Eight days left to cast a public vote before the cut-off, with the Town Hall ceremony still ahead
Public voting for the Colchester Business Awards 2026 closes on Thursday 17 September. With that cut-off now eight days away, this is the practical window for residents and city-centre customers to back the businesses and individuals they want recognised.
The awards are organised by InColchester Business Improvement District (BID). Voting opened on Friday 1 August. The official awards site and the BID’s July announcement both list Thursday 17 September as the public voting close date.
How voting works
The programme comprises 14 award categories in total, of which 12 are decided by public vote. Voting and category details are published on colchesterbusinessawards.co.uk, including criteria pages for each category. The homepage countdown and category blocks both point voters to complete ballots before the September close.
Public-vote categories listed on the awards site include Business of the Year, Charity Award, Professional Service of the Year, Best Managed Retail Area or Department Store, National Retailer, Indie Retailer, Contribution to Theatre and the Arts, Evening and Night-time Economy Business, Live Entertainment Venue Award, Eatery of the Year, Best Salon/Barbers, Best Beauty/Aesthetics Business and Best Community Lead Business. City Hero is described separately as recognised through Board nominations rather than as a standard public-vote pathway.
This piece does not name nominees or speculate on winners. Readers should check the live voting pages for the current shortlists and any category-specific instructions before submitting a vote. Allow time to review criteria and to complete each ballot you intend to cast, rather than leaving everything to the final evening.
What happens after voting closes
Ticket sales for the Awards Evening close on Thursday 1 October. The ceremony itself is on Thursday 8 October 2026 in the Mayor’s Parlour and Moot Hall at Colchester Town Hall.
The official venue-and-tickets page sets out a published schedule: guest arrival and welcome reception from 18:30, seated dinner and awards presentation from 19:30, and event close at 23:30. Ticket inclusions listed on that page (and mirrored on the BID blog) are a welcome glass of fizz on arrival, a two-course meal, half a bottle of wine per guest, and full access to the awards ceremony and celebrations. Live entertainment is also referenced on the venue page. FUZE is thanked on the awards sponsors page as the 2026 event sponsor.
Ticket price: verification note
An InColchester BID blog post dated 24 July 2026 states that tickets are available for £45 per person. At the time of writing, that figure does not appear on the official colchesterbusinessawards.co.uk venue-and-tickets page, which lists inclusions and timetable but not a price. Readers should treat £45 as a BID blog claim and confirm the current price on the official tickets route before purchasing.
Why the countdown matters now
Voting closes more than two weeks before ticket sales end, and three weeks before the Town Hall evening. That sequence matters for anyone who wants a say in public categories: once Thursday 17 September passes, the public window is gone even if ceremony tickets remain on sale until 1 October.
For businesses hoping for recognition, the immediate ask to customers and contacts is therefore time-bound. For voters, the task is to use the official site, complete ballots in the categories that matter to them, and allow time for any account or confirmation steps the voting system requires. The ceremony remains the payoff moment when winners are announced, but that night depends first on votes being cast before next Thursday’s close.
Further information, category criteria and voting links are on colchesterbusinessawards.co.uk. Key dates are also summarised on the InColchester BID blog post announcing the voting window.
