The Countryside Alliance Awards started life as the Best Rural Retailer competition. The Awards are a Countryside Alliance initiative. For the first time in 2008 the awards are being run as the Scottish Countryside Alliance Awards in Scotland. First conceived of in 2005, the Awards were borne of a need to support and promote rural communities. The Countryside Alliance had long felt the "doom and gloom" tales of rural decline, while true to an extent, did not accurately reflect the spirit of rural people and the efforts of thousands to keep their communities alive.

The Countryside Alliance Awards were known as the Best Rural Retailer competition until 2007

This Best Rural Retailer competition, now the Countryside Alliance Awards, enables us to sing the praises of our unsung rural heroes through you. It is simple: you tell us who you want to nominate in which category and what makes your choice so special, and if you make your case passionately enough that person could be on their way to regional, or maybe even national, glory. The feelgood factor this competition has already generated is immense, and there is every hope that it will go from strength to strength. In 2005, 600 nominations were made; in 2006, 2,000 and in 2007, 2,500.

The categories, which are open to nomination between 1st September and 27th October, are as follows:

1. Best Local Food Award
2. Best Village Shop/ PO Award
3. Rural Enterprise Award (formerly the diversification category)
4. Best Traditional Business Award
5. Rural Hero (NEW to 2008 - we want to hear about anyone heroic, no matter their age, line of work or what their heroic deeds)

Once nominations close in late October 2008 short-listing and judging take place.

The UK has been split into 13 geographical regions for the purposes of this competition, and each will pick a winner in each of the four categories. The Scottish Countryside Alliance Awards are judged by a specialist panel led by Scottish Countryside Alliance Chief Executive Geva Blackett. The panel will pick an overall Scottish winner in each category and will announce these winners at a reception at Holyrood on 11th February 2009. 

These winners will then go head to head with the winners from England, Northern Ireland and Wales for the overall Countryside Alliance Award titles. These are chosen by a panel which is chaired by Countryside Alliance Chief Executive Simon Hart.

The overall winners will be announced at a reception at the House of Lords on 18th March 2009.