Business Boost 2024 is now closed – be the first to know when entries open up again
Win £25k to give your business a boost
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Small business, big impact
Since 2020, we’ve given almost £100k to small businesses through our Business Boost grant. Entries are closed for this year, but sign up to our newsletter to be the first to know about future competitions.
Keep an eye on our social channels to see who’s crowned the winner of Business Boost 2024.
Competition is open to UK residents aged 18 and over. Entrants’ businesses must not have an annual turnover exceeding £750,000 or have received over £50,000 in private funding in the past two years (this does not include government grants). See full terms and conditions.
What our judges are looking for
- Your story
Whether you’re a seasoned business owner or your journey’s just starting – we’d like to hear your story. Your trials, your triumphs, and everything in between. What inspired you to go it alone? - A big dream
Small businesses are built on big dreams – so what’s yours? At Simply Business, we pride ourselves on enabling big dreams, and we want our £25,000 Business Boost to make a real difference. - Positive social impact
As an accredited B Corp, we believe that businesses should be a force for good. From improving diversity and inclusion in your field or community, to how you impact the world around you – we’re looking to hear about the ways your business contributes positively to society. - Innovation
Innovation comes in many shapes and sizes. For some, it could mean cutting-edge technology. But for others, it might mean the creativity needed to turn a hobby into a business. What sets you and your business idea apart from the competition? - A thought-out plan
We’d like to understand your plan – how will you use the £25,000 to boost your business?
Key dates to remember
- 16 August
Applications open! Tell us about your business, and how our Business Boost would help. See what our judges are looking for above. - 15 October
Remember to get your entry in before the 15 October deadline. - 15 November
We’ll announce our #BusinessBoost shortlist – keep an eye out for a Simply Business email to see if you’ve made it. - 13 December
We’ll announce our 2024 #BusinessBoost winner.
How to write the best Business Boost entry
Since we launched Business Boost in 2020, we’ve read thousands of fantastic entries but there can only be one winner each year.
So, what does a good entry look like?
- don’t worry too much about the quality of your writing, the judges are more interested in hearing your story
- give as much detail as you can, but try to keep your entry under 500 words
- read the judges’ criteria and focus on what you’d use the £25,000 for
For more tips and examples of award-winning Business Boost entries, read our guide on creating an award entry.
Meet our judges
Get to know our expert judging panel who’ll be awarding one lucky entrepreneur the £25,000 grant.
Timothy Armoo
Entrepreneur
Jack Parsons
UK’s Chief Youth Officer, My Duvet Flip Host
Harpreet Kaur
Winner BBC’s The Apprentice 2022
and co-founder of Oh So Yum
Tony Robinson OBE
Author and co-Founder of the Micro Business Alliance
Beatriz Montoya
Chief Operating Officer, Simply Business
Get to know last year’s winner
Last year’s winner was Claire Marachais of Fair-Well, a north London based refill store and mobile home delivery service. Claire was selected out of 17,000 entries across the UK and impressed our judges with her drive, passion, and commitment to social impact.
Read more about Fair-Well’s story, why they won, and how they’re using the £25,000 grant to boost their business.
Our previous winners
Y.O.U underwear
“Winning Business Boost will enable us to grow, reach more people, have an even greater impact… and really allow me to focus on the business so that we can make the big difference I know we are capable of.”
Watch This Sp_ce
“To suddenly get this injection of money makes such a difference to a small business like ours. This has changed everything for us.”
Rowan Bay
“Without the grant, none of this would have been possible.”
*A survey of 2,000 UK residents conducted in May 2024