Newcastle-under-Lyme BID Announce Shortlisted Businesses for LoveNUL Business Awards 2025

After an exciting round of public nominations, Newcastle-under-Lyme BID is thrilled to unveil the shortlisted businesses and individuals for the highly anticipated LoveNUL Business Awards, set to take place on Friday 10th October at NSCG Performing Arts Centre.

More than 120 local businesses and people have been nominated across 11 categories, such as Hospitality Business of the Year, Community Project of the Year, Independent Business of the Year and Visitor Attraction of the Year.

This year’s LoveNUL Business Awards marks the third annual event where the public are able to celebrate their favourite local businesses, service providers and community leaders across a range of categories. This celebration highlights those who go above and beyond to deliver exceptional experiences to customers and clients.

This year’s awards received an overwhelming response, with over 650 individual nominations.

“We’re blown away by the incredible response to this year’s awards. The number of submissions exceeded all expectations,” said Charlotte Pearce, Newcastle-under-Lyme BID Manager. “It’s been heartwarming to see not just the public’s engagement, but also how excited the businesses themselves are about the awards. In a time of change for our high streets, it’s important to recognise the businesses that consistently deliver outstanding service and enrich the lives of both residents and visitors in Newcastle.”

She added, “We’re also looking forward to showcasing the BID’s current and future initiatives for 2026-2031, while delivering an evening for businesses to connect, collaborate and of course, celebrate.”

Nigel Davies, Co-Chair, Newcastle-under-Lyme BID Board and Boss & Sons added: “It’s been brilliant to see such an overwhelming response this year. Bringing board members and sponsors together to review so many strong nominations wasn’t easy, but it showed the breadth of our town — established names, exciting new ventures and vital community projects. It’s also a chance for all of us, including the public and sponsors, to discover businesses we haven’t come across before. Best of luck to everyone shortlisted.”

This year’s awards are kindly supported by headline sponsor Ironmarket Wealth, alongside Doulton Water Filters, New Vic Theatre, Heywoods Property, Keele University, KMF Group, Lemaca / McDonald’s, Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, NSCG Newcastle College, Thompson Wright and University of Staffordshire.

Please see below the shortlisted businesses and people in each category:

Independent Business of the Year Award sponsored by Thompson Wright

1 Brampton Recruitment
2 Divinity Studio
3 Piccoloco
4 Sparrowhawk Vintage
5 Tony Price Butchers

Hospitality Business of the Year Award sponsored by NSCG Newcastle College

1 Amore Italian Restaurant
2 Mellards
3 Peaches
4 Piccoloco
5 The Victoria (The Little Vic)

Professional Services Business of the Year Award sponsored by Keele University

1 Encapsulate Group
2 Saferhands Care Solutions
3 Specsavers
4 Starbots Creative
5 The Hair House

Market/Market Trader of the Year Award sponsored by Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council

1 Buns & Dreams
2 Calisis Cookies
3 Castle Artisan Market
4 Independent Street
5 Vegan Market

Customer Service of the Year Award sponsored by KMF Group

1 Bygones Tea Room
2 New Vic Theatre
3 Farmer’s Shoe Shop
4 The Barracks Tattoo Studio
5 The Hair House

Visitor Attraction of the Year Award sponsored by University of Staffordshire

1 Brampton Museum
2 Break Free Escape Rooms
3 Lymelight Boulevard
4 New Vic Theatre
5 Philip Astley Centre

New Business of the Year Award sponsored by Heywoods Property

1 Breeze Bowls
2 Droids vs Dinosaurs
3 EKA by Glow Luxury
4 Hurricane Gaming
5 Tiny Tennessee

Community Project of the Year Award sponsored by McDonalds

1 6 Towns Radio
2 Active Living Group
3 Infusion Dance Troupe
4 Loui’s Kitchen
5 Peter Pan Centre
6 The Staffordshire Signal CIC

The winners of the following shortlisted categories have been determined by the judging panel and are not open to public vote:

Spirit of Newcastle-under-Lyme Person Award sponsored by Staffordshire Chambers

1 Andrew Van Buren
2 Jane Hopewell at Circle of Friends
3 Jan at McDonalds
4 Sandra Williams of San’s Funky Kitchen

Spirit of Newcastle-under-Lyme Business Award sponsored by Staffordshire Chambers

1 Philip Astley Centre
2 PH Productions
3 Piccoloco
4 The Hair House
5 Shaws Chippy

Public voting is open from Friday 19th September and will close on Monday 29th September. One vote per person, per category is encouraged.

For more information or to cast your vote, please visit www.lovenulawards.co.uk or follow @newcastlebid on social media.