The MSDUK Awards, of which Lopa Patel was a judge this year, were announced on Thursday 22nd September 2016 at The Grange Tower Bridge Hotel, London. Among the winners were Shahid Sheikh OBE, Managing Director of Clifton Packaging, specialists in the manufacture of packaging, packaging machinery and contract packing in the food sector, who won the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ award and Dr Rabinder Buttar, Founder & CEO of ClinTec, which manages clinical trials in all major therapeutic categories including oncology, rare diseases, neurology, autoimmune diseases and diabetes, whose company won the Scale-Up Business Award 2016. The awards ceremony was hosted by actress, author and journalist Meera Syal who spoke about her cultural roots and development as a creative individual. Guests also heard from Ade Adepitan about his challenging journey to becoming an international wheelchair basketball player.
The MSDUK Awards recognise and celebrate a range of businesses that demonstrate success in the areas of innovation, sustainability, growth and commitment to diversity in their supply chain. These awards acknowledge purchasing organisations and the hugely talented and entrepreneurial ethnic minority businesses in the UK for their collaborative efforts to make supply chains both inclusive and competitive.
MSDUK Awards 2016 Winners
Entrepreneur of the Year 2016
Shahid Sheikh OBE, Managing Director of Clifton Packaging. Clifton strive to stay ahead in their industry which includes being innovative and investing in the latest technologies. They are expanding by attracting new types of clients and encouraging talent through tailored employee training programmes.
Supplier Diversity Advocate Award 2016
Three MSDUK Supplier Diversity Advocate Awards were presented this year to IBM (Ross Mandiwall); Enterprise Rent-A-Car and MSD.
Innovation Award 2016
Bri-Tek have a vision to expand into other Eco Technologies by having purpose built innovation. They have launched an exclusive Universal Emergency Battery Backup Unit, specifically for LED lighting.
Inclusive Procurement Award 2016
Balfour Beatty – nominated for their long standing commitment to engage with SME and minority businesses particularly those in economically disadvantaged communities.Their goal is to have an inclusive supply chain that benefits from working with the best of all suppliers.
Corporation of the Year 2016
Cummins have grown in percentage of spend with Minority suppliers and have a strong message promoting Inclusive Procurement which is increasing more widely.
Scale-Up Business of the Year 2016
ClinTec International is delivering on its ambitious strategy to provide a global capability for clinical research to address the needs of the global pharmaceutical and biotechnology customer segments.
About MSDUK
Minority Supplier Development UK (MSDUK) is the UK’s leading non-profit membership organisation driving inclusive procurement which ensures that corporate and government buyers, amongst others have access to certified ethnic minority businesses (EMBS). This facilitates opportunities for EMBS to grow substantially, ensuring a more diverse, equal and dynamic business and social environment.
It is a network of over 40 purchasing organisations, 500+ buyers and an extended community of over 3000 ethnic minority owned businesses working together. MSDUK is an affiliate of USA-based National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC)’s Global Link. It is also partnered with AIG, IBM, KPMG, Coca-Cola, MasterCard, and Citi among others.
For further information visit www.msduk.org.uk