MAKING OUR MARK IN THE LOCAL BUSINESS COMMUNITY | ZOE MITTON | MARCH 2018 | Blog

It has been a really exciting 18-months for the Chamber as well as Lime Blue and it all started back in November 2016 with a phone call from Olu, where he pitched his idea of launching a Business Awards for the local area. He asked if Lime Blue would be interested in getting involved and of course Nicola and I didn’t hesitate to say ‘yes’.

Fast forward a few weeks and we were sitting in a meeting at the Maidenhead Advertiser offices with other members of the newly formed committee, tasked with delivering the inaugural Maidenhead & Windsor Business Awards 2017. The first few meetings were full of trepidation of how we were going to pull off the project, but we soon realised our individual strengths and formed a tight group brimming with great ideas. We were delighted at the success at every step of the way, from the huge interest we received at the Launch Lunch and then the take up of the sponsorship packages by local businesses, to the quality of the entries and then the final ticket sales for the Awards Dinner. On the night over 260 people and nearly 100 companies attended. Headline sponsor was Heathrow and we were honoured to have Adrian Moorhouse as the compere as well as the Deputy Mayor handing out the awards. Everyone who attended remarked on what a fabulous, fun filled night of celebration it was - needless to say, there were probably a few sore heads the next day. The whole night ran like clockwork - something we only hoped in those very first few weeks of planning it.

Lime Blue’s initial role was of design partner and we created the logo, developed all the branded marketing materials and website. As the awards dinner grew nearer we took on the mantle as the dedicated events partner managing the online registrations, all the logistics and liaising closely with the venue (Holiday Inn – Maidenhead) and delivering the event on the night. 

Looking back, it has proved to be an incredibly exciting project to be a part of - Nicola and I made not only made some great friends in our fellow committee members, but now have some strong business links going forward. Thank you to these guys for being such great partners throughout: Olu Odeniyi - President of Maidenhead & District Chamber of Commerce, Nicola Rogers – Head of Commercial at Maidenhead Advertiser, Jeremy Spooner – CEO at Maidenhead Advertiser, Pam Gandee – Marketing Director at Donald Reid Group, Reena Sandhu – Managing Director at Market2Lead and Vice President of Maidenhead & District Chamber of Commerce, Jaz Notay – Managing Director at Ellora and Mike Miller – Managing Director at Sapro.co.uk