The very first online Mansfield and Ashfield 2020 business awards have taken place, giving people the opportunity to Zoom in on the event.
The membership organisation works with companies and partners to promote business across the area, giving a powerful voice and lobbying presence to help the two districts.
Each year, 2020 puts on a prestigious black-tie awards event, attended by hundreds of people who gather to celebrate the work of local business people.
And because large events cannot take place at the moment, 2020’s awards went online this year – and proved to be a big hit.
The Business of the Year category was won by Asbestos Compliance Solutions, and Brian Smith of R.E.A.L. Education won the prestigious Lifetime Achievement/Outstanding Commitment to Mansfield and Ashfield Award.
Winners also included Mansfield Building Society, which took the Commitment to the Community award, Rainbows Hospice was crowned Charity of the Year, and Apprentice of the Year went to Sam Greasley, of Midlands Asset Finance.
The Mayborn Group won the category of Increased Sustainable Business Practices, while RoundWorks IT got the gong in the Customer Focus Initiative section.
Excellence in Innovation and Design was won by Portland College – Woodland Adventure Zone, Fresh Start Recruitment shone with the Entrepreneurial Spirit award, and the New Business of the Year title was won by Lighting Project Solutions.
And, as a special award for the online event, Jason Roper, Digital Technology Adviser, EMCC won Best Dressed Attendee award.
Tim Booker, managing director at Asbestos Compliance Solutions, said: “It was a shock for us to win, especially as there are so many great companies out there in our area. I think a lot of the smaller businesses need to have the confidence to shout about what they are doing.”
Luke Watts, co-founder with Matthew Riffat of RoundWorks IT, said: “It’s an honour to win, especially given the year we have all had, it’s a wonderful boost of positivity for the team here at RoundWorks IT.
“Since creating RoundWorks IT back in late 2016, our customers have always come first. The experience here at RoundWorks IT is focussed on the customer, IT is very niche to each business and the better we understand our customers, the better their IT infrastructures and their experience with IT will be.”
Gary Jordan, who co-hosted the event with 2020 co-chair Jane Box, said: “It was fantastic, and everyone played their part by dressing up smartly. It was a fun way to host the awards, which had to go ahead in some form so that we could continue to shout about the great businesses and people we have in our area.”
2020 Operations Manager, Ella McManus said: “We have received a lot of emails from people saying how much they enjoyed the event, and many got dressed up especially for it, even though they didn’t leave the office or home. It was quite a logistical operation to get it all working and we will learn from the experience so that if we ever need to do it again, it is even better.”
To view the awards in full take a look here