FAQs

Why is there a fee?

It is standard protocol within respected industry awards to charge a nominal entry fee to ensure that the awards remain completely fair and objective. Creating and running an awards process such as The National Vintage Awards requires a significant financial investment and ongoing running costs throughout (marketing, design, insurance, website management, fees) which is partially supported through revenue from entries. In return for the £35 entry fee, we provide the following benefits:

• The marketing potential for your business associated with these awards is huge. Since their involvement in the awards previous winners have been contacted by national television and media and treated as authority figures in their respective sector for the vintage industry. Performers have reported significant increase in bookings both from the UK and also overseas enquiries and across the winners they have seen significant increase in website visits, awareness and enhanced credibility.

• The only National awards of its kind in the UK, and as it is run independently it helps give NVA integrity, credibility and reliability.

• Each entrant has access to appropriate branding, sending a strong message to both your current and prospective clients that you take pride in what you do and that you have put your hand up as one of the best in the business.

• Each nominee is interviewed and this is posted on our website and posted on facebook and twitter.

• Nomination e-Pack including key marketing tools to support your campaign

• After the round of public voting, if you or your business is a finalist you will receive two complimentary tickets to the awards ceremony and preferential rate for family and friends. All nominees who are non-finalists also receive a preferential rate.

• A fair and transparent judging process with a panel of highly regarded industry professionals. We have added, and will continue to add, more judges to the panel to ensure that the results of the awards are fair and completely unbiased. Where a judge has a conflict of interest with a finalist determined by the public vote they can contribute to the discussion element of the process but will not have a voting right at that stage for the category where a conflict has arisen.

What can I win?

In addition to the prestigious title, trophy and pin. There will be prizes unique to the categories which will be announced as the process continues. See the Prizes page (coming soon) for all the wonderful things you could receive!

What happens after I nominate myself?

After we receive your nomination form, we will manually check through the details, then if everything checks out, you will be contacted with an approval email. If your nomination is successful, you will receive a nomination pack in April 2015. Voting will be open throughout May 2015, with the shortlisted finalists being informed in early June 2015. The judging panel meet in June 2015 with the ceremony held on Wednesday 15th July 2015 this year in Cheltenham.

How does the voting work?

All successful nominees will be put forward for a straightforward public vote via online poll. The top 5 or 3 (depending on the category) who get the most votes via the public vote will then be shortlisted. The winner of the Best Vintage Fair and Vintage Personality categories is determined from a public and peer only vote process; the categories Best Vintage Style Performer and Best 1940s/50s Entertainment will be judged by the audience after a performance at the NVA ceremony in July 2015; the remaining categories will be judged by the carefully selected team of NVA judges based on criteria including the following:

Customer service
Passion for vintage
Authenticity
Longevity
Representation of the vintage industry
Quality of product/service
Finalists will be given the opportunity to provide further information so the judges can make an informed and fair decision.
Portfolio and/or product samples depending on the category may be requested to support this process when the panel meet.

Overall winners for each category will be announced at the award ceremony.

Can I attend the award ceremony?

All shortlisted finalists will receive two complimentary tickets for the award ceremony. Further tickets will go on sale to the general public in the Spring of 2015 with a preferential rate for non-finalist nominees and friends/family of the finalists. Tickets are available across the industry, not only a fantastic night but great networking opportunity. A proportion of tickets are also available for purchase by members of the public and for corporate hospitality. Contact info@vintageawards.org for more information.