The Travelwest ‘Business Travel Awards’ gathered over 27 companies for an evening of celebration on Thursday 28 November.
The ceremony held on Weston-super-Mare’s Grand Pier and hosted by North Somerset Council on behalf of the Travelwest Partnership (Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire), rewarded organisations across the West of England who has made significant progress in reducing car travel.
The event recognised initiatives across a range of categories which have enabled and encouraged sustainable travel, providing not only environmental benefits but also positively impacting staff health and well-being. Projects included providing facilities for cycling and walking, running promotional campaigns, organising regular charity bike rides, converting fleet cars to electric and installing EV charge points.
Awards were presented to stand out organisations and individuals who have demonstrated strong leadership and a commitment to making changes in their workplace towards creating a sustainable low carbon future. Winning organisations in North Somerset included Eat:Festival, who were up against tough competition from Airbus and WSP for ‘Best Motivational Campaign’, and Bristol Airport who won ‘Most Improved Organisation’ (Large) for encouraging more staff to travel sustainably. Weston College was also Highly Commended in the ‘Sustainable Travel Champion’ category.
Speakers at the awards included Joanna Ward from Women in Transport, a not-for-profit organisation working to provide a strong transport workforce and Carl Nicholson from North Somerset Council who showcased the council’s fleet of electric vehicles.
“Congratulations to all nominees and those winning awards.
The evening was a fantastic celebration of sustainable travel and highlighted the commitment of many businesses across the West of England to making change.
With almost 50 per cent of North Somerset’s carbon emission coming from transport, the switch to more sustainable modes of travel is essential and we’re proud to have organisations in North Somerset taking a lead.”
The full list of this year’s winners is as follows:
- Best Motivational Campaign – Winner: Eat Festival, Highly Commended: WSP
- Sustainable Travel Champion – Winner: DAC Beechcroft, Computer Share, Highly Commended: Rolls Royce, Weston College
- Most Improved Workplace – Winner Large: Bristol Airport, Winner Small and Medium: Emmaus
- Long Term Commitment to Sustainable Travel – Winner: Rolls Royce, Highly Commended: NB NHS Trust
- Most Innovative Travel Measure – Winner: Severn Ride & Stride, Highly Commended: NB NHS Trust and Bath E-Bikes
- Travelwest Challenge Winner – Micro: Key Transport Consultants Paul Basham Associates, Small: GCP Chartered Architects, Medium: Triodos, Large: DAC Beachcroft
- Organisation of the Year – Winner: Rolls Royce