Entries now open for the 19th Big Chip Awards

The not-for-profit awards – run by independent trade association Manchester Digital – are now in their 19^th year and recognise excellent work undertaken across the North’s digital and tech sector; anywhere from the Scottish borders down to Derbyshire.

Run by and for the industry, the awards are recognised for their consistent standards and the integrity of the judging process.

This year, digital and tech businesses, innovative organisations, and inspirational individuals have the chance to be recognised in three brand new categories – Big Chip Transformation Award, Big Chip IoT Impact Award and the Big Chip Leadership Award.

As in previous years, entries will be judged by a number of the country’s digital and tech pioneers, led by design guru Malcolm Garrett. Some of this year’s other confirmed judges include Alastair Cole of The Engine Group, the BBC’s Bill Thompson, Herb Kim from Tech North and Caroline Gorski, Head of IoT at Digital Catapult.

There are 22 awards up for grabs in total spanning the entire digital sector, in areas including search, UX, gaming and animation, while rising stars will be recognised in the student and apprentice categories. The Anthony Wilson award, judged by a special guest judge and the Grand Prix award will be chosen from the shortlisted entries in these categories.

The deadline for entries is Monday 13^th March and the shortlist will be announced on Thursday 27^th April.

Chair of the Big Chip Steering Group, Shaun Fensom, said: “The North has done us proud again over the past 12 months by producing some of the most creative, innovative and commercially successful digital work in the UK and beyond."

“Each year our judges are more impressed by the standard of entries, which keeps on rising. Big Chip has always evolved along with the sector and this year we have added three new awards to the list - recognising leadership, digital transformation and the impact of IoT."

“I expect we’ll see some familiar faces when we celebrate the winners, along with the best and brightest newcomers and rising stars.”

Lawrence Jones, CEO of headline sponsor UKFast, added: “It’s a pleasure once again to be supporting the long-standing Big Chip Awards and to play a part in commending some of the best digital work in the North. There’s no standing still for the North’s digital sector, so we’re looking forward to seeing the incredible work being done by those businesses and individuals that are currently helping to drive this exciting industry forward further.”

The Big Chip Awards will be held at Manchester’s Hilton Hotel on 15^th June 2017. Entries can be submitted online: the first two entries are free and subsequent entries cost £95 each.