We’re absolutely delighted to have been recognised in the SME UK Enterprise Awards 2026, receiving the award for Best Local Business & Community Engagement Platform 2026 – West Yorkshire.
It’s always lovely to receive recognition for what you do, but this one feels particularly special because it recognises something that sits at the heart of everything we’re trying to achieve with Work Rest or Play: connecting local businesses, organisations, events and communities.
Work Rest or Play has grown from more than a decade of experience connecting people and organisations at a local level. What started as the HD8 Network has evolved into a much bigger platform, reaching across West and South Yorkshire and continuing to grow.
And while the website might be the bit people see, there is a huge amount of work happening behind the scenes.
We publish local news, promote events through our free Local Calendar, provide online visibility for businesses and community organisations, maintain local directories and Virtual High Streets, and try to create opportunities for organisations to connect with the people and communities around them.
A big part of our model is also making sure that being small, voluntary or not-for-profit doesn’t mean being invisible.
Our paying Advertisers help subsidise the free elements of the platform, including our Local Calendar, so community organisations can promote what they’re doing without needing to find another pot of money to pay for it.
That’s important to us.
We don’t believe local communities are made up of businesses on one side and community organisations on the other. They’re all part of the same ecosystem.
The local business owner might volunteer for a community group.
The charity might use a local supplier.
The people attending a local event might become customers of a nearby business.
And the business might sponsor or support that event.
It’s all connected.
That’s really what Work Rest or Play is about.
We want to help more people do and buy more locally, while making it easier for the brilliant businesses, organisations, events and people already doing great things in our communities to be seen.
So, thank you to SME News for this recognition.
And perhaps even more importantly, thank you to the businesses, community organisations, event organisers, contributors, supporters and local people who have helped Work Rest or Play get to this point.
We’re proud of what we’ve built so far.
And we’re certainly not finished yet! 💚
Work Rest or Play – Celebrating Local Communities
Visit our listing on their site – https://smenews.digital/winners/work-rest-or-play-ltd