Gulf Capital Business of the Year

This award is designed to identify the GCC-based business that can show evidence of maintaining consistent growth and strong financial performance. The winner will have demonstrated how it is delivering its company vision and mission. Entrants for this award must show how they have been successful in delivering key goals, competitor advantage, growth, and innovation. Judges will also look for excellent customer service, future growth plans, how the business is developing its employees and the leadership of the business.

Mastercard Technology Startup of the Year

The Mastercard Technology Startup of the Year award will recognize new technology businesses poised to positively impact the region’s role in the future of the global economy. Entrants must demonstrate how they have been successful in addressing a challenge, generating traction in the market, and the impact created on a local, regional and global scale. To be eligible, startups must have been in operation for less than three years, and be pre-series A in terms of fundraising.

Business Leader of the Year

This award recognises the outstanding leadership of SMEs in the GCC. The judges will look for the leader who can demonstrate examples of excellent business leadership in empowering his/her employees, leadership approach, a successful existing and future growth plan and how his/her successful leadership has had a direct result on the success of their business.

B2B Small Business of the Year

This award is designed to identify the GCC-based B2B business that can show evidence of maintaining consistent growth and strong financial performance. The winner will have demonstrated how it is delivering its company vision and mission. Entrants for this award must show how they have been successful in delivering key goals, competitor advantage, growth, and innovation. Judges will also look for excellent customer service, future growth plans, how the business is developing its employees and the leadership of the business. Businesses with turnover of more than 5m AED / 0.51m Bahraini Dinar / 0.42m Kuwaiti Dinar / 0.52m Omani Rial / 5.1m SAR and less than 5m AED / 4.1m Bahraini Dinar / 3.24m Kuwaiti Dinar / 4.19m Omani Rial / 40.85m SAR 250 employees.

B2C Small Business of the Year

This award is designed to identify the regional B2C business that can show evidence of maintaining consistent growth and strong financial performance. The winner will have demonstrated how it is delivering its company vision and mission. Entrants for this award must show how they have been successful in delivering key goals, competitor advantage, growth and innovation. Judges will also look for excellent customer service, future growth plans, how the business is developing its employees and the leadership of the business. Businesses with turnover of more than 5m AED / 0.51m Bahraini Dinar / 0.42m Kuwaiti Dinar / 0.52m Omani Rial / 5.1m SAR and less than 5m AED / 4.1m Bahraini Dinar / 3.24m Kuwaiti Dinar / 4.19m Omani Rial / 40.85m SAR 250 employees.

Business Innovation of the Year

This award recognises innovations in any part of the business. The submitted innovation could be a product, service, project or initiative in any department, e.g. customer service, marketing, PR, technology implementation, new product concepts. Entrants must be able to show evidence of how the innovation has impacted the business and created a competitive advantage in their field.

CSR Programme of the Year

This award will go to the organisation that can best demonstrate the successful outcomes of their CSR programme. The winner will be the business which gives evidence of success on how it positively impacts society and the business. Judges will look for evidence of how the CSR programme has improved the company's effects on the environmental and social wellbeing of its employees, customers, and communities.

Customer Focus of the Year

This important award recognises organisations that truly have the customer at the centre of their business - the winning business for this category will show how they have built their business plan with their customers at the core, in terms of developing new services/products and revenue streams according to their customers' needs. The judges will look for exemplary customer service examples and outstanding communication with customers.

Digital Business of the Year

Open to any Bahraini, Kuwaiti, Omani, Saudi Arabian, or UAE business trading online, this award will go to the candidate that can best demonstrate consistent growth and strong financial performance from e-commerce. Judges will look for evidence of concept and product development, exceptional implementation, customer engagement & functionality, and innovation. Entrants for this award must show how they have been successful in delivering key goals, competitor advantage, growth, and innovation. Judges will also look for excellent customer service, future growth plans, how the business is developing its employees and the leadership of the business.

Disruption of the Year

This award recognises an SME which has created an innovative disruption – a new market or a disruption in an existing market. The disruption must have gone to market in the last year and be profitable for the business. The winning business must be able to show evidence of how the disruption has changed its market. Entrants must be able to show judges how the disruption was developed, tested with customers and the tracked results for the business.

Emirati Business of the Year

This award is designed to identify the Emirati-owned and UAE-based business that can show evidence of maintaining consistent growth and strong financial performance. The winner will have demonstrated how it is delivering its company vision and mission. Entrants for this award must show how they have been successful in delivering key goals, competitor advantage, growth and innovation. Judges will also look for excellent customer service, future growth plans, how the business is developing its employees and the leadership of the business.

Entrepreneur of the Year

This award will recognise the most inspiring, dynamic and driven leader trading for 18 months or more. Entrants must show how they have overcome challenges to grow their successful business and how they have achieved this through passion, commitment, innovation, market knowledge, innovation and inspiring and motivating their team.

Micro Business of the Year

This award is designed to identify the GCC-based business that can show evidence of maintaining consistent growth and strong financial performance. The winner will have demonstrated how it is delivering its company vision and mission. Entrants for this award must show how they have been successful in delivering key goals, competitor advantage, growth and innovation. Judges will also look for excellent customer service, future growth plans, how the business is developing its employees and the leadership of the business. Businesses with a turnover not more than 5m AED / 0.51m Bahraini Dinar / 0.42m Kuwaiti Dinar / 0.52m Omani Rial / 5.1m SAR and less than 250 employees.

New Entrepreneur of the Year

This award will recognise the most inspiring, dynamic and driven leader trading for 18 months or less. Entrants must show how they have overcome challenges to grow their successful business and how they have achieved this through passion, commitment, innovation, market knowledge, innovation and inspiring and motivating their team.

People & Culture of the Year

This award will go to the organisation that can best demonstrate how the business has created a positive working environment and invested in developing its people. The entrant for this award must be able to show how it focuses on motivating its team, engaging its team in the company's values and how this has impacted the business' commercial performance and competitive advantage.

Start-up Business of the Year

This award is designed to identify the start-up business that can show evidence of how the business has put in place the foundations and strong plan for future growth. The winner will have demonstrated how it has created and is delivering its company vision and mission. Examples of how the business concept, services and products have been developed must be demonstrated and how the business has communicated with its customer base. (Must have only been trading for 2 years or less)

Sustainable Business of the Year

This award will go to the organisation that can best demonstrate the successful adoption of its sustainability mission. The winner will be the business that gives evidence on how it positively impacts local (county of operations) society, the environment or the economy. Judges will look for evidence of how the sustainable business has improved one or more of the following areas; customer perception, staff engagement, commercial performance, and environmental stewardship.