Last chance to nominate for the Real Entrepreneurs' Awards 2025

Nominations for the East Midlands Real Entrepreneurs' Awards 2025 are set to close next month, inviting businesses to showcase the region's innovative spirit by the deadline of November 11, 2024.

Taking place at Leonardo Hotel Hinckley Island Hotel on the afternoon of Thursday, April 10, 2025, the Real Entrepreneurs’ Awards will celebrate those who have invented, inspired, or innovated in their respective fields and who are positively contributing to the East Midlands economy.

Designed to highlight the diversity of entrepreneurship across all sectors, The Real Entrepreneurs' Awards organisers are keen to receive nominations from a broad range of industries.?

Cross Productions CEO Jenny Cross, who founded the awards, wants to ensure the judges are presented with a wide array of entrepreneurial talent.?

Categories include Innovation in Entrepreneurship, Scale-up Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurial Collaborator, Start-up Entrepreneur of the Year, Entrepreneurs' Entrepreneur, and many more.?

Nominations are simple, requiring the name of the nominee and a short reason for nomination to make it easy for anyone to nominate themselves or someone else. Upon submission, the nominee will be contacted for supporting evidence? ?are required to submit supporting evidence at a later date, detailing their achievements and future plans. This approach ensures the judging panel, composed of five independent professionals, can thoroughly evaluate each nomination and produce a shortlist of five finalists per category.

The overarching goal of the Real Entrepreneurs’ Awards is to highlight the vital contributions made by entrepreneurs across the East Midlands. By recognising excellence in entrepreneurship across multiple sectors – including healthcare, recruitment, IT, manufacturing and more – the awards aim to inspire others to pursue their entrepreneurial ambitions.

What's more, Jenny and fellow entrepreneur Rik Pancholi, Partner at Nelsons, introduced the Pitching Platform section of the event two years ago. The Pitching Platform is a unique highlight of the ceremony and allows three applicants to 'pitch' their business to a room of leaders and entrepreneurs. As well as phenomenal exposure on the evening, the winner will receive ￡10k worth of marketing and legal services and a non-executive advisory board for the year.

Jenny Cross, CEO of Cross Productions, which organises the awards, said:? ? "Our goal is to ensure that our judges see a wide spectrum of entrepreneurs, so we encourage entries from all sectors. The Real Entrepreneurs' Awards aim to help individuals recognise themselves as entrepreneurs as we understand that the essence of entrepreneurship can vary significantly from person to person. Entrepreneurship can take many forms, but if you’ve invented something, inspired others through your actions, or innovated in ways others haven't yet, then you’re someone we want to hear about. When nominees receive that email telling them they’ve been nominated, we want it to be a powerful, eye-opening moment. We also want those who already identify as entrepreneurs to feel acknowledged for their hard work, risk-taking, and determination."

Charlotte Miles, Head of Events for Cross Productions, said: "The Real Entrepreneurs' awards showcase just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to our local contributors to the business economy, and who put the East Midlands on the map for entrepreneurship. But the event also creates a network of opportunity for start ups and young entrepreneurs to have the best start on their entrepreneurial journey."

Nominate in the East Midlands Real Entrepreneurs' Awards 2025 online before the closing deadline of November 11, 2024.