Questions & Answers

 

Please find a robust set of Q&A regarding awards entry, the judging process and ceremony details below. You should find the answers to any questions you may have. There is also a special section entitled How to Enter Online. Please scroll down to access that. If after reading through you still have a query, please contact us via the Contact Page.

When do 2025 entries open and when is the deadline for entry?

Entries for 2025 will open on Wednesday 5 March for two months and will close at 11am on Wednesday 7 May.

How can we sponsor the 2025 awards?

You can view the many opportunities to support Pendle Business Awards at this link. Sponsoring the awards gives excellent brand awareness and other benefits and inclusions.

How do you enter the 2025 awards?

When entry opens you can click on the Enter Now tab from the navigation bar and the Enter Now graphic on the homepage. Before entries open, and after they close, the tab and graphic will not be available.

Who can enter the Pendle business awards?

The awards are open to all Pendle based businesses and not for profit organisations. One of the three criteria below must apply to a business for it to be eligible for entry to the awards

1. They have business premises for which they pay business rates to Pendle Borough Council

2. They do not have business premises, their business address is their home address and they pay council tax to Pendle Borough Council

3. They do not pay business rates or council tax to Pendle Borough Council, they own / operate a purchased business franchise for the Pendle area and deliver services in physical locations in Pendle

NB! All business rates must be up to date. We use a Local Authority checker on the .gov.uk website to ascertain which council the business is under, this can be accessed here to check a given business’s location.

 

Which categories can businesses enter?

All eligible Pendle based businesses / organisations can enter up to four categories. The online form has the details of each category and you tick the ones you’d like to enter. View all Categories here.

As the awards effectively recognise the ‘best’ business in a given category, it’s important that businesses have been running for a period of time. 

This will allow the independent judging panel to assess business performance (and improvements in it), and progress towards business objectives. Most require businesses to have been running for a minimum period of two years, find more information on the category page.

 

How are the entries judged and shortlisted?

Our core panel of judges will read through all entry forms and decide, collectively, on who should be shortlisted. For each award, the judging panel will also include the sponsor.

When will the 2025 finalists be announced?

The shortlisted businesses / finalists for 2025 for each category will be announced live at our Pendle Connects event on Wednesday 4 June and across social media that day too. You can secure a free ticket for Connects when they are released, early March 2025.

How will the winners be decided?

A designated Judgement Day will see the core judging team meet with each sponsor throughout the day to discuss and debate the winner of each category. This information will remain under wraps until winners are revealed at the awards ceremony.

When does the 2025 ceremony take place?

The 2025 Pendle Business Awards ceremony will take place on Thursday 3 July at The Fence Gate from 6pm, dinner will be served at 7.15pm with the awards presentations commencing at 9pm. Presentations will finish around 10.30pm, carriages will be at 12 midnight.

Can we buy tickets for the 2025 Awards Ceremony?

Ticket booking will open once the finalists are announced. Ticket priority will be given to finalists and sponsors so it is unlikely that general admission tickets will be available. Tickets can be purchased online, via a unique link, which will be sent to finalists once announced.

How to Enter Online

We have successfully used our online awards entry system for many awards submissions over the last few years and we’ve put together a handy guide below. If after reading you still have a query or need help, please contact us via the Contact Page.

How can I enter online?

Entrants must first register as a user on this website on our User Registration page and can then enter the awards from there.

Where will I find the online Entry Form?

Entrants must first register as a user on this website on our User Registration page and can then enter the awards from there. Note that this functionality will not be available until the awards open for entries. Once a business has registered as a User they can locate the entry form at this link (link will be added when entries go live).

How do I navigate through the online form?

The MOVE ON TO NEXT PAGE button will save progress and take you to the next page (it is located bottom right of each page). You need to fill in the fields on that page before progressing

The PREVIOUS PAGE button will take you to the previous page (located bottom left of each page). This is handy if you’d like to check or amend any answers

The SAVE PROGRESS & EXIT button allows you to save the form, close the window and return to it later (it is located underneath the last question on each page, above the PREVIOUS PAGE button). Return to the form at any time. Please make sure you SAVE before taking time away from your application.

The SUBMIT button on the last page must be clicked to fully submit the form and enter the awards (once you’re happy with your answers). 

How many pages does the online form have?

There are four main Page Headings which will be displayed at the top of the form. They are General Info, Judging Info, Categories, and Last Page.

Some award categories have extra questions to answer. These will be added as Page Headings. So, depending on the categories you choose to enter, you may have extra Page Headings, or may not.

 

Can you navigate through form using the Page Headings?

You can only navigate through the form using the Page Headings if you have already filled in the given page. When returning to the form after saving, you can click a Page Heading to get to the page you need, or just scroll down and click the NEXT button until you reach the desired page

How do you submit your online form & what happens?

The SUBMIT button on the last page must be clicked to fully submit the form and enter the awards, once you’re happy with your answers.

The screen will display a ‘Successful submission’ message and the form will have been submitted. You will also be sent an email confirmation. If you cannot see the email please check your junk/spam folders – if using Gmail you will need to check the Promotions inbox too (Gmail has three inboxes).

If you do NOT receive a confirmation email after submission (and checking junk etc), please click the Contact tab and advise us via email and we can check the system and manually confirm receipt for you.

If you go back into the form you may still be able to see your answers, this is not a fault and you do not need to resubmit.

The deadline for submission is given above.

If you lose your password

If you’ve lost your password you can reset it using the email address you registered with here: Reset Password (NB! this will not work until entries go live)

Troubleshooting problems with the online form

Most text box fields have a word count on them. This should function as expected on desktops and laptops but does not always count on mobile devices or iPads. If you are using a mobile phone or iPad and the word count isn’t working please don’t worry, just fill the fields in as normal. Using a desktop or laptop and it isn’t working? The form counts words as you type – so if you’ve written your information somewhere else in a text editor (for example, in a Microsoft Word document) – then have copied and pasted it into the form, it may not show correctly. If there’s a word count on the text editor you’re using then that will help you stay within the word count.

Paragraph formatting on mobile devices. We’ve had a few reports of people going back into their forms and seeing their formatted paragraphs / answers having lost line breaks. Don’t worry about this, it sorts out at our end.

If you are having any other problems while you’re filling in the form, please click the SAVE PROGRESS & EXIT button at the bottom of the page. Then clear your browser cache and log back in via this User Login page link using the email and password you registered with. You can then re-access your form from that page.

If you’re having problems accessing your form, clear your browser cache and log back in via this User Login page link using the email and password you registered with and you should be able to reaccess the form from that link once signed back in.

If you’ve lost your password you can reset it here: Reset Password using the email address you registered with

If you’re having a problem submitting your completed form using the SUBMIT button, please check all fields have been filled in and none have an error mesage. Also check that the Number of Employees field contains a number, not text.  If you can’t see a problem, please click the SAVE PROGRESS & EXIT button at the bottom of the page. Then clear your browser cache and log back in using the email and password you registered with at our User Login page. Page back through the form, then try the SUBMIT button again. It should work then. Contact the team via the Contact page if problems persist, please send your email address and password and we’ll sort it for you.

If you do not receive a confirmation email after SUBMITTING your form (after checking junk/spam/promotions folders etc) please click the contact tab and send us an email with your company name and can we check it’s submitted properly for you. We will be able to check the system and confirm receipt of the form for you.

 

PBA25 WILL TAKE PLACE ON THURSDAY 3 JULY AT THE FENCE GATE 

meet our pba sponsors

Pendle Borough Council was the Headline Sponsor for 2024. Meet them and all our Sponsors via the links below. The awards were delivered by the Pendle Connects team, part of the lovelocalsolutions group and will return in 2025.

There are many opportunities for organisations to be part of PBA25 bringing excellent benefits and inclusions. Please click the button below to view or download our Sponsorship Brochure for 2025.