Member Article

Shortlist for 20th annual Big Chip Awards announced

The shortlist for The Big Chip Awards 2018 has been announced, with 85 businesses from the North of England in line to bring home an award.

The Big Chip Awards are the longest running digital and tech awards in the UK and have reflected and celebrated the development of the North’s digital and technology industries for two decades. This year is an important milestone for the event and – fittingly - there was a record number of entries across 19 categories.

The shortlist has strong entries from across the North; showing once again that all of its cities are producing high quality, innovative and diverse work.

This year’s distinguished judging panel is made up of a host of industry figureheads, including design expert Malcolm Garrett – chair of the panel – BBC’s Bill Thompson, Nikki Barton of British Airways, Thinking Digital’s Herb Kim, Jeni Tennison of Open Data Institute and special guest judge Martha Lane-Fox; all of whom face the tough decision to determine the 2018’s winners.

To commemorate the 20th anniversary, the judges have created a special, one off award, the ‘Big Chip Pioneer’ which will be awarded to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the development of the North’s digital and tech industries - the winner will be announced on the night.

The extra-special 20th ceremony will be held at Manchester’s Hilton Hotel on Wednesday 4th July, supported by a range of organisations including headline sponsor UK Fast.

UKFast CEO Lawrence Jones MBE said: “This year’s shortlist contains an incredible array of talent. The North is home to an amazing tech community, working together collaboratively, and it’s a huge honour to be involved in celebrating the very best of that community.”

Chair of the Big Chip steering group, Shaun Fensom, said: “This is our 20th year - a special anniversary. We can stand back and marvel at how far the technology has come, but also at how the standard of digital, creative and tech work in the North has just kept on getting better - as good as you’ll find anywhere. The judges have applied strict and rigorous standards and anyone on this shortlist can be truly proud of what they have achieved.”

View the full shortlist here: http://bigchipawards.com/2018-shortlist

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Holly Greening .