It was a real honour to be among the businesses who attended the South West Fairtrade Business Awards on the 9 March 2018. This year’s awards were held at New Bristol Brewery in St Paul’s and attendees were treated to a buffet lunch provided by Resbite Café at the Palestine Museum & Cultural Centre.
Commitment to Fairtrade products
Now in its sixth year, these awards recognise businesses that demonstrate commitment to using, selling and promoting Fairtrade products and consequently contribute to reducing poverty in developing countries.
Danni Rochman, Project Coordinator for Bristol Fairtrade Network, hosted the ceremony and was joined by guest speakers Councillor Ian Blair and Chief Executive of Destination Bristol John Hirst. Delegates to the ceremony were addressed by Urania Liseth Hernández from Nicaragua, who shared her perspective as a female Fairtrade producer and explained how her family and other women in her cooperative have been uplifted by Fairtrade programmes.
Ethical purchasing
At Lyons Davidson, we have a strong commitment to ethical and fair purchasing, which stems from top management throughout the business. This commitment has seen us support Fairtrade tea and coffee for 14 years. The judges stated it was this long-held commitment, combined with our broad approach to employee and public engagement, which allowed us to pluck the top award in the category of ‘Best Fairtrade Office 2018.’
Our award was presented by Claire Jacob, Partnership Development Manager at Bristol Green Capital Partnership, of which we are longstanding members.
The overall award for Best Fairtrade Business went to Bristol-based retailer Cotton Smiles, who sell 100 percent Fairtrade-certified cotton products. Vineeta Gupta, co-owner of Cotton Smiles, commenting on the win said: “Jim and I are just thrilled to have won Best South West Fairtrade Business, and proud to have brought Fairtrade cotton to Bristol […] and hope that others will be inspired to build their business around ethical supply chains.”
In total, 50 businesses from across the region were honoured with awards in eight different categories, with each receiving a unique trophy designed by Bristol Blue Glass, which demonstrates an impressive level of commitment amongst businesses in the South West to be fair and trade ethically.
For more information on Lyons Davidson’s commitment to the environment, contact Environmental Management Systems Coordinator Clive Croal.
