Sheffield local businesses in the spotlight in national competition

The UK’s Favourite Local Business 2026 competition gives people the chance to win a share of £2,000 in Town & City Gift Cards, such as the Sheffield City Centre Gift Card.

Sheffield residents are encouraged to nominate their favourite Sheffield businesses in a national competition aiming to shine a light on local. The UK’s Favourite Local Business 2026 has £2,000 in Town & City Gift Cards to be won, such as the Sheffield City Centre Gift Card.

Backed by Sheffield BID, people can nominate their favourite local business in the competition, free, by giving the name of the Sheffield business they think deserves to win and a reason. Shops, restaurants, salons, hotels, attractions and services are all eligible to be the UK’s Favourite Local Business 2026.

The UK’s Favourite Local Business which receives the most nominations in the competition will win a £1,000 Town & City Gift Card, such as the Sheffield City Centre Gift Card, with one person who nominated the winner receiving a £1,000 Town & City Gift Card.

Introduced by Sheffield BID to support local businesses in the city centre, the Sheffield City Centre Gift Card can be spent with almost 100 businesses including big brands like Cosy Club, M&S, Cosmo, Lush, Zizzi and Boots, alongside an array of independents like Hop Hideout, bookshop La Biblioteka, Proove, Showroom Cinema and many more.

The latest Sheffield city centre business to sign up to accept the Sheffield City Centre Gift Card is Orchard Square based In The Making. The team behind In The Making, mum and daughter Lindsay Stephens and Ellie Stephens (aka Lass Paints) and Lindsay's best friend Anita Watkinson, have made a real name for themselves since opening their shop in May 2026.

In The Making stock a wide selection of unique gifts, vibrant homeware, and locally made products and handcrafted treasures from over 100 of the region’s most talented makers and creators. And there’s always something new on their shelves to turn the eye of the most discerning customer.

Anita said, “We’ve all been delighted by the response that we’ve had since opening our doors in the spring. We really feel at home in Orchard Square and we’re always keen for more people to discover just how special a place this is for showcasing our local creatives and artists. We’d love to be voted the UK’s Favourite Local Business 2026, but as long as people are voting for their own favourites and showing love for their local businesses, that’s all that matters.”

The Sheffield City Centre Gift Card is part of the award-winning Town & City Gift Cards concept from fintech Miconex. Over 27,000 local businesses are part of Miconex’s local gift card programs around the world with over £69m of cards sold to date.

Richard Pilgrim, project manager at Sheffield BID said: “You need only glance at the list of businesses which accept the Sheffield City Centre Gift Card to see what fantastic businesses we have here in the city centre. We’re backing the UK’s Favourite Local Business 2026 to spotlight our local businesses on a national stage. Shops to bars, restaurants to cinemas, simply nominate your favourite business in the city centre and you could win a £1,000 Sheffield City Centre Gift Card for yourself, and the same for the business to win.”

Colin Munro, CEO of Miconex, said: “We’re pleased to launch the UK’s Favourite Local Business 2026 in Sheffield so we can spotlight the city’s favourite businesses. Our 2026 research has shown that support for local is incredibly strong in the UK with 99% of respondents keen to support local businesses and 73% saying it has become more important over the past 12 months. Nominating a Sheffield business as the UK’s Favourite Local Business 2026 is an easy way to show your support for a business you love.”

Enter the UK’s Favourite Local Business competition free at: www.lovelocalwin.co.uk and watch the video
The competition closes on the 30th November 2026.