The Countryside Alliance Awards started life as the Best Rural Retailer competition. The Awards are a Countryside Alliance initiative. First conceived of in 2005, they were borne of a need to support and promote rural communities. The Countryside Alliance had long felt the "doom and gloom" tales of rural decline, while true to an extent, did not accurately reflect the spirit of rural people and the efforts of thousands to keep their communities alive.

The Countryside Alliance Awards were known as the Best Rural Retailer competition until 2007

The 2008 competition will open to nominations in September. Nominations are currently not being accepted. 

This Best Rural Retailer competition, now the Countryside Alliance Awards, enables us to sing the praises of our unsung rural heroes through you. It is simple: you tell us who you want to nominate in which category and what makes your choice so special, and if you make your case passionately enough that person could be on their way to national recognition. The feelgood factor this competition has already generated is immense, and there is every hope that it will go from strength to strength. In 2005, 600 nominations were made; in 2006, 2,000 and in 2007, 2,500.

The categories for 2008 are currently in development, but local food, village shops, enterprise and tradition will all be included, as well as a special new category.

Once nominations close in November 2008 short-listing and regional judging then takes place. A new short-listing technique began 2007 competition whereby short-listed retailers were sent a questionnaire. The questionnaire asked each retailer about their  motivation and their community, and on impressing our regional judges they then earned a visit with a view to being declared the regional winner.

The UK has been split into 12 regions for the purposes of this competition (Northern Ireland did not participate in 2007), with each region picking a winner in each of the four categories. The regions are split along the Countryside Alliance's Regional Director structure. Click on "Our regions" to your left to read more about the regional structure and how to contact your Regional Director, who leads your regional judging panel. Your Regional Director will be able to tell you who else is sitting on your regional judging panel.

Four overall national winners are then judged by a national judging panel.

The national winners are then announced at a reception at the House of Lords. The 2007 reception was held on 6th February 2008.