“Genuinely uplifting” – The City AM Dragon Awards for Social Impact

The rest of this week is going to be dominated by the Budget, so permit us a diversion today as this column focuses not on capital gains tax, investor sentiment or national insurance, but on the quiet, unassuming brilliance of so many people and so many businesses doing so many great things.

In yesterday’s paper we highlighted the people, firms and organisations that have emerged as finalists in this year’s City AM Dragon Awards for Social Impact. These awards have been running in the City since the late 1980s, but this is the first year where they’re hosted by City AM, in partnership with the Lord Mayor.

We launched our call for nominations a few weeks ago, and what began as a trickle soon became a flood of submissions. When the nominating period closed, we had close to 200 nominations across the various categories. Entries came from start-ups, social enterprises, major private companies, listed firms, sector groups, individual entrepreneurs, law firms, banks, investors and industry leaders.

Putting on awards of this scale is a huge undertaking, and those of us at City AM involved in the logistics, planning and management of the event approached a point not long ago when we couldn’t see the wood for the trees.

The clarifying moment came when we began the rigorous process of reading all the submissions and settling on just four for each category who would progress to the final judging round. Reading the submissions was an uplifting experience.

In every single case, nominees revealed a side to themselves, their business or their organisation that is easily overlooked in the day-to-day running of a business news organisation. They provided stories and evidence of inspirational efforts to tackle deep-rooted social ills, support and empower marginalised people, make an impact in their communities, come up with solutions to serious social or environmental challenges and deploy the full weight of their ideas, energy and capital to make a difference.

The shortlist that emerged – and in fact, the entire catalogue of submissions – is testament to the immeasurable benefits that come from businesses using their strengths and expertise to change the world for the better.

We’re lucky to have such people in this country, and City AM is honoured to be able to celebrate them.