Posted by
Vida Ragbir
Experience Guildford Business Awards 2026 Returns – Celebrating the Best of Guildford’s Businesses
Experience Guildford is delighted to announce the return of the Experience Guildford Business Awards, proudly sponsored by Spotler. The highly anticipated awards will once again shine a spotlight on the outstanding businesses that make Guildford such a vibrant and exciting place to shop, dine, work and visit.
The awards will culminate in a celebratory awards ceremony on 15 July at the Harbour Hotel Guildford, bringing together local businesses and sponsors for an evening of recognition, celebration and networking.
The Experience Guildford Business Awards recognises excellence across a wide range of sectors, celebrating the innovation, dedication and passion that drives Guildford’s business community.
Vida Ragbir, Marketing and Events Manager at Experience Guildford, said:
I really look forward to the awards. Last year it was such a lovely event and we had some fantastic applications. I hope this year we will have even more businesses participating so we can recognise and celebrate them.
Businesses across Guildford town centre are encouraged to enter and showcase their achievements.
The Experience Guildford Business Awards 2026 feature 10 categories designed to celebrate the diversity, creativity and excellence of businesses across the town. These include Business of the Year, recognising outstanding overall performance and leadership; Best Customer Service, celebrating exceptional customer experiences; and Hospitality of the Year, highlighting venues delivering high-quality food, drink and atmosphere. The awards also recognise positive impact through Greener Guildford, for sustainability initiatives, and Community Spirit, for businesses supporting local people and organisations. Creativity and innovation are celebrated through the Creative Vision award, while the People’s Choice award is decided by public vote. Individual dedication is honoured through Long Service Recognition, and emerging success is recognised with New Business of the Year. Finally, the Independent Business of the Year award celebrates locally owned businesses that bring unique character and vibrancy to Guildford.
This year’s awards are proudly sponsored by Spotler, a European marketing technology company dedicated to helping organisations create meaningful and connected customer experiences.
Marketing shouldn’t feel like juggling a collection of disconnected tools, spreadsheets and guesswork. It should feel intelligent, connected and effortless. At Spotler, the mission is simple: to empower professionals with the marketing tools they deserve to make an impact. Spotler is a European SaaS company that develops marketing technology, building a connected Marketing Cloud that centralises scattered customer data and delivers meaningful customer experiences. In today’s digital world, customers expect organisations and brands to recognise them, understand them and communicate with relevance—whether that’s through email, WhatsApp messaging, Google and Meta ads, or even websites. Spotler gives organisations the power to make that happen.
Their Marketing Cloud brings together data, automation, messaging and AI into one connected ecosystem. By unifying customer insights with the tools used to act on them, they enable marketers and communication professionals to move faster, work smarter and build relationships with customers that truly matter. For commerce companies, at the centre of their Cloud is a Customer Data Platform that transforms fragmented data into a living, unified view of every customer. From there, teams can orchestrate journeys that adapt in real time—from intelligent email automation and reliable transactional messaging to personalised website experiences and real-time conversations through channels like WhatsApp.
For B2B organisations, their lead tracking and management capabilities help marketing and sales teams align around real opportunities, supporting lead generation, lead scoring and nurturing prospects through automated, event-based email campaigns while surfacing the moments that matter most. Spotler believes the future of marketing belongs to organisations that truly understand their customers and have the tools to respond instantly, intelligently and responsibly. That’s why Spotler is designed not just to power campaigns, but to help businesses create connected customer experiences that drive growth while remaining fully GDPR compliant.
A spokesperson from Spotler said:
We’re delighted to be sponsoring this year’s awards and supporting an event that celebrates the incredible businesses within our local community. Getting more involved in the town and helping to recognise the achievements of local organisations is something we’re really passionate about. It’s also a great opportunity to raise awareness of what we do and connect with other businesses in the area. We’re particularly excited to be part of the judging panel for the Business of the Year category and look forward to seeing the fantastic talent and innovation on display. We can’t wait to meet you all.
The awards timeline begins with applications opening on 1 April and closing on 17 May. Category judges will be announced in May, with finalists revealed on 25 May. Finalist interviews with judges will take place throughout June (1–30 June), alongside the People’s Choice voting, which will also run from 1–30 June. The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on 15 July at the Harbour Hotel Guildford.