The Tailormade from Ealing have been crowned Gigs Champion 2014, following a five month search to find London's best busker.
They beat off 200 other acts from across the capital to take top honours in the grand final of Gigs Big Busk, the UK's biggest street music competition.
Organised by the Mayor of London, Gigs originally attracted more than 500 entries, with 200 acts being selected to perform live at 24 busy London locations during the summer.
Sunday's final at Westfield Stratford City saw 18 of them, as chosen by music industry insiders and the public, compete in three categories, before the overall winner was decided by the judging panel.
Harry Houseago from Lambeth won in the Soloists and Duos category (16-25 years), picking up a much coveted year's licence to busk on the London Underground, courtesy of Transport for London.
Natalie Shay from Enfield won in the Youth category (11-15 years) and gets a Roland Cube Street amp, plus microphone and stand.
The Tailormade from Ealing won in the Groups category (up to 20 members) and gets recording time in a top studio.
Anjelo from Croydon gets the Eurostar Prize, with the opportunity to busk in Paris.
Tom Butler from Wandsworth is the overall winner of the Gigs Songwriting Prize, sponsored by PRS for Music.
Olivia Dean from Waltham Forest gets a bespoke package of training and coaching at the Institute of Contemporary Music.
Amongst other prizes, all Gigs 2014 performers will be invited to a series of workshops later in the year and will receive mentoring and advice from a range of industry professionals.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: 'Huge congratulations to The Tailormade and to everyone that took part in our Gigs competition. London is brimming with musical talent and this summer these talented artists have been bringing pleasure to thousands of people at locations across the capital. Gigs is about giving aspiring musicians the opportunity to develop their craft and gain more live experience and I wish all those wanting to pursue a career in the industry every success.'
Today's announcement comes ahead of more details being unveiled of the Mayor's Busk in London scheme, which is being set up in the wake of the #BackBusking campaign he launched in April.
The campaign was initiated in order to bring together key agencies, from TfL to the police and the boroughs to landowners, to develop a pan-London approach to support busking by musicians across the capital.
The compère at today's final was acclaimed Xfm DJ Phil Clifton.
The judging panel comprised: Guy Fletcher, Chairman PRS for Music; Maggie Crowe, Director of Events & Charities, BPI; Eddie Evelyn-Hall, Talent Producer, Syco; Ian Edwards, Head of Admissions & Marketing at ICMP; and Kimberly-Anne, singer-songwriter and winner of 2014 Young Songwriter/Composer at London Music Awards 2014.
Notes to editors
CATEGORY FINALISTS IN FULL SOLOISTS AND DUOS (16-25 years old) Harry Houseago, Lambeth Rory Scott, Lambeth Russell Akbar, Tower Hamlets Sophie DeBattista, Greenwich Tom Butler, Wandsworth Katie Nicholas, Hammersmith and Fulham
GROUPS (up to 20 members) Jazz Mino, Hackney Mushana, Hammersmith and Fulham Pareace Laranza, Lewisham Sara And The Vynes, Hillingdon The Tailormade, Ealing Girl Cubed, RB Kensington & Chelsea
YOUTH (11-15 years old) Anjelo, Croydon Danny Starr, Wandsworth Natalie Shay, Enfield, Olivia Dean, Waltham Forest Rosie Alena, Croydon Maya Delilah, Islington.
Gigs Big Busk is the Mayor of London's annual competition to find the capital's best young musicians, as part of the commitment to support musically talented young Londoners. It gives musicians the opportunity to perform at landmark locations around London, and compete for a host of music prizes including a coveted official London Underground busking license and studio recording time.
For Gigs 2014, a series of talent development workshops and music industry awareness sessions were offered to all competitors thanks to the support of Arts Council England.
Since 2009 over 1,500 young London musicians have taken part in Gigs and over 140,000 public votes have been cast online. Last year 500 young musicians performed all over London the Gigs 2013 busking competition.
Between them they played over 1,000 hours of music to over 1.5 million people. Rising stars from earlier competitions include Robbie Boyd, the King's Parade, Charlotte Campbell and James Riley.
For information about Gigs go to www.gigsbigbusk.com.
For details of other initiatives the Mayor is supporting to nurture and support young musicians go to www.london.gov.uk/priorities/arts-culture/access-participation.
Gigs Big Busk 2014 Partners: Network Rail; Westfield London W12; Westfield Stratford City; City of London; Eurostar; Institute of Contemporary Music Performance; London Underground; Northbank Business Improvement District; Musician's Union; Roland; Wendyhouse Productions Ltd; Regent Street – Summer Streets; Arts Council England; PRS for Music.
Phil Clifton is a British television and Sony nominated radio presenter, appearing on MTV (UK and Ireland), Channel 4 and Xfm. He was nominated for the 'Sony Rising Star Award'.
Westfield Presents is an entertainment platform hosting an unmissable schedule of live on-stage performances from emerging and established artists at Westfield London and Westfield Stratford City. A unique programme of live music events will take place every weekend at the two London centres. Showcasing a great range of local music talent and up-and-coming artists to suit everyone - from chilled out afternoon tunes whilst enjoying lunch with friends, to more upbeat tracks on a Saturday evening before hitting the town. http://uk.westfield.com/london/westfield-presents.