Search is on for Britain’s best small business

Small Business IT

A competition aiming to find the best small businesses in the UK with a top cash prize of 30,000 has been launched by telco giant BT.

The Great Faces of British Business is looking for the most innovative and exciting small and medium sized businesses in the UK. The competition has been designed to champion SMBs and to showcase the Government's growth support for small firms.

It will see businesses crowned regional champions in an initial competition. These winners will then be shortlisted for the national competition.

The overall winner will pocket a prize package worth over 30,000. This will include a bespoke creative advertising campaign to be featured in national and local media, along with an iPad Air and unlimited BT Wi-Fi for 12 months, courtesy of BT Business.

In addition, the winner will also receive a package of export support from UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), one of the Government departments currently supporting the Business is Great Britain campaign with the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS).

The sole requirements for entering the competition are that all businesses must be from London and employ between one and 250 people.

There are three categories and businesses can enter one or all depending on which are relevant to their business. The categories are best exporter, most innovative small business and best growth story.

To enter, all eligible businesses must state why they deserve to be named as the greatest small business in their community.

Business Minister Matthew Hancock said: "Small businesses have been the driving force of our economic recovery. This is a top opportunity to celebrate the enormous contribution they make to villages, towns and cities across Great Britain.

"I am committed to fostering this entrepreneurial spirit and making sure that Britain is the best place in the world to start and grow a business."

Those interested in entering can do so here.

Rene Millman

Rene Millman is a freelance writer and broadcaster who covers cybersecurity, AI, IoT, and the cloud. He also works as a contributing analyst at GigaOm and has previously worked as an analyst for Gartner covering the infrastructure market. He has made numerous television appearances to give his views and expertise on technology trends and companies that affect and shape our lives. You can follow Rene Millman on Twitter.