Apply for the Touchstone award
Source: gov.uk (2025-09-04)

The British Hallmarking Council's Touchstone award for trading standards teams is currently closed for submissions and will reopen in spring 2026.

About the Touchstone award

Applications are currently closed and will reopen in spring 2026.

The Touchstone award is issued annually by the British Hallmarking Council (BHC) for work relating to hallmarking. The award is granted to the authority, or individual working for an authority, for the most innovative or effective exercise in work relating to hallmarking.

The award has 4 categories of applications, which are:
- an enforcement operation or activity
- an educational activity
- an information activity
- a published article
Read about previous Touchstone Award winners (https://www.gov.uk/search/news-and-communications?parent=british-hallmarking-council&keywords=touchstone&organisations%5B%5D=british-hallmarking-council&order=updated-newest).

Application form and deadline

Applications are currently closed and will reopen in spring 2026.

Prize

The Touchstone award is a sterling silver plate with a value of £3,500, which your authority keeps for one year.

Each member of your application team (up to a maximum of 4) is given an individual prize, inscribed with their name, which they can keep.

Benefits of winning the award

The British Hallmarking Council provides high profile publicity for the winning entry of the Touchstone award, making 3 award presentations throughout the year as follows.

First award presentation

Firstly, the winner will be presented with the award at the national Chartered Trading Standards Institute annual conference dinner, with 2 places at the dinner table paid for.

Second award presentation

Secondly, the winner is offered the opportunity for the award to be presented to your local authority at a full meeting of council. This raises the profile of your Trading Standards Service with all elected members and directors of your authority.

Third award presentation

Thirdly, the winner will receive an invitation to attend a training event and presentation to the London Assay Office, Goldsmiths’ Company, London, for a training day which includes:
- a hallmarking training presentation
- a tour of the London Assay Office
- luncheon in the splendid Goldsmiths’ Company dining room
All this is free of charge and your local authority only has to pay for transport costs and accommodation where necessary.

If you win the award you will also receive:
- publicity in respect of the winning authority in various national newsletters and periodicals
- an article in the Journal of Trading Standards featuring your winning application together with photographs
- an announcement on the British Hallmarking Council website (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/british-hallmarking-council)
Preparing your entry

There are 7 sections in the application form:
- The objective of the activity.
- The target audience.
- The description of the activity undertaken.
- The outcomes based on the activity undertaken.
- What publicity was generated by the activity?
- What follow up work is planned?
- Based on your work relating to hallmarking, how do you think hallmarking enforcement in the UK could be improved? In your view, what actions would act as a deterrent to breaking hallmarking law?
You need to provide evidence of the work you have done and support your statements with relevant evidence.

It is important to address the questions and cover the criteria, but there is no minimum or maximum number of words for each section.

If you have questions about your entry, contact the secretary at xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx) and they will direct your query.

Judging

The British Hallmarking Council Touchstone Assessment Panel is composed of members of the British Hallmarking Council and industry experts. These include:
- Trading Standards Officers with experience in hallmarking, enforcement and audit
- BHC assessors
Assessing and scoring

The 7 questions have criteria set against them and the answers given by the applicant are scored against these.

Each member of the assessment panel carries out an independent scoring assessment and then, at a later date, the panel meets to consider their individual scores. The panel members’ results are then collated and discussed before reaching agreement on the winner.