The Lloyds Bank British Business Excellence Awards is the UK’s largest awards programme that celebrates the very best of British business. With a year-long programme of networking events, the awards programme doesn’t just celebrate businesses across all industries, championing sustainability, diversity and equality, it creates a community of like-minded businesses and entrepreneurs that have triumphed throughout the year.
Sarah Austin, Director of the Lloyds Bank British Business Excellence Awards, believes that excellence is never an accident, saying “It’s a direct result of high intention, sincere effort and intelligent execution. It represents the wise choice of many alternatives. Choice, not chance, determines your destiny.”
Having worked in the event space for two decades, Austin spent much of her career delivering the annual National Business Awards, before launching the British Business Excellence Awards in 2021. Sarah’s inauguration of this bespoke awards programme not only fuelled her enduring enthusiasm for orchestrating business events, but also enabled her overarching venture, Empowered Events, to champion SMEs.
Previous awards evenings, hosted at The Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, have seen guest appearances from Sir Trevor McDonald, Naga Munchetty, David Harewood, Maisie Adam and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, who remarked, “The BBEA is the great renaissance of Great British business.”
Diverse and inclusive
With Lloyds Bank as the awards’ headline sponsor for the fourth year in a row, the Independent as official media partner, and numerous sponsors onboard, including Business in the Community and the Department for Business and Trade, 2024 is set to be even bigger and better.
In order to make the awards programme even more inclusive, three new award categories have been announced: The FTSE 100 Business of the Year Award, The Customer Loyalty Award and The New Founder of the Year Award.
The FTSE 100 Business of the Year Award is set to celebrate excellence amongst the UK’s 100 most highly capitalised blue-chip companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. AstraZeneca, Marks & Spencer Group, Rolls Royce Holdings, Shell, Taylor Wimpey and Unilever are just some of the businesses that make up the FTSE 100.
The Customer Loyalty Award is aimed at businesses that can demonstrate the highest levels of customer loyalty, engagement and experience, whether that’s building an outstanding service, building long-term client relationships, having a high level of referral or repeat business or continually adapting to gain a competitive advantage.
Shining a spotlight on founders who have launched their first venture within the past 18 to 24 months, The New Founder of the Year Award is for those who can demonstrate entrepreneurial aptitude, commercial acumen, vision, ambition, innovation and drive to build a successful enterprise.
The new awards complement the other 15 award categories available, which include The Technology Business of the Year Award, The Innovation Award, The Entrepreneur of the Year Award, The Lloyds Bank Sustainable Business of the Year Award, The Department for Business and Trade Exporter of the Year Award and The Lloyds Bank DE&I Champion of the Year Award.
Creating a legacy
Past award winners from previous years include Frenchic, Octopus Energy, Cleanology, Revive Collagen and the Black Business Show.
While previous judges for the prestigious awards programme have included Paul Morrison, UK&I Education Lead at Zoom, Jonathan Caswell, Origination Director at LDC, Lizzie Carter, Founder of OnlyCurls, Maja Gedosev, General Manager Europe for JetBlue Airways and Francesca Pittaway, Commercial Director at Not On The High Street. In 2023, 1200 business owners, employees, partners and sponsors attended the 2023 awards ceremony, from 155 businesses across all different sectors.
The Lloyds Bank British Business Excellence Awards 2024 is set to take place at Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London, on Tuesday 12th November. More information and award entry forms can be found on the British Business Excellence Awards site and the deadline for entries is Friday 14th June 2024.
Those who enter the awards will be granted access to a full calendar of events between now and November, with networking events set to take place at prestigious venues such as St Paul’s Cathedral, Tate Modern and exclusive VIP locations, as well as post-awards night events.
Find out more about the Lloyds Bank British Business Excellence Awards 2024, awards categories and criteria, and how you can enter here
