A glittering night of celebrations for the 140 UK finalists in the Business Champion Awards.
Over 300 guests filled the East Winter Gardens in London’s Canary Wharf and were once again welcomed by the nation’s favorite 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 and said that if the king himself had been present he would want to acknowledge the hard work his dedicated team did to bring his vision to life and sustain it to the point where today there are over a million young people People have received support and much needed faith.
The audience then listened in awe to the three guests invited onto the stage by Jamies, who were all believed in and supported by The Prince’s Trust. Each person had experienced incredible hardships in different ways—bullying, domestic violence, and addiction. Brenda Beverley, Rebecca Beattie and Duane Jackson spoke powerfully 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 forward and grow.
Additional awards were given for excellence in various sectors to reflect the sheer wealth of talent displayed by the finalists.
Julie Devonshire OBE was on hand to support and celebrate her husband Simon Devonshire OBE as he took the stage to accept the Outstanding Achievement Award. With a lifetime of entrepreneurship experience spanning multiple sectors, as well as dedicating tremendous time and effort to much needed charity work around the world, he has earned the respect of everyone around him. Proposed by his colleagues and friends as part of the judging process and unanimously dedicated to him, he accepted the award with incredible humility.
Phill Atkinson, Managing Director at BTS Facades and Fabrications, was the proud winner of the Sustainable Business Award. Quite overwhelmed by the victory, he applauded the judges:
“On the day of my presentation to the jury, I had a technical nightmare in every respect. I am so grateful for their patience and how they have looked past this and instead focused on the phenomenal effort and results my team has put into this important area of our business. We are so proud and happy to have won.
Sheer emotion was felt that night among the finalists as they accepted their awards on stage. The culmination of their hard work was finally recognized when perhaps many of them had been told that what they wanted to achieve just wasn’t possible.
The full list of winners, silver, bronze and hero awards competing against incredible odds to shake the status quo is as follows:
Lifetime Achievement Award
His Royal Highness King Charles III
Award for outstanding achievements
Simon Devonshire OBE
The Startup Giants New Business of the Year Award
Bronze—Liberty Collins
Silver – LOKI POKE
Gold – Imagineerium
The Economic Community Prize
HERO AWARD—Charlie Betty Beauty
HERO AWARD – ECASS
BUSINESS WINNERS – Biome Algae
COMMUNITY WINNER – Wanis International Foods
The innovation prize of the economy
Silver – video sign
Gold – The simulator company
The Economic Growth Price
nourished
The Score App awarded SME of the Year
Bronze – Aberdeen Diving Services
Silver – Oppidan
Gold moves London
The “Exporter of the Year” award.
Silver – Global Infusion Group
Gold – The English Soap Company
The Eco Foundry Sustainable Business Awards
Special Recognition – Crown Oil
Silver – Juice Global
Gold – BTS Fabrications Limited
The Diversity and Inclusion Awards
Just donuts
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
Do a limited entry
The Scale Up and Market Disruptor Award
Whiskey & Wealth Club
Reflecting on the evening, Awards Founder and Director Richard Alvin said:
“We created the Business Champion Awards two years ago to reward businesses nationwide. Word got around this year, of course, because we received applications from all federal states. Out of 140 finalists, only 20 were based in London.
“Creating these awards is nothing short of inspirational, and it sums up the overwhelming feeling I’ve had in the hours since; I am proud of my team for making the awards run so smoothly and proud of our country’s persistent, dedicated business owners, all of whom have so deserved their awards.
“It is a gigantic task to organize and implement the future awards program while fulfilling our dream of creating a year-round awards program. 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 that focuses on just one night. My team is up for the challenge and we look forward to staying in touch with the finalists and winners.
“But that’s not all, our judges were top-class and already confirm that they would like to participate in the 2024 awards. The wheels are already in motion… Again, kudos to everyone in attendance and we look forward to seeing you again next year.”
From idea to execution, every decision made for the award was in line with eco-conscious values
A popular choice for selfies at night, EcoFoundry’s living wall also highlighted the connection with Canary Wharf’s environmental zoning guidelines. Each supplier has been screened for their eco-approach and sustainability in line with Capital Business Media’s values, so no single-use plastic has been used for this purpose and any remaining food has been donated to help the city’s homeless.
Jax Davey, recognized for his leadership skills and drive to create positive change with his planet-friendly, global creative agency Nuevo, was the deserving winner of the Young Entrepreneur Award, commented:
“Running a company is exhausting, so evenings 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 am incredibly honored to have won this prestigious award, especially as the Business Champion Award’s sustainability scores align perfectly with Nuevo’s.
Some of our winners had the extraordinary surprise of meeting Ed Sheeran on the train home, who was quick to congratulate them on their triumph and snap a selfie.
Host Huw Edwards said:
“It is a very complex process to bring these awards to life and the whole event was so well organized and choreographed. Times have been incredibly tough and SME entrepreneurs, all six million across the country, need to be celebrated. It was an honor to be part of the evening again and to make sure they were rewarded for their hard work and dedication.”
Final thank you messages…
A respected panel of award-winning and world-leading judges devoted their time and business acumen throughout February to listening to each company’s pitches, values, team motivations, trials and triumphs to determine each winner. The entire Business Champion Awards team would like to extend our sincere thanks to all of the judges for their time and attention.
The Business Champion Awards team would also like to thank all of the sponsors and the events team for making the night a phenomenal success.
The Business Champion Awards 2024 awards program kicks off on June 25, 2023. Check out this section…
Cherry Martin
Cherry is Associate Editor of Business Matters, responsible for planning and writing future features, interviews and in-depth articles for what is now the UK’s largest print and online source of breaking business news.
