A small business from Burnham-On-Sea which stages five free to attend food and drink festivals across the region each year has been named among the shortlisted finalists in the UK’s inaugural ‘Small Awards’ which recognise the achievements of small and micro-businesses.
Launched in 2012, the ‘Eat: Festivals’ event in Burnham-On-Sea happens twice a year with 20,000 people attending each one.
In 2016 the business took over the well-established Wellington Festival, and this year it has been asked to host a Somerset Day event in the heart of Taunton.
Last year it introduced the Young Makers Market with free pitches for new business owners aged 16 to 24 and a bursary for new food and drink businesses these events.
The business has been named as a finalist in the ‘Heart of Gold’ category in this year’s Small Awards.
This award recognises small businesses that contribute a bit extra to their local community; those that work with their community, other small businesses, local charities, schools, local councils or their local residents to achieve great things.
Eat: Festivals will find out if it has won the award at a special ceremony in London on May 25th hosted by comedian and TV personality Sue Perkins.
“We are over the moon to have been shortlisted in The Small Awards,” says director, Beverley Milner Simonds. “The festivals are a real celebration of each town and their great surrounding producers: we bring people together and, hopefully, add a bit of sparkle. Our aim is to create great free days out and help people to reconnect with the productive countryside around them.”
The Small Awards in association with Facebook will recognise the achievements of small businesses in ten categories across multiple sectors and areas of activity, including high street businesses, family businesses, start-ups and business-to-business companies, as well as those that export, and even companies that contribute most to their community. One of the individual category winners will also be named overall Small Business of the Year. Facebook will give that business £1000 worth of free advertising credit.
The judges for this year’s Awards include the former Business Secretary Sir Vince Cable; 2014 Apprentice winner Mark Wright, who now runs SEO and PPC agency Climb Online, and former Digital & Culture Minister Ed Vaizey.
