Why Apply for a BBA2026 Award? | Honouring your Achievements

Every year, organisations across the United Kingdom & Japan do extraordinary work quietly. The British Chamber of Commerce in Japan sits within an incredibly privileged realm of interaction - on many occasions learning first hand the work, ambition, and successes of our member companies. That is why we believe those achievements deserve to be recognised.

In business, success is quantified and then quickly reset in warm ambition to the next great achievement. Nominating your organisation for a British Business Award stops that clock - for a moment in time - preserving the right for you to take an evening to honour and celebrate your earned merits. 

For many of our members, a year passed might look something like this:

A new market is entered. A partnership finally bears fruit. A small team achieves something far beyond its size. A technology moves from idea to application. A workplace changes for the better. An organisation makes a decision that creates meaningful impact for its people, its industry or its community.  

The trophies for this year are already in formation. What is yet to be seen is who will return home with them.

Since their first presentation in 2007, the British Business Awards have grown into the defining annual celebration of the UK–Japan business and cultural community. In 2026, our nineteenth year, seven awards will recognise organisations across business performance, entrepreneurship, UK–Japan partnership, market entry, diversity, responsible business, and digital technology and innovation.

But there is an important distinction to make, of which deserves repeating.

You do not have to win for applying to have value.

The shortlist: a complimentary platform

For organisations selected for the BBA2026 shortlist, recognition begins before anyone walks onto the stage at Fairmont Tokyo.

Shortlisted organisations become part of the British Business Awards campaign, receiving complimentary visibility through BCCJ communications, editorial coverage and inclusion within the official BBA programme, placing their work before the wider UK–Japan business community throughout the awards season.

This has long been part of the value of the BBA. As far back as 2016, BBA coverage noted that nomination itself could generate substantial publicity and strengthen brand awareness and credibility. In 2019, the BCCJ explicitly highlighted pre-event and on-the-night publicity among the benefits received by nominees. Today, the BBA describes a place on the shortlist as a credible distinction capable of supporting reputation, communications and business development.

And consider who that recognition reaches.

The British Business Awards 2026 is expected to welcome more than 400 people from business, government and the wider UK–Japan community, with more than 80% of previous guests holding C-suite or senior leadership positions.

• For an SME, that can mean visibility well beyond your existing network.
• For an established organisation, it can provide independent recognition for work that deserves greater attention.
• For a team, it can be a moment to say: this mattered.

And should you win, that moment travels considerably further.

A BBA can change things overnight

There is perhaps no better recent example than Francis Fung and KiFor.

At the beginning of 2025, Francis was not even a BCCJ member. He had viewed the Chamber from the outside as something that perhaps was not designed for someone like him.

After being introduced to the community by BCCJ member Helen Iwata, he joined, became involved and, when BBA application season arrived, Helen encouraged him to put KiFor forward.

Francis initially thought it was too soon. Helen's response was two words:

‘Rookie mistake.’

He then soon applied and on Friday, 7 November 2025, Francis attended his first British Business Awards and returned home as Entrepreneur of the Year.

Do not wait for somebody else to notice you

Perhaps the most persistent misconception around business awards is that recognition should arrive through somebody else.

We would warmly encourage you to abandon that idea - you know your organisation better than anybody.

You know what it took to reach this point. You know the difficult decisions that never made the press release. You know the project that nearly did not happen, the team that delivered when circumstances changed, the partnership that took months to build, the investment that is beginning to pay off, the small improvement that became a significant result.

The BBA has explicitly welcomed self-nomination for years. In 2021, organisations were invited to nominate ‘even your own company’. The current 2026 guidance goes further, actively encouraging organisations to put forward their own work because nobody is better placed to articulate its significance and impact.

So please do not sit quietly hoping somebody else tells your story. Come and tell it yourself.

Seven ways your year might deserve recognition

There is no single definition of an excellent year.

BBA2026 therefore offers seven distinct routes to recognition: Company of the Year; Entrepreneur or SME of the Year; UK–Japan Partnership of the Year; New Market Entrant of the Year; Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; Responsible Business; and Digital Technology & Innovation.

Organisations may submit up to two applications, allowing different areas of achievement to be considered on their own merits. Applications are open to BCCJ members and the wider community.

And applying is free, open to both non-members & members of the BCCJ.

There is no application fee standing between your organisation and consideration by the BBA judges. Nor does your application need to read like an advertising campaign. In fact, we would prefer that it did not.

The judges want evidence. Tell them what happened, why it mattered, what changed and what you can demonstrate. The BBA application guidance specifically asks entrants to focus on output and impact, rather than overly expressive marketing language.

This is your opportunity to stop, perhaps for the first time this year, and properly account for what your organisation has achieved.

The shortlisting belongs to the judges. The application belongs to you.

Once applications close, entries move into an independent judging process.

BBA judging has long been structured around defined criteria and independent assessment. Previous years have used common scoring frameworks across judges, with results determined through combined scores rather than decisions made by the BCCJ itself. For 2026, judging will take place from 7 to 30 October, before the winners are revealed at The Nineteenth Evening on 13 November 2026.

You cannot decide whether you make the shortlist.

You cannot decide whether your name is inside the envelope.

You can decide whether your work is there to be considered.

Applications for the British Business Awards 2026 close on Wednesday, 30 September 2026.

The British Business Awards exist to recognise what has been achieved. We very much hope your organisation will allow us the opportunity to consider yours.

APPLY HERE

Full BBA2026 navigation page can be perused here.