The winners of the 20th annual Big Chip Awards were revealed at a packed ceremony last night, with businesses, individuals and students taking home awards in 21 categories.
More than 400 industry professionals and guests attended the event at Manchester’s Hilton Hotel to celebrate digital excellence in the North over the last 12 months.
Here we go @BigChipAwards @HiltonMCR with fab hosting skills by @TimandraHarknes, sponsored by @UKFast #BigChipAwards pic.twitter.com/RcfA5TFCsi
— Laura Wolfe (@laurawolfe) July 4, 2018
Organised by digital and tech trade association Manchester Digital and sponsored by cloud hosting provider UKFast, Big Chip are the longest running digital and tech awards in the UK.
A one-off award category, the Big Chip Pioneer Award, was introduced to mark the 20th anniversary, with Dave Carter taking home the price for his contribution to the North’s digital and tech industries over the last 20 years.
“Manchester is like no other place in the world and nothing will be a barrier to achieving things. People with wacky ideas survive here, leave a legacy here and do something quite amazing.” – Dave Carter waxes lyrical about the amazing tech and digital landscape here in MCR
— Big Chip Awards (@BigChipAwards) July 4, 2018
The former head of the MDDA is credited with ensuring that Manchester got an early start using online technology – a key factor in the development of its thriving digital and tech scene.
Shaun Fensom, chair of the Big Chip Awards steering group, said: “It’s great to have marked the 20th Big Chip with such an array of brilliant entries.
“We set out back then to show that the North can deliver great quality digital and tech projects. Now we’re proving year after year that in fact some of the best work you can find anywhere is being done right here. Well done to all our winners!”
Winners of 5 Awards last night at #BigChipAwards2018 ?????????? it’s amazing to see our teams work with @coopukfood on Shifts and with @CoopFuneralcare on Guardian recognised. This is one Co-op! Well done ???? pic.twitter.com/3hjl6IO4hX
— Co-op Digital Team (@CoopDigital) July 5, 2018
Winning entries were picked by a judges including design expert Malcolm Garrett, the 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.
The 20th ceremony was supported by a range of organisations, including headline sponsor UKFast, BCS, Cisco and Bing.
Enjoying an evening at #BigChipAwards. Supporting and celebrating the 20th anniversary of creative and digital talent in tech @shaunfensom @BigChipAwards pic.twitter.com/rj9wl3xw6o
— Lawrence Jones MBE (@Lawrence_Jones) July 4, 2018
Lawrence Jones MBE, CEO of headline sponsor UKFast, said: “It’s been an honour to once again be part of Big Chip and help to recognise the very best in our industry – it’s an unmissable event in the awards calendar so we were proud to sponsor for the fifth year running.”
Here are the full list of winners:
Best B2B Project
The Insights People with Kids Insights
Best B2C Project
CTI Digital and High Street TV
Best Digital Marketing/Branding campaign
Roundhouse Digital with Christmas campaign for The People’s Kitchen
Best Freelancer/Micro Enterprise
Commit
Best Game
Odd Bug Studio with The Lost Bear
Best Mobile Application
Co-op Digital with Shifts
Best Start-up
Tutorful
Best Tech for Good Project
Greater Manchester Kidney Information Network -GMKIN with Peer support & information
Best Tech for Good Project Highly Commended
SteamaCo with Energy Autopilot
Best Use of Search
Digitaloft & Missy Empire with You vs The Kardashians
Best User Experience
Co-op Digital with Shifts
Big Chip Digital Business Award
StreamAMG
Big Chip Leadership Award
Craig Dean, CEO of Web Applications UK
Big Chip IoT Impact Award
BT TSO See.Sense with Manchester CityVerve Cycling Trial
Big Chip Creative Impact Award
Flow Creative with BBC Ideas – The Trouble with Groupthink
Big Chip Transformation Award
Co-op Funeralcare
Little Chip Placement/Apprentice Award
Joshua Stevenson-Wood
Little Chip Student Award
Manchester Metropolitan University with Emma Davies
Most Innovative Application of Technology
Clicks and Links with the VR Bicycle Simulator
Anthony Wilson Award
Co-op Digital with Shifts
Big Chip Pioneer Award
Dave Carter
Big Chip Grand Prix Award
Co-op Funeralcare