Organisers say the 2026 event is set to be the biggest and best yet
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HullBid Awards 2026 – its origins, categories and event details
- The very first HullBID awards had humble beginnings in 2014, launched as a way for city centre companies to showcase what they have to offer. They culminated in a simple ceremony at Hull Truck Theatre taking place in June of that year. The first awards ceremony saw the city centre BID partner with the Hull Daily Mail to organise the event, attracting more than 100 attendees and over 250 nominations.
- The awards were created aims to single out local businesses and individuals, rewarding them for their resilience, innovation and creativity, while also helping to make Hull city centre a vibrant place to live, work and visit. They’ve been going for 12 years, growing bigger every year, so organisers expect to top the 340 people who gathered to mark the 2025 event when they stage the 2026 event.
- The HullBID Awards return in February at a glam bash set to be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel on Friday, 27 February 2026. Guests will be treated to a three-course meal with wine, followed by live music and dancing to The Contraband. An after-party for those wanting to carry on celebrating will be at the Lexington Rooftop Bar.
- Awards will be presented in 10 categories and entries can be submitted online through the HullBID website. Businesses are invited to submit their entries in the following categories: Innovation award; Best place to work award; Longevity award; Contribution to the community award; The best in food and drink award; Most stylish / welcoming premises award; Customer service excellence award and Commitment to health and wellbeing award. The list of categories is rounded off with the Outstanding employee or team award, and the Outstanding contribution award.
- The deadline for entries is Tuesday 20 January, 2026. After that an independent panel of judges will come together to on January 26 to review all the entries and draw up their shortlists for the categories. The finalists are then set to told they’re on the shortlists on Tuesday 27 January. There’s also no set limit to the amount of categories businesses can enter.
- Tickets are now on sale for the big bash in February. All the shortlisted businesses will get some a number of free tickets to the dinner and they’ll be able to snap up additional tickets, available at £48 + VAT, by contacting francesca@hullbid.co.uk
- READ THE FULL STORY: You can read all about the event’s return in 2026 in this story here, which also outlines details the judges will be looking for in each category – Hull city centre businesses urged to enter HullBid Awards 2026 as organisers promise best event yet.
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