Arabella Dymoke, MD of The GWG, welcomed the guests, saying, "Gathered in this room, we've got big thinkers, entrepreneurs and facilitators, changing the way we run our lives both on and offline." She continued, "The Awards give us the opportunity to reach out to new sites and ideas, to find out about game-changing practices. As we go into the New Year, we will be looking for new stories, guest editors and it's you we will be reaching out to." After thanking the judges and sponsors, Arabella introduced Ciaron Dunne of Genie Ventures, one of this year's expert judges, who kindly stepped in to announce the winners.
The Good Web Guide Awards 2016 from now | house on Vimeo
WEBSITE OF THE YEAR
It was a closely run contest but Bloom & Wild pipped ART UK at the post by winning the accolade GWG Website of the Year. Bloom & Wild is an online florist with a fresh approach to sending flowers. The innovative packaging, enabling flowers to be delivered through the letterbox, and signature attention to detail makes the Bloom & Wild experience unlike any other.
Anna Bance commented, "I am delighted that Bloom & Wild have won the GWG Website of the Year. I have been following them with a keen interest since their launch and have admired their innovation in the current flower-buying experience - a traditional market, which hasn't seen much innovation in the past twenty years." She continued, "Similar to Girl Meets Dress, both companies thrive in providing a service to essentially make women feel happy and special during the key moments in their lives. Congratulations to Bloom & Wild and I wish them continued growth and success!"
One of the judges, Alex Minchin of Zest Digital, said, "I love how this website is so simple, so clear, and unites an offline physical service with an online model. After navigating around, I was blown away by the simplicity."
PEOPLE'S CHOICE
From The Box Office won the People’s Choice with its engaged community. The site provides a simple way for fans to access a wide range of events and a great booking experience by being informative, reliable, fast and secure.
CATEGORY WINNERS
EXCELLENCE IN CUSTOMER SERVICE
COCO BAY
www..cocobay.co.uk
Coco Bay is an award winning, online swimwear boutique, showcasing the very best in designer bikinis, swimsuits and holiday clothing accessories.
Ben Clarke-Smith, Head of Customer Success, Feefo, sponsor of this special category, said, “We’re delighted to present Coco Bay with the Excellence in Customer Service Award. Their dedication to delivering an outstanding experience for shoppers, as rated by their genuine customers, elevated them above the competition. Amazing service is clearly at the top of their agenda: they personally respond to reviews, resolve issues quickly and are very deserving of this accolade. Congratulations to everyone at the Coco Bay team!”
ARTS/CULTURE
ART UK
artuk.org
Launched in February, 2016, Art UK was originally Your Paintings, hosted on bbc.co.uk. This online register of photographs of every publicly owned oil painting in Britain is the only country in the world to have such a resource.
BUSINESS
EXPORTING IS GREAT
www.exportingisgreat.gov.uk
Exporting is Great is a government service, funded by the Department for International Trade (DIT), helping British businesses find opportunities to export their goods and services.
EDUCATION
EDPLACE
www.edplace.com
EdPlace believes every parent should have access to quality educational support that effectively helps their child succeed. It does this by providing parents access to the best education tools, technology, resources & teachers. Subjects covered include English, Maths and Science across the National Curriculum in Key Stages 1 to 4 with other subjects coming soon.
GARDENING
GREEN PLANT SWAP
www.greenplantswap.co.uk
GreenPlantSwap is a kind of 'Facebook for gardeners built around a database of 21,000 plants.' It's also location-based, a marketplace, an events platform, and enables members to list plants they have/want, linked to their growing information.
SOCIAL
MY HOME TOUCH
myhometouch.com
HomeTouch is an online marketplace that allows clients to select their own carer through a list of recommendations and by browsing carer profiles which include videos, bios, DBS details and reviews from previous clients.
HEALTH/BEAUTY
LIFESUM
www.lifesum.com
Lifesum is a Stockholm-based digital health company with over 15 million users. Using tech and psychology, it creates a tailored plan to help people live happier, more balanced lives.
BEST OF BRITISH
JONNY'S SISTER
www.jonnyssister.co.uk
Jonny's Sister embraces British craftsmanship by producing unique and personalised gifts for children, adults and the home.
CHARITY
WVS
wvs.org.uk
WVS was founded by vet Luke Gamble (star of TV's Luke' Gamble's Vet Adventures) in 2002. The website supports a commitment to improving animal welfare globally. WVS aims to BE the difference in animal welfare and the new website helps with this aim significantly.
FINANCE
PANDLE
www.pandle.co.uk
Pandle is free, cloud based accounting software made with real people in mind. Pandle focuses on sole traders and small businesses and is simple and intuitive to use.
FOOD/DRINK
MARKET PORTER
www.marketporter.com
Market Porter works with a select group of independent, high quality suppliers such as butchers and cheesemongers to bring you the very best fresh produce direct from the suppliers.
HOMES
MORE THAN WORDS
www.morethanwords.uk.com
More Than Words was launched in 2010 by creative designer Lisa Long. It was the first website to offer customers a way of truly personalising their artwork. A one stop shop whereby you select your product, mix your own special colours, enter you words and choose your font.
LUXURY
BEYOND BESPOKE
beyond-bespoke.com
Beyond Bespoke is the only platform for British companies and brands of quality to promote their products and services to an international audience.
CORPORATE
KEN BELL ACCOUNTING
www.kenbellaccounting.co.uk
Ken Bell Accounting is a bookkeeping company founded over 20 years ago. The firm is now, by number of licences supported, the UK's largest Xero bookkeeper and the fourth largest in the world. The site has recently been overhauled, enabling clients to book and pay for online Xero tuition.
PROPERTY
FOXTONS
www.foxtons.co.uk
Foxtons.co.uk is regularly voted the best in the business. Every property, regardless of price, features floorplans, 360° virtual tours, numerous high-resolution photographs, slide shows, local information, location maps, aerial views and full colour brochures.
REALLY USEFUL
HOUSEKEEP
www.housekeep.com
Housekeep is the first real-time booking site for cleaners. Users view live availability, book and pay online, focusing on long term contracts. It’s the only business building technology for this recurring relationship between consumers and cleaners.
RETAIL
BLOOM & WILD
www.bloomandwild.com
STARTUPS
CLASSLIST
www.schoolclasslist.com
Classlist is a website designed to make life easier for you when it comes to all things school related. Connect with other parents, organise events or even sell off that bike languishing unused in the shed. Thousands of parents across the UK already use Classlist to make life run more smoothly.
TRAVEL
I-ESCAPE KIDS
i-escape.com/kids
In Jan 2016, i-escape kids re-launched with an innovative, mobile-friendly design to highlight the key family-friendly features of the properties it lists.
The Good Web Guide has been delighted to have worked with the missiontm, marketing communications and advertising group, over the past six months as the Awards have continued to grow and attract entries from both established players and grass roots start-ups. Arabella Dymoke said, "Bray Leino and the missiontm have been part of The GWG family right from the start. As our headline sponsor, having the support of this incredible team with all its expertise has enabled us to widen the scope of our Awards, getting the word out there."
21 November 2016