Industry Update: Winners Announced in Cultural Enterprises Awards 2025

The Association for Cultural Enterprises is delighted to announce the Winners of this year’s Cultural Enterprises Awards, an inspirational showcase of talent, creativity and success in cultural income generation.

In times of economic challenges and funding cuts, it has never been more important to share best practice and new ideas in revenue generation. The Cultural Enterprises Awards are the only industry awards that recognise commercial innovation and success, as well as best practice in environmental sustainability and equity, diversity and inclusion.

This year for the first time, entries were open to all arts, heritage and cultural organisations, including those that are not currently members of the Association – making the Awards more competitive than ever, with more opportunities to showcase success, innovation and best practice.

A total of 42 entries were shortlisted across 14 categories covering all areas of commercial activity. A wide range of organisations from across the UK are represented among the 14 Winners, including Grimm & Co for their creative children’s storytelling experience, Shakespeare’s Globe for their groundbreaking bilingual production of Anthony & Cleopatra in Spoken English and British Sign Language, Delapré Abbey for their innovative and sustainable catering offer, and the British Library for their landmark publication celebrating Black music history.

The highly coveted Rising Star Award was presented to Jamie Ruers, Public Events & Online Retail Manager at the Foundling Museum, while the brand new Team of the Year Award was presented to the 1,000 strong volunteer and leadership team that delivers the spectacular outdoor show at Kynren 11Arches, a hugely popular visitor attraction in the North East.

Meanwhile, the Jill Fenwick Award for Outstanding Contribution, presented by the Association to an individual whose career has had a lasting impact on best practice in cultural income generation, was awarded to Julie Molloy. As Managing Director of National Gallery Global Julie led the way in terms of commercial ranges and results, providing inspirational leadership for many, and continues to support the sector in many ways – lecturing, as a trustee board member and through her consultancy work. Julie’s unwavering commitment to fostering innovation and enterprise within the cultural sector is unparalleled, and her work has inspired countless others to follow in her footsteps.

The Awards were judged by a panel of well-known and highly respected industry experts from across the cultural sector and beyond, all chosen for their extensive experience and knowledge. Siobhán Lynch, Deputy Chief Executive & Director of Operations, Titanic Belfast, who was on the judging panel, commented: “The passion and commitment displayed in every entry was apparent as was the pride taken by each organisation in the achievements of their teams and individuals. Innovation and creativity were very much in evidence and it was inspiring to see how they were applied to achieve greater inclusion, diversity and sustainability.”

Cultural Enterprises CEO Gordon Morrison said: “Promoting commercial best practice within the cultural sector has never been more important given the urgent need for the sector to maximise income streams and identify new sources of money making. The Cultural Enterprises Awards are a brilliant platform to showcase commercial excellence within the cultural sector, and this year’s incredible winners offer a fantastic source of ideas and inspiration to help all types of cultural organisations maximise their income streams.”

The winners were announced at at the Museum of Liverpool on 12 March 2025 – a fantastic evening of celebration which was one of the many highlights of the Cultural Enterprises Conference 2025.

See all the winners at: culturalenterprises.org.uk/awards