The five-piece from Bury, near Manchester, recorded three albums for the now defunct V2 label, during which time it struggled from being a critic’s choice to the proverbial “close but no cigar” bracket.

The act even had a previous nomination for the Mercury for Asleep At The Wheel in 2001.

Richard Branson sold his remaining stake in V2 in 2006 to investment banking corporation Morgan Stanley, which sold it to Universal for £7 million.

By that time the U.S. and Canadian branches had already announced they were undergoing restructuring to focus on back catalogue and digital distribution.

As a result, their employees were let go and their roster of artists left as free agents.

Elbow signed to Universal’s Fiction label and the world’s largest music group soon showed it felt the act would benefit from increased marketing efforts.

“One Day Like This,” one of the more memorable anthems of the U.K. summer of 2008, and some highly acclaimed outdoor shows appear to have moved Elbow a step closer to the stadium level.

Others in the running to win the award, which honours the “most accomplished album” of the year, included Radiohead, Estelle, Last Shadow Puppets, Adele, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, and British Sea Power.