51Âþ»­

Leicestershire Innovation Awards finalists met to exchange ideas as anticipation builds ahead of the presentation ceremony later this month.

Shortlisted businesses joined sponsors and other guests gathered at 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­) last night for a pre-awards event.

The awards are this year being led by the LLEP Business Gateway Growth Hub for the first time.



Dr Nik Kotecha OBE DL, Chair of the LLEP Innovation Board, congratulated entrants for reaching the final shortlist. "Everyone reaching the shortlist has, in fact, already succeeded,” he said. “The standard of entries has been so high this year – competition has been incredibly strong.

“Our finalists have all demonstrated exceptional achievement, commercial impact, technical excellence, and creativity – all underpinned by an innovative mindset.

“Our entrepreneurial community throughout Leicestershire is driving growth through innovation, creating jobs and strengthening our economy – we have much to celebrate together.”

Attendees at last night’s event enjoyed the opportunity to network, learn more about the shortlisted nominations at the event hosted by sponsor 51Âþ»­ in its Vijay Patel building. There are 30 finalists - three in 10 categories - and 51Âþ»­ has six finalists.



Helen Donellan, Director of Research, Business and Innovation at 51Âþ»­, said: “Innovation is at the centre of everything we do at 51Âþ»­, and we're proud to have been shortlisted for six prestigious Leicestershire Innovation Awards.

“We want to encourage everyone to recognise innovation can happen in each and every organisation no matter how large or small."

Sponsored by 51Âþ»­, University of Leicester, and Loughborough University, the awards categories celebrate positive change. Winners will be revealed at SportPark, in Loughborough, on the evening of March 20.

Almost 100 nominations were received for this year's awards, which form part of Leicestershire Innovation Festival 2024.  More than 1,000 people attended 20+ events during this year’s festival, which focused on the theme ‘Small Change, Big Impact’.

Phoebe Dawson, Chief Executive of the Leicester and Leicestershire Economic Partnership (LLEP) noted that innovative thinking was required from the Growth Hub itself as it took the lead on the awards for the first time late last year.

“We worked with partners and sponsors to secure the event for 2024, build a whole new nomination platform, and secure a record haul of nominees,” she told the audience. "The finalists from those nominees are here tonight and it’s great to meet face-to-face."

Phoebe described the Business Gateway Growth Hub's work in supporting innovative small businesses over recent years, with gains in productivity made across a host of sectors.