The London Lifestyle Awards

Company Logo

The London Lifestyle Awards were established in 2010. They were designed to reward a number of publicly nominated businesses who have been deemed to be successfully contributing to the lifestyle of the city.^[1]^[2]^[3] After an initial nomination period, a short list is announced from which members of the public can vote for their winner. This voting period culminates in an event (generally held in October) in which the winners are announced. The Awards are currently in their sixth year and are the brain child of publicist Jason Gale. This year's awards were held at the prestigious Hilton Park Lane on the 28th of October and were attended by an array of celebrity guests and amazing lifestyle businesses from all across the capital.^[4]^[5]

History

The London Lifestyle Awards were created in 2010 by Jason Gale. The mission was to honour those whose work has been understood as making a noticeable contribution to the London lifestyle scene and improving the lives of fellow Londoners.^[6] In previous years the awards have taken place at venues such as The Hurlingham Club in Fulham, The Troxy in East London and most recently, The Hilton Park Lane at this year's 2015 awards. From 2010 to 2012 the Awards were hosted by Capital FM DJ Greg Burns, and in 2013 were hosted by Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills.^[7] Each year the awards in different categories are presented to the winners by famous faces that support the event; in the past this has included Dame Kelly Holmes, Christopher Biggins, Michelle Heaton, Vanessa Feltz, David Seaman, Caprice and Sinitta.^[8] Categories range from 'Restaurant of the Year' and 'Bar of the Year', right the way through to 'Theatre Show of the Year' and 'Live Music Venue of the Year'. At this year's 2015 awards, a new category titled 'London Ambassador of the Year' was introduced and won by Errol Douglas MBE for an outstanding contribution to services in hairdressing.

The Trophy

The London Lifestyle trophy has evolved over the years. In 2013, an engraved glass placard which displays the classic London Lifestyle Awards logo, the nominated category and the winning company's name was used. The trophy's were supplied by Gaudio, a bespoke awards and trophy manufacturer.

Nomination Process

Both businesses and the general public are welcome to nominate. Nominations are made online on the London Lifestyle Awards website. Once a form is submitted, they are all logged onto a database handled by Director Jason Gale, to determine whether the business is eligible and entered in the correct category for official nomination. After nominees have been determined, judges including Director Jason Gale, Sinitta and Akashia Carswell (London Talent) sit down to decide the short list. Each year a short list party is held to announce those who have progressed through the initial stage. The day after the short list is announced voting re-opens to the public on the London Lifestyle Awards website. Following this stage, the shortlist is trimmed down to finalists and the winners are announced at the London Lifestyle Awards' annual ceremony.

In 2012 4,127 businesses and personalities were initially nominated, with this being trimmed down to 202 for the final stage of the competition. In total 207,006 votes were cast during the 2012 voting period.^[9]

Venue

The 2010 Awards were held at the Riverbank Park Plaza and the following year moved to the exclusive Hurlingham Club in Fulham, West London. The awards were then held at The Hurlingham Club for two consecutive years. In 2013, the awards ceremony moved east to The Troxy in Limehouse. This move followed in the footsteps of other Awards ceremonies to move to the east-end of London including the NME Awards and Kerrang! ^[10]

The Troxy was also the venue for the 2014 awards, however with the event increasing in size and stature, the awards committee decided to move the event to a more central location and The Hilton Park Lane was the chosen venue.

The Awards Ceremony

The Ceremony begins with a drinks reception, allowing the guests to mingle and network with other people in the industry. Once everyone has arrived guests sit down for a three course meal; guests can either buy an entire table for their company or if a smaller company they can purchase seats at a table with others. Following dinner, the awards ceremony begins. Winners are announced by different celebrities who support the event and are invited onto stage to collect their award. They are then taken back stage to film an acceptance speech which they will later be able to share on their website and social media pages. Once the ceremony has wrapped up, guests are then treated to live entertainment. In 2013, the night was ended with a 35-minute set by girl band Stooshe. Speaking of the event the girls said “We're so excited to be involved in the London Lifestyle Awards. We're London girls born and bred & we think it's great that the best places around town are congratulated. Where would we be without them!” ^[11]^[12]

The 2015 awards were opened by The London Cabaret Club with a very special performance of 'London Never Dies' which was shortly followed by a stunning performance from this year's X-Factor contestant Anton Stephans. The ceremony was brought to a close with a live band followed by a live DJ.

Previous Winners

Category	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
London Bar of the Year	Aqua Spirit	McQueen	Salvatore's at the Playboy Club	The Mayor of Scaredy Cat Town	Polo Bar at Westbury Mayfair	The Mayor of Scaredy Cat Town
London Night Club of the Year	The Crazy Bear	Public	Mahiki	Maddox	Drury Club	Mahiki
London Coffee Shop of the Year	Bar Italia	Benugo	The Haberdashery	Benugo	Wild & Wood	The Espresso Room
London Concierge Company of the Year	No winner	Quintessentially	Quintessentially	The Sincura Group	Envy Group	Innerplace
London Fashion Retailer of the Year	Jeffrey-West	Bolongaro Trevor	Katherine Elizabeth Millinery	Nina Naustdal	Bespoke HQ	Melissa Odabash
London Cultural Attraction of the Year	Elephant Family	Victoria and Albert Museum	Kids Week	London Eye	View from the Shard	Victoria and Albert Museum
London Fitness Facility of the Year	The Third Space	The Third Space	Pineapple Dance Studios	Barrecore	The Library	The Third Space
London Hair Salon of the Year	No winner	Errol Douglas MBE	Taylor Taylor London	Jones & Payne	Stuart Phillips	Taylor Taylor London
London Festival of the Year	No winner	No winner	Udderbelly	Taste Festival	Summer Series at Somerset House	Udderbelly
London Hotel of the Year	Sanctum Soho	Sanctum Soho	Sanctum Soho	The Savoy	Shangri-La Hotel at The Shard	Ham Yard Hotel
London Members Club of the Year	No winner	Home House	Eight Members Club	Eight Members Club	Home House	Home House
London Live Music Venue of the Year	The 02	Hootananny	Royal Albert Hall	Dover Street Restaurant and Jazz Bar	KOKO	Pizza Express Jazz Club
London Theatre Show of the Year	Les Misérables	The Lion King	Matilda	The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time	Jersey Boys	Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
London Health & Beauty of the Year	MACs Salon	Taylor Taylor London	Chuan Spa at the Langham Hotel	EF Medispa	Gina Conway	EF Medispa
London Restaurant of the Year	The Crazy Bear	Portrait Restaurant, Searcys	Le Caprice	MASH	Coya	Novikov
London Hospitality Group of the Year	No winner	No winner	No winner	Firmdale Hotels	Inception Group	Inception Group

References

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