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Are Awards Evenings Now Simply Too Expensive?

ended 26. November 2025

A number of small businesses are starting to question the cost of attending industry awards.
Being shortlisted is still seen as worthwhile, but many say the price of actually going to the ceremonies has crept up to the point where it’s becoming hard to justify.

One event this year is charging £632 plus VAT for a single ticket, and firms say that’s quite typical now. For some smaller businesses that can’t recover the VAT, the real cost is even higher. Add in travel, accommodation, and time away from the office, and the bill for one evening can easily run into four figures per attendee.

Most people accept that awards nights help support media companies at a time when many are under real financial pressure. But there’s a growing concern that prices are rising so quickly that smaller firms may soon be priced out altogether.

That’s prompted a few simple questions:

Are awards nights now just too expensive for smaller firms?

Are we heading towards events that only the biggest companies can afford to attend?

And will rising prices end up putting people off entirely?

It’s a topic that seems to be coming up more often as ticket prices continue to climb.

2 responses from the Newspage community

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Editor
Scott Gallacher
Director at Rowley Turton
We are privileged to have won several awards over the years. Being shortlisted is a fantastic achievement, especially for a small business, and great for promoting your business to both new and existing clients. But as a small Leicester-based firm, the cost and travel time are real considerations, especially when most awards are held in London. With ticket prices rising, we increasingly have to look carefully at whether attending offers genuine value for money.
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Colette Mason
AI Ethics Consultant at Clever Clogs AI
Awards nights have quietly drifted from a celebration to a farce. £632 plus VAT for dry chicken, a chair with a polyester stretch cover, and the privilege of clapping for people you had to vote for on a basic Google Form as part of entrance? It’s no wonder smaller firms feel stitched up.

Plenty of these ceremonies run on an unspoken rule: you only ‘win’ if you turn up, buy the table, and rigged the votes more than your 'stablemates'. That’s not recognition. that’s a revenue model.

The danger is obvious: we’re sliding towards events only big corporates can afford, while the founders actually doing the innovative graft stay home because they can’t justify the bill. If the price of entry keeps rising so will the quiet cynicism.

If awards are truly meant to champion small business, why are SMEs being priced out, and at what point does this industry admit that prestige shouldn’t be something you can expense, and finally get back to to the crux of the matter: merit.