King's Award for Enterprise in Shropshire
The Shropshire Lieutenancy, the Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, the Shropshire Federation of Small Businesses, Telford & Wrekin Council and Shropshire Council, is promoting the opportunity to businesses of all sizes across our wonderful County to enter the King’s Awards for Enterprise 2027.
We all want to see national, indeed global, recognition for the absolute best organisations in Shropshire and therefore the Lord-Lieutenant has asked us to work together to promote the benefits of the King’s Awards for Enterprise and to encourage more entries that reflect the breadth and depth of our business community. Applications for the King’s Awards for Enterprise are welcomed from any size of business, if they meet the eligibility criteria.
To see a full list of Shropshire winners, please click here.
Why should I enter?
The benefits to winning a King’s Award for Enterprise are immense; our previous Shropshire winners have seen incredible benefits for their business – not only the prestige and recognition but the positive impact on sales and staff morale of being recognised by the King’s Award for Enterprise team as a winner.
- Raise awareness of their Brand and increase demand for their products.
- Raise morale amongst employees and increase productivity.
- Enhanced ability to attract the best talent to their team and board.
- Improve opportunities to break into new markets.
- Attract investment offers and development interests.
The awards are valid for 5 years and if a business wins, they will be:
- Invited to a royal reception
- Presented the award by the Lord-Lieutenant at their premises
- Allowed to fly the King’s Awards flag at their main offices and use the emblem on marketing materials (packaging, ads, stationery and website)
- Given a Grant of Appointment (and official certificate) and a commemorative crystal trophy
Previous Shropshire winners of The King’s Award for Enterprise (previously know as the Queen’s award)
Winning the King’s Awards has elevated the profile of Landau and the work we do on both a local and national scale
The Categories
The King’s Awards for Enterprise is a globally recognised badge of excellence awarded to UK-based enterprises annually who have demonstrated outstanding achievements in four distinct categories:
- Innovation
- International Trade
- Sustainable Development
- Promoting Opportunity Through Social Mobility
- Young Founder
Awards Eligibility
Your organisation which can be a business or a non-profit needs to:
- Be based in the UK (including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man)
- File its Company Tax returns with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
- Be a self-contained enterprise that markets its own products or services and is under its own management
- Has at least 2 full-time UK employees or part-time equivalents Demonstrate strong corporate social responsibility
New Category for 2027
Young Founder
To apply for the Young Founder award, you must also:
- be actively leading an organisation between 6 May 2026 and 8 September 2027
- be aged between 18 and 30 years on 6 May 2027
You’ll need to prove that your organisation has achieved commercial success or growth potential, such as either a minimum:
- annual turnover of £250,000
- £500,000 in external funding such as investments, loans or grants
You also need to provide evidence that you’ve made an impact over 5 different themes.
Theme |
Evidence needed |
|---|---|
| Fresh ideas and creative thinking | Short video up to 2 mins outlining the founder’s journey from idea to impact |
| Driving growth and industry influence | Business performance over the past 1 to 2 years showing growth and external recognition as a thought leader, such as speaking engagement testimonials, awards or media coverage |
| Leading and big picture thinking | Your organisation’s long-term vision and how it’s implemented |
| Strategic resilience | Examples of challenges you’ve faced and how the organisation adapted |
| Customer value | How customer satisfaction is measured and used to improve products or services |
How to enter
To obtain more information on how to enter, visit the King’s Awards for Enterprise website as the criteria for the Awards can be amended slightly each year.
- It’s important to fully read the entry requirements for each category and provide as much information as possible as to why your organisation should be considered into more than one category, but each entry will have to be submitted through each relevant category application form.
- As you would expect, this entry process does take time and will require you to upload considerable amounts of information about your organisation. The King’s Awards for Enterprise team want to read about your organisation and feel the passion you have for the achievements of your staff, products and services.
- We are aware of organisations that will, for a fee, write applications for the King’s Awards for Enterprise (KAE). The advice from the KAE team in London is that it’s not necessary to outsource the submission of an award application; the team want to hear personally from the business about what it has achieved and why they are so special.
- Applications for the King’s Awards for Enterprise 2026 are now open. The closing date for entries is early September 2025.
- The winners of the King’s Awards for Enterprise are announced each year on the anniversary of the King’s Coronation, 6th May.
Need some help with your application?
There is a dedicated team of Deputy Lieutenants based in Shropshire with a wealth of experience and knowledge of the King’s Awards for Enterprise.
They can provide advice and guidance and can sense check your application to ensure the key questions have been answered in full. Please get in touch using the contact form or the details below.
- 07720 561 166
- jo@shropshirelieutenancy.co.uk
The King’s Awards is the badge of honour for any business.
