Some of the biggest names in UK tech have been confirmed as judges for the prestigious Digital Entrepreneur Awards.
The awards – known as the DEAs – champion the country’s finest digital entrepreneurs and businesses and are now in their 12th year.
This year’s awards ceremony takes place on November 9th at Manchester’s Palace Hotel and a total of 17 awards will be up for grabs.
Lawrence Jones MBE, founder and CEO of the DEA’s long-term main sponsor, cloud computing firm UKFast, said this year’s awards promised to be the biggest and best yet.
“Digital entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of the economy and every year the quality and quantity of the DEAs gets better and better,” he said. “It’s never been easier to launch a business. In many cases all you need is an internet connection, a good idea and determination. The quality of the new judges in this year’s awards reflect the high esteem that the awards are held in.”
New judges in 2016 include: Steve Purdham, chairman and founder, 3Rings Care; Claire Braithwaite, tech advisor at Manchester Growth Company; Richard Law, chief executive, GB Group; and Paul Bason, Director Digital Innovation, MMU.
Other confirmed judges include Lawrence Jones; Jonathan Wall, controller, Radio 5 Live and 5 Live Sports Extra and Tom Bloxham, chairman and co-founder, Urban Splash.
The categories include Digital Agency of the Year; Digital Business of the Year; Digital Entrepreneur of the Year; and Digital Start-up of the Year.
This year’s media partner for the DEAs is BusinessCloud, the UK’s newest tech magazine, which is joint venture between Jones and award-winning journalist Chris Maguire.Time is running out to enter the DEAs.