WHAT'S your favourite fish and chips shop? Favourite place for a cream tea? Favourite place for a pint and some peace and quiet?

Red Funnel want to know.

Nominations are now open for the Red Funnel Isle of Wight Awards.

Red Funnel Ferries will be shining a spotlight on the Isle of Wight with its new awards this year, celebrating all that is great about the Island.

The awards will recognise the diverse and wonderful places to go, stay and eat across the Island, from cafes and tearooms to restaurants and hotels.

For the last seven years, Red Funnel has celebrated the very best of the Island with the MyIsleofWight Awards ­— a visitor-voted tourism awards program that saw more than 20 winners recognised each year in a variety of unique categories.

Red Funnel is revamping the awards for 2020, not only with a new name, but also with a new set of categories that will reward more businesses than ever before.

Three winners in each category will be recognised with gold, silver and bronze positions.

The voting format of the awards is also changing ­— businesses can now nominate themselves for up to three categories.

The deadline for completing the short nomination form found on Red Funnel’s website is November 1.

From November 8, voting will be open to the public, allowing visitors, and now ­— as part of the new format ­— also locals and Islanders to have their say in who they think should take the top spot.

The public vote will close in early 2020.

The top three nominees in each category, as voted for by the public, will then be reviewed by a panel of expert judges to decide the gold, silver and bronze ranking.

The overall winners will be revealed at a celebratory awards ceremony in March, 2020.

Fran Collins, chief executive officer of Red Funnel, said: “We’re proud to launch the newly revamped awards which will be bigger and better than ever before.

"The Isle of Wight is an amazing place with so much to celebrate, and our new award categories will allow us to celebrate even more businesses and recognise their immense contribution to the Island."

Nominations are now open at www.redfunnel.co.uk/awards and will close on November 1, 2019.