Lincoln Businesses Celebrate Excellence at 2025 GEM Awards

The spotlight shone brightly on Lincoln’s business community last evening, as the 2025 GEM Awards recognised the city’s most outstanding establishments in customer service and community contribution. Hosted by Lincoln BIG, the award evening honoured winners across ten categories, showcasing those who consistently go the extra mile for customers and the city as a whole.

Winners Reflect Customer Service Excellence
After a rigorous period of independent mystery shopping and evaluation conducted by Proinsights, the winners were selected for their exceptional performance in customer care, responsiveness, consistency, and overall service quality. The 2025 winners are:

• Accommodation — Holiday Inn
• Bar, Pub & Club — Lincoln Jazz Café
• Café — 200 Degrees
• Experience & Entertainment — Virtually Golf
• Health, Wellness & Beauty — Bodystreet
• Independent Restaurant — The Pale
• Independent Retailer — Jailhouse Frock
• National Restaurant — Turtle Bay
• National Retailer — Lush
• Professional Services — Barclays

Each winner stood out not only for their physical offering but for creating a warm, dependable, and customer-first experience, from greeting guests to managing challenges behind the scenes.

“This year’s judging was incredibly close,” said Danielle . “Across Lincoln’s BID area, businesses demonstrated real dedication to service standards, with many achieving scores that reflect true excellence.”

An Evening to Remember
The awards ceremony took place at our Home, Lincoln, setting an elegant backdrop for celebration. Guests enjoyed live music from Backstreet Bass, networking opportunities, and a sense of collective pride in Lincoln’s vibrant business sector. The evening also included recognition of several businesses who delivered perfect or near-perfect scores, celebrated as exemplars of customer service commitment.

Gratitude to Partners & Participants
Lincoln BIG extends heartfelt thanks to the following:

• Home, our headline sponsor, for hosting and supporting the evening.
• Proinsights, for conducting unbiased, professional mystery shops and delivering detailed feedback.
• All participating businesses and finalists, your willingness to open your doors to evaluation and your efforts to raise standards make Lincoln stronger.
• The Lincoln BIG team, event volunteers, and vendors for ensuring a smooth, memorable night.
• Sponsors, suppliers and supporting organisations whose resources, services, and encouragement made the event possible.

Giving Back to the BID Community
The GEM Awards are more than a celebration, they are a key way Lincoln BIG gives back to the BID (Business Improvement District) community. By rewarding high service standards and sharing insights from the mystery shopping results, the awards help businesses benchmark their performance, learn best practices, and raise the overall customer experience across Lincoln’s city centre.

Looking Ahead
Lincoln BIG looks forward to growing the GEM Awards in future years, expanding categories, deepening engagement, and further elevating the standard of customer service citywide.

You won’t have to wait long… 2026 GEM Awards news will be out soon! Stay tuned as we get ready to celebrate even more of Lincoln’s outstanding businesses.