This annual Prize Competition, promoted by the Financial Times Limited (“FT”) and Standard Chartered PLC (“Standard Chartered”), aims to discover, support and promote promising young authors of the business books of the future. 

The Prize- named after Brendan Bracken, architect of the modern FT - will be awarded to the best proposal for a book about the challenges and opportunities of growth by an author aged between 18 and 34 inclusive. 

In the spirit of the FT Business Book of the Year Award, the proposed book should aim to provide a compelling and enjoyable insight into future trends in business, economics, finance or management. 

The judges will seek to identify authors who write with knowledge, creativity, originality and style and whose proposed books promise to break new ground, or examine pressing business challenges in original ways.

1. Eligibility 

a. Only one (1)  submission per work will be considered. Duplicate submissions of the same work (including by co-authors) will not be accepted and may result in disqualification.

b. No purchase is necessary to enter the Prize Competition. Entry is free of charge.

c. There are no restrictions of gender or nationality but the authors must be aged between 18 and 34 inclusive on 30 September 2026. Entries will be accepted from authors who have had books published before. Where a title has more than one author the prize money will be divided equally between the authors, and all authors must meet the age requirement as specified above.

d. Entrants who are current employees or contractors of the FT Group, Standard Chartered or the close relatives of such employees or contractors, are not eligible. 

e. By submitting an entry (being the full submission, including the proposal, biography and AI statement), entrants agree to these terms and conditions (the “Terms and Conditions”) and acknowledge that failure to comply with them may result in disqualification. The Prize Competition shall be void where prohibited by local laws or regulations, including where in FT’s reasonable opinion we cannot accept an entry or provide a Prize due to sanctions laws or banking restrictions. It is the responsibility of entrants to ensure that they are able to participate in the Prize Competition in compliance with local laws and regulations. To the fullest extent permitted by law, neither FT nor Standard Chartered is liable where an entrant has breached local laws and/or regulations in connection with the Prize Competition. 

2. Conditions of Entry 

a. One (1) copy of the proposal must be submitted online https://brackenprize.live.ft.com, no earlier than 27 April 2026 (12pm British Summer Time) and by no later than 30 September 2026 (11:59pm British Summer Time).

b. Entries received after the closing date and/or which are not in accordance with the entry requirements set out at clause 4 will not be accepted. 

c. FT, Standard Chartered or any of their agents and subcontractors cannot accept responsibility for entries undelivered,  lost or delayed in submission. Proof of submission is not proof of receipt.

3. Copyright / Ownership

 Entrants will own and retain any copyright in their entries.

4. Entry Specifications

a. The proposal should take the form of an essay or article of no more than 5,000 (five thousand) words that conveys the argument, scope and style of a proposed full-length business book and includes a description of the structure of the proposed work.

b. Entrants are advised to retain a copy of entries as FT will be unable to return any submitted entry. Each entry must be: 

(i) in English; (ii) an original work authored by the entrant, or co-authored where applicable , which has not been previously professionally or commercially published in any language and is not in breach of any third party right and has not been submitted for any previous edition of the Prize Competition; (iii) complete in itself; (i.e. not a fragment of a larger work); and (iv) submitted with the following specifications: double-spaced, set in 12-point type, with numbered pages. 

c. Entrants are required to include a separate short biography explaining their qualifications for writing the proposed work and a separate 250-word section explaining how they used artificial intelligence, if at all. 

d. Entries submitted online will receive an automated acknowledgement. 

e. Entrants must not use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to write or generate any part of their 5,000-word proposal. The proposal should reflect the entrant’s own knowledge, skills and experience. AI may be used in a limited way to support research (for example, to help find information), but not to produce or draft the proposal. If AI is used at any stage, entrants must include a separate section (maximum 250 words) explaining how it was used. Entrants should note that the FT monitors the use of AI during the application process. Entrants may be asked to discuss their proposal, including their use of AI, at any stage. Failure to follow these requirements may result in disqualification.

5. Warranties 

By submitting an entry, you warrant to the FT and Standard Chartered that your entry is totally your own original work, has not involved a ghost-writer, third party or any other contributor (other than any permitted co-author as set out in these Terms and Conditions), does not infringe copyright or any other intellectual property rights and does not defame or invade the privacy rights of any third party, or infringe any other legal rights, regulations or laws. For the avoidance of doubt, permitted AI tools used for research shall not be considered third-party contributors.

6. Judges 

Eligible proposals for the Prize Competition will be assessed by a panel of judges who will seek to identify authors who write with knowledge, creativity, originality and style and whose proposed books promise to break new ground, or examine pressing business challenges in original ways. The names of the judging panel will be made available on request. The judging panel will include at least one member who is demonstrably independent of the FT, Standard Chartered and all entrants. The judges’ decisions will be final and no correspondence will be entered into in relation to their decisions or the Prize Competition.

7. Winner & Runners-up 

a. The monetary awards set out in this clause 7 (the “Prize”) comprise a total fund of £19,000 (nineteen thousand pounds)  intended to fuel further research leading to publication of a full-length work. The author(s) of one (1) winning entry (the “Winner”) will receive an award of £15,000 (fifteen thousand pounds), to be shared among authors if applicable. The author(s) of two (2) runners-up entries (the “Runners-up”) will each receive a prize of £2,000 (two thousand pounds), to be shared equally among authors if applicable.  

b. Prize payments to the Winner and Runners-up will be made within thirty (30) days of the Event. The FT’s obligation to pay is conditional upon receipt of any eligibility documentation required under clause 9(b).

c. The Winner and any selected Runners-up (and together with the Winner, the “Prize Recipients”) will be announced at the FT Business Book of the Year Award Event: Winner Announcement on 2 December 2026 (the “Event”), to take place in-person in London.  Announcements will be streamed online via the FT Live channel on X (formerly Twitter). 

d. Following the Event, all Prize Recipients will be contacted using the contact details provided at entry and will be required to complete a verification form and provide any reasonably requested information necessary for the administration of the Prize. Prize Recipients must respond within seven (7) calendar days of such contact. If a Prize Recipient does not respond within this timeframe, declines the Prize, or fails to meet the eligibility requirements, the FT reserves the right to withdraw the Prize and select an alternative Prize Recipient.

e. The FT will arrange and cover the cost of economy flights and reasonable accommodation for the Prize Recipients (and all named co-authors, where applicable) to attend the Event and the masterclass workshop in London in person. The FT will contact Prize Recipients directly to make the necessary arrangements. Any other expenses incurred in connection with attending  the Event or accepting the Prize remain the sole responsibility of the entrant.

f. By submitting a proposal, entrants:

(i). grant the FT all necessary and relevant worldwide, royalty-free licenses and permissions in relation to any publication of their entries in The Financial Times, https://www.ft.com (although the publishing of any entries in or on any of the FT publications shall be in the absolute discretion of the FT and the FT shall be under no obligation to publish such entries) and elsewhere at FT’s discretion;

(ii). agree to FT’s use of their name and photograph in relation to publicity material;

g. Subject to this clause 7, an edited version of the winning proposal may be published in the Financial Times newspaper and/or on FT.com. FT reserves the right (in its sole discretion) to edit the winning entry and runners-up entries in respect of the above publication.

h. Neither FT nor Standard Chartered undertake to facilitate publication of the proposed book beyond the commitments laid out in these Terms and Conditions.

8. Data

By submitting any personal information required as part of your entry, your personal information will be held and processed in accordance with all data protection legislation applicable in the United Kingdom and in accordance with the FT Privacy Policy, available at: https://help.ft.com/legal-privacy/privacy-policy/.

9. Miscellaneous 

a. The result of the Prize Competition is final and no correspondence will be entered into. The Prize is non-transferable and non-refundable.

b. The Winner and Runners-up may be required to complete and return an eligibility form stating their age and residency details.

c. By entering the Prize Competition, entrants are informed that the FT intends to publish or make available information confirming that a valid award has taken place. This will ordinarily include the surname and country (or county, state or region, as applicable) of the Winner and Runners-up, unless they notify the FT to object to such information being made available. The FT may nonetheless need to provide such information to the Advertising Standards Authority if required to do so.

d. FT and Standard Chartered reserve the right to cancel, suspend or amend the Prize Competition, or any part of it (including these Terms and Conditions) or change the Prize Competition (to one of equivalent or greater value) as required by the circumstances in their sole discretion.

e. FT and Standard Chartered cannot accept responsibility for or liability arising from entrants taking part in the Prize Competition or for taking up the Prize. FT and Standard Chartered give no warranty or guarantee in relation to the Prize Competition and accept no responsibility or liability for the Prize Competition being amended by either FT or Standard Chartered. To the fullest extent permissible by law, FT and Standard Chartered exclude liability for all loss, damage or claim arising as a result of the participant’s entry into the Prize Competition or any use of the Prize.

f. By entering the Prize Competition, entrants agree to hold FT harmless for liability, damages or claims for injury or loss to any person or property, relating to, directly or indirectly, participation in this Prize Competition, or claims based on publicity rights, third party intellectual property rights, defamation or invasion of privacy.

g. Any failure by FT and Standard Chartered to enforce any provision in these Terms and Conditions shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.

h. These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law. Disputes arising in connection with this Prize Competition shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

10. The promoters of the Prize Competition

The contact details of the promoters are: Financial Times Limited, Bracken House, 1 Friday Street, London EC4M 9BT; and Standard Chartered PLC, 1 Basinghall Avenue, London, United Kingdom, EC2V 5DD. 

Any enquiries relating to the Competition should be emailed to BrackenPrize@ft.com

If you have any questions, please contact us at BrackenPrize@ft.com 

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