Cardiff Excellence Awards, Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff, United Kingdom
Cardiff Excellence Awards
Imagine hearing your name called, walking onto the stage, and sharing that moment with the people who helped you get there. Our awards day brings together extraordinary people, inspiring stories and achievements worth celebrating.
The day itself
Months of work, a nomination, a shortlist, and then one room where it all comes together. Ask anyone who has been a finalist: what stays with them isn't the trophy. It's these.
The pause before the name.
The room goes quiet, the envelope opens, and for a second everyone is holding their breath with you.
The walk to the stage.
Applause from people you know, and from people you have never met who have just heard your story.
The table that cheers loudest.
Your team, your family, your clients. The people who were there for the hard parts, there for this one too.
Your ceremony
306 finalists, their teams and the people who believe in them, gathered for one day to find out who wins. Come and be part of it.
Welcome drinks, group recognition of every nominee, the winner announcements and trophies, awards photographs and video, VIP business matchmaking with the guests of all three shows, and the winners’ celebration. 11:00 am to 7:00 pm.
Imagine yourself in the room
01
Feel the pride of being recognised alongside your colleagues, friends and supporters. However the envelope opens, being a finalist in that room is something you earned.
02
Business leaders, founders, professionals and people with remarkable stories, all in one place and all in a good mood. Conversations start easily on a day like this.
03
Bring the people who did the work. A day out together, applauding each other, says thank you in a way a bonus email never will.
04
The photographs, the speeches, the moment your table stood up. Long after the day, it is what people still talk about.
Who will you celebrate with?
Think about who you'd want beside you when the names are read out. There's a way to bring them.
On your own
Come for the room. Nobody arrives knowing everyone, and the day is made for conversation.
Nominees and their guests
Your moment, with the people who helped you get there sitting right beside you.
Teams and colleagues
Celebrate the people behind the results, together, away from the office.
Business owners and leaders
Meet your peers, host clients, and see who is doing remarkable work in your area.
Corporate tables
Put your team, your customers and your best relationships around one table.
Sponsors and partners
Put your name behind the recognition and host your guests on the day.
Experience the day
Arrive and be welcomed
Registration, a warm hello, and the first photographs of the day.
Meet fellow guests and nominees
Finalists, sponsors, judges and guests, mixing before the ceremony.
Enjoy the atmosphere
Hospitality, music and a room that feels like an occasion.
Celebrate inspiring achievements
The stories behind the finalists, told on stage.
The awards presentation
Category by category, the winners are announced live.
Keep the conversations going
The best introductions often happen once the trophies are handed out.
Real people, real stories
This year's Cardiff Excellence Awards finalists. Every one of them has a story worth hearing, and on the day you'll be in the room when theirs is told.
Aaron Baynton
Director, Starlight Stays
Aaron Duggan
Radio Presenter/ Producer/ Mentor, 96.5 Bolton FM
Aaron King
Digital Creator, King Ronn
Abbie Lumley
Lead Broadcast Projects Engineer, News Broadcasting
Abbie Richardson
Client Relationship Manager, BIBA Medical
Abigail Davis
Social Value Lead, Wales, AtkinsRéalis
Adrian Polglase
Journalist & Producer, BBC
Aishwarya J M
Digital Influencer, -
Akash Waghmare
Co-editor in chief, The Public Sphere Journal
Alan Shepherd
Chair, Coast FM (formerly Penwith Radio)
Alex Price
op's director, Adlington Law
Alfie Walton
Radio Host, Surrey Hills Community Radio
Award ceremonies: the complete guide
Award ceremonies are more than trophy presentations. They recognise outstanding people and organisations, and create opportunities to build credibility, visibility, partnerships and growth. This is the complete guide to how award ceremonies work, and your way into every part of the Cardiff Excellence Awards. Read it in order, or open the part you need.
From recognition to influence
Awards are the fastest route from being good at what you do to being known, trusted and chosen for it. Each stage brings a different return.
01 Exposure
Get seen
Put yourself and your achievements in front of the right people.
02 Visibility
Get known
Build recognition beyond the customers and contacts who already know you.
03 Credibility
Get trusted
Use independent recognition to strengthen confidence in your business.
04 Authority
Get chosen
Become one of the names customers, partners and your industry associate with excellence.
05 Influence
Get a voice
Use recognition, expertise and visibility to help shape the conversation in your industry.
From private achievement to industry voice: every award you enter, sponsor, attend or shape moves you along this path.
Your route in
Every route into the awards. Pick the one that fits, or let us help you choose.
Your story
You already do it. Someone else already benefits from it. The market just doesn't know yet.
The right award turns what you already do into visible, independent recognition: the kind that changes how the market sees you.
Find where your story belongsAwards aren't just trophies. They're signals the market notices for a year.
Most finalists get enough from the shortlist alone to justify their entry. Winners carry it for the year that follows.
Provider Leader
The market stops comparing you on price and starts comparing everyone else to you.
Known Trusted
Recognition is one of the fastest ways to earn trust.
Visible Recommended
Referrals start arriving, with the award mentioned in the introduction.
Competing Chosen
An award pre-qualifies you before the first conversation.
Why recognition matters commercially
Awards shape five parts of a business at once. Each one repays the effort of entering on its own.
Nominee
The business ready for recognition.
“The nomination itself is the first return.”
Enter the awardsWinner
Your category's answer to a big question.
“Yesterday you were competing. Tomorrow you're the benchmark.”
Find my awardSponsor
The brand behind the recognition.
“Sponsoring recognition makes your brand feel like its source.”
Sponsor a categoryJudge
The expert shaping what excellence looks like.
“This year's judge becomes next year's first call.”
Become a judgeSpeaker or host
The face of the day.
“The voice of the room becomes the voice people remember.”
Speak at the awardsGuest
In the room where it happens.
“Where you're seated says as much as what you say.”
Attend the awardsMedia partner
The story of every shortlist and every winner.
“Recognition isn't real until it's written about.”
MediaIndustry body
The institution behind the standard.
“An awards day is as credible as the institutions that back it.”
Partner with usAmbassador
The connector who brings people into the room.
“The best awards day is the one you bring your people to.”
Become an ambassadorThe honest bit
The number-one reason good businesses stay invisible isn't the quality of their work. It's that they talked themselves out of entering.
"We're not ready yet."
You are. Ready is what other people decide, not what you negotiate with yourself.
"We don't have time to write it up."
Fair. Entry takes minutes to start, and telling your story is the work.
"We don't want to look desperate."
Entering isn't desperation. Not entering is what your competitors are doing, and regretting.
Every year, excellent businesses watch others collect the recognition that should have been theirs, because the others entered and they didn't. The question isn't whether you deserve recognition. It's whether you'll put yourself in the room where you can be given it.
Common questions
Nominations open, entries are reviewed and judged, a shortlist is chosen, the finalists go forward, and the winners are announced at the awards ceremony.
Anyone who knows the work of the business or person they nominate: a customer, colleague, partner or friend.
Yes. Self-nominations are welcome and judged in exactly the same way. The person who delivered the work often tells it best.
Nothing. Entering the Cardiff Excellence Awards is free.
Entries are scored by the judging panel against the criteria of each category. The finalists in each category go forward, and the winner is announced at the ceremony.
No. Entry is free, and buying a ticket or sponsoring has no influence on the judging.
Yes, where more than one category fits. Each entry is judged on its own.
Winners are announced live at the ceremony, so finalists are encouraged to be there. If you cannot attend, someone can be there on your behalf.
Yes. Seats and tables are available for your team, customers and supporters.
You leave with everything but the trophy: the shortlist credential, the room, the relationships and an entry you can reuse as sales and PR material.
Sponsors support individual categories or the awards as a whole, with their name on the category, presence on the day and hospitality for their guests. Sponsors do not judge.
Yes, and you should: on your website, in proposals and pitches, in your email signature and across social media.
Tell us. Categories are reviewed as the awards grow.
Yes, where the awards include community and social impact categories. Find My Award shows what fits.
The shortlist is the first cut: strong entries that go forward to further judging. The finalists are the top entries in each category, invited to the ceremony, from whom the winner is chosen.
The ceremony date and venue are at the top of this page, and the awards calendar lists the awards days across our shows.
Your moment is waiting
Whether you're celebrating a nomination, supporting someone special, rewarding your team or simply looking forward to an inspiring day, there's a place for you at the Cardiff Excellence Awards.
Your category doesn't need another supplier. It needs a leader. Awards are the shortcut from being known to being trusted, and from being trusted to being the name people recommend when you're not in the room. Finalists, winners, sponsors, judges, media and guests: pick your role and we'll put you in the right room.