MKBA Awards Evening Celebrations!
We had a great night being in attendance of the MKBA Awards last week, we were fortunate enough to sponsor the drinks reception for the awards. The awards at Stadium MK celebrate the city’s remarkable business achievements over the past two years, since the last MKBAA event in 2020.
Over 600 guests packed out the ballroom for over 13 category award winners. The overall Business of the Year was won by not one, but two businesses, linked by their incredible mutual founder. Emerging Markets Quality Trials and Naturally Tribal were both founded by the Entrepreneur of the Year winner, Shalom Lloyd. The judges commented that both businesses demonstrated what can be achieved under the helm of an inspirational leader, with the vision, tenacity and a drive to support others.
The celebrated Lifetime Achievement Award went to David Foster, who recently retired as CEO at The Parks Trust after 19 years of leading the trust. During that time, David has expertly steered the independent charity, which cares for more than 6,000 acres of parkland and green space in MK. He has championed sustainability and expanded the reach of green space to the people of Milton Keynes, helping them to connect and engage with river valleys, woodlands, parks and landscaped areas, which represent 25% of our city.
The awards theme for this year was Leading the UK's Green Recovery-Survive, Revive & Thrive and many of the night's winners had shown their ability to adapt their businesses to be more aware of environmental responsibilities.
It was great to listen to guest speaker Wayne Hemingway MBE about the early days of sustainability reuse and recycling of clothing, the founder of RED OR DEAD Clothing, Wayne was a great speaker and offered a great insight into how his career has progressed throughout his time in the fashion industry.
Overall it was a great evening celebrating local businesses and their awards for great work achieved throughout the previous year. We hope to be there again the following year to celebrate other local businesses' successes and achievements.