortlisted finalists will be notified by email or phone within six weeks of the closing date and will be invited as guests to the The Spectator’s Economic Innovator of the Year Awards Gala Dinner on Monday 24th November 2025, where the winners will be officially announced.
15. The judges’ decision is final and there will be no appeals.
16. The Spectator and Rathbones reserve the right to refuse to accept any entry which in its opinion does not comply with these terms and conditions or which contravenes the spirit of the Awards.
17. The Spectator and Rathbones further reserve the right to cancel the Awards itself if, in their opinion, the calibre or number of entries is insufficient.
18. We cannot offer feedback about specific shortlisting decisions or any comment on individual entries.
19. The overall winner will receive the prize, consisting of a bespoke Award trophy and an advertising campaign for their company, across print and digital platforms in The Spectator, to the value of £20,000. Subject to availability. The print and digital advertising schedule, given to the overall winner only, is to the value of £20,000 as specified in The Spectator media pack https://www.spectator.co.uk/advertising. Whilst the winning entrant may express a preference for dates and media type, The Spectator’s decision is final. The Spectator may dictate the date and type of media offered.
20. The winner of the Award for Excellence in Sustainability category will receive a prize consisting of a bespoke Award trophy and an advertising campaign for their company, across print and digital platforms in The Spectator, to the value of £10,000. Subject to availability. The print and digital advertising schedule, given to the overall sustainability winner only, is to the value of £10,000 as specified in The Spectator media pack https://www.spectator.co.uk/advertising. Whilst the winning entry may express a preference for dates and media type, The Spectator’s decision is final and overriding. The Spectator may dictate the date and type of media offered.
21. The twelve regional winners will each receive a bespoke Award trophy.
22. Prizes are not transferable, and no cash alternative will be offered.
23. The prizes will be awarded to the senior representatives of the winning finalists who are present at the Awards Gala Dinner, where the winners will be officially announced.
24. Events may occur that render the Awards competition itself or the awarding of the prizes impossible due to reasons beyond the control of the The Spectator and Rathbones who accordingly may at their absolute discretion vary, amend, or waive these rules and the entrant agrees that no liability shall attach to The Spectator and Rathbones as a result thereof.
25. By entering the Awards competition participants confirm their agreement of these Terms and Conditions.
DATA PROTECTION
By entering the Awards competition participants confirm their agreement for the data submitted to be processed by The Spectator and our sponsoring partners, including Rathbones, and the judges, for the purpose of assessing their application and as further set out in our Privacy Policy. This may include entrants being contacted ahead of shortlisting.
Participants also confirm their agreement to be contacted via telephone and email with regards to their application.