Winners Announced for the South West Fairtrade Business Awards 2017
Lyons Davidson, a legal practice with offices in the South West and across the UK, has scooped the award for Best Fairtrade Business at the South West Fairtrade Business Awards.
The results were announced at Bristol Cathedral on Friday 10th March, in a ceremony hosted by Helen Cooper, Managing Director of Neal’s Yard Remedies, and opened by Councillor Helen Holland, Cabinet Member for Place to the Mayor of Bristol.
The ceremony brought together prominent members of the South West business community to celebrate the achievements of more than 50 organisations and individuals from across the region who embrace Fairtrade in the workplace. Awards were presented by VIPs from a range of high profile organisations including Burges Salmon, Wogan Coffee and The New Room.
In addition to Best Fairtrade Business, seven category winners were recognised including the Cotswold Fudge Co., Minuteman Press, and both the University of Bristol and UWE as joint winners of Best Fairtrade University, sponsored by Triodos. Zoe Robinson, director of online ethical fashion hub The Good Wardrobe, won the award for Best Fairtrade Advocate, sponsored by SWTUC.
The ceremony was the fifth annual celebration of ethical business in the region, which takes place each year during Fairtrade Fortnight – a campaign spearheaded by the Fairtrade Foundation. Delegates to the awards were addressed by Maura Jarquín Blandón, a Fairtrade coffee and cocoa producer from Nicaragua, highlighting the significant impact that businesses can have on the lives of small producers in developing countries. Between them, entrants to this year’s awards spend well over £3 million on Fairtrade products
each year.
As well as the familiar Bristol Blue Glass trophy, winners were treated to a gift box from Neal’s Yard Remedies, and all guests enjoyed a vegetarian feast prepared by caterers from the Palestine Museum & Cultural Centre, made using Fairtrade and organic ingredients. Wogan Coffee, Fair & Square Brownies and the Natural Beverage Company provided Fairtrade refreshments.
Clive Croal, Environmental Management Coordinator at Lyons Davidson, said of the company’s win:
“We are absolutely thrilled be Best Fairtrade Business 2017 in the South West Fairtrade Business Awards. We’re a socially conscious business who believe in doing what we can to affect a positive change in the world around us. With the full support of the senior management team, we’ve been supporting the Fairtrade movement for 12 years and we’re committed to carrying out business in a way that is driven by socially responsible values.”
With a customer trust rate of 83%, businesses using products with the Fairtrade mark help to create a more transparent supply chain and contribute to a system that ensures a better standard of working and living for more than 1.6 million farmers worldwide.
For more information, contact Danni Rochman, Bristol Fairtrade Project Co-ordinator
bristolfairtradenetwork a_t gmail d_o_t com
Photos courtesy of Jon Craig
Source: www.bristolfairtrade.org.uk/winners2017