A sense of pure delight and celebration filled the room at the Lloyds Bank British Business Excellence Awards as the winners of each of the prestigious 13 categories were announced, with one additional category added for Outstanding Contribution to British Business that went to the Oxford Vaccine Group.

The calibre of finalists in each category was very high, with Britain’s business elite filling every seat in the room. The evening was intertwined with inspirational speeches from Sarah Austin, Director of the Lloyds Bank British Business Excellence Awards, Paul Gordon, Lloyds Banking Group Managing Director for SME & MID Corporates, Laura & Jason Kenny, Olympic athletes who between them have 12 Olympic gold medals in cycling, and Channel 4’s Steph McGovern.

The awards had a plethora of worthy finalists, with Jude’s Ice Cream up against the likes of SchoolOnline, Tribepad and Fairfax & Favor, while Bovingdons Catering won their category against high calibre businesses that included GovGrant, Ground Control and FlyForm.
Jude’s Ice Cream are the proud winners of the Lloyds Bank Positive Social & Sustainable Impact Award. The carbon negative business with sustainability at the heart of its operations truly impressed the panel of judges. Jude’s Ice Cream is Britain’s first Carbon Negative ice cream and desserts business, with almost the entire business being involved in the carbon reduction plan, the ice cream company is paving the way for business alike. The award recognised Jude’s Ice Cream’s meaningful sustainable social impact and how this has been intertwined into the businesses values and its approach to align its sustainability message with its commercial objectives.

James Wright, Managing Director of www.judes.com, commented:

“We are so proud to win such an exciting and notable award, the British Business Excellence Awards is the one to get and we have done it! This award is highly competitive and it takes a great business to take a step forward, to put their business under the spotlight and ultimately, winning is what every business here tonight dreams of.

“For any business wanting advice on how to progress so one day they can be in the room at the awards tonight, would be to talk to other businesses and learn from them – every business is dealing with the same issues and we can certainly all learn and succeed together.”

More than just a business, Bovingdons Catering have gone above and beyond to support their employees during the pandemic, going that extra mile to ensure employee welfare was at the forefront of business operations. Creating such a collaborative, inclusive, supportive and diverse workforce, Bovingdons Catering secured the Employer of the Year Award.

Theo Wielder, Director of www.bovingdons.co.uk, commented:

“It is a wonderful privilege to win this award tonight, we wouldn’t be here or have got this far without the whole team behind Bovingdons Catering.

“During the pandemic it was important that we went above and behind, punching above our weight and doing the very best that we can for others. We started as a small family business and now we are a team of over 200 valued members of staff.

“My most important piece of advice for any business owner is to respect the people that you work with, day in and day out, that is the key for a successful business and quite possibly the key for becoming employer of the year.”

Sarah Austin, Director of www.britishbusinessexcellenceawards.co.uk, commented:

“A true accolade to British Business, these businesses are all worthy winners of the Lloyds Bank British Business Excellence awards. Their positive contribution to the reputation and success of British business has not gone unnoticed and it will be great to see how winning an award of this stature will propel the company into the spotlight, where they can shine and inspire other businesses.”