An evening at The Signature Awards 2024

On Friday 2^nd February we were lucky enough to attend the incredible awards ceremony for The Signature Awards 2024 and celebrate a variety of businesses across the West Midlands and their incredible achievements. 

The nominations 

After our success at The Signature Awards 2023, winning SME of the Year, we were incredibly excited to find out that for 2024 we were nominated for not one but THREE Signature Awards! Following on from last year, we were again nominated for SME of the Year, as well as Enterprise of the Year and Innovative Business of the Year 2024. 

With our fantastic success in 2023, we all had our fingers and toes crossed that we would win at least one of the three awards we were nominated for! 

The event 

Nine of our marketing superstars arrived at The Vox, Birmingham, to begin celebrations. On arrival, there was a silent auction in process for Acorns Children’s Hospice, featuring a variety of signed sports memorabilia and even some incredible holidays to places like Thailand and Bali. These brilliant prizes could be won by the highest bidder and there was a fantastic selection for a fantastic charity.

Once seats had been taken, there were some videos from Acorns to highlight the work that they do every day for babies and children across the West Midlands. Acorns Children’s Hospice provides specialist palliative nursing care and support for children and their families within the West Midlands. Their services can vary from short breaks for the children in their care, therapeutic and psychosocial support, support for family members and emergency end of life care and bereavement support. Acorns provides an essential service for those children in need and provides the families around those children with an immense amount of support.

Following on from Acorns Children’s Hospice, there were a handful of keynote speakers, including the Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, and winner of Entrepreneur of the Year 2021, Alfie Best aka The Gypsy Billionaire.

Andy Street spoke highly of the area, mentioning how the businesses and people in attendance were a great asset to the West Midlands and were bringing lots of opportunities and creating a variety of jobs for people who need them locally. As a former Managing Director of John Lewis, Mr Street knows how businesses work and can truly appreciate the strength and determination of every business and individual there that night.

Alfie Best provided a motivational speech, reminding those in attendance that the ’University of Life‘ can be as beneficial, if not more so, as any other form of education. He encouraged those who have a dream to work hard and push through even the most difficult times because it will pay off at some point. He provided the entire room with advice and motivation to push them through the next year with a great mindset.

The awards 

With all starters eaten and speeches given, it was time for the awards ceremony to get underway. All the awards we were nominated for were to be called in the first half of the night, so it was a period of nerves and excitement wrapped up in one as we slowly heard each award being called out. 

Innovative Business of the Year

The award for Innovative Business of the Year was the first to be called. We waited patiently as the other nominees were called and gave a big cheer when it came to Sherbz. The time was upon us, we were optimistic and hoping for a win. Sadly, it wasn’t our lucky night, however, we still had two more to go so we continued to cross our fingers.

SME of the Year

Having won this award last year, we were hoping for an improvement that would reflect our incredible level of growth in the last 12 months and our feeling that we don’t quite fit into the small to medium enterprise category. However, we would still have been over the moon if we’d managed to bag this award two years in a row. Again, it wasn’t our night, and the award was presented to another company. With only one award left, surely, we had to be in with a chance!

Enterprise of the Year 

The final award in our list of nominations, could this be the one we add to our trophy case? Again, we waited patiently whilst the names of each nominee were called out and gave another big cheer for ourselves. And the winner is… SHERBET DONKEY! Finally, a brand new award to add to our ever-growing collection and one that truly represents our growth over the last 12 months! We were over the moon to have won the award of Enterprise of the Year 2024, a true representation of our growth over the last few years and a reflection of our growing ambitions year on year. 

The rest of the evening 

With the main course and desserts served, the first half of the ceremony was a success and now we could relax and enjoy the rest of the evening. The stage was filled with dancers and entertainment, which we could enjoy knowing we were Enterprise of the Year 2024. From Bhangra dancers to fire eaters, the entertainment did not disappoint. Onto the second half of the awards ceremony, we sat and enjoyed watching the other businesses and individuals win their awards throughout the evening. Once the ceremony was finished, it was time for company photographs and a good old party to celebrate our success! 

Every year we strive to be better, and winning the Signature Award for Enterprise of the Year 2024 shows our most recent efforts have been recognised. Let’s just say watch this space and see where we are in 2025!