September is a brilliant time to reflect on what you and your team have achieved so far this year – and turn that success into credible, independent recognition. Because awards aren't simply about having a shiny trophy on the shelf. The right recognition can give customers another reason to trust you, help a growing business stand out from bigger competitors, give an exceptional team the external validation it deserves, and provide powerful proof of your achievements. So, as the leaves start falling and awards season heats up, here are five business awards worth considering this autumn. National Sales Awards The National Sales Awards recognise high-performing sales individuals and teams, from rising stars to managers, directors and entire sales functions. With performance, results, ethics and values all part of the picture, it's an opportunity to put the people driving commercial success into the spotlight. Deadline: 2nd October 2026 National Coaching Awards Coaches spend a lot of time celebrating everybody else's progress. Perhaps it's time they received some recognition too. The Paseda360 National Coaching Awards celebrate coaches making a genuine difference to individuals, organisations and communities, with an emphasis on real stories, meaningful work and transformation. Deadline: 30th September 2026 Learning Excellence Awards Has your organisation transformed the way people learn, develop or perform? The Learning Excellence Awards recognise achievement across learning and development, making them particularly relevant to L&D providers, internal learning teams and organisations delivering innovative, impactful programmes. Deadline: 31st October 2026 Business Brilliance Awards Perhaps you've grown rapidly. Innovated. Built an exceptional team. Or created measurable impact across your business. The Business Brilliance Awards recognise excellence across organisations, leaders and teams, making them relevant to ambitious scale-ups, established SMEs and larger organisations alike.

The Learning Awards are open for entries! The awards recognise innovation and achievements in workplace learning from organisations across the globe. The Learning Awards have continually adapted to align with significant trends in L&D, and to ensure that categories represent current technologies, innovations, and people skills. The Learning Awards have had applicants from 80 countries enter over the past year and an astounding 2 million social media timelines reached. For their 2027 programme there are 22 categories to enter including some new ones which are Learning Employer of the Year & Learning Programme of the Year. The final deadline to submit your entry is 25th September 2026 and the awards are FREE to enter. CATEGORIES The full list of categories includes: - Learning Employer of the Year — NEW for 2027 - Learning Provider of the Year - Start-Up Learning Provider of the Year - Learning Culture of the Year - Learning Team of the Year - Learning Platform of the Year - Apprenticeship Programme of the Year - Onboarding Programme of the Year - Learning Programme of the Year — NEW for 2027 - People Development Programme of the Year – Private Sector - People Development Programme of the Year – Public Sector - Internal Learning Solution of the Year - External Learning Solution of the Year - Best Use of AI in Learning - Learning Technologies Award - Digital Learning Transformation Award - Learning Impact Award - Learning Giveback Award - Learning Leader of the Year - Learning Professional of the Year - Rising Star Award - The Colin Steed Award You can find out more about each category and the specific criteria, here. IMPORTANT DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Entries Open: NOW Entry Deadline: 25th September 2026 Shortlist Announced: 14th October 2026 Judging Sessions: 9th – 24th November 2026 Awards Ceremony: 11th February 2027 Contact us for more information on the 2027 Learning Awards, we can’t wait to support more entrants this year!

If you want to get recognition in 2026, awards open in August can help you win this year across sectors including innovation, customer experience, sustainability, leadership, technology, and employer excellence. Whether you're a fast-growing scale-up looking to attract investors, an established business aiming to strengthen your credibility, or a larger organisation seeking recognition for your teams, now is the ideal time to review the awards you're eligible for. Entering early not only gives you more time to prepare a compelling, evidence-led submission but also allows you to align your recognition strategy with your wider business goals. The right award can enhance your reputation, build trust with customers and stakeholders, and create valuable opportunities for growth long after the trophy has been presented. At August Recognition, we always recommend planning ahead, because the strongest award-winning entries are built on strategy, not last-minute deadlines. Awards Open for Entry The Learning Awards The Learning Awards are the global industry flagship celebration of innovation, excellence, and success in workplace learning and development (L&D). Make your impact impossible to ignore. Book a free consultation to identify the right categories and develop an award-winning strategy for The Learning Awards. Entry Deadline: 25th September 2026 The UK Search Awards The UK Search Awards celebrate the very best in search marketing across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, recognising excellence, innovation and outstanding performance in a constantly evolving industry. If these awards are on your radar, now is a good time to review your best campaigns and identify the categories that best reflect your achievements. Entry Deadline: 17th September 2026 Titan Business Awards Considering entering the TITAN Business Awards? A well-planned entry inot these international awards can help you showcase your achievements with clarity and confidence. You don't need to be trading overseas to enter, you are judged based on the impact you have made, wherever that is in the world.

This year marks a monumental occasion for August Recognition as we celebrate our 10 Year Anniversary. Over the past decade we have had the privilege of working alongside ambitious businesses, partners, clients and visionary leaders – helping them achieve the recognition they deserve through strategic award success. This is an opportunity for us at August to reflect on how far we’ve come, the relationships we’ve built and the impact awards continue to make on business growth opportunities. Most importantly we take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been part of our journey and to look ahead to an exciting future. Looking back to the early days When Donna founded August Recognition in 2016 – she had a simple vision which was to transform the way that businesses viewed awards. Rather than viewing them as one-off credibility boosters, Donna recognised that awards could become a much more powerful tool that builds up credibility, commercial opportunities and accelerates growth. Drawing on her experience in business development and recognition strategy, she set herself the task of helping other organisations tell their stories with clarity, confidence and evidence – ensuring exceptional businesses received the recognition they deserved. Celebrating BIG Milestones 10 Years has brought us countless highlights and unforgettable memories. Along the way, Donna published her first book WIN!, sharing the expertise and strategies behind award-winning applications and entries. All whilst growing August’s partnership opportunities through trust, collaboration and shared passion for rewarding hard work. Becoming part of Dent Global was another highlight that has strengthened our ability to reach and support ambitious entrepreneurs around the world, expanding our impact collectively. Each milestone is a direct reflection of our hard working team and the remarkable achievements our clients reach as a result. Lessons We Have Learned One of the most important lessons we have learned is that winning an award is rarely the end goal. The greatest value is the process itself and taking the time to reflect on achievements, gathering evidence and defining an organisation's impact to ultimately communicate a compelling story from start to finish. Organisations that undergo the process of awards often discover new strengths, improve internal alignment and uncover opportunities they may have previously overlooked. The point is, awards don’t just celebrate success; they help create it by building trust, opening doors and strengthening reputation bit by bit.

GUEST POST · DON'T PANIC Why the real work of award-winning campaigns happens long before the results roll in. There's a particular kind of excitement that comes with working in awards. The shortlists, the ceremonies, the moment a winner is called to the stage. The Don’t Panic team has spent years championing the very best in industry recognition, through our portfolio of ethically judged awards, so are well placed to know how to get the win. In judging sessions, it is apparent that the campaigns that make the shortlist and win aren't the ones that worked hardest at the end of the campaign. They're the ones that started properly that dug into the brief and objectives before the planning even started. Why The Brief Makes the Difference When a new campaign kicks off, it's tempting to get straight into execution. Content calendars, creative briefs, campaign assets, the exciting and tangible stuff, clients love. But the most valuable thing you can do in those early weeks is slow down and ask a harder question. “When a client says they want more traffic, they rarely mean traffic. They mean leads, or donors, or sales, or reputation. The traffic is just the metric they’ve been told to care about. The first two weeks should be spent interrogating that gap: not executing on the stated objective but understanding the real one.” David Pagatto, SIXGUN That gap between what a client asks for and what they need is where great campaigns are born. And it's where award-winning entries are written, even if the entry form hasn't been opened yet. Objectives That Go Deeper Every strong award entry needs a strong objective. One that is SMART -Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time Bound. One that is an honest account of what you were actually trying to achieve and why it mattered to the client's business. That means the beginning of your campaign should include a conversation with your client about what success looks like for them, in terms of metrics, and in terms of their world.