BGP Alumni Enjoy Massive Success at the National Business Awards

Two companies founded by BGP alumni were winners at the 2015 National Business Awards.

GoApe, the outdoor adventure company set up by Tristram and Rebecca Mayhew, took home ‘The Customer Focus Award’, while youth marketing agency Livity and co-founders Sam Conniff and Michelle Morgan collected ‘The Social Enterprise of the Year Award’.

• Much like Cranfield, GoApe was praised by the judges for going the extra mile when it comes to customer focus with the MD, Jerome Mayhew, swinging into town to receive the trophy on behalf of his company. The trio of Mayhews and fellow BGP alumnus Will Galbraith were previously named Entrepreneur Alumni of the Year at the 2014 Cranfield School of Management’s annual awards which celebrate the achievements of our high-calibre alumni.
• Livity also received glowing feedback for being an outstanding example of how social can be at the heart of a successful and highly regarded commercial business that serves big business and many top brands.

They were among esteemed company as Prime Minister David Cameron and Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon, were among the speakers for an annual event which attracted more than 1,200 business leaders.

Further recognition

Two more BGP alumni – Debra Charles from Novacroft for ‘The Entrepreneur of the Year Award’, and Fuad Mahamed of Ashley Community Housing for ‘The Social Enterprise of the Year Award’ – were finalists at the prestigious national awards which attracted hundreds of entries across the 18 categories.

Help from a trusted source

Fellow BGP alumni Martyn Curley and Stephen Oldbury from Bidwriting.com worked with the businesses on their entries.

Speaking of their own BGP experience, the pair say: “The BGP was an ‘eye opening’ journey to ways in which we can grow and develop our company allowing us to place our business in a very strong and sustainable position moving forward. We have gained a great deal of invaluable experience from the course. Just by putting into action the ideas we gathered at the initial briefing session before the programme started, more than covered the cost of the BGP itself.”

Many thanks to Marcus Crawley, Communications Executive, Cranfield School of Management for this blog content.