Gosport Business Awards 2026: 'If you've got a success story to tell, we want to hear from you!'
The glittering annual awards are back for their third year and are are now open for entries
Bustling businesses in Gosport were today urged to grab the chance to have their moment in the spotlight.
The Gosport Business Awards 2026 are already off to a flying start with entries coming in despite only being launched last week.
Editor in chief of The News Mark Waldron is hoping that momentum will continue over the coming weeks as 10 top awards are up for grabs in this third annual celebration of all that is good in doing business in the borough.
‘The News has always prided itself on doing what it can to support local businesses across our patch,’ he said. ‘And through these awards we can get down to a very local level by focusing our attention on all the success stories in Gosport.
‘When you launch something new there is always a small worry over whether it will catch on. But we were delighted by the response from the local business community in the first year in 2024 who wanted to share their stories with pride. We saw this interest grow last year and I am hopeful that we will have even more entries this year.
‘So my message to all local businesses is simple - no matter what you are doing in Gosport and no matter what is driving you on to success there will be a category for you to enter. We look forward to hearing from you!’
The News runs the business awards in association with headline sponsors StandardAero UK and partners St Vincent Sixth Form College, Gosport Borough Council and the Powder Monkey Group.
The awards are free to enter for businesses across the borough and have been extended to 10 categories. The winners - including one overall champion - will be unveiled at a celebration evening at the college's Jervis Gallery on Thursday, November 26, with catering again provided by Power Monkey.
With small businesses accounting for 98% of all businesses in Gosport, more opportunities have been created this year for local enterprises to be recognised, with the hotly-contested Independent Small Business of the Year award divided into three categories for those businesses with less than 10 employees.
The categories are:
- Independent Small Business of the Year for:
- Retail, hospitality and consumer-facing
- Personal care, lifestyle and community
- Creative, technical and professional
- Commitment to Supporting Talent in Business
- Start-up Business of the Year
- Independent Retail Business of the Year
- Community Contribution Award
- Independent Cultural and Creativity Business of the Year
- Independent Tourism/Hospitality Business of the Year
- Overall Business Award (selected from winners of the above)
For more details and to enter go to https://www.gosport.gov.uk/GosportBusinessAwards
If you are interested in supporting the continued success of the awards as a sponsor you can learn more about opportunities by emailing [email protected]