The Guide Awards
One business a month, chosen by the Guide for something specific it did. There is no entry fee, no pay-to-enter category and no shortlist place that can be bought — and every award carries a written reason you can argue with.
Business of the Month, August 2026
Halizona
For work that gets its clients named in AI answers, which is the search shift most agencies are still describing rather than doing.
Read the citation
Every award so far
- Beyond LearningManagement Essentials, run by Anna Masheter of Beyond Learning: three in-person days, a self-assessment before and a one-to-one action plan after.
SAM NetworkingFor running five weekly groups across four towns, an expo of 89 exhibitor stands, and a summer barbecue that has grown every year. A network doing the work of a chamber without the letterhead.
How the awards work
Winners are drawn from businesses the Guide already researches for its rankings, across20 towns and 36 sectors. A business cannot enter, cannot pay, and cannot nominate itself onto a shortlist.
Every award carries a written reason, and winners are free to use the mark on their own site and marketing. The reason is published alongside the award so anyone can read what it was actually given for, and disagree if they want to.
Sector and town awards follow once coverage in a sector is deep enough to judge one fairly. How we rank explains the method the awards inherit.