Northern Design Awards Terms and Conditions
Northern Design Awards Terms and Conditions
Last updated: 24 August 2026
1. About us
The Northern Design Awards are organised by Northern Design Awards Limited (“Northern Design Awards”, “we”, “us” or “our”).
Company number: 15322185
Registered office: Ash Tree Farm, Lower Mountain Road, Penyffordd, Chester CH4 0EU
Registered in: England and Wales
Email: info@northerndesignawards.com
These Terms and Conditions apply to:
entries submitted to the Northern Design Awards;
purchases of tickets, tables and other packages for Northern Design Awards events;
payments made by card or invoice; and
use of the Northern Design Awards entry, booking and payment services.
By submitting an award entry, purchasing a ticket or table, requesting an invoice or otherwise completing a transaction with us, you agree to these Terms and Conditions.
2. Award eligibility
The Northern Design Awards are open to eligible architects, interior designers, property developers, landscape designers and other design professionals and businesses based within:
North West England;
North East England;
Yorkshire and the Humber;
East Midlands;
West Midlands;
Scotland;
North Wales; and
Northern Ireland.
The entering business must be based within one of these eligible regions. The entered project itself and its project partners may be located anywhere.
Unless a category states otherwise, eligible projects must:
have been completed between 1 January 2024 and 1 October 2026;
be completed projects rather than concepts or unbuilt proposals; and
not have been submitted previously to the Northern Design Awards.
Northern Design Awards may request evidence of an entrant’s location, project completion date, professional involvement or eligibility.
3. Emerging Talent eligibility
Entrants to the Emerging Talent category must have fewer than five years of professional experience within the design industry as at Friday 2 October 2026.
Time spent in full-time education will not normally count towards the five-year period. Northern Design Awards may request information reasonably required to confirm eligibility.
4. Submitting an entry
Entries must be submitted through the official Northern Design Awards entry platform by the published closing date.
The closing date for the 2026 awards is Friday 2 October 2026, unless an extension is announced by Northern Design Awards.
The entrant is responsible for:
providing accurate and complete information;
selecting an appropriate category;
ensuring the entry is submitted before the deadline;
obtaining all necessary permissions and authorisations;
checking that uploaded files and images display correctly; and
paying the applicable entry fee.
We are not responsible for entries that are incomplete, submitted late or affected by circumstances outside our reasonable control, including an entrant’s equipment, internet connection or failure to complete the submission process.
We may, at our discretion, extend a deadline, correct an administrative error or permit an entrant to supply missing information. This does not oblige us to do so in other cases.
5. Authority to enter a project
The person submitting an entry confirms that they are authorised by the entering business to do so.
The entrant must have the right to submit all project information, written material, photographs, plans, drawings and other content included in the entry.
Where other designers, consultants, contractors, suppliers, photographers or project partners are identified, the entrant confirms that they have obtained any permission reasonably required to name and credit those parties.
A completed project may be entered by more than one eligible business, including in different categories, provided each entrant accurately describes its own contribution to the project.
6. Intellectual property and publication permission
Entrants retain ownership of the intellectual property rights in their submitted material.
By submitting an entry, the entrant grants Northern Design Awards a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to store, reproduce, publish, display, edit for length or formatting, and use the submitted material for purposes connected with:
administering and judging the awards;
announcing finalists and winners;
producing the awards website, programme and event materials;
editorial, press and public-relations activity;
social media and marketing;
promoting the Northern Design Awards and future awards; and
maintaining a historical awards archive.
This permission includes the use of submitted project images, project names, company names, project descriptions and credits.
The entrant is responsible for ensuring that all photography and other third-party material can be used for these purposes. Photography credits supplied by the entrant will be included where reasonably practicable.
Northern Design Awards may choose not to publish any content that it considers unlawful, inaccurate, inappropriate or potentially infringing.
7. Entry fees
Entry prices will be displayed on the entry platform before an entry is submitted.
For the 2026 awards, the published prices are:
Early Bird entry: £175 per entry during the advertised Early Bird period; and
Standard entry: £200 per entry thereafter.
Northern Design Awards Limited is not VAT registered. No VAT is charged on entry fees and invoices or receipts issued by us are not VAT invoices.
Entry fees are charged for processing, administering and judging an entry. Payment does not guarantee that an entry will be shortlisted or win an award.
8. Entry payments and invoices
Payment may be made using the payment methods displayed at checkout.
Where “Pay by Invoice” is selected:
the purchaser must provide accurate billing information;
any purchase order requirements must be arranged by the purchaser;
payment is due by the date shown on the invoice;
our standard invoice payment term is 14 days unless otherwise agreed in writing; and
the invoice number should be quoted when making payment.
An entry may be treated as submitted within the platform while its invoice remains unpaid. However, we reserve the right to withhold an unpaid entry from judging, shortlisting, publication or the awards process until cleared payment has been received.
The entrant remains responsible for ensuring payment is received. The absence of an automated reminder does not remove the obligation to pay an invoice by its due date.
9. Entry cancellations and refunds
Entry fees are non-refundable once an entry has been submitted, except where:
required by law;
Northern Design Awards cancels the relevant award or category without providing a reasonable alternative; or
we agree otherwise in writing in exceptional circumstances.
An entrant’s decision to withdraw an entry, failure to complete it correctly, ineligibility, disqualification or failure to be shortlisted does not normally give rise to a refund.
If we move an entry to a more suitable category, we will normally notify the entrant. A category change does not automatically entitle the entrant to a refund.
10. Judging
Entries will be assessed by judges appointed by Northern Design Awards.
Judging arrangements, criteria and the number of judging rounds may vary between categories. Judges may abstain from assessing an entry where they identify a conflict of interest.
Northern Design Awards may:
verify information supplied in an entry;
move an entry to a more appropriate category;
combine, divide, rename or withdraw a category where reasonably necessary;
decline or disqualify an entry that does not meet the rules; and
withhold an award where the required standard is not met.
Judges’ decisions are final. Northern Design Awards is not obliged to provide individual scores, comments or detailed reasons for judging decisions.
11. Awards ceremony tickets and tables
Tickets, tables and event packages are subject to availability.
The event date, venue, timings, ticket contents and prices will be shown on the relevant booking page, order confirmation or invoice.
A booking is not confirmed until:
full payment has been received; or
we have expressly confirmed in writing that the booking is secured on agreed invoice terms.
If an invoice is not paid by its due date, we may release the reserved tickets or table and cancel the booking.
Northern Design Awards Limited is not VAT registered. No VAT is charged on tickets or tables, and any invoice or receipt issued by us is not a VAT invoice.
The purchaser is responsible for providing accurate guest details and for ensuring that every person attending under the booking understands and complies with these Terms and Conditions and any venue requirements.
12. Ticket cancellations, substitutions and refunds
Tickets for an event taking place on a specified date do not normally carry a statutory 14-day cooling-off period.
Unless required by law or stated otherwise during booking:
tickets and table bookings are non-refundable if the purchaser or guest can no longer attend;
failure to attend does not entitle the purchaser to a refund; and
travel, accommodation and other associated costs remain the responsibility of the purchaser.
We will normally permit a guest name to be changed without charge if the request is made in writing with reasonable notice before the event. Changes remain subject to venue, security and catering deadlines.
Tickets must not be resold commercially or used as part of an unauthorised promotion, competition or hospitality package without our prior written permission.
These provisions do not affect any statutory rights that cannot lawfully be excluded.
13. Event changes, postponement and cancellation
Northern Design Awards may make reasonable changes to event timings, seating arrangements, programme content, presenters, judges, entertainment, catering or other event details.
If the event is postponed, bookings will normally be transferred to the replacement date. If a purchaser cannot attend the replacement date, we will provide any refund or alternative required by law and will consider other reasonable requests fairly.
If Northern Design Awards cancels the event and does not provide a replacement event, purchasers will be entitled to a refund of the ticket or table price paid.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not responsible for travel, accommodation, subsistence, loss of work, loss of opportunity or other consequential costs incurred in connection with an event cancellation, postponement or change.
14. Venue conduct and admission
Admission is subject to any reasonable rules imposed by Northern Design Awards or the venue.
We reserve the right to refuse admission or require a person to leave where their behaviour:
presents a safety or security risk;
is abusive, threatening, discriminatory or disruptive;
causes unreasonable disturbance to other guests;
breaches venue rules; or
may damage the reputation or operation of the event.
No refund will normally be provided where admission is refused or a guest is removed for these reasons.
15. Accessibility, dietary requirements and guest information
Purchasers should notify us of accessibility requirements, allergies and dietary requirements as early as possible and by any deadline stated in the booking information.
We will use reasonable efforts to accommodate notified requirements but cannot guarantee that every request can be fulfilled. Guests with serious allergies should contact us before attending and make any necessary personal arrangements.
16. Photography and filming at events
Photography, audio recording and filming may take place during Northern Design Awards events.
Images and recordings may be used for editorial, archival, promotional, press, social-media and marketing purposes connected with the Northern Design Awards.
Anyone with a specific concern about appearing in event photography or filming should contact us before the event or speak to a member of the event team on arrival. Further information about how personal information is used is contained in our Privacy Policy.
17. Personal information
We process personal information in accordance with the Northern Design Awards Privacy Policy:
https://www.northerndesignawards.com/privacy-policy
Where our entry, ticketing or payment services are provided by third parties, including AwardStage and Stripe, those providers may also process information in accordance with their own privacy policies.
Marketing communications will only be sent where the recipient has consented or where another lawful basis applies. Marketing consent may be withdrawn at any time.
18. Acceptable use and disqualification
We may reject, remove or disqualify an entry or booking where we reasonably believe that:
false, misleading or fraudulent information has been provided;
intellectual property or confidentiality rights have been infringed;
content is unlawful, defamatory, discriminatory or offensive;
eligibility requirements have not been met;
an entrant has attempted to improperly influence the judging process;
payment has not been made; or
these Terms and Conditions have otherwise been seriously breached.
Where reasonably practicable, we will contact the affected person before taking action, but we are not obliged to do so where immediate action is necessary.
19. Our liability
Nothing in these Terms and Conditions excludes or limits liability for:
death or personal injury caused by negligence;
fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or
any liability or statutory right that cannot lawfully be excluded.
Subject to the above, Northern Design Awards will not be liable for indirect or consequential losses, loss of profit, loss of business, loss of opportunity, loss of anticipated savings or reputational damage.
Our total liability arising from an entry, ticket or booking will not normally exceed the amount paid to us for the relevant entry, ticket or booking, except where such a limitation would be unlawful.
20. Circumstances outside our control
We will not be responsible for delay, disruption, postponement or failure caused by circumstances outside our reasonable control.
These may include severe weather, fire, flood, epidemic, pandemic, public-health restrictions, industrial disputes, power or telecommunications failures, venue unavailability, transport disruption, acts of terrorism, civil disturbance, government action or the death or serious illness of a person essential to the event.
Where such circumstances affect an event or service, we will communicate with affected customers and provide any remedies required by law.
21. Changes to these terms
We may update these Terms and Conditions when reasonably necessary.
The terms applying to a transaction will normally be those published when the relevant entry or booking was made. Any change that materially affects an existing paid booking will be communicated to the affected purchaser.
22. Governing law
These Terms and Conditions are governed by the laws of England and Wales.
The courts of England and Wales will have jurisdiction, except that a consumer resident in Scotland or Northern Ireland may also be entitled to bring proceedings in the courts of their home jurisdiction.
Nothing in these Terms and Conditions affects a consumer’s statutory rights.
23. Questions and complaints
Questions, payment enquiries and complaints should be sent to:
Northern Design Awards Limited
Email: info@northerndesignawards.com
Registered office: Ash Tree Farm, Lower Mountain Road, Penyffordd, Chester CH4 0EU
We will aim to acknowledge complaints promptly and deal with them fairly.