LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR DIFFERENT AWARDS HERE
Award Categories for 2026
There are plenty of sponsored Award Categories for all businesses to enter, whichever business you’re in, whatever size you are, and whether you have physical premises, or not. View the 2026 Award Categories and sponsors below.
Sponsorship Opportunities for 2026: Any categories marked as Available are open for sponsorship. Please click here to view all sponsorship deals and ways to get involved with HBA26.
NB! Many of the categories require businesses / organisations to have been trading before 1 September 2024. The awards effectively recognise the ‘best’ nominated business in a given category, so it’s important that our judging panel can assess business performance (and improvements in it), as well as progress towards business objectives over a period of time.
Beacon Award
The Beacon Award winner will be a local business that is, in the opinion of the judging panel, the best entry across all categories. The winning business will be a beacon of inspiration.
Sponsored by lovelocalsolutions ltd
Apprentice of the Year
The winner of this award will be a Hyndburn apprentice who has, over the past year, shown a keen commitment to personal and professional development, risen to new challenges and made a positive difference to their company.
Sponsored by Nelson & Colne College Group
Customer Friendly Business
The winner of this award be the most customer friendly Hyndburn business nominated this year. They will have gone above and beyond to ensure their customers are happy with their service. The business will have started trading before 1 September 2024.
Available for Sponsorship
Creative Business
The winner of this award will be the most creative Hyndburn business nominated this year. Open to all businesses of any size, where creativity and/or creative skills are central to the business. Open to all businesses regardless of time trading.
Sponsored by Callums AirBnB
Family Business
The winner of this award will be the best family business in Hyndburn nominated this year. Open to all family owned businesses, where two or more family members currently work within the business, and more than one generation contributes (or has previously contributed) to the success of the business. The business will have started trading before 1 September 2024.
Available for Sponsorship
Food & Drink
The winner of this award will be the best food and/or drink-based business in Hyndburn nominated this year. Open to all business who either produce food or drink, or retail / serve food or drink to be consumed on or off-premises. The business will have been trading before 1 September 2024.
Sponsored by BPS Vending
Green Business
The winner of this award will be the nominated business that best demonstrates their commitment to adopting environmentally sustainable practices and minimising their carbon and community impact. Open to all eco-friendly organisations.They will have been trading before 1 September 2024.
Sponsored by Hyndburn Borough Council
Health & Wellbeing Business
The winner of this award will be the best health, wellbeing and/or beauty based business in Hyndburn nominated this year. Open to all businesses in the health, beauty and wellbeing sector. The business will have started trading before 1 September 2024.
Available for Sponsorship
Independent Retailer
The winner of this award will be the best independent retailer in Hyndburn nominated this year. Open to all businesses who operate traditional retail outlet(s) or sell directly to the consumer online, or via direct mail, farmers markets, etc. The business will have started trading before 1 September 2024.
Sponsored by A P Beswick Publications
Large Business
The winner of this award will be the most successful and sustainable Hyndburn based large business nominated this year. Open to businesses with a turnover of £1m or over. The business will have been trading before 1 September 2024.
Sponsored by WHN Solicitors
Made in Hyndburn
The winner of this award will be the best product or service which has been manufactured or exclusively created in Hyndburn. Open to all businesses regardless of time they have traded.
Sponsored by Hyndburn Borough Council
Medium Business
The winner of this award will be the most successful and sustainable medium Hyndburn business nominated this year. Open to businesses with a turnover of between £250k to £1m. The company will have started trading before 1 September 2024.
Sponsored by ActionCOACH
Micro Business
The winner of this award will be the most successful and sustainable Hyndburn based microbusiness nominated this year. Open to businesses with employees and a turnover of less than £75k. The business will have started trading before 1 September 2024.
Available for Sponsorship
New Business
The winner of this award will be a new Hyndburn based business that has been the most successful start-up. Open to new businesses which started trading on, or after, 1 September 2024.
Available for Sponsorship
Not For Profit
The winner of this award will be a nominated Hyndburn based not for profit business, charity or social enterprise that has, in the opinion of the judging panel, implemented and used innovative practices and approaches to meet community and public service objectives in the last year. The organisation will have started trading before 1 September 2024.
Available for Sponsorship
Small Business
The winner of this award will be the most successful and sustainable Hyndburn based small business nominated this year. Open to businesses with employees and a turnover of £75k to £249k. The business will have started trading before 1 September 2024.
Sponsored by Loft Logik
Social Media Champion
The winner of this new-in-2023 award will be the Hyndburn business that is making the best use of social media to create awareness and attract customers, and engage with their followers. Open to all businesses regardless of time trading.
Sponsored by Ohm Smart
Sole Trader
The winner of this award will be the most successful and sustainable Hyndburn business with only 1 person in the business (the owner) nominated this year. The business will have started trading before 1 September 2024.
Available for Sponsorship
Workforce Development
The winner of this award will be the Hyndburn organisation that has best demonstrated a commitment to developing their workforce. The business will have started trading before 1 September 2024.
Available for Sponsorship
Thank you to our 2026 Award & Ceremony Sponsors
We are very grateful to our Sponsors, whose support allows us to deliver the awards administration and ceremony, year on year. Exclusive 2026 Headline Sponsorship is currently available. Please view all our exclusive Sponsorship Opportunities by clicking here, or via the tab above and do contact us if you would like to sponsor, or support the awards.
The HBA programme is run by the lovelocalsolutions group with the support of many volunteers and organisations across the borough.
