A glittering night of celebration for the UK’s 140 finalists of the Business Champion Awards.
Over 300 guests filled the East Wintergardens in London’s Canary Wharf and were hosted again by the nation’s favourite broadcaster, Huw Edward’s, the evening’s guests were treated to a night of champagne, music, laughter and thought provoking speeches.
Jamie Waller accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of His Majesty King Charles III and The Prince’s Trust. He spoke, saying that if the King himself had been present he would wish to recognise the hard work his dedicated team have done in helping his vision come to life, maintaining it to the point where, today, over one million young people have received support and much needed belief.
The audience then listened in awe to the three guests that Jamies invited on stage with him, all of whom had been believed in and helped by The Prince’s Trust. Each person had experienced incredible hardship from different means – bullying, domestic violence and addiction. Brenda Beverley, Rebecca Beattie and Duane Jackson, spoke strongly about what the support had meant to them and how they had used the support of The Prince’s Trust to turn adversity into an opportunity to move forwards and grow.
Extra awards were given out for outstanding efforts within different sectors to reflect the sheer wealth of talent that the finalists demonstrated.
Julie Devonshire OBE was present to support and celebrate her husband, Simon Devonshire OBE, as he took to the stage to receive the Outstanding Achievement Award. With his lifetime experience of entrepreneurship spans multiple sectors as well as dedicated a huge amount of time and effort into much needed charity work across the globe, has garnered the respect of everyone around him. Suggested and dedicated to him unanimously by his peers and friends within the judging process, he received the award with incredible humility.
Phill Atkinson, Managing Director at BTS Facades and Fabrications, was the proud winner of the Sustainable Business Award. Quite overcome with the win he applauded the judges:
‘I had a technical nightmare in every way possible on the day of my presentation to the judges. I’m so grateful for their patience and how they looked past that and instead focused on the phenomenal effort and results that my team has put in to this vital area of our business. We’re so proud and pleased to have won’.
Sheer emotion on the night was felt by finalists as they collected their awards on stage. The culmination of their hard work finally being recognised when perhaps may of them had been told that what they wanted to achieve simply wasn’t possible.
Vying against incredible odds to rock the status quo, the full list of winners, silver, bronze and hero awards are as follows:
Lifetime Achievement Award
HRH King Charles III
Outstanding Achievement Award
Simon Devonshire OBE
The Startup Giants New Business of the Year Award
Bronze – Liberty Collins
Silver – LOKI POKE
Gold – Imagineerium
The Business Community Award
HERO AWARD – Charlie Betty Beauty
HERO AWARD – ECASS
BUSINESS WINNER – Biome Algae
COMMUNITY WINNER – Wanis International Foods
The Business Innovation Award
Silver – Videosign
Gold – The Simulator Company
The Growth Business Award
Nourished
The Score App SME of the Year Award
Bronze – Aberdeen Diving Services
Silver – Oppidan
Gold – Making Moves London
The Exporter of the Year Award
Silver – Global Infusion Group
Gold – The English Soap Company
The Eco Foundry Sustainable Business Award
Special Recognition – Crown Oil
Silver – Juice Global
Gold – BTS Fabrications Limited
The Diversity and Inclusion Award
Simply Doughnuts
The Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award
UNDER 20 – Alfie Jones
Jax Davey, Nuevo
The Evelyn Partners Entrepreneur of the Year Award
Asher Moses
The Business Enabler Award
Will Polston Coaching and Training
The Business Transformation Award
Make An Entrance Limited
The Scale Up and Market Disruptor Award
Whiskey & Wealth Club
Reflecting on the evening, awards’ Founder and Director, Richard Alvin said:
‘We started the Business Champion Awards two years ago with a view to rewarding businesses nationwide. This year, word has obviously spread because we received applications from every county across the nation. Out of 140 finalists, only 20 were based in London.
‘Running these awards is nothing short of inspirational and that sums up the overriding feeling I’ve been left with in the hours since; pride in my team for the smooth execution of the awards and sheer pride in our nation’s tenacious, dedicated business owners, all of whom are so deserving of their awards.
‘It’s a gargantuan task to organise and run the future award’s programme whilst still honouring our dream of creating a whole year round awards programme. Creating videos to go behind the scenes of our winners and promoting their businesses with year round PR sets us apart from any other award where the focus is just on one night. My team is up for the challenge and we’re excited to stay in touch with the finalists and winners.
‘However, it doesn’t end there, our judges were of the highest calibre and are already confirming that they would like to be involved in the 2024 awards. The wheels are in motion already … Again a massive well done to everyone present and we look forward to welcoming you back next year.’
From inception to execution, every decision made for the awards was in-line with the set of planet-conscious values
EcoFoundry’s living wall was a popular choice for selfies on the night and also highlighted the link with Canary Wharf’s green zone policies. Each supplier was vetted for their eco-approach and sustainability, in line with Capital Business Media’s values, so to that end, no single use plastic was used and any remaining food was donated to help the city’s homeless.
Jax Davey, recognised for his leadership and drive to make positive change with his planet-friendly, global creative agency: Nuevo, was the worth winner of the Young Entrepreneur Award, commented:
‘Running a business is all-consuming, so night’s like this are a really good opportunity to stop and take stock of both how far you’ve come personally, and how much the team has achieved. I’m incredibly honoured to have won this prestigious award, particularly as the Business Champion Award’s sustainability values align perfectly with those of Nuevo’s’.
Some of our winners had the extraordinary surprise of bumping into Ed Sheeran on the train home who was quick to congratulate them on their triumph and take a selfie.
Host, Huw Edwards said:
‘It’s a very complex process to bring these awards into existence and the whole event was organised choreographed so well. Times have been incredibly tough and SME business owners, all six million of them across the country, need to be celebrated. It was an honour to be part of the evening once again and ensure that they were rewarded for their hard work and effort’.
Final messages of thanks …
An esteemed group of award winning and global leading judges all gave their time and business acumen to listen to each businesses pitch, values, team motivations, trials and triumphs over the course of February to ascertain each winner. The entire Business Champion Awards’ team would like to extend their sincere thanks to every judge for their time and attention.
The Business Champion Awards’ team also wish to extend their thanks to all of the sponsors, and events team who made the night a phenomenal success.
The Business Champion Awards 2024 awards programme will launch on June 25th 2023. Watch this space …
Read more:
National SME winners revealed at Business Champion Awards 2023 finale