achieving the exceptional

Thursday, 21 November 2019

After months of deliberation, the hotly contested Good Web Guide, in partnership with headline sponsor themission, came to a glittering close on Wednesday 20th November at The Royal Institution in London. The event, which was attended by the cream of the country’s online talent, is held annually to honour the very best and most innovative websites, apps and blogs of the year. It rewards excellence in every digital category, covering the luxurious to the philanthropic; the experiential to the ethical; and the stuff of aspirational lifestyle through to that of transformative every day use. The event also bestows the most coveted award of the evening: the Website of the Year.

themission Good Web Guide Awards 2019 were presented by legendary Sky Sports Rugby presenter, Alex Payne, who presided over the ceremony with aplomb and ensured it went with a bang. The awards are greatly anticipated in digital circles, always garnering much social media activity and buzz – and, indeed, 2019 was no different.

The Good Web Guide’s Arabella Dymoke said, 'Tonight is a celebration of talented people across a range of fields who are dedicating their lives to "achieving the exceptional" in the digital world.'

And The Winners Are

The Good Web Guide Awards were set up both to recognise excellence and with the driving belief in creating a level playing field for the established all the way through to the start-up. All shortlisted entries were put to an esteemed assembly of digital experts, who took into consideration quality of design, usability, content and product or service. These venerated judges included the luminary likes of Hello! Magazine’s Rosie Nixon through to blogger, Not Such A Model Mum. Ginnie Chadwyck-Healey to influencer, Sarah Tasker. Another such expert judge, Conde Nast’s Education Editor Tori Cadogan reflected on, ‘a tough decision given such a brilliant field,’ a sentiment that was echoed by every judge through every category. On one thing they were united: the competition was fiercer than any other year preceding.

The Website of The Year, the most prestigious award of the evening, went to AnyJunk, 2019’s extremely worthy winner. Voted one of the UK’s 100 most exciting, fast-growth companies and winner of ‘UK Business of the Year‘ at the British Chamber of Commerce Awards 2017, AnyJunk has reinvented bulky waste collection with technology and has grown to become the UK’s largest operator, undertaking around 2,000 clearances per week.

Natasha Courtenay-Smith, CEO of Bolt Digital, said ‘People think an online business or online success is about sitting behind a laptop, never seeing a product or talking to a customer. The best use online solutions to solve real world problems alongside the things that really matter such as excellence of service, speed of service, great customer relationships and quality solutions to real world problems. Anyjunk have bought together their digital platform to solve a real pain point for households across the UK and bought in excellent customer service and fast solutions at the same time. A worthy winner.’

Alex Payne, commented, ‘Tech has an increasingly important role to play in pulling together a number of challenges and finding a single solution. AnyJunk is doing exactly that - combining waste collection, supporting local business and environmental impact through one app. When you hit a solution that ticks multiple boxes, it is no wonder they have scaled to 2,000 clearances a week. Huge congratulations to AnyJunk, who’ve taken a rubbish idea and turned it into a game changer.’

Awarded the gong for best fashion site was Dundas London, of which Ginnie Chadwyck Healey said: ‘For a site targeted at men who usually exhibit a far shorter dwell time, Dundas London hit the mark immediately. I could tell what the product was, what the brand values were and it wasn't too 'chatty'. It felt crisp, and the colours were vivid and memorable. I loved the shopability of the editorial as well.’

Meanwhile, Borough Kitchen was triumphant in the food and drink category, judge Jessca Rogers commented, ‘It’s very clean and incredibly easy to use. Every part has been well designed and considered, and lots of thought has been put into making it a great user experience’); Dilli Grey was crowned best ethical website, with Anna Bance of Girl Meets Dress enthusing ‘This is a beautiful website with an ethical, handmade ethos. I immediately wanted to buy all the incredible 100 per cent cotton hand-block printed quilts made by the brand's women's co-operative in Jaipur’; and Marian Boswall Landscape Architects came away with the top prize in the homes and garden category.

Other winners included Jessica McCormack, The Modern Nursery, British Council: Learning Time with Timmy and Go Ape. The award for 2019’s top blog was won by the deserving Mad About the House, of which Arabella Dymoke said, 'In today's world, so many bloggers have forgotten their roots and devote all their time to Instagram. Not so with Kate Watson-Smyth who is consistent across all platforms, with a great podcast as well, co-hosted with Sophie Robinson, The Great Indoors. If you're in need of some interiors inspo, you now know where to head, Mad About The House; Kate has all angles covered.'

App of the Year

Bob Books was declared winner of the GWG Awards App of the Year, in recognition of its clarity, easy navigation, simple presentation and excellent service and final product. The site explains clearly and simply what the business offers, and how the viewer/potential customer can engage with that service within one or two downward scrolls or clicks. Still in its infancy, 2019 marks the second-ever App of the Year category.

People’s Choice

After frenetic voting, Spacemasks, the self-heating eyemasks, with endorsements from the likes of Grazia, Vogue, Tatler, The Times, won the most votes for this award, as voted by the public. Arabella Dymoke said, 'We're big fans of Spacemasks at The GWG and it was lovely to see what a loyal following Harriet has, who took up her cause and voted for Spacemasks, with the votes rising at a hurtling (even meteoric) speed.'

To see the full list of category winners, click here.

For further information regarding The Good Web Guide Website of the Year Awards 2017, please contact Arabella Dymoke: 020 7402 6412 Email: a.dymoke@thegoodwebguide.com

Editor's Notes

Winners were announced at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, Albermarle Street, London W1 on Wednesday 20 November 2019.

Headline sponsor: themission is a marketing communications and advertising group with 24 offices across the UK, San Francisco and Asia. themission employs over 1000 staff and is listed on AIM (TMMG). The Group specialises in providing national and international clients with award winning marketing, advertising and business communications. Group members include April Six, bigdog, Bray Leino, Proof, RLA, Robson Brown, Solaris, Speed, Splash, Story and ThinkBDW. For more information, visit themission.co.uk

Bonas MacFarlane is unique amongst education providers. Having spent twenty-five years as pioneers of educational services, it is now the leading company of its kind in the UK., managing all aspects of a child’s education. Its team of full-time consultants and support staff, based in Chelsea, is the largest and broadest-reaching of any education support provider in the UK. Bonas MacFarlane sponsors the Education category. bonasmacfarlane.co.uk

Streets ISA Chartered Accountants, a UK top 40 firm of Chartered Accountants with offices in 12 locations across the UK, services the needs of clients for tax, accountancy and audit work, sponsors the Useful category. streetsweb.co.uk

Partners

Zest Digital has kindly donated a technical SEO audit, worth GBP 1250, to the winner. Zest Digital is an award-winning search engine marketing agency, helping clients to achieve growth targets by maximising their online visibility and improving conversions. zestdigital.co

Re:Signal has kindly donated a content audit, worth GBP 1000 to the overall winner. Re:signal is an innovative, full service digital marketing agency that is on a mission to change the way companies market themselves online with extraordinary strategies and services powered by the best minds in digital marketing. resignal.com