Awards ceremony

The fourth Upstarts Awards, held at the County Hall Gallery on London’s South Bank on 2 March, offered an impressive snapshot of the diverse fields in which social enterprises and entrepreneurs have made an impact. Each of the winners honoured at the ceremony demonstrates the benefits of combining good business practice with a concern for social justice.

The mood at the ceremony, which coincided with Fairtrade Fortnight, was optimistic - and not only because of the generous helpings of Fairtrade wine and canapés from the social enterprise Hoxton Apprentice. There was general agreement that fair trade and social enterprise have come a long way since the first Upstarts Awards, rapidly becoming part of the mainstream economy.

Sarah Smith took a break from presenting Channel 4 News to host the evening, while Nigel Griffiths MP, the minister for small business and social enterprise at the Department of Trade and Industry, handed the trophies to the winners and delivered the keynote speech. He was there to demonstrate the government’s commitment to social enterprise as a vital part of the elusive "third way" between the public and private spheres. The guests were reassured to hear him herald a "new wave of social enterprise, a chance to reshape business in one of the world’s most enterprising cultures".

Stephen Sears of the ECT Group, one of last year’s winners and one of this year’s judges, remarked that it was far easier to win an Upstarts award than it was to decide who should receive one. He spoke for all the judges in praising the talent and variety of the nominees who made the shortlists.

The inaugural winner of the Young Social Entrepreneur award was Jason Pegler of Chipmunkapublishing. As Sarah Smith said, the entries in this new category "need not have changed the world yet", but Pegler clearly aims to do so. He commented: "The charity sector is by nature passive, and the social enterprise sector is active" - and few in the sector are more active than him.

If Pegler is about to change the world, Richard Adams already has, with Tearcraft, Traidcraft, the Fairtrade Foundation and now Community Viewfinders. Accepting the Social Enterprise Champion (Individual) award on Adams’s behalf, Peter Collins of Traidcraft said he was "no substitute for Richard in terms of height, girth or personality". He passed on the message that Adams was delighted, after more than 20 years of service, still to be considered an upstart.


Also celebrating 20 years in the business was Bishopston Trading Company, whose manager, Carolyn Whitwell, received the Overseas Impact Award, another new category. When asked whether she saw herself as part of a charity or a business, Whitwell said that it had always seemed a nice idea to give away profits, but for a long time they had none to give away: the business did not break even in its first 14 years. But then the fair-trade movement grew, there were more like-minded firms to trade with, and Bishopston Trading Company can now afford to give large sums of money back to its workers in India.

Michael Gidney, policy director of Traidcraft, accepted the award for Social Enterprise Champion (Organisation). Thanks to Traidcraft’s pioneering use of trade as a weapon against poverty, the principles of trade justice and social responsibility are now firmly on mainstream corporate and consumer agendas. "The social enterprise model is at the heart of fair trade," Gidney said.

Sarah Sanders of Shepshed Carers accepted the Social Enterprise Award with much humility. Even her speech followed the co-operative model, insisting that the award was not just for her and her fellow managers, but for all the workers/owners of Shepshed, and all those who are trying to change the field of care. "I think our success is down to the fact that everyone has an equal say and everyone is made to feel valued," she said.

Sarah Smith commented that the social care industry was not renowned for its innovation and enterprise, but that the Upstarts Awards had proved that there are pioneers in the sector - not least Nick Baxter, the founder of Cornerstone Community Care, who won the Social Entrepreneur Award.

"If reputable organisations such as the New Statesman and the Co-operative back you, it proves you’re doing something right," Baxter said. "Then it helps you with funding, helps you influence the government. It gives you links you otherwise wouldn’t have." Describing funding as a "feast/famine cycle", he was no doubt glad of the opportunity to bend the ear of the government minister afterwards.