The event which takes place on this September will be piloted in the North West of England and then rolled out nationally in 2022 and beyond.
Mr Cockton, of multi award-winning luxury fragrance brand Owen Drew, explained that an awards ceremony for the LGBTQ+ community in business is much needed:
“The LGBTQ+ community contributes enormously to the GDP of the UK thanks to the creativity, ingenuity and resilience of its members. After such an incredibly difficult twelve months in business, I decided to create these awards to celebrate the achievements of our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters.
We have been overwhelmed with positive feedback from people wanting to get involved and sponsor. Unfortunately, too many businesses simply offer virtue signalling without properly engaging with and supporting the community so it is fantastic to have had such a great response”
The awards will bring together businesspeople from across the North West of England including Wirral, Liverpool, Cheshire, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and beyond with all sectors of the economy being represented.
The judging panel for the awards is a powerhouse of the good and great of the LGBTQ+ community including former Lord Mayor of Manchester, Carl Austin OBE, Maggie O’Carrol of the Womens Organisation and human rights lawyer, Hetal Hathiwala.
The awards will also look to support charities including The Albert Kennedy Trust which supports homeless young LGBTQ+ people and the Liverpool City Region Pride Foundation.
There are ten awards up for grabs with categories including ‘Best Young Person in Business’, ‘The LGBTQ+ Tourism and Hospitality Award’ and the ‘Community Impact Award’. Applications will open on Friday 26th March 2021.
The venue for the awards evening will be Heatherfield House in Claughton, Wirral and takes place Thursday 16th September 2021 from 7pm.
For information on how to apply or sponsor, please visit www.lgbtqbusinessawards.com
