Winners of the Business Disability Forum’s Disability-Smart 2019 Awards have been announced.
Held at a ceremony at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London on Wednesday, the awards aim to showcase best practice and raise the bar on inclusive business.
Winners include well-known supermarket chains and global tech companies, alongside public sector organisations, charities and small businesses.
All of which were recognised for their work to enhance the experiences of disabled employees and customers by leading the way on positive and innovative change.
Several other finalists were highly commended at the event, which was supported by Barclays and co-hosted by Paralympian, Stef Reid.
Four new awards were added this year in a move to help recognise the work of organisations and individuals in the areas of customer service, design, communications and marketing, and influencing.
They were presented alongside highly prized awards for senior disability champion, workplace experience, diversity and inclusion practitioner, inclusive technology, and global achievement.
The ceremony concluded with the awarding of the popular Disabled People’s Choice Award 2019 to an organisation nominated by disabled students and graduates.
Diane Lightfoot, CEO of the Business Disability Forum, said: “The nominations for the Disability-Smart Awards simply get bigger and better each year. It’s an honour to be involved in the awards and to see the amazing work being carried out by individuals and organisations to create truly inclusive workplaces, products and experiences.”
Adding: “The Disability-Smart Awards celebrate success, but we hope they will do much more than that. By sharing best practice, we want to show what can be done and what should be done. 1 in 5 people are disabled, so it makes business sense for everyone to make disability inclusion a priority.”
The winners are:
Disability-Smart Senior Champion Award 2019
Tim Fallowfield, company secretary and director of corporate services, Sainsbury’s
Disability-Smart Design Award 2019
Winner: Herbal Essences
Highly commended: Disabled Sailors Association
Disability-Smart Workplace Experience Award 2019 (sponsored by Microlink)
Winner: MI5
Disability-Smart Influencer Award 2019
Winner: BBC
Disability-Smart Technology for All Award 2019 (sponsored by Microlink)
Winner: Dubai Police
Disability-Smart Customer Service Award 2019
Winner: Edinburgh Printmakers
Disability-Smart Communications & Marketing Campaign Award 2019
Winner: Microsoft
Highly Commended: Busy Life Ltd
Disability-Smart Multinational Organisation Award 2019
Winner: Shell
Disability-Smart Diversity & Inclusion Practitioner Award 2019
Winner: Neil Milliken, ATOS
Highly Commended: Satjinder Jabanda-Wilson, Virgin Media
Highly Commended: ‘Discover UCL’ team, UCL
Disabled People’s Choice Award 2019
Winner: EmployAbility (nominated by Harry Ashcroft)
