Commenting on themission partnership, Sarah Gardner, themission Marketing Manager, said, “themission is again delighted to be headline sponsor of The Good Web Guide Awards for the fourth consecutive year. It’s a privilege to be involved in celebrating the very best websites and apps out there. Our involvement with The Good Web Guide Awards is something of which we are very proud.”
With entries from well-established household brands to grass root startups, and a judging panel of seasoned digital experts, the decision-making was never going to be easy this year.
On Monday 12th November, shortlisted sites, friends of The GWG and themission gathered to hear Aron Gelbard, co-founder of Bloom & Wild, the world’s leading flower gifting brand, announce who had made the cut.
On welcoming guests at the reception, held at The Royal Institution of Great Britain, Arabella Dymoke, GWG Managing Director, said: “Every year, we’re so inspired by the standard of entries, people doing great things online, helping us to streamline our lives, whether in business or at home.”
WEBSITE OF THE YEAR
The judging panel, including Holly Tucker, co-founder of gift site, Not On The High Street, Kelly Eastwood of The London Chatter and Jerry Horwood, serial entrepreneur, among others, assessed entries on the quality of design, usability, content and product or service evident within each site put forward.
After much deliberation, Great British Chefs was crowned Website of the Year 2018. Great British Chefs is one of the fastest growing food websites in the UK, a go-to destination for foodies in search of recipe inspiration, technical expertise and the latest chef and restaurant news and reviews.
Sam Crocker, themission Digital Director, headline sponsor, said, “themission judges were unanimous in their choice of recognising Great British Chefs as a remarkable achievement in website design, content and usability. It surfaces a volume of content in an intuitive and easy to use way, it works well across devices, uses impactful images and video while remaining fast and responsive throughout. Consistently presenting food in an interesting, aspirational and beautiful way is a hard task and Great British Chefs does it brilliantly.”
On presenting the award, Aron Gelbard commented: "Great British Chefs is a brilliant website - it combines a large volume of easy to find information, combining recipes and content thematically and delighting users through usability and careful use of video, with rapid load speeds, performance and mobile optimisation."
Mecca Ibrahim, Head of Marketing & Social Media, responded by saying: 'Winning the 2018 Website of the Year Award is an amazing experience! A few years ago, we won The GWG People's Choice Award which was great too. It is nice to be back in this beautiful room among other sites that we recognise and value. We are good friends with quite a few of the other sites such as Lizzie Loves Healthy and Sheerluxe and it's been a great evening to meet other people and network."
Judge, Whitney Bromberg Hawkings, CEO and co-founder of FLOWERBX, said: “Great British Chefs is a site I find myself getting lost in for hours. It is informative, with clever and engaging editorial content and insight on the food industry.”
Talking about Great British Chefs’ use of social media, Anna Hart, influencer and founder of One Roof Social, said: “I love how they’ve used Instagram to show that cooking, whilst special, doesn’t have to be specialist.”
APP OF THE YEAR
New for 2018, recognising mobile, Touchnote was declared App of the Year 2018. This multi-award-winning mobile and desktop app turns your pictures into gorgeous postcards and gifts, in very simple steps.
On hearing the news, Dan Ziv, Managing Director, said: "We are thrilled to have won themission Good Web Guide App of the Year 2018 Award. Thank you to the team for the nomination and to the judges' panel for selecting us. We believe this Award is a testament to the fact that today, perhaps more than ever before, people are engaged in more thoughtful and authentic ways of keeping in touch with friends, family and loved ones. We will continue to work hard to help our users do just that."
Arabella Dymoke said: “There is no excuse not to keep in touch when you’ve got this app on your phone. It’s definitely a favourite and one that makes a huge difference in helping us communicate with friends and family.”
PEOPLE’S CHOICE
This year, Lizzie Loves Healthy wins People's Choice, with Lizzie's fans reacting brilliantly to her call out on Instagram, when the number of votes rocketed up. The blog is full of deliciously easy, nutrient packed recipes that everyone can feast on, with tips and tricks on how to keep families happy and healthy. On winning the award, Lizzie King, founder, said "Winning the People's Choice Awards means a lot to me as it shows that people care. My site is about keeping people healthy, fed and happy. Winning this means so much to me.'
CATEGORY WINNERS
LUXURY
PLAN SOUTH AMERICA
www.plansouthamerica.com
This company crafts one of a kind adventures to Latin America and Antarctica. Each trip is customised, combining clients’ requests with meticulous planning and expansive network of local contacts.
HOME & GARDEN
HOUSE & GARDEN
www.houseandgarden.co.uk
From Condé Nast; the best in international design and decoration in the home and garden.
CHILDREN
SPOTS & STRIPES
spots-and-stripes.com
An earth-friendly brand formulated for the unique needs of tween/young teen skin (8 to 14 year-olds). Spots & Stripes steps in when the baby/child formulas don’t cut it anymore, with fun-looking products for skin and hair that are highly natural, super gentle and actually work.
FASHION
SHEERLUXE
sheerluxe.com
One of the UK’s leading online fashion and lifestyle publishers featuring news, views, edits and opinions on all things relevant and desirable for the modern woman.
FOOD & DRINK
GREAT BRITISH CHEFS
www.greatbritishchefs.com
One of the fastest growing food websites in the UK. Both sites are go-to destinations for foodies in search of recipe inspiration, technical expertise and the latest chef and restaurant news and reviews.
PROPERTY
THE LIST
www.houseandgarden.co.uk/the-list
An indispensable guide/directory for anybody wanting work done to their home by a design professional.
BUSINESS/CORPORATE
GAEST.COM
www.gaest.com
Northern Europe’s largest online marketplace for listing, discovering and booking meeting spaces. Gaest.com brings convenience to booking spaces for meetings, workshops or photo shoots. From roof gardens to upcycled ferries and everything in between, Gaest.com aims to ‘make meetings matter.’
TRAVEL & LEISURE
LUXURY COTSWOLD RENTALS
luxurycotswoldrentals.co.uk
The Luxury Cotswold Rentals difference is based on hand picking the best holiday cottages and private country houses available, whose owners pride themselves in creating a home away from home that is a world away and unique concierge service.
EDUCATIONAL
LONDON ART STUDIES
londonartstudies.com
A newly launched series of specialist (jargon-free) online courses are easy to access wherever you are in the world. You can dip in and out of the website, and look up an artist before a gallery visit, or watch a five minute film because you want to know what Impressionism is (in five easy points).
STARTUPS
GUARDHOG
guardhog.com
Insurance for the sharing economy. GUARDHOG is dedicated to growing the peer-to-peer economy and is achieving this through the delivery of innovative and technology driven insurance solutions.
USEFUL
ANYJUNK
www.anyjunk.co.uk
AnyJunk is reinventing bulky waste collection with technology and has grown to become the UK’s largest operator and undertake around 2,000 clearances per week.
ARTS/CULTURE
A LITTLE BIRD
a-littlebird.com
A Little Bird is an insider’s guide to the best of culture and style in London. From getting early bird tickets to Hamilton when it first opened to half price food at the new Caravan restaurant, it only recommends to its readers what they all love.
WELLBEING
SPACEMASKS
www.spacemasks.com
Known for award winning eye masks that help you go to sleep, with endorsements from the likes of Grazia, Vogue, Tatler, The Times.
CHARITY
THE MAYHEW
themayhew.org
Mayhew is an animal welfare charity working to improve life for dogs, cats and the people in our community – at our home in London and internationally.
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
GAEST.COM
www.gaest.com
Northern Europe’s largest online marketplace for listing, discovering and booking meeting spaces. Gaest.com brings convenience to booking spaces for meetings, workshops or photo shoots.
BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
GREAT BRITISH CHEFS
www.greatbritishchefs.com
One of the fastest growing food websites in the UK, the go-to destination for foodies in search of recipe inspiration, technical expertise and the latest chef and restaurant news and reviews.
12 November 2018