Are you Britain's friendliest business?

The competition has been launched as part of a search by Liberis, providers of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) funding, to celebrate the hard working SME community. The entrants will be judged based on an online entry form, where they submit the story of their business and the reason they believe they should win the award.

High streets are disappearing​

Adrian Fawcett, chairman of Liberis, said: “The truth is that we are in a critical moment for SMEs in Britain. Our high streets are disappearing, and our local businesses are facing impossible financial conditions.

“We believe that businesses that do survive in this difficult climate do so because they give their customers something more – they provide a friendly, personal service that they can’t find anywhere else.

“We believe that the best way to be sure that the tills of Britain keep ticking is to show that friendliness, personal service, and local community all matter – the British people care about those values, and they show it by frequenting and supporting the businesses that share them.”

Cash award of £10,000 to be won​

20 shortlisted businesses will be announced in late December, and that list will be narrowed down to three finalists in January 2014. Those three finalists will be profiled across social media, and the winner will be announced in February 2014 and will receive a cash award of £10,000.

The campaign for Britain’s Friendliest Business will be tracked on Twitter via the hashtag #BFBiz and the @LiberisUK handle. To enter the competition and for more information, see www.liberis.co.uk/bfbiz.