Rob and friend from Odyssey Innovation study Blue Patch Edition 1, our first ‘micro-zine’. All photos in this blog are by In The Right Light Photography
A great time was had by all at the Blue Patch Sustainable Business Awards. Conversation and wine flowed at the Art Workers’ Guild, 6, Queen Square, London WC1.
Talking the talk
The Guild, founded in 1884 by architects and designers, included members of the Arts & Crafts Movement, making it the perfect place for welcoming our Award winners and finalists.
Judge Rebecca Clouston with husband Charlie and Sarah from 4160 Tuesdays.
Since Blue Patch launched the awards in 2016 we’ve seen a rapid acceleration in both quality and numbers entering the sustainable and social impact business sector.
A spot of quiet while the award winners are announced
This bodes well for the future of the UK’s low-carbon economy as these SMEs add greatly to efforts the UK must make to reach carbon reduction targets.
Eve from Bundlee
Circular economy business principles are the new normal and almost every business is aware of the pressing need to reduce waste and future proof materials within a closed loop supply chain.
A huge thank you to our Judges!
They came up trumps, what a task they had, the entries were many and the standard universally brilliant. Please meet the 2019 judges here.
And now congratulations to our incredible winners and finalists.
The Circular Economy Award: Menestho, DappR, Bio Collectors and Odyssey Innovation
Circular Economy Award
Winner: Bio Collectors
Finalists: DappR, Menestho, Milestone Design, Odyssey Innovation
Social impact is also on the rise and you can see from clicking the links of our finalists, the work done by these enterprises and charities is impressive. As we face up to rising inequality, social isolation and mental health issues, many vulnerable people are helped by those on our shortlist, so please lend your support.
The lovely NEMI Teas family with Social Impact Award Sponsor Paul Croucher Managing Director of Reliance Bank
Social Impact Award. Sponsored by Reliance Bank
Winner: CrackedIt
Finalists: FabricWorks, Ignition, NEMI Teas, Time & Talents
Global Impact Award: Liberation Foods, Stroodles, Ben from EQ Investors who sponsored the Global Impact award, Artisanne and Judge Alice from In The Right Light Photography
Global Impact Award. Sponsored by EQ Investors
Winner: Liberation Foods
Finalists: Artisanne, Stroodles, Where does it come from?
New Heritage: Nafisi Studio, Hatton Willow, Lottie from Bouncepad (who sponsored the New Business Award), LoveHeart Wood and Judge Michael Davies, Co-Director of Green and Seen.
New Heritage Award
Winner: Nafisi Studio
Finalists: Britannical, Hatton Willow, Love Heartwood, Maria Sigma
Female Business Leader award: Judge Deborah Pocock, CEO of QEST, 4016 Tuesdays, House of Upcycling, Social Starters and Judge and Stylist Rebecca Clouston.
Female Business Leader Award
Winner: Chris Billinghurst of House of Upcycling
Finalists: Andrea Gamson of Social Starters, Rosie Ginday of Miss Macaroon, Sarah McCartney of 4160 Tuesdays, Susie McDonald of Tender Education & Arts
The New Business Award Finalists: Bundlee, 1 Tree Cards, Judge, journalist Katrina Burroughs and team Ride Clean.
New Business: Sponsored by Bouncepad
Winner: Tinkebu
Finalists: 1 Tree Cards, Bundlee, Boy Wonder, Ride Clean
The Sustainable Innovation Award: Eco Tooth, Delphis Eco, Jane holding up one of Blue Patch’s Denby dishes! Denby sponsored the Sustainable Innovation Award this year.
Sustainable Innovation: Sponsored by Denby Pottery
Winner: Delphis Eco
Finalists: Eco Tooth, Ecospheric, Full Grown, That’s Caffeine
People’s Prize finalist Sarah 4160 Tuesdays, Lucy from winning team Full Grown and finalist Sarah from Hatton Willow.
The People’s Prize – open to the public to judge and over 1000 votes cast!
Winner: Full Grown
Finalists: 4160 Tuesdays, Hatton Willow
We congratulate every single person who entered the awards. Every applicant striving to make a kinder world and safeguard the eco-system.
One to watch: Jarr Market in Herne Hill, London. The shop opened and the entry came in at about midnight the next day. Jess is certainly ‘one to watch’ as she rapidly builds her refill business.
Britannical, finalist in the New Heritage Award
We hope our awards contribute to building new partnerships and providing a friendly social occasion for this inspirational, forward thinking group who underpin the new UK green economy.
We owe enormous gratitude to our Patrons Thrive Renewables (this year celebrating 25 years of connecting people to renewable energy investing!) and Naturesave who keep Blue Patch safe and sound – they insure the collective!
We are also so grateful to our very first award category sponsors: Reliance Bank, Social Impact Award, Denby Pottery, Sustainable Innovation Award (plus providing our much coveted dishes and mugs!), EQ Investors, Global Impact Award and Bouncepad, New Business Awards. Their support means we can keep the awards free to enter and fund the party – which enables SMEs to network and build new partnerships – and this makes all the difference.
The photos were taken by brilliant duo Alice and Anna from In The Right Light Photography. Alice and Anna also judged the awards, helped get the room ready for the party and then documented the entire event – they really are are champion members of the collective and we thank them for contributing so much.
Onwards and upwards as the say! See you in 2020.
Keep and eye on 2020 by signing up to the Blue Patch Newsletter. We’ve new projects launching and the Travelling Sustainable Department Store is on the road. We’d love to see you there!
Related blogs:
Blue Patch People’s Prize 2019
For business owners:
6 ways to get your business ready for the holiday season.
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