Apprentices will take their place at the Nectar’s Small Business Awards from next year. The new category, Apprentice of the Year, will be joined by the Best Use of Technology debut as brand new categories in this year’s free to enter Nectar Business Small Business Awards. According to Nectar, the categories will be judged by industry leaders including BBC ‘Dragon’, businesswoman and consumer champion, Sarah Willingham.
In order to put an apprentice forward for the award, the employers must be a small business, and they need to excel at their chosen discipline. These criteria also need to be met:
- Be at a small business that operates as a sole trader, or employs up to 250 people
- The small business needs to have an annual turnover no greater than £9 million
- Be prepared to share financials to date and/or projections for the year ahead
- The nominated apprentice should be in a small business at the date of application and have been an apprentice since no later than 1 November 2015 (in order to have had six months in the business to demonstrate their skills and/or contribution)
- The apprentice will need to demonstrate how their skills have developed over the course of their apprenticeship
‘Sheer hard work’
Sarah Willingham comments: “It’s so important to support and champion British small businesses and recognise the drive, commitment and sheer hard work that goes into making them a success.
“For me, the highlight of the Nectar Business Small Business Awards is the round table event; sitting down and getting involved in inspirational conversations with some of the UK’s brightest business minds. I’m confident that we’ll discover more exciting new talent this year and am especially keen to see what the Apprentice of the Year and Best Use of Technology categories offer.”
Winners from each of the Award’s eight categories will receive £2,000 cash, 50,000 Nectar points and will secure a once in a lifetime place at the Awards roundtable event.
