More than 700 guests were at the Marshall Arena next to Stadium MK to hail the city’s innovations and success. This year’s awards were themed around education and skills.
With headline sponsor The Open University celebrating 50 years of learning in 2019, the awards organisers praised the immense expertise the OU has developed in Milton Keynes and acknowledged its success with a special dedication award.
The big winners of Milton Keynes’ most prestigious awards were Integral Powertrain, which picked up Business of the Year after also collecting the award for Best Technology Business.
David Lock, founder of planning consultancy David Lock Associates, was presented with the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Dr Philip Smith, chair of awards organisers Milton Keynes Business Leaders Partnership with event management specialist Evolution and full service marketing agency Interdirect, said: “This year’s awards represented a further celebration of the fantastic success of the business community we have in Milton Keynes, and the world leading skills, education opportunities and facilities, including the Open University, Cranfield University, the University of Buckingham and the MK College, all of whom are helping to pave the way for MKBAA winners of the future.”
The awards saw more entries and a larger-scale awards evening than ever before in the new venue the Marshall Arena. Guests viewed a number of business stallholders in the ‘Business City’ before dinner and enjoyed the ‘Entertainment City’ afterwards where dancing, casino and skills games rounded off the evening’s entertainment.
Integral Powertrain is a leading independent engineering consultancy, with a key focus for advanced powertrain services and unique e-Drive technologies. As it approaches the future, the company continues to evolve and embrace new technology to meet tomorrow’s requirements.
The judges were unanimous in awarding the Bletchley-based company the title of Business of the Year 2019, chosen by the judges from the winners of each of the 12 categories.
The MKBAA Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by Barclays, was awarded to David Lock, founder of David Lock Associates, for his extraordinary contribution to town and country planning.
As well as being chair of his own company, Mr Lock was chief planning advisor to the Department of the Environment and has also chaired the internationally renowned environmental education charity the Town and Country Planning Association.
Category winners on the night included:
Charity of the Year Sponsor: Bletchley Park
Business Impact in the Community Sponsor: Cranfield University
Red Thread Partnerships
Leisure & Entertainment Sponsor: Jurys Inn
MK Biergarten
New Business Sponsor: BSI
Naturally Tribal Skincare
Small Business Sponsor:Transport Systems Catapult
Customer Service Sponsor: ATL Ltd
Wed2B
Culture & Arts Sponsor: MyMiltonKeynes Business Improvement District
The Stables
Technology Business Sponsor: Hillier Hopkins
Integral Powertrain
Professional Services Sponsor: dbfb
David Lock Associates
BSH Home Appliances
Entrepreneur of the Year Sponsor: Keens Shay Keens
Matt Bowler – Vantage Event Structures
Main sponsors of the evening were the Open University, celebrating its 50th year, KPMG and MK Council.
Mr Smith said: “Now in its sixth consecutive year, Milton Keynes Business Achievement Awards continues to go from strength to strength, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our sponsors. Without their support this celebration of great business success would not be possible and to all our entrants around whom our evening is based.”
