The shortlist for The Big Chip Awards 2018 has been announced, with 85 businesses from
the North of England in line to bring home an award.
The Big Chip Awards are the longest running digital and tech awards in the UK and have
reflected and celebrated the development of the North’s digital and technology industries for
two decades. This year is an important milestone for the event and – fittingly - there was a
record number of entries across 19 categories.
The shortlist has strong entries from across the North; showing once again that all of its
cities are producing high quality, innovative and diverse work.
This year’s distinguished judging panel is made up of a host of industry figureheads,
including design expert Malcolm Garrett – chair of the panel – BBC’s Bill Thompson, Nikki
Barton of British Airways, Thinking Digital’s Herb Kim, Jeni Tennison of Open Data Institute
and special guest judge Martha Lane-Fox; all of whom face the tough decision to determine
the 2018’s winners.
To commemorate the 20th anniversary, the judges have created a special, one-off award, the
‘Big Chip Pioneer’ which will be awarded to an individual who has made a significant
contribution to the development of the North’s digital and tech industries - the winner will be
announced on the night.
The extra-special 20th ceremony will be held at Manchester’s Hilton Hotel on Wednesday 4th
July, supported by a range of organisations including headline sponsor UK Fast.
UKFast CEO Lawrence Jones MBE said: “This year’s shortlist contains an incredible array
of talent. The North is home to an amazing tech community, working together
collaboratively, and it’s a huge honour to be involved in celebrating the very best of that community.
Chair of the Big Chip steering group, Shaun Fensom, said: “This is our 20th year - a
special anniversary. We can stand back and marvel at how far the technology has come, but
also at how the standard of digital, creative and tech work in the North has just kept on
getting better - as good as you’ll find anywhere. The judges have applied strict and rigorous
standards and anyone on this shortlist can be truly proud of what they have achieved.”
Shortlist:
View the full shortlist here: http://bigchipawards.com/2018-shortlist
