Last Thursday I was delighted to attend the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) Business Awards ceremony, held at the Tobacco Dock in London.

Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce was named as runner up for Chamber of the Year 2018. I am thrilled that we were recognised out of the 53 accredited Chambers across the UK for the investment in our membership, the support we provide to our Members and the dedication to improving our employee satisfaction.

I would like to congratulate our Strategic Member Phoenix Group, who was named as overall winner of the national Workplace Wellbeing Award. The award recognises businesses that are creating an environment for their employees to succeed by demonstrating their commitment to the health and wellbeing of their workforce.

The Chamber was joined by six businesses on the evening, including Phoenix Group, who were all named as winners in the regional Chamber Business Awards. I want to extend my congratulations to ETL Systems Limited, Kingspan Insulation, Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, OLPRO and Worcestershire Training Provider Association who all went on to represent the two counties nationally at the BCC Awards.

In further celebratory news, I am pleased to reveal that the Chamber has been awarded the “Ones to Watch” accreditation by Best Companies for 2018.

Best Companies is the organisation behind The Sunday Times Top 100 Companies, and the accreditation is a special status awarded to businesses where workplace engagement shows promising signs for the future.

The certification follows the Chamber being named as the 46th Best Not for Profit Organisation to Work for earlier this year, and I am delighted that we can end our year on a positive and motivational note.

I look forward to hearing results of the Best Companies survey next year, and I’ll keep my fingers crossed for even more achievements in 2019!