Thursday 24 September 2015

Sad times

It is with a heavy heart that we write to you to say that we have taken the difficult decision to cancel the Independent Bath awards ceremony next Wednesday.

We simply have not sold enough tickets to break even and we cannot afford to put the event on at a loss.

When we set out to put on these awards we wanted to break the mould for awards ceremonies in Bath and put on a truly celebratory evening for Bath's wonderful array of independent businesses. Since February when we launched Independent Bath we have worked tirelessly to put together an event that we feel does justice to you and your businesses. Some people have commented that the ticket price of £60 was too expensive but without backers, sponsors or advertisers we were entirely dependent upon ticket sales. We have not at any stage considered paying ourselves for our own time as we really did start Independent Bath out of a love for you, the independent business owners of Bath. As a result of all this we were happy that we managed to keep our ticket price at less than half that of some of the city's other awards whilst still planning an evening that would be fun and above all else memorable and beneficial to your business.

We were delighted that so many businesses took the time to enter but sadly this has not translated into ticket sales. What we were very keen to preserve was the integrity of the event we wanted to put on - we didn't want this to simply be a diner or a networking drinks. We wanted to put on a spectacular celebration of your businesses as one of the truly unique things about the city of Bath.

Our judges spent an unpaid evening at the beginning of September discussing (sometimes very passionately and heatedly!) who should win each category. This was an incredibly inspiring evening and we all came away from the judging night feeling proud to live and work amongst such wonderful businesses.

We have decided to announce the winners online next Wednesday from 6pm so that all the time and effort you and our judges have put in is not wasted. The artist who is making the awards has nearly finished them and so once the winners are announced we can arrange for these to be collected.

We fully plan to come back bigger and better next year so watch this space because your feedback will be central to how we grow.

If you have bought tickets you will receive a separate notification from Komedia about this and your refunds.

Many thanks again for all of your support over the last eight months.

Sarah and Erica xx

Wednesday 16 September 2015

The Nominees for the Independent Bath Awards 2015 are...

...drum roll please! These are the great and the wonderful, the big and the small, the strictly local and the widely international, they are our 2015 Independent Bath Awards nominees:

Best Independent cafe
Mokoko
The Thoughtful Bread Company
Metropolitan Cafe

Best Independent Restaurant
Green Park Brasserie
The Cowshed Bath
The Olive Tree
Best Independent Retailer
A Yarn Story
Chanii B Ltd
Bloomsbury
Uber Clothing Ltd
The Foodie Bugle
The Green Stationery Company
Magpie & Bear
Article
Pencil Tree
Henny & Joe's
LittleLAB
Beyond The Kale

Best Artist/illustrator 
Pencil Tree
Emma Rose Art Works
Fantasy Faces

Best Independent Food Producer
The Organic Cake Company
The Thoughtful Bread Company
Castlemead Poultry
Four Legged Fancies
Henny & Joe's
Beyond The Kale

Best Independent florist/Horticultural Business
Manage My Garden
Bath Garden Design

Best Independent Guest House/Hotel
Number 68
The Queensberry Hotel

Best Independent Female Business owner
A Yarn Story
Chanii B Ltd
The Organic Cake Company
Uber Clothing Ltd
Sal's Kitchen
Exercise Easy
Passionflower Creations
Magpie & Bear
Four Legged Fancies
Incognito Social
LittleLAB
Emma Rose Art Works
Lane House Arts 
Bella Boho Gifts
Prosecco Watch

Best Independent Pub/Bar
Common Room
The Bell Inn
St. James Wine Vaults

Best Innovation/Idea
Sentia Yoga
Sal's Kitchen
The Green Stationery Comapny
Henny & Joe's 
The Pizza Bike
Prosecco Watch

Born in Bath
Emtone Print
Blubolt
Four Legged Fancies
Henny & Joe's
The Pizza Bike

Best International Success story
Green Park Brasserie
Blubolt
The Makery

Best Independent Health/fitness/sport Business
Zest Bootcamp
Sentia Yoga
Exercise Easy
Relentless Trainting
Beyond The Kale
Best Independent Children's Business
Curtain Up Theatre School
Fantasy Faces

Best Independent Dog
A Yarn Story - Peaches
Emtone Print - Dottie
The Green Stationery Company - Sasha
Magpie & Bear - Wookiee
Sonistics - Minnie
Incognito Social - Nikita
The Makery - Rufus
Bella Boho Gifts - Smudge
Best Independent Hair and Beauty
Number Three
Frontline Style
LittleLAB

Best Independent Gallery
Rostra Gallery
David Simon Contemporary
Quercus Gallery
Emma Rose Art Works
Lane House Arts

Phew! What a list. We are delighted

Monday 14 September 2015

The emotional process of judging

Fresh from a night spent with our esteemed judges we are full of pride and sheer joy at the wonderful work that Bath's Independent Businesses do.

At Society Cafe, with food (and a little wine truth be told) we sat with our Judges Adrian Campbell Howard, Emma Savage, Mick Ringham, Melissa Blease and Richard Daws and watched as they debated fervently about all of the wonderful business that nominated themselves for this year's awards. And what an inspiring evening it was; our judges spent the evening talking about the passion, hard work and dedication that each and every one of our nominees displays on a daily basis. We can't wait to share with you some of the lovely things that the judges said as we went through the process. Some categories were unanimous and some were hard fought but what made us really happy was the care and attention they took over ach and every one of the nominations.

We have come away from the night buzzing, inspired and eager to put on the best awards that we can to celebrate just how great the independent business in Bath really are.
Our judges hard at work