An interview with Platinum Business Magazine

Ahead of this year's Brighton & Hove Business Awards (BAHBAs), we caught up with Fiona Graves, Events Director at Platinum Publishing Group, to find out more about what makes the BAHBAs so successful, why businesses should enter this year, and her top tips for writing an awards entry.  

In your experience, what makes the BAHBAs a great awards ceremony?

The Brighton and Hove Business Awards (BAHBAs) celebrate everything that is great about our city. Celebrating fourteen years in 2019, the BAHBAs are firmly established as a benchmark for excellence in today’s competitive business environment.

Previous winners have included a mix of start-ups and sole traders, in addition to some of the city’s largest and most influential organisations including Duke of York’s, Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, Brighton Pride, The Gingerman Restaurant Group, BrightonandHoveJobs.com, Brighton Fringe and Sussex University.

The awards culminates with a glamorous dinner and awards evening on July 25th at the Hilton Brighton Metropole and void of the usual corporate stuffiness! Here’s a sneak peek to last year’s event.

What are the main reasons that businesses enter the BAHBAs?

The BAHBAs give local businesses the opportunity to be recognised for their dedication, investment and hard work.

Whatever the outcome, the process of preparing an awards entry is a valuable exercise, allowing you and your team to consider your work and its impacts in detail and take pride in a job well done. In addition, the potential exposure gained from a nominated or winning award entry could bring you to the attention of new clients, new collaborators and new projects that may become future award entries of their own.
 

What advice would you give for businesses when writing their award entry?

• Enter the correct category and make sure that the award reflects what you excel at.
• If you are entering more than one category make sure you tailor your entry according to the category. Entries that are just copied and pasted across numerous categories are unlikely to be relevant to the criteria.
• Read the criteria and make sure you address each point clearly.
• Be concise and keep within the word limit. You have a limited space to grab the attention of the judges!
• Tell a story and grab the judge’s attention from the title through to the content.
• Substantiate your entry with attachments but make sure they are relevant to your entry. Remember to include links to your website and customer testimonials.
• Give yourself time to apply – do not rush. Take the time to showcase your achievements but remember the entry deadline.
• Presentation is key – use bullet points or sub headings and make sure your entry is well structured and grammatically correct.
• Be passionate! Remember you are showcasing your business and achievements to the judges. If you are not being passionate about your business you cannot expect the judges to be.

Which category are you most excited about?

Start-up of the Year – the BAHBAs have seen an impressive number of start-ups over the year. For example, Brighton Institute of Modern Music who won a BAHBA in 2004. Founded in 2001, BIMM are now the largest and leading provider of contemporary music education and alumni includes the likes of The Kooks, Tom Odell, James Bay and George Ezra!
 

What is your favourite thing about doing business in Brighton?

Brighton is one of the UK’s entrepreneurial capitals with more business start-ups per capita than anywhere else in the UK outside of London. Combined with excellent transport links to the capital and a pleasant quality of life, it really is a great place to do business! There’s also a high number of networking groups which allows you to make new contacts quickly and expand your business.

Thank you to Fiona for writing this blog. 

Brighton Chamber are excited to be sponsoring the Start-up of the Year category this year. Click here to find out more about this year's categories and to enter your business. 

If you want to contribute to the Chamber blog, contact us on hannah@brightonchamber.co.uk