This was the cry from the keynote speaker Paresh Davdra and host Ninder Johal at the Signature Awards held at the ICC on the 7th Feb in front of an audience in excess of 590 people.

Co-Founder of Rational FX, Mr Davdra described the challenges in growing a business in a competitive environment and how to cope with scaling a business to reach a turnover. He spoke about the changing global space in a post Brexit era and how to encourage entrepreneurship and enterprise. He also spoke about the importance of recruiting and retaining talent in an ever-tightening labour market and on the importance of creativity when taking on new employees.

The recently appointed Deputy Lieutenant Ninder Johal who is a board member of the Black Country LEP and the West Midlands Growth Company observed that despite the uncertainty around Brexit, the region had several positives including being a test bed for 5G, the greatest number of start up’s outside London and despite the problems around JLR, the automotive and aerospace sectors continue to remain strong. He also pointed to collaborative partnership working amongst the political parties in the region who are aligned to the benefit of the region rather than based on political ideology. He spoke about the need for businesses to be part of their community and to be more proactive in ensuring that their voice is heard in an ever-increasing uncertain world.

The winners on the night included:  Falcon Insurance ( Excellence in Financial Services – Organisation ), Mandeep Rajput ( Excellence in Financial Services – Individual ), FBC Manby Bowdler ( Excellence in Legal Services - Organisation ), Vic Younis ( Excellence in Legal Services – Individual ), Bootcamp Media & HugglePets in the Community ( Excellence in Community Service ), ASR Advantage Solicitors ( Excellence in the Owner Practice for the Professions ), HDY Agency ( Excellence in Creative and Design ) Training Event Safety Solutions ( Excellence in Promoting Apprenticeships ), Dr Aman Puri ( Contribution to Industry and Commerce ), Barrows and Forrester Property Group ( Excellence in Real Estate ), GB Tyres ( International/Innovation/ Enterprise ), Lola Ojomo ( Business Person of the year ), Tehmi Parinchy ( Business Woman of the Year ), Imperial Roofing Supplies UK Ltd ( Small Business of the Year ), Gurpreet Bassi ( Entrepreneur of the Year ), Irwin Mitchell ( Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion ) and Enzen ( Business of the year ).

Enzen are a global company that provides consulting, technology, engineering and innovation services to the Energy and Water industries with offices in UK, India, Australia, USA, Spain, Turkey, Middle East, Africa and Kazakhstan.

Based in Solihull, the company formed back in 2006 was to make water and energy accessible, affordable and to reduce the inefficient use of energy and water by leveraging passion, empathy and knowledge to provide people with access to life essentials.

Highly commended winners on the night included : Kenneth Jones Solicitors, Creative 62, Wesleyan, Santander, Nant, Karen Bailey and Little Business Loans.

The sponsors on the night included Headline sponsors  Investec Wealth and Investment, Rational FX, Capital Care Group, Cobra Beer, Crowe, The Football Association, Diamond Dealer Direct, BCRS, Dunton Environmental, Kings Real Estate, Oxbridge, Pathway Group, Elonex, Birmingham City University, Vision Design and Print, Gloss, Willis Towers Watson and the University of Wolverhampton with official transport partners – Ola Cabs.

The charity Acorns raised £13000 and the event was hosted by Tommy Sandhu.