Broadsword – Reinvention. Our Pivot to Virtual

When the pandemic first hit, it rather felt that our Event house had been decimated. At the start of 2020, Broadsword was a thriving, growing agency, with plans to launch in Hong Kong, take on a new premises and continue to expand our brilliant team of people. We’d spent years cultivating something special, a place we felt secure and at home. It’s been a year of upheaval, disruption and change. But it has also been a time of innovation, creativity and reinvention. At Broadsword we’ve embarked on a new journey, crafted a new offering and acquired new skills, but stayed true to who we are. Creative. Responsible. Caring. Components of a collective with the clutch power to create something special.

In light of the seismic challenges the events industry has faced, Broadsword continues to produce events globally, having developed a digital event offering fit for the future that offers more sustainable, accessible and inclusive solutions for our clients. We have picked each other up, supported each other through the toughest times and are now a team where every individual is a confident leader, ready to inspire a future generation of event professionals. A true triumph over adversity.

Corinthian Sports – Project Resilience

As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, all sporting and music events were immediately cancelled or postponed, with no timeline for when spectators would be allowed to return. Our product offering as a Sports Hospitality provider was decimated. Corinthian Sports took decisive action, unlike our competitors, to continue to tackle the challenge proactively and head-on. One of the biggest outputs was to define our company values from our learning, all evident in our response to the pandemic. Why did we continue to operate and which value does this represent?

• RESILIENCE – To continually move forward, regardless of setbacks, uncertainty or delay
• TEAM – To support one another and share the challenge
• PASSION – To sustain the small wins, keep momentum and motivate our team
• TRUST – To give our customers confidence in our brand
• AGILE – To protect our business growth and seek new opportunities

Evenco International

Evenco International is an executive conference organizer devoted to the asset management community throughout Europe and the Americas. Throughout the crisis, Evenco doubled in size. The only events company to do so. Due to our bottom up approach, where we construct events based on demand, we identified opportunities and innovative ways to pivot.

EventsCase – Reinvention

EventsCase is the largest European based provider helping Event Organisers with a unique solution for all their events: in-person, virtual and hybrid. Before the pandemic, the business was all in-person events. We managed bigger and bigger clients and events such as the UN with COP-25 with over 25,000 high-level attendees in Madrid. As in-person events were cancelled, we experienced sales dropping 50% monthly from January to May. At that moment, the only option was Virtual, so we started developing a solution for that short-term need, but with the vision that in the medium and long-term, clients would manage a mix of all type of events (in-person, virtual and hybrid), what meant we had to have a long-term vision, building a platform valuable for all. Our main assumption was that virtual events would remain after the pandemic to some extent, and hybrid would be the new default format for global events. We started to see the results only a month after launching the virtual platform and sales were already recovered in June. In comparison with previous years, we now run much larger events. If the average event was for 500-1000 attendees in 2019, in 2020 was 5000-10000 attendees each.

GRC World Forums – PrivSec Global

PrivSec, a GRC World Forums initiative, is a leading source of news and content for the global data protection, privacy and security sector. The pandemic provided a unique opportunity to extend their reach to professionals within the data protection, privacy and security sector globally, plus provide their existing audience with richer content from speakers all over the world at a time which is most convenient for them.

Since migrating to a digital-first offering in 2020, they have run over 105 digital conferences and interactive webinars, welcoming over 70,000 industry professionals from 125+ countries. From conferences to webinars to publications, they provide opportunities for data protection, privacy and security professionals around the world to gain the latest insights, guidance and advice from industry experts and thought-leaders. This joined up approach delivers an immersive digital and engaged experience, and provides a unique route to market for organisations looking to target this growing and difficult to reach audience.

They now have an established global livestream experience series attracting up to 10,000 industry professionals. This has enabled them to reinvent their in-person event offering to focus on tailored, regionally curated events that have exceptional networking opportunities, as well as a bespoke programme of content.

ICC Belfast | Waterfront Hall | Ulster Hall – Pivoting in the Wake of a Pandemic

ICC Belfast | Waterfront Hall | Ulster Hall represent some of Belfast’s most iconic venues. In response to COVID-19, a program for business preparedness has been implemented to ensure the venues remained resilient in the face of adversity. The swift action taken focused on The People and Innovative Solutions to deliver impressive results. Employee engagement levels have increased by 16%, the venues’ technical infrastructure has expanded to become hybrid by-design and over 90% of all business and entertainment events were retained, not cancelled. Guided by the board and senior management, the team has been empowered to take bold decisions and innovation has been championed at every stage to ensure the long-term sustainability of the organisation so that when the time was right, ICC Belfast would be galvanized into kickstarting business again across Belfast and Northern Ireland. As final preparations are made in advance of reopening, visitor safety remains the top priority at the COVID-Secure venue that has achieved the ‘We’re Good to Go’ industry standard. A bright future lies ahead for this city that stands on the precipice of brilliance as the team at ICC Belfast | Waterfront Hall | Ulster Hall demonstrate their commitment to building back better.

INFLOW Network – INFLOW Awards ’20

How do you host a red carpet awards ceremony in the middle of COVID concerns? The previous INFLOW Awards had been physical events with red carpets; broadcasted by national networks. For the first time, INFLOW Network created a digital event for the safety of everyone. INFLOW Awards ’20 was designed to be watched online. We’ve collaborated with Onedio—one of Turkey’s biggest digital platforms. With the participating influencers urging their fans to watch the show, we’ve created an incredible hype that fully utilized the power of influencers. We’ve also created an online red carpet where influencers could create content and post their awards.

We’ve registered everyone with the government and let them in with their state-assigned HES codes. We only had a core production team, and none of the influencers got in contact with one another. Each influencer was allocated 20 minutes to get in and out of the studio, which rendered the process virtually “contactless”. Everyone besides the on-screen talents wore masks throughout the day. All this led to the biggest influencer marketing event in Turkey with an earned media value of $409.435,15; in a totally safe manner, and with a much smaller organizational burden.

we.CONECT

we.CONECT Global Leaders is a business information event company that has successfully transformed on-premise events into virtual events during the Covid crisis. To provide event attendees with comparable event experiences in virtual form, we.CONECT has developed an online event platform, hubs101. On hubs101, attendees have access to the world’s best video streaming technologies, an AI-powered matchmaking platform, and realt-time event analytics. Attending virtual events on hubs101 is an experience close to or even beyond the on-premise event one, where people can watch event sessions freely, make meaningful business contacts, and keep a track of their event ROI. To today, we’ve hosted over 500 events with nearly 40,000 clients on hubs101 and received positive feedback and rating in return.

BBC Education – Lockdown Learning

Lockdown Learning has been the BBC’s biggest Education offer in its history. It brought together some of the BBC’s biggest platforms and hundreds of educational resources on TV, online and social media to help pupils of all ages learn at home and was produced in record time. When the news was announced in early January 2021 that UK schools were switching to online learning, we had to move quickly to provide parents, students and teachers with educational content. Working with colleagues in BBC Two, CBBC, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button and online, we launched the Lockdown Learning content just five days later. From January 11th 2021, Lockdown Learning provided a three hour block of primary learning on CBBC and at least two hours of content for secondary students on BBC Two every week day during term time. This ensured that all children could access curriculum-based learning, even if they didn’t have access to the internet. Alongside this TV offer, there was a wealth of online content which parents, teachers and children could access when and where they needed it.

Channel 4

Despite the restrictions of lockdown and the constraints of reduced budgets, Channel 4’s creative and operational response to the crisis was swift and effective. Our priority was to ensure we played our part in supporting, informing and entertaining all the Nations and Regions of the UK, whilst delivering our remit and supporting the TV industry as a whole. By finding new and innovative ways to produce programmes, Channel 4 were able to continue commissioning during the pandemic, turning around 29 current affairs films and documentaries, launching the Stay at Home Academy to keep viewers occupied and high-spirited through lockdown, and navigating tricky production challenges to keep some of the nation’s best-loved brands on air, when our viewers needed them most. These actions simultaneously helped support the creative sector and help independent production companies survive during these difficult times, with prioritisation given to smaller indies, ethnically diverse led companies, or those based outside of London.
Given these challenges, Channel 4 was able to finish the year recording the first growth in its portfolio viewing share since 2011, record digital growth of 26%, as well a financial surplus to be invested back into its content in 2021 and 2022.

disguise – disguise xR

With the Covid-19 pandemic halting all live shows, disguise – the technology platform that has delivered spectacular live visual experiences for over 20 years – had to rethink its core business offering to empower its user community of creative professionals. Working with this community of users, disguise developed and delivered their extended reality (xR) solution five months ahead of schedule. xR refers to technology that blurs the line between the physical and virtual worlds.

Starting with its early, memorable application in Katy Perry’s performance of ‘Daisies’ in the 2020 American Idol finale, disguise xR has since been used to realise over 250 projects, including the Billie Eilish: Where Do We Go livestream, the 2020 MTV VMAs, Gucci’s 2021 Aria collection launch, commercial shoots for Nissan and Hyundai and even in Walmart’s and SAP’s corporate conferences. Meanwhile, 190+ stages powered by disguise xR have been built in 35+ countries in a worldwide deployment to meet the growing demand for the technology.

disguise is growing rapidly – recognised in the 22nd annual Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100 as one of Britain’s private companies with the fastest-growing profits over the last three years.

EventsCase – 45th Edinburgh TV Festival

Established in 1976, the Edinburgh TV festival is one of the biggest and most anticipated dates in the UK TV industry calendar. Known for its learning opportunities, cutting-edge content and keynote address (the Mactaggart Lecture), the event is a respected source of insight, with past speakers including Sir David Attenborough, Louis Theroux, Hugh Grant and Ricky Gervais.

In 2020, after COVID-19 forced changes to its usual in-person format, the organisers worked diligently with EventsCase to migrate its core features to a new digital experience. After months of research, the organisers named EventsCase as their solution of choice. Work began on the platform from mid-July, leaving just over a month before the official start date of August 24, 2020.

Some of the numbers seen at the 45th edition of the Edinburgh TV Festival include:
88% of sessions sponsored (20% more than previous year); Widest coverage of MacTaggart according to our records – including front page of The Guardian and big screen features at Kings Cross Station; Increase of 56% in overall attendees.

Hotwire and Zoom – Connecting People during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Zoom appointed Hotwire in 2020 with a brief to raise its profile in two European markets. With the onset of the global pandemic resulting in more people using Zoom than ever before to stay connected, Hotwire was asked to extend the programme to manage 19 countries worldwide. Hotwire coordinated an international plan to manage media interest in multiple markets, focusing on shifting sentiment and supporting growth. The team successfully steered sentiment in a positive direction whilst keeping the core message of Zoom as a reliable and innovative video first platform.

Scottish Ballet – The Secret Theatre

Scottish Ballet is, at its heart, a touring ballet company. They tour across Scotland at least three times a year, and regularly visit venues around the rest of the UK and internationally. When it became clear that, due to COVID-19, the company would have to postpone their 2020/21 winter tour, Scottish Ballet announced plans to debut their first-ever feature-length film – The Secret Theatre.

The film was ticketed (for free, with donations encouraged) via Scottish Ballet’s website and released for a short viewing period in the lead-up to Christmas, encouraging viewers to join ‘live’ – for a sense of shared experience.

The results were overwhelmingly positive. Around 25,000 households booked a free ticket, with a robust audience survey sample indicating a total viewing audience of over 55,000 people – pretty much the equivalent of Scottish Ballet regular winter tour of 50+ performances. A third of viewers were completely new to SB, and over 10,000 bookers signed up to the company’s free Membership programme.

18 Week Support – Re-establishing Diagnostic Endoscopy during Covid-19 for Patients with Suspected Cancer

The significant challenge presented by Covid-19, and the surge in demand for NHS resources, have required a transformation of the way care is delivered. After several weeks of working around the clock to increase capacity, optimise infection control procedures and develop new care pathways as infections rose, and clear and considered public health messaging, the system prevented itself from being overwhelmed. Thanks to these efforts, routine services are beginning to restart and a ‘new normal’ is being established. The NHS could not have mobilised such a rapid and effective response without the support of the private and not-for-profit sectors, so this award celebrates the partnerships behind the transformation seen in the infancy of the pandemic, and those enabling the reset, restoration or recovery of services now the peak has been passed.

Aspen Healthcare  

In March 2020, with the Covid crisis deepening, Aspen Healthcare along with the independent healthcare sector signed an historic agreement with the NHS, committing its full resources to the health service. Before this agreement was even signed, Aspen had transformed its operations into full Covid crisis mode, with a new command structure, home working for non-frontline staff & MS Teams for virtual meetings. In addition, Aspen rolled out new e-learning to replace classroom-based training, including a new Covid safety e-learning programme. Over the course of the next 12 months, Aspen provided essential support to some of the country’s largest NHS Trusts, striking up working arrangements and providing urgent care for patients. This included 63,000 NHS patient interactions including time-critical surgery, outpatient appointments and diagnostics, 39,000 outpatient appointments and the delivery of 75 life-saving ventilators sent to the NHS, as well as the continuation of cancer care & screenings for patients through new Covid-safe pathways. In addition, Aspen expanded its services, delivered a new health and wellbeing strategy and through its staff survey found huge support for its work in helping the NHS. A remarkable feat, Aspen’s healthcare heroes delivered high-quality patient care during a once-in-a-lifetime global pandemic.

InHealth Group – Reorientating Services to Support Patients and the NHS

Very early on in the pandemic, InHealth decided to re-orientate our entire organisation to support NHS England in responding to the challenge of COVID-19. Since March 2020, InHealth has supported and delivered multiple projects and initiatives across England to assist the NHS in the response, ultimately supporting patients to continue receiving much needed healthcare services. As an independent healthcare provider with more than 25 years’ experience of working in partnership with the NHS, delivering services to more than 3 million NHS patients each year across a range of different areas, there was much that we could offer in terms of allocating available resources to fighting the pandemic. Building on an existing, positive relationship with the NHS and due to InHealth staff and services being located across the country in hospital sites, community settings and through our mobile fleet, we not only repurposed some of our clinical services, but also redeployed staff and made them available to work locally wherever needed. By providing additional training and creating flexibility within our own workforce, more than 1,000 members of staff were ready to be redeployed into the NHS.

Portman Dental Care

At the beginning of the pandemic, all our dental surgeries were shut with immediate effect. Portman dental put the patients, colleagues and clinicians front and centre in their response. Telephone and video triaging systems were set up, phone calls, letters and social media were used to communicate updates and information with our patients. Colleagues and clinicians were offered professional webinars (some also made available to the wider dental community) and continuous support from the Portman Team. Some of this, such as trained mental health first aiders, are innovations we will be taking on into the future with us.

Transform Hospital Group – Supporting the NHS at a Time of Crisis through Collaboration and Innovation

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Transform Hospital Group has completely overhauled its service offering and business model, transitioning from a business which was 100% funded by self-pay cosmetic and bariatric elective surgery and medical aesthetic treatments, to a well-rounded provider of general health and wellbeing services. Pivoting within just seven days as the UK’s first national lockdown was announced, THGL very quickly adapted its two hospitals in Manchester and Bromsgrove, to support the NHS in its time of crisis. Thanks to the incredible efforts of its workforce, significant investment in training, and a rapid response, THGL was able to forge relationships and partnerships with multiple NHS Trusts in order to treat patients in need. To date, over 2,500 NHS patients have been treated at THGL’s facilities, including cancer patients whose treatments would otherwise have been postponed indefinitely. The response has changed THGL’s long-term business strategy, and NHS collaboration is now set to make up a key part of the organisation’s future model. CEO Tony Veverka said: “New ways of working have been established, and there is no going back from this. Our ambition is to keep supporting the NHS and other private healthcare providers.”

Vita Health Group – Overcoming the Challenges arising from the Covid-19 Pandemic

Through a commitment to agile working, investment in innovation and additional workforce health and wellbeing initiatives, we have successfully overcome the challenges arising from the COVID pandemic. We quickly transitioned our mental and physical healthcare service-users to remote care delivery, and our workforce to remote working, supported through additional investment in IT provision. We adapted to remote working to successfully mobilise four primary care mental health services during national lockdown. We launched a range of innovations to support our service-users through the pandemic including a new orthopaedic pathway, online classes to support physical and mental wellbeing, virtual home workstation assessments, and a digital triage chatbot to enhance accessibility to primary care mental health services during a time of increased demand due to furlough, bereavement, job losses and social isolation. We also successfully piloted virtual reality technology as a therapy-aid to support treatment of service-users with anxiety-related needle-stick phobia, with eight service-users successfully receiving their COVID vaccine to date. Finally, we have enriched our staff health and wellbeing initiatives to support our workforce through the pandemic and beyond, including launching an electronic Wellbeing Hub, Staff Diversity Networks to drive change, remote social opportunities, and access to online classes and wellbeing modules.

Builders Merchants Federation

The construction industry supply chain, a significant part of the UK economy, faced mammoth challenges in the Covid-19 crisis. Nightingale Hospitals needed to be built, healthcare facilities updated and the vulnerable kept warm and secure. The UK relied heavily on the supply of building materials to support the national effort. The Builders’ Merchants Federation, represents a sizeable part of the UK economy, covering 760 members nationwide, with combined sales of £38 billion and employing 190,000 people. Despite the scope and scale of the sector, the BMF was able to act quickly and make a positive impact to support its members – and ultimately the wider economy – through exceptional leadership during the COVID-19 crisis. Its role was to inform members, ensure their voices were heard by Government – and to reflect the value of a membership organisation in difficult times. The BMF’s response also centred around demonstrating how the BMF and its members pulled together to support the national effort and the power of collaboration to find solutions to the complex issued faced. The activity was fast, responsive and creative – and has positively raised the profile of the building materials industry and merchants nationally and locally.

Chartered Institute of Public Relations – Member Covid-19 Support

The CIPR has delivered a fast-paced and well-rounded response to the challenges its members faced as a result of COVID. We have been of more help to them than ever before, and the support we brought to them quickly and freely has improved our engagement and driven higher recruitment and retention.

Energy Networks Association – Green Recovery Scheme: Supporting a Green Energy Economy

Energy Networks Association (ENA) members, the gas and electricity networks, have been working hard throughout the pandemic to keep Britain’s energy flowing and have continued their vital role in maintaining the critical national infrastructure that transmits and distributes electricity and gas. While the pandemic is ongoing, the networks have continued to innovate and work towards Net Zero and will now play a pivotal role in driving a green recovery. Six of Britain’s electricity network operators came together with Ofgem and agreed to invest tens of millions of pounds in each distribution network licence area, to unlock capacity to support Net Zero related projects. In total, we have agreed with Ofgem to invest just over £300m in electricity distribution network infrastructure across Great Britain. We received hundreds of responses to a call for evidence from organisations across GB. The final short-list of locations for investment were agreed with Ofgem in mid-May 2021, and the £300m of investment is now beginning to be rolled out, with the infrastructure planned to be completed in the next two years.

Federation of Small Businesses – FSB Covid-19 Webinar Series

The FSB exists to offer its members vital business services including advice, financial expertise, support and a powerful voice heard in government. And so when the coronavirus struck, threatening not just members’ ambitions, but their very futures, it needed to respond with agility, empathy and understanding of the most effective way to meet their needs. To achieve a greater reach across its membership base and the wider small business community, the FSB decided to utilise webinars as a vehicle to provide trustworthy information accumulated from reliable sources such as the government. The Covid-19 webinar campaign was not devised for financial gain nor exposure. It was simply to provide as much help and information as possible when it was needed the most. With calls to action to the FSB’s dedicated online coronavirus support hub, the webinars would also act as a vital channel to direct members to a constantly updated information resource they could trust to cut through the confusion of the daily rumours and speculation.

Law Society of Scotland – £2.2m Financial Aid Package

The Law Society of Scotland is the professional body for over 12,000 practising Scottish solicitors. In response to the impact of the pandemic on the legal sector, the Law Society of Scotland announced a package of financial support for the solicitor profession of over £2.2 million. Depending on a solicitor’s role and area of work, the new package delivered a saving of up to £380 in 2020. We also offered our CPD for free during the first lockdown saving hundreds more for many. Our action was designed to mitigate the risk of firm closures and widespread unemployment. The clearest measure of success is to look at those solicitors holding practising certificates year on year: We have seen an increase of 1.7% as of 27 April 2021 compared to the same day in 202, (12,391 practising certificate holders in 2021 compared with 12,185 practising certificate holders in 2020).

PPA – PPA’s Response to Covid-19

The PPA is the main membership association for the UK consumer and business magazine media industry. The achievements of this small team of nine during the pandemic, were nothing short of outstanding. Throughout the pandemic, the PPA provided additional support to its members and the wider industry through events, networking, meetings, lobbying work and the dedicated COVID-19 Advice Hub. The newly launched PPA Live! webinar series provided practical, informative and entertaining sessions, our public affairs team confirmed key worker status for those working in production/journalism to ensure our members could continue working during lockdown, and we facilitated additional business specific meetings and developed new working groups to tackle pressing issues such as Diversity & Inclusion and Sustainability, to make sure members had sufficient avenues to connect with each other. This extra activity was in addition to the regular PPA activity which continued alongside. The PPA maintained the COVID-19 Advice Hub and coronavirus news hub, giving members the most up-to-date and relevant information when they needed it most. Despite the many challenges, we have much to be proud of as an industry. By working together, sharing together, and celebrating together, the PPA continues to bring the whole industry together.

The Business Travel Association – Covid-19 Response

The Business Travel Association (BTA) is the representative association for the business travel community and travel management companies, with TMC members accounting for over ninety percent of all managed travel booked in the UK. The BTA’s industry partners are all influential industry suppliers including airlines, airports, accommodation companies, rail, car rental, technology, payment and ancillary product providers. Working with our members and industry partners, the BTA raises the profile of the vital role business travel plays in the broader economy. Throughout the Coronavirus pandemic, the BTA has worked tirelessly to hold the Government to account for their lack of clarity regarding safe international travel and more importantly, to deliver the appropriate financial support for their sector. The BTA’s goal during Covid-19 was to raise awareness of the importance of the business travel sector, and to help members, partners and the travel industry cope with redundancy and furlough. They were the first industry body to ask for travel corridors and successfully campaigned for furlough extension. The Business Travel Association’s overall response included a range of social and media campaigns alongside Government and public engagement to project members’ needs as the pandemic evolved.

disguise – disguise xR

With the Covid-19 pandemic halting all live shows, disguise – the technology platform that has delivered spectacular live visual experiences for over 20 years – had to rethink its core business offering to empower its user community of creative professionals. Working with this community of users, disguise developed and delivered their extended reality (xR) solution five months ahead of schedule. xR refers to technology that blurs the line between the physical and virtual worlds.

Starting with its early, memorable application in Katy Perry’s performance of ‘Daisies’ in the 2020 American Idol finale, disguise xR has since been used to realise over 250 projects, including the Billie Eilish: Where Do We Go livestream, the 2020 MTV VMAs, Gucci’s 2021 Aria collection launch, commercial shoots for Nissan and Hyundai and even in Walmart’s and SAP’s corporate conferences. Meanwhile, 190+ stages powered by disguise xR have been built in 35+ countries in a worldwide deployment to meet the growing demand for the technology. disguise is growing rapidly – recognised in the 22nd annual Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100 as one of Britain’s private companies with the fastest-growing profits over the last three years.

Indigo AI

Say Hello to Indigo: The Future of Front of House. Developed during the Covid-19 pandemic, Indigo is a market-disrupting, category-defining technology platform, first-of-its-kind to offer an entirely touch-free Digital Receptionist to improve the front-of-house visitor experience and reduce the overhead and costs associated with traditional reception resourcing. Indigo uses a hybrid of Facial Recognition and Voice-Enabled Software, taking pandemic-proofing to the next level, with a more hygiene-friendly alternative to the usual touch-screen solutions. Indigo is supported by a fully integrated Booking System, Events Management and Business Directory, on offer to organisations with shared offices and workspaces who have a need for reception support for a simple, lower monthly subscription. Indigo has been created by Maidstone software development consultancy Snapwire, in partnership with local software developers IvyRock and seed capital investment from Maidstone Borough Council (MBC). Throughout the pandemic, work has been underway to build the Maidstone Innovation Centre (MIC) – a new tech-hub for Kent’s County Town. This state-of-the-art facility will be opening in September 2021, providing flexible office space, facilities and business support for firms in the life science, healthcare and medical sectors. Indigo is currently being installed at the new MIC site, ready to welcome tenants and guests.

Lifesaver – Lifeline to the Frontline

Lifesaver are a certified B-Corp building better batteries, on a mission to create fairer, cleaner & circular power for people and planet. We have a sustainable portable power bank made of ocean plastic which can be autonomously distributed using unique vending machines with our IP, for events and venues. The Lifeline to the Frontline Campaign launched at the beginning of the pandemic. Our revenues plummeted, leading Lifesaver to be inspired by Chief Nurse Ruth Kelly speaking about how they keep a patient’s phone powered as he spoke to his son for the final time in Singapore. Since then Lifesaver have supported over nineteen hospitals and donated nearly fifteen-hundred power banks. This is total has saved over eighteen kilograms of CO2 emissions.

O2 and Hubbub – Community Calling

Digital connectivity has been vital this year and smartphones have never been more important. Whether we’re using them to access essential services, call loved ones or collaborate with colleagues, mobile is keeping Britain connected. However, too many people are digitally excluded, without access to devices or connectivity. 1.9m households in the UK are digitally excluded – a problem exacerbated by the pandemic. Meanwhile e-waste is the fastest growing global waste-stream, and four phones sit unused for every phone in use. With millions of old smartphones languishing in drawers or with the potential to end up in landfill, O2 teamed up with environmental charity, Hubbub, to put smartphones into the hands of those needing them most during lockdown. Together, we launched Community Calling, a community-led campaign that invited the public and businesses to gift their unused smartphones to those in need, which we then topped up with 12 months of free connectivity on O2 and the offer of free local digital skills training. We’ve so far engaged over 300 local community organisations across the UK and rehomed 5,000 devices. We’re halfway towards our target and on track to connect 10,00 by autumn 2021.

OnePlan – Venue Twin

OnePlan is the world’s leading live event planning software, used by over 2,000 events in 50 countries. In response to the Covid pandemic, OnePlan fast-tracked 3 new solutions: a Social Distancing Toolkit, a Seating Plan Calculator, and Venue Twin – the hyper-realistic, fully interactive 3D digital twins of stadiums and arenas. These solutions have played a fundamental role in our customers’ bouncing back and creating live, in-person events and festivals. As new habits have been formed – including increased work from home – OnePlan’s innovative solutions have enabled the planning and management of safe and successful events since the pandemic started.
The Social Distancing Toolkit enables event organisers to define crowd flow, especially at arrival and exit zones, with a series of tools to plan how attendees move at events. The Seating Assessment Calculator helped many sports organisations including Arsenal, Chelsea, Wolves and the Brooklyn Nets define ticketing solutions for where fans should sit in stadiums and arenas. And Venue Twin has opened huge new operational and commercial benefits by creating a hyper-realistic 3D digital twin of stadiums and arenas. Clients including the LA Clippers are taking advantage of this ground-breaking new technology.

Priority Digital Health – Covid-19 Welfare Platform

At the height of the pandemic, Priority Digital Health rapidly designed and launched the Covid-19 Welfare Platform. In partnership with Provide CIC and commissioned by Essex County Council, the platform enabled vulnerable Essex residents to register for support or register as volunteers. Healthcare professionals could then match volunteers, in real-time, to support requests via the platform. Almost 9,000 vulnerable people have received support from over 3,500 volunteers via this platform. The Covid-19 Welfare Platform has now been further developed into the Essex Wellbeing service which allows Essex residents to access and be referred to the services they need.

 

HMRC – Customer Insights Platform

As Covid-19 emerged last year, the Customer Insight Platform (CIP) team at HMRC delivered data insights to help prevent billions of pounds of fraud of the new Covid-response schemes. The stakes were high, with each decision potentially affecting tens of millions of people. The team was instrumental in ensuring the safe and secure success of these schemes, which would go on to ensure family members, friends and neighbours could continue to pay their bills and feed their families.

Priority Digital Health – Covid-19 Welfare Platform

At the height of the pandemic, Priority Digital Health rapidly designed and launched the Covid-19 Welfare Platform. In partnership with Provide CIC and commissioned by Essex County Council, the platform enabled vulnerable Essex residents to register for support or register as volunteers. Healthcare professionals could then match volunteers, in real-time, to support requests via the platform. Almost 9,000 vulnerable people have received support from over 3,500 volunteers via this platform. The Covid-19 Welfare Platform has now been further developed into the Essex Wellbeing service which allows Essex residents to access and be referred to the services they need.

RefuAid – Supporting Refugee Healthcare Professionals into Work

RefuAid support refugees and asylum seekers in the UK who are looking to return to higher education or their prior profession. Our solutions focus on the key barriers to integration and re-gaining independence: access to English language tuition, finance, requalification and specialist employment advice. In March 2020, following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, RefuAid were inundated with requests from over 400 refugee healthcare professionals who were desperate to help out. Many of these doctors had worked in high-pressure/low resource environments such as warzones, so had valuable qualifications, skills and experiences that would prove vital in our response to the pandemic. As such, we have been supporting refugee healthcare professionals with access to clinical opportunities within the NHS throughout the pandemic.
From the direct recruitment of GMC registered doctors, to short- term clinical support placements, comprehensive requalification programmes and challenging restrictive Home Office policies, our work has tangible benefits on an individual and national scale:; we are helping to alleviate the pressures on our health service and its staff, as well as supporting refugee healthcare professionals with gaining vital UK experience. In addition, once working, the individuals are contributing to the UK economy and no longer reliant on welfare benefits.

Skills for Health – Free Covid-19 Awareness Course – Rapid Response eLearning

When Covid-19 broke out, life as we knew it changed forever, overnight. Everyone had a part to play and we knew we could support our NHS, health and care workforce with the rapid response needed. As the Sector Skills Council for Health and one of the UK’s leading healthcare online learning providers, we created a mobile and interactive training solution at pace to meet the increased demands on our key workers, faced with Coronavirus challenges. The training was extremely well received, that as a result, we had the opportunity to support many other sectors in the next mammoth task of returning to work in a Covid-19 landscape. Since the course launched on March 25, over 58,000 professionals from our NHS, health, care and wider public sector workforce signed up for this vital training.

Tute Education – Covid-19 Response

Tute is a high-quality online teaching and learning service that partners with local authorities, schools, parents and non-mainstream settings to improve all student outcomes and fill gaps in capacity and curriculum. Since 2012, our team of qualified teachers has provided lessons in a safeguarded online environment, delivering over 78,000 lessons for more than 12,000 students.
During Covid-19 the concern was that the learning development gap between students would increase. Tute recognised that it had the infrastructure and experience to ensure education equity was achieved. Like many other companies Tute was offered free of charge but it went far beyond this. The Tute team worked day and night to offer free training to teachers in setting up their online learning provision and remote teaching skills. Tute called all its schools to offer help and set up a Summer School for students to fill any gaps in learning. Its four-week Summer School Twilight, exam-board mapped English, maths and science revision programme is helping students catch up ahead of the November GCSE exams. Tute is passionate about helping all children to thrive and its commitment to this has never been more apparent than during Covid-19.

Wakefield Council – “Let’s Keep Going”

This campaign was Wakefield Council’s response to critical moments in the district’s COVID-19 story. We needed to protect our population’s health and well-being and support our local economy to thrive. Our aim was to encourage our population to follow COVID-19 guidance and get tested and support local jobs and businesses by building confidence among our residents. Our challenge was balancing the move forward when infection rates remained high and complacency was creeping in. We grounded our work in insight responding swiftly to dynamic situations, what worked well and what did not. Strength lay in Wakefield’s people and our partners, their local pride, their hopes and experiences; all adding to our web of insight and campaign reach.

We aimed to deliver a campaign that celebrated, encouraged, incentivised and reassured our citizens to keep themselves, and others safe whilst enjoying their work and leisure. We used social marketing principles based upon support, design, inform and control. We learnt that engagement is best when we feature real people, that behaviour change happens best with practical, accessible support and positive messaging. Most importantly, that the people of Wakefield are strong and resilient and we work best when we work together. The results exceeded expectations.

Action For Kids – Working with Disability

The pandemic has been a massive crisis for disabled children, young people and their families. Their physical and mental health, employment opportunities and skills have been negatively impacted and financial hardship, always an issue, has been exacerbated.

Everyone at Action For Kids knew it was vital to keep supporting our service users, beneficiaries and those around them, so we acted quickly by changing what we delivered and how we delivered it. We continued to provide all our services, and more, right through all lockdowns. When face-to-face training wasn’t possible, we moved absolutely everything online. We provided equipment, digital training and support, added mental and physical wellbeing services and social activities to our portfolio, advocated for disabled peoples’ rights and developed a care package programme and hardship fund. We listened to what our community told us they needed and what was important during this period and responded.

Erskine – Erskine Reid Macewen Activities Centre

The Erskine Reid Macewen Activities Centre is a service provided for veterans, their spouses and carers, based in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The Centre provides a ‘safe space’ for ex-Service men and women to take part in meaningful activity, with like-minded people. The Centre closed its doors in March 2020 and, overnight, moved the service online. A huge operation took place behind the scenes to get each and every veteran the support they required. The team worked tirelessly to ensure each and every member was able to engage either through Zoom calls, one-to-one therapy sessions or regular phone calls. Twice weekly phone calls were arranged for those deemed most vulnerable. Over a year of remote service followed, including much needed entertainment, socialising and the infamous military banter. For a team of just 6 staff members, they not only put support in place for their 113 members, but offered support services to the wider charity of 800 employees. The commitment to the wellbeing of the veterans never faded, and staff have gone above and beyond to ensure a safe and seamless transition back to onsite delivery. The response of the Centre and its incredible staff, has been nothing short of heroic.

LGfL – Our Multi Layered Response to Supporting Schools during Covid-19

LGfL provides broadband and online services to 3,000+ schools across England, including safe and secure internet access, high quality curriculum content, professional development for teaching and technical staff, and network security. When Covid-19 hit we were uniquely positioned to support teachers, learners, technicians and managers in our schools to meet the challenges it presented by: providing fast, secure, reliable internet connections, supporting the move from face to face to remote learning, giving teachers the skills necessary to work online and providing low cost devices so schools could narrow the digital divide. Through leading the Dfe EdTech Demonstrator programme and opening up our CPD offer we provided key support for teachers. By opening up our curriculum resource portfolio we provided materials for remote learning, and by creating the Bridge the Divide procurement initiative we got devices into the hands of those who needed them most. All this alongside providing the fast, secure, reliable broadband network that is core to teaching and learning online. Without our help and support the picture for our schools, and the outcomes for their learners, would have been very different.

Macular Society – Beating Macular Disease

We’ve all now experienced isolation as Covid led to lockdowns across the world, but imagine a lockdown where day by day you’re also losing your sight. Macular disease is the most common form of sight loss in the developed world. Caused by age and genetics there’s no cure and most people affected are over 65 years old. Advancing age leads to health and mobility issues, throw sight loss into the mix and independence is quickly lost; the emotional impact is devastating. Being diagnosed with macular disease and realising you’re going blind leaves you reeling from shock and fearful for your future. Talking to others who are affected can change that, where you discover life is not over and you can manage many things despite sight loss. Our network of 430 support groups located throughout the UK provides just that, regular peer support for people in their local communities. Bringing people together who really understand what it’s like to lose your sight and share ways of coping. Covid abruptly stopped groups meeting, cutting off people’s support network, their purpose and routine, leaving them facing sight loss alone. We rapidly found a way to keep people connected to groups without leaving home.

MCR Pathways

MCR Pathways supports young people in or on the edges of the care system to realise their full potential. By providing relationship-based mentoring alongside employment and further & higher education experiences, young people are encouraged to discover and pursue their ambitions. This revolutionary programme is transforming life chances and continued to do so throughout the pandemic. Diversifying support resources, working closely with schools, councils and the local community to help those most vulnerable, equipping young people with digital devices and mobile hotspots – these are just some of the ways the team rose to the challenge. Virtual mentoring and new digital tools have proven crucial for young people and mentors, who are supported consistently. Major funding was announced by the Scottish Government in March 2021, providing the opportunity to implement MCR’s expansion more quickly, at scale. The charity works successfully through its partnerships – with mentors, schools and supporters – all driven to give young people a better chance. In addition, the programme will soon be rolling out in its first English schools. The team has worked tirelessly to develop the programme despite the huge challenges of Covid and continues to put relationships at the heart of everything.

RefuAid – Supporting Refugee Healthcare Professionals into Work

RefuAid support refugees and asylum seekers in the UK who are looking to return to higher education or their prior profession. Our solutions focus on the key barriers to integration and re-gaining independence: access to English language tuition, finance, requalification and specialist employment advice. In March 2020, following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, RefuAid were inundated with requests from over 400 refugee healthcare professionals who were desperate to help out. Many of these doctors had worked in high-pressure/low resource environments such as warzones, so had valuable qualifications, skills and experiences that would prove vital in our response to the pandemic. As such, we have been supporting refugee healthcare professionals with access to clinical opportunities within the NHS throughout the pandemic.
From the direct recruitment of GMC registered doctors, to short term clinical support placements, comprehensive requalification programmes and challenging restrictive Home Office policies, our work has tangible benefits on an individual and national scale; we are helping to alleviate the pressures on our health service and its staff, as well as supporting refugee healthcare professionals with gaining vital UK experience. In addition, once working, the individuals are contributing to the UK economy and no longer reliant on welfare benefits.

The Skills Builder Partnership – The Skills Builder Accelerator

At Skills Builder, we are working to achieve a world where everyone can build the essential skills to thrive. We focus on eight essential skills for success: Problem Solving, Creativity, Listening, Speaking, Staying Positive, Aiming High, Leadership and Teamwork. Each year, we provide over 400 schools nationwide with the training, strategic support and resources they need to accelerate skills development and make essential skills a core part of education for every learner.

When the pandemic triggered school closures across the country, it was vital that we could support our partner schools to continue building their students’ skills. We acted quickly to adapt: delivering all aspects of our training and support remotely, creating an extensive suite of home-learning resources, and designing and delivering innovative workplace ‘visits’, delivered via video platform, so that students could continue to connect essential skills to the world of work. We’re delighted that we’ve been able to deliver consistently high impact, despite this shift in our delivery model. One school told us “In the current pandemic, Skills Builder has been invaluable in enabling us to continue to support our students. By taking part in the programme we are able to equip our children with skills for life.”

Church House Westminster – Change Brings Opportunity

The dynamic and resilient venue team of multi-purpose Covid-secure events venue, Church House Westminster, approached the challenges of the pandemic as an opportunity to evolve the scope of the venue’s business profile and revenues by actively pursuing new unchartered markets, updating their product and service offerings, collaborating with industry partners, upskilling, developing strategic marketing communications and most importantly, establishing staff well-being at the top of the agenda. Determined to position the venue as flexible and innovative, a new business plan was created and driven by the team of nine who set out to install high-tech virtual studios and leverage creative and inspire production techniques to deliver bespoke virtual, hybrid and in-person event experiences. The success and performance of the new business plan is a result of creating a team culture that encouraged out-of-the-box thinking, total transparency and an inherent trust in each other. As a result the team was quick to respond to uncertainty and changes, supporting internal departments collaboratively, and develop new ways of working – ensuring that the venue has remained open and profitable since re-opening in July 2020.

ICC Belfast | Waterfront Hall | Ulster Hall – Pivoting in the Wake of a Pandemic

ICC Belfast | Waterfront Hall | Ulster Hall represent some of Belfast’s most iconic venues. In response to COVID-19, a program for business preparedness has been implemented to ensure the venues remained resilient in the face of adversity. The swift action taken focused on The People and Innovative Solutions to deliver impressive results. Employee engagement levels have increased by 16%, the venues’ technical infrastructure has expanded to become hybrid by-design and over 90% of all business and entertainment events were retained, not cancelled. Guided by the board and senior management, the team has been empowered to take bold decisions and innovation has been championed at every stage to ensure the long-term sustainability of the organisation so that when the time was right, ICC Belfast would be galvanized into kickstarting business again across Belfast and Northern Ireland. As final preparations are made in advance of reopening, visitor safety remains the top priority at the COVID-Secure venue that has achieved the ‘We’re Good to Go’ industry standard. A bright future lies ahead for this city that stands on the precipice of brilliance as the team at ICC Belfast | Waterfront Hall | Ulster Hall demonstrate their commitment to building back better.

Radisson Hotel Group

Radisson Hotel Group is one of the world’s largest hotel groups, extending over 1,500 hotels in operation and in development across 120 countries and a relevant portfolio of nine distinct brands ranging from budget to premium lifestyle. During the pandemic, the Group’s priority was the continued health, safety, and security of its guests, team members, and business partners, not only in the present but also looking ahead as a key component to the quick return to business. Prior to 2020, Radisson Hotel Group had a strong crisis management process and flexible cost model in place. Due to its global scale, the Group had a macro viewpoint of the pandemic and the necessary responses. In Spring 2020, Radisson Hotel Group swiftly launched its Radisson Hotels Safety Protocol, a comprehensive series of 20-Step and 10-step protocols for Meetings and Events in partnership with SGS, and earlier this year, Radisson Hotel Group was the first hotel company to launch a comprehensive COVID-19 testing program and rapid testing service for meeting and event attendees at properties across its EMEA portfolio. Recently, Radisson Hotel Group pledged $180,000 to supply its hotels in India with oxygen compressors to assist team members, their families, and local communities.

Royal College of Physicians (RCP London Events)

The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is over 500 years old and currently in its fifth home since 1965. This iconic grade 1 listed modern building overlooking Regent’s Park houses an award-winning conference and events centre, RCP London Events. The venue offers highly versatile facilities, including tiered auditoriums, conference, meeting, exhibition and dining spaces as well as a medicinal garden ideal for summer entertaining and a museum. Prior to COVID, RCP London Events hosted over 600 physical events per year for associations, charities, medical organisations and the wider corporate community across several sectors. Since March 2020, RCP London Events has implemented and introduced virtual and hybrid services to be able to support the RCP’s work during the pandemic and allow clients to reach their audiences in an impactful way. The development and launch of their in-house virtual and hybrid events platform, combined with renowned industry standard accreditations and operational standards in line with government guidelines secured RCP London Events high-profile events at their venue.

Wyboston Lakes Resort

Wyboston Lakes Resort Senior Management Team (SMT) is lead by Managing Director Steve Jones supported by 11 Executive Directors and General Managers, covering all aspects and areas of the business. As soon as lockdown began and virtually all income ceased, all staff apart from the SMT and a skeleton team were furloughed. All staff was put on notice of redundancy and 25% departed in the summer. The SMT took over day-to-day hands-on responsibility for all aspects of their departments, the immediate business needs, preparation for reopening and recovery and the delivery of essential training events for NHS and other key clients during and soon after lockdown. Recently they have been focussing on employee engagement as staff return from furlough, re-employed or newly recruited. The team supported each other both physically in terms of offering support but also each other mental health. They have become a close, strong team. The senior operations team continued to support the essential services through lockdown, and in order to do so safely created the SafeEvents Policy. This was one of the first venue led Covid policies to be launched in April 2020 and was quickly adopted as best practice by IACC and other association bodies.

Box Media

At BoxMedia, we’ve always been proud of our working culture, but it was well and truly tested in the wake of COVID-19. In response to an unpredictable and demanding pandemic, we immediately created a remote working environment that centred staff wellbeing and performance. By implementing daily well-being calls, thoughtful care packages and task management restructures, Box skilfully adapted to the new normal with their staff at the heart of the agenda. We decentralised our information and streamlined our channels of communication. The experience has allowed us to strengthen our professional and creative bonds, and consider perspectives that we might never have before. We feel confident that we can adapt and thrive in the face of any crisis.

Delivered Social

Using their expertise, Delivered Social have supported their local community throughout the pandemic. From free social clinics for businesses to the first COVID-secure catering event and even the development of the Guildford App – the team have focused on serving their beloved town throughout. Assisting over 1000 businesses and continuing to provide support to charities with their digital marketing skills, the team have built a solid reputation as Guildford’s top agency. And, have certainly made a name as a business at the very forefront of the community.

DOOH.com – #MyHeroes: International Campaign to Celebrate Key Workers

MyHeroes’ purpose was to highlight the heroes who, until the pandemic hit, were taken for granted. In response to lockdown & the OOH industry’s almost 70% loss in bookings, together & overnight we changed OOH from an advertising channel into a broadcast channel for good – celebrating 14.5m key workers in the largest ever micro-targeted national campaign. MyHeroes empowered people, contributed to saving lives & proved the industry’s trusted relationship with the public. It was a catalyst for the government to see OOH as the lead media channel in its COVID campaigns, aiding the OOH’s recovery & revealing its channel dominance in influencing behavioural change.

Evenco International

Evenco International is an executive conference organizer devoted to the asset management community throughout Europe and the Americas. Throughout the crisis, Evenco doubled in size. The only events company to do so. Due to our bottom up approach, where we construct events based on demand, we identified opportunities and innovative ways to pivot.

Evoluted

Evoluted is a leading independent digital agency in Sheffield, established in 2006 by entrepreneurs Ash Young and Gareth Davies.Operating from our office in an 18th-century steelworks, Evoluted’s team of 35 digital professionals apply the same high-quality approach to each client – ensuring the focus is on building long-term relationships, working collaboratively and providing lasting results Evoluted’s team draws upon experiences across leading agencies and in-house teams to bring together expertise across all facets of digital in one highly effective team.However, more crucially than that, we have achieved this growth in a way that every member of the team genuinely buys into and feels proud to be a part of Evoluted.Winning this award would demonstrate why it’s important to have values that aren’t just about company profits, client growth, and having the biggest or fastest-growing team in the world.It would recognise the immense amount of positive mental energy and time that has been committed to retaining Evoluted’s company culture throughout the COVID crisis by everyone on the team; and the additional effort that has been directed towards ensuring our clients were able to keep the lights on and keep their own staff paid throughout the pandemic.

PPA – PPA’s Response to Covid-19

The PPA is the main membership association for the UK consumer and business magazine media industry. The achievements of this small team of nine during the pandemic, were nothing short of outstanding. Throughout the pandemic, the PPA provided additional support to its members and the wider industry through events, networking, meetings, lobbying work and the dedicated COVID-19 Advice Hub. The newly launched PPA Live! webinar series provided practical, informative and entertaining sessions, our public affairs team confirmed key worker status for those working in production/journalism to ensure our members could continue working during lockdown, and we facilitated additional business specific meetings and developed new working groups to tackle pressing issues such as Diversity & Inclusion and Sustainability, to make sure members had sufficient avenues to connect with each other. This extra activity was in addition to the regular PPA activity which continued alongside. The PPA maintained the COVID-19 Advice Hub and coronavirus news hub, giving members the most up-to-date and relevant information when they needed it most. Despite the many challenges, we have much to be proud of as an industry. By working together, sharing together, and celebrating together, the PPA continues to bring the whole industry together.

Proctor and Stevenson

At Proctors, our people make us who we are. Brave. Imaginative. Resilient and adaptable. The team spirit and collaboration from all areas of the company is the reason we have thrived and not simply survived. No one could have forecast the impact Covid-19 would have on our lives and the business landscape. The uncertainty was unsettling; however, the resilience and adaptability of our team has brought us together, stronger than ever before. Despite the massive impact on the creative industries over the last two years, Covid-19 has created new opportunities for our business to develop in areas that had not been considered before. Our finances, work, people, wellbeing and our future have adapted and improved. Our relationships with stakeholders are stronger than ever, we have received fabulous feedback from clients, and we are excited for what the new normal has to offer. We continue to treat wellbeing as the highest priority for our staff. Although this has been a tough time to manage and market a business, we have maintained our strong foundation and commitment to our values, which has allowed us to work on exciting projects and grow with our fantastic teams.

 

Cardinus Risk Management – Global Ergonomics Covid-19 Response

The pandemic created massive health, safety and compliance challenges for organisations. The physical and mental health impact on employees was huge, with millions of employees working from home without adequate equipment and training. Organisations had four core challenges:
Recentralising ergonomics programmes in reaction to the event; Not understanding regulatory obligations around the world; Supply chains affected, and organisations struggling to get ergonomics equipment to employees; Ergonomics equipment could not be provided as living arrangements were too small. Organisations were starting from scratch. Employees reported increased levels of discomfort. Few organisations had training or assessment programmes in place that could address real-world ergonomics issues. By April 2020 Cardinus developed and launched their response: Global Guide to Ergonomics Regulations in 191 countries; Pragmatic, low-cost e-learning for homeworkers; Free-to-use communication tools; Global network of certified assessment professionals; Low-cost equipment packs to help at-home employees achieve better postures; COVID-related ergonomics and comfort resources, including Cardinus’ HealthyWorking MOVE app; Educational COVID-related ergonomics webinars. Supporting testimonials highlight the strength of support for the project which provided timely, pragmatic advice, training and guidance with simple delivery and implementation to meet the challenge.

Energy Networks Association – Covid-19 Supplier Liquidity Scheme

At the outset of the pandemic Energy Networks Association (ENA) members, the gas and electricity networks immediately came together with Ofgem and Government to ensure stability of markets and businesses involved in the production, transport and supply of energy to homes, public services and business. One issue was the need to support energy suppliers and shippers who were facing cash flow challenges as a result of the unprecedented public health emergency triggered by COVID-19. In response ENA developed and put in place COVID-19 Network Charge Deferral Schemes. The Schemes helped mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on energy consumers by providing relief to cashflow constrained suppliers and shippers through a temporary relaxation of payment of charges relating to electricity distribution & transmission and gas transportation. The total value of the credit facility made available under the Schemes was in excess of £350m. 18 organisations utilised one or more of the Schemes with £651m provided in extended payment. The Schemes were a major contribution in helping to minimise the risk of suppliers/shippers exiting the energy market in a disorderly way and consequent disruption to energy consumers, thereby ensuring continued delivery of services during some of the darkest days.

IRIS Software Group – Covid-19 Response

Behind the scenes, IRIS Software Group (IRIS) has been monitoring the business on a weekly basis to review the impact of COVID-19 and responding to what it sees and hears, as well as using the extensive experience and knowledge of teams. IRIS has adopted an agile and rapid response to embrace changes and opportunities with a resilient business model – with the needs of customers and employees in mind. IRIS is one of the UK’s largest privately held software companies. Its purpose is to be the most trusted provider of mission-critical software and services, ensuring customers get it right first time. IRIS takes the pain out of processes and lets professionals focus on the work they love and building their businesses. Its software solutions and services for finance, HR and payroll teams, educational organisations and accountancy firms helps comply with regulations, drive productivity and better engage with key stakeholders. By simplifying, automating and providing insights on essential everyday tasks, IRIS ensures customers can look forward with certainty and confidence.

LV – Financial Services

2020 started the same as every New Year filled with excitement and anticipation as we continued to drive our business forward, delivering an even better service to our customers and advisers and building the intrinsic pride and engagement of our people. January and February our plans were in full flow goals set, objectives in place, simplification and improvement activity was well under way and a whole new people engagement strategy was evolving. Little did we know that after a few short months, life and work as we know it would take an immediate change of direction and possibly never be the same again? Led by the strongest leadership team S&R CEXP has ever seen we transitioned 140 frontline staff & Contact team to working from home with little to no disruption to service in record time; a task we thought we would never have the capability to do. Ensuring our people’s engagement and wellbeing was a constant focus, we achieved record high mid-year engagement scores and further to that delivered the outstanding service LV is known for as seen in our testimonials document. In a year like no other LV is a clear leader in the covid crisis response.

Newable – Business Services

Newable has been providing business advice to SMEs for over 30 years, with a number of solutions for businesses under three main service offerings: Money, Advice, Workspace. Due to government guidelines urging businesses to work from home where possible, it was difficult for our space solutions to continue providing flexible workspace solutions. However; our Money and Advice solutions were quick to pivot our services to meet the needs of our customers and SMEs throughout this difficult period.The Newable Advice team made our advisors as accessible as possible, offering free 1-2-1 consultancy available to any SME impacted by Covid-19. Our campaign included key internal and external interventions designed to ensure resources met the changing needs of SMEs throughout the crisis. We did this by: Repurposing and upskilling Advisers; Extending our Advice offering across our networks and group; Retooling our events capability. During 2020, Newable launched a brokerage (Newable Finance) offering businesses access to more funding options paired with the expertise of in-house finance specialists. This pivot of our offering allowed Newable Finance to be able to help more SMEs secure funding during the pandemic year, an extremely uncertain time for businesses across the nation.

NHBC 

NHBC has around 500 people based out in the field who visit customers’ building sites and policyholders’ homes. The business also has large, office-based customer service and claims handling teams, all of whom had to maintain the delivery of a high-quality service during the challenges of home working and furlough. A Covid Response Team was quickly established to provide fast decision-making about the company’s response to the pandemic and to provide consistent answers to questions from managers and colleagues. Office-based colleagues were very quickly provided with the necessary equipment to work from home and given flexibility to manage their work around their caring responsibilities. Field-based colleagues were provided with health and safety packs. Later, and before they were made available to the public via the NHS, the company also purchased 10,000 rapid antigen testing kits and distributed them to their field-based staff. An enhanced communication programme which included great use of video, shared practical information and company updates as well as a focus on sharing colleagues’ stories to personalise what was happening and to convey a sense of solidarity.

As restrictions have eased, NHBC has offered a flexible, phased return to work programme with suitable, additional health and safety measures.

The Social Element

In the third year of Visa’s Where You Shop Matters campaign, the brand faced a challenge: encouraging individuals to support small businesses whilst being respectful of the distressing nature of Christmas amidst Covid-19. On social media in particular, this was a tall order. The Social Element managed Visa’s social media strategy and execution for the campaign, creating a lightning rod for the messaging to reach and engage with real individuals in a personalised and human manner. By proactively seeking and joining customer conversations, The Social Element got consumers emotionally connected to how their spend could impact local merchants. Keeping conversations authentic, human and personal had a huge impact – generating huge responses and positivity on social media – all while drawing attention back to what mattered: the small businesses at the heart of the campaign.