High Sheriff’s Awards for Enterprise
In partnership with the University of Chester
The Awards are open to businesses and charities of any size that are based in Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire East, Halton and Warrington.
Welcome to the High Sheriff’s Enterprise Awards 2025/26. I am delighted that you have landed here. The Enterprise awards are focused on you, your team and your organisation. We want to celebrate your hard work, flair, creativity, and innovation and the many other aspects that enable your organisation to be successful. The Awards are a wonderful way to celebrate your achievements and are now an important date in Cheshire’s annual calendar, so we hope to see you there.
The date for our presentation evening will be on 19th March 2026, the venue being the prestigious Churchill House, home of University of Chester’s Business School and we’re thrilled to have as our guest speaker Professor Paul McGee, commonly known as The SUMO Guy, who I know will leave you feeling inspired, empowered and equipped to deal with challenges and opportunities both in and outside the workplace.
The partnership between the University of Chester and the High Sheriff of Cheshire enables business and academia to work together to ensure we have the skills, people and innovative climate we need in Cheshire and Warrington to achieve our vision to be the healthiest, most sustainable, inclusive and growing part of the country. And we want to celebrate you and your organisation, the people of Cheshire, who bring that vision to life.
As a business and charity leader who has built and grown organisations in the commercial and beyond-profit space, I know that you will have had to make difficult decisions, work hard and be very determined. I also recognise that award application processes can be time-consuming, so last year we made a couple of small changes. We consolidated some awards and linked them to the King’s Enterprise Awards’ categories, so that if you’re a business, you can build on the work and time you put into these awards if you decide to apply for a King’s Enterprise Award. This year, we have reintroduced two awards that had been popular in previous years, the Family Business and Community Engagement awards. We know there is a wealth of fabulous family businesses in Cheshire and Warrington, many of which could align well with King’s Award for Enterprise themes around enterprise, growth and resilience. A personal passion of mine as a business and charity leader has always been Community Engagement, and we hope organisations from both these sectors will apply.
So, whether you are a pan-global business or charity, an entrepreneurial startup or anywhere in between, share your story with the experienced judges of these awards. As High Sheriff, I want to celebrate your achievements and profile the success that you are achieving that embodies all that is progressive in Cheshire and Warrington and the UK. The range of award categories is designed in part to include at least one within which any business or charity can participate. I do hope that you wish to do so.
I would also like to thank our sponsors: Grosvenor, Barlow, Mornflake, EA Technologies, and Warrington Borough Council. Thank you for enabling the awards and for sharing your expertise and knowledge.
Joëlle Warren MBE DL
High Sheriff of Cheshire 2025/26
About the High Sheriff
The Office of High Sheriff is more than 1,000 years old, though in modern times it is dictated by the Sheriffs Act 1887. It is a royal appointment that involves upholding the values of the country’s justice system.
Originally the High Sheriff held many of the powers now vested in high court judges, magistrates, local authorities and coroners.
Today’s duties include attendance at royal visits to the county, support for His Majesty’s High Court Judges when on circuit and taking an active part in supporting and promoting voluntary organisations within the County.
The Office of Sheriff is an independent non-political Royal appointment for a single year. The High Sheriff’s Awards for Enterprise ceremony takes place at the end of each Cheshire High Sheriff’s term in office. A more contemporary role involves supporting and encouraging voluntary and statutory organisations and highlighting all aspects of success in the community.
You can find out more about the role of the High Sheriff on the Official website for the High Sheriff of Cheshire.
Award Categories
Your application must show that your organisation:
- is based in Cheshire, Halton or Warrington
- is a self-contained enterprise under its own management and complete its own accounts
- can demonstrate strong environmental, social and governance practices
Your organisation can be a business, charity, non-profit or in the public sector.
We are keen to support businesses, charities and public sector organisations to apply for the Kings Award for Enterprise or the Kings Award for Voluntary Service and therefore have aligned our criteria to these to help create opportunities for Cheshire, Halton and Warrington applications.
Each of the award categories has additional entry criteria.
To be considered for this award, your organisation must evidence how it is a family-led business that has delivered meaningful economic and community impact across Cheshire. Please provide evidence of how you demonstrate strong environmental, social and governance practices and provide proof of at least one of the following:
- How the family’s leadership and values have driven sustainable commercial success, benefiting the local economy.
- How the business has created employment, skills development, or supply chain opportunities within Cheshire.
- How intergenerational leadership or succession planning has enabled long-term resilience and regional growth.
- How the business has supported the community through philanthropy, volunteering, or civic leadership is linked to economic well-being.
To be considered for this award, your organisation must evidence how it has delivered significant and measurable community benefit that also contributes to the economic success of Cheshire. Please provide evidence of how you demonstrate strong environmental, social and governance practices and provide proof of at least one of the following:
- How your engagement has created jobs, improved access to skills, or enhanced local economic participation.
- How programmes or partnerships have supported inclusion, reduced inequalities, or increased opportunities in underserved areas.
- How your work has strengthened the resilience, well-being or social fabric of communities, with knock-on benefits for the local economy.
- How your organisation has mobilised innovation, resources or networks to solve local challenges and create positive economic impact.
To be considered for this award, your organisation must evidence how you have created, developed and/ or sustained an innovation. Please evidence how you demonstrate strong environmental, social and governance practices and provide evidence of at least one of the following:
- An innovation that has not been sold before or an innovative improvement to an existing product/process, or service.
- That the innovation has or will generate a profitable return.
- An innovative product, service or process that has environmental benefits.
- An innovative product that has increased productivity.
To be considered for this award, your organisation must evidence how it has delivered outstanding sustainable development that creates both measurable community benefit and supports the wider economic success of Cheshire. Please evidence how you demonstrate strong environmental, social and governance practices and provide evidence of at least one of the following:
- How do your sustainability initiatives support local job creation, skills development or supply chain opportunities.
- How your organisation’s approach to environmental stewardship has delivered economic and social returns within the Cheshire region.
- How have you developed or adopted sustainable practices, products or technologies that address local challenges and strengthen community resilience.
- How your leadership in sustainability influenced others in your sector or locality to raise standards and increase impact.
You may wish to consider how your work contributes to one or more of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and how these translate to practical outcomes for people, place, and prosperity in Cheshire.
To be considered for this award, your organisation must be able to evidence how it creates opportunities for a better future for local people. Please provide evidence of how you demonstrate strong environmental, social and governance practices and provide proof of at least one of the following:
- Evidence of providing work experience or career advice.
- Evidence of mentoring.
- Offering an interview and job-related training.
- Making sure your recruitment process is open to everyone.
- Evidence of supporting and/ or facilitating career progression.
To be considered for this award, you must be able to evidence how the nominee (young person under 30 years old) has shown entrepreneurial spirit and endeavour within their role. You may be nominated by an organisation or you may nominate yourself. You may nominate an apprentice in this category.
Please provide evidence, in relation to at least one of the following, of how the young person has:
- Made a difference to the organisation or the community.
- Excelled within the related apprenticeship course.
- Applied the skills learnt through the course in various work environments.
- Improved or developed the business.
To be considered for this award, you must be able to evidence how you have achieved outstanding commercial growth over the past two years.
Please provide evidence of how you demonstrate strong environmental, social and governance practices and provide evidence of at least one of the following:
- Scale and scope of growth over the past two years.
- Impact of growth in the organisation and local community.