Say hello to London's first ever business award celebrating SMEs

Today (August 16), a Westminster think-tank, Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), set up by former Work and Pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith, has launched the first ever award to recognise philanthropic initiatives.

In partnership with The Fore, the award is aimed at SMEs and has been founded to develop, scale or improve charities and social enterprises in their first years, and the CSJ is appealing for the award’s first nominations.

Winners of the award will be celebrated at the CSJ’s award ceremony in March 2018, attended by celebrities, ministers and shadow ministers, A-list philanthropists as well as major press and broadcast media.

The chief executive of the Centre for Social Justice, Andy Cook, commented: “This is an exciting opportunity for small or medium-sized businesses to get the recognition they deserve for a truly inspirational programme of philanthropy.

“We’re looking for a corporate team with all its staff fully involved in a programme that is making a real difference in its community.

“Whether it’s a company holding an annual volunteering day or giving former prisoners a second chance by employing and training them, we want to know about it.”

In recent years, such awards have been presented by David Cameron, Sir Bob Geldof, Davina McCall and Alastair Campbell.

The CSJ Responsible Business Award is said to be the first to include small firms currently operating under the radar and hopes to put them in the spotlight alongside major national businesses already set up.