2025 Shortlist
Huge congratulations to our amazing shortlistees!
The winners will be announced at a glittering live ceremony on Thursday 15 May.
For further information and to attend the sector’s greatest event, go here.
SELECT Category | 2025
Innovator of the Year
Shortlisted
- Podego B.V. Personalize AI Audio Guides for Museums
- Digital Venue Digital Venue - We empower many to see more
- StaffSavvy Shift Deployments
- Anoxart Ltd Insect Eradication for Artworks and Heritage Collections
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Visitor Accessibility Award
Shortlisted
- Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery Accessibility Champions
- Chiltern Open Air Museum
- Wellcome Collection Putting accessibility at the heart of Wellcome Collection
- National Galleries of Scotland Making art work for everyone
- Royal Collection Trust Expanding accessibility at the Palace of Holyroodhouse
2025
Sector Impact Award
Shortlisted
- University of Westminster, Royal Holloway University of London, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery The Workshop for Inclusive Co-created Audio Description (W-ICAD): Enhancing museum equity, diversity and inclusion through audio interpretation
- Westminster Adult Education Service Cultural Heritage apprenticeships: new accessible and inclusive routes into the sector
- Heritage Open Days 30 years of England’s largest festival of history and culture: a platform of consistent sector support cultivating nationwide community engagement
- Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage Unearthed: Forgotten Histories
2025
Sponsored by
Visitor Welcome Award
Shortlisted
- Migration Museum Welcome to the Migration Museum
- Nothe Fort operated by Weymouth Civic Society Wanting to make a difference: -Visitor Experience at Nothe Fort
- Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust The Historic Dockyard Chatham
- Young V&A Young V&A Front of House Team
- Derby Museums Trust Visitor Experience Team, Museum of Making
2025
Sponsored by
Sustainable Project of the Year
Shortlisted
- Railworld Wildlife Haven Entertain and Educate about our Amazing Planet we all call ’Our Home’
- The Arkwright Society Water Power Project at Cromford Mills
- The Natural History Museum The Urban Nature Project
- Good Journey Cutting carbon with car-free travel to the National Trust
- Stourbridge Glass Museum Eco-friendly Upcycled Glass Exhibition in New Eco Museum
- Culture Perth and Kinross Waters Rising Exhibition at Perth Museum
2025
Best Use of Digital – International
Shortlisted
- Ah Amália - Living Experience Immersive biography of Amália Rodrigues and Fado
- Kunstsilo Tivoli; an art museums first immersive multimedia production on a work in their collection.
- Musea Brugge Closer to Memling: New Visitor Experiences through Innovative Technologies
- Museums Victoria, Melbourne Museum Antopia: Explore a World of Secret Senses
- Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center/East City Films The Journey Back - VR Experiences
- Mauritshuis X Jongsma ONeill LOOT - 10 stories
2025
Best Use of Digital – UK
Shortlisted
- Royal Armouries Digital Playground part of the National Lottery Heritage Funded Digital Vision Project
- Darlington Borough Council in partnership with PLB ’Experiment!’ Hopetown Darlington
- Culture Perth and Kinross The Stone of Destiny Experience at Perth Museum
- Natural History Museum and SAOLA Studio Visions of Nature
- London Museum London Museum’s new website - using AI to power content relationships between objects & stories
2025
In partnership with
Team of the Year
Shortlisted
- Glasgow Life Museums Commercial Development and Programming Team
- National Galleries of Scotland People Team
- Aerospace Bristol Facilities and Operations Team
- National Museums Liverpool Visitor Experience Admin Team
2025
Community Engagement Programme of the Year
Shortlisted
- Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust Ghost Ships at The Historic Dockyard Chatham
- Suffolk Archives (Suffolk County Council) Arrivals: Celebrating Migration to Suffolk
- Manchester Museum Manchester Museum Celebrates
- The Landmark Trust Calverley Old Hall: Crafting Cultures
- Historic England Historic England Young Advisers
2025
International Exhibition of the Year
Shortlisted
- The Kaj Munk Museum, Ringkøbing Fjord Museums Whatever happened? A theatrical soundscape at The Kaj Munk Museum
- National Holocaust Museum, Studio Louter, OPERA Amsterdam, Office Winhov National Holocaust Museum, Amsterdam
- AGB Creative Pty Ltd & Western Australian Maritime Museum Empress Josephine’s Garden
- Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) Te Puawānanga Science and Technology Centre
- Grand Egyptian Museum Main Galleries
- The Museum of Pop Culture Massive: The Power of Pop Culture
2025
In partnership with
Learning Programme of the Year
Shortlisted
- Attenborough Arts Centre, Leicester SENsory Atelier programme
- International Slavery Museum International Slavery Museum on Tour
- Chatsworth House Trust The Big Chatsworth Takeover
- Historic Royal Palaces Access Fund for Schools
- Bletchley Park Learning Programme
- Natural History Museum Natural History Museum & the LEGO Group: Build the Change programme
2025
Partnership of the Year
Shortlisted
- Heritage Doncaster, Doncaster City Council Wildlife and Heritage: A Natural Partnership
- Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford The Maasai Living Cultures project
- Discovery Museum, North East Museums Steam to Green at Discovery Museum
- National Museums NI, African Caribbean Support Organisation NI and Northern Ireland Museums Council Global Voices Local Choices – a decolonization partnership.
- English Heritage Stonehenge - a partnership with the universities of Bournemouth, Leicester and Oxford
2025
In partnership with
Restoration or Conservation Project of the Year
Shortlisted
- National Trust, Hill Top Beatrix Potter’s Dolls’ House
- Crystal Palace Park Trust, London Borough of Bromley and Friends of Crystal Palace Subway Restoration of Crystal Palace Subway
- National Trust, Lanhydrock C:Up - The Long Gallery Ceiling Project at Lanhydrock
- National Museum of the Royal Navy HMS Victory
- The Landmark Trust Calverley Old Hall
2025
In partnership with
Shop of the Year
Shortlisted
- Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) DCA Shop
- Portsmouth City Council - The D-Day Story D-Day 80 Shop Refit
- The National Gallery Bicentenary Year Retail
- National Football Museum
- The Real Mary King’s Close Gift shop
2025
In partnership with
Volunteers of the Year
Shortlisted
- Shakespeare’s Globe Access Ambassadors
- London Transport Museum Paul Furze - London Transport Museum’s Bus Man extraordinaire!
- The Box, Plymouth Windrush in the Far Southwest
- Derbyshire Scout Archaeology Team Morgause Lomas
- 11Arches, Kynren Kynren - An Epic Tale of England’s Volunteer Team (Archers)
- Cadw Welsh Government Dance, Dance wherever you may be! Plas Mawr Tudor dance group
2025
Sponsored by
Permanent Exhibition of the Year
Shortlisted
- The Bowes Museum The Curiosity Project
- Beckford’s Tower a Bath Preservation Trust Museum Beckford’s Tower: Our Tower
- Showtown Blackpool with Casson Mann Showtown Blackpool
- M Shed A movement not a moment: Protest against racial injustice in Bristol
- Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery The Mineral Gallery
- Museum of the Home Rooms Through Time: 1878-2049
2025
In partnership with
Temporary or Touring Exhibition of the Year – budget more than £80k
Shortlisted
- Manchester Museum Wild
- Fitzwilliam Museum Glenn Ligon: All Over The Place
- The Design Museum The World of Tim Burton
- British Library, University of Westminster and Freehaus Beyond the Bassline: 500 Years of Black British Music
- National Trust, Stowe Gardens For Your Tomorrow
2025
In partnership with
Temporary or Touring Exhibition of the Year – budget less than £80k
Shortlisted
- St Albans Museums Catching the Chain
- Ferens Art Gallery Jason Wilsher Mills: Are We There yet
- Leeds Museums and Galleries Living With Death: An exhibition exploring death, dying and bereavement
- Horniman Museum and Gardens Chá, Chai, Tea
- Whitby Museum Our Lasses - Inspirational Women of Whitby
2025
Sponsored by
In partnership with
Marketing + Communications Campaign of the Year
Shortlisted
- Royal Armouries TikTok Debut
- National Portrait Gallery Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens
- Fitzwilliam Museum Marketing and Communications Strategy
- The British Museum Legion: life in the Roman army
- Bletchley Park Watch Closely Campaign
- Culture Perth and Kinross Perth Museum Opening Campaign
2025