On Thursday 11 October 2018 the county celebrated the 21st Gloucestershire Business Awards at Cheltenham Racecourse. The 600 strong guests were treated to a glittering event, quite literally, with a glitter ball as the centre piece of each table, a nod to the 21st ‘birthday’.
Nick Hewer, of ‘Countdown’ and ‘The Apprentice’ fame, hosted the evening, which began after the drinks reception with welcomes from Rachael Sugden, senior editor of Gloucestershire Media, followed by our managing partner Tim Watkins.
As headline sponsor of the award it has become customary to produce a short video and the 21st birthday celebration was theme for this year… and our partners did not disappoint!
Like a many other business leaders in the room, Tim had spent the previous night ‘sleeping rough’ at Kingsholm stadium to raise awareness and funds for the charity CCP (Caring for Communities and People) on World Homeless Day. Cordell Ray, CEO of CCP, said a few words about the ‘Big Sleep Out’ and how the charity used the initiative to raise £50,000, which will be spent on a winter shelter in Gloucester. He also welcomed Phil Coley to the stage, who on the night completed the last stage of a gruelling 354 mile sponsored walk around the border of Gloucestershire over 12 days on behalf of both CCP and Macmillan, raising an amazing £6000 in the process.
As with previous years, there were so many outstanding entries and inspiring stories which gave the judging panel a tough job of agreeing the winners.
The winners on the night were:
- Young Business Person of the Year, sponsored by Renishaw PLC, went to Tom Parling from Ocere Ltd
- Best Employee, sponsored by iPipeline, went to Harriet Davey from In The Park Ltd
- Business Innovation, sponsored by the University of Gloucestershire, went to Salpo Technologies Ltd
- Corporate Social Responsibility, sponsored by Lilian Faithfull Homes, went to Clarkson Evans
- Best Place to Work, sponsored by Lucozade Ribena Suntory, went to Holiday Architects
- Marketing Campaign of the Year, sponsored by Marketing Cheltenham, was The Festival™, Cheltenham Racecourse Marketing Campaign 2018
- Lifetime Achievement, sponsored by QuoLux, was David Bellamy, who stepped down from his role as chief exec at St James’s Place earlier this year
- Family Business of the Year, sponsored by Willans, went to Datasource Computer Employment Ltd
- New Business of the Year, sponsored by Endsleigh, went to Hawkins and Brimble
- Small Business of the Year, sponsored by Fig Office Network Limited, went to Imperial Hearing Ltd
- Growth Business of the Year, sponsored by The Growth Hub, went to Bennetts Tower Cranes
- Rural Business of the Year, sponsored by Gloucestershire Live, went to Cotteswold Dairy
- ECommerce Business of the Year, sponsored by Gloucestershire College, went to ProCook
- Business of the Year, sponsored by the main sponsors of the evening, Randall & Payne, went to Batten & Allen
We’d like to offer many congratulations to all winners, finalists and organisers for contributing to a fantastic celebration. The successes and achievements of the Gloucestershire business community is truly remarkable and humbling. Our county has an eclectic wealth of businesses, all pushing boundaries and making a difference in their fields. We believe that achievements in business should be acknowledged among peers, and the 21st annual Gloucestershire Business Awards was the ideal way to toast those accomplishments.
