The winners of The Business Travel People Awards are selected by a panel of independent and impartial judges, representing a range of knowledge, expertise and skills from across the business travel industry.

To ensure complete impartiality, each judge is required to declare any conflicts of interest to the Judges Chair before being given access to the submissions. Each judge is then allocated specific categories and extensively studies each entry in that category.

The judges score and comment on each submission and this is used to determine which candidates will be shortlisted.

Judges then come together to select the final winners and to decide whether a highly commended should also be awarded. At this stage, shortlisted candidates for the Rising Star and Shining Star categories are interviewed in person by the judges before a winner is chosen.

Here are the winners of the 2026 awards and the reasons why they were chosen:

Account Management Team of the Year

Clarity Account Management Team

This team’s deep understanding of its client base, together with its ability to learn, adapt and tailor its approach, is particularly compelling. Working closely with broader industry partners it demonstrates a genuine commitment to advancing the travel community as a whole.

Account Manager of the Year, sponsored by Focus Travel Partnership

Sarah Corrie, Direct Travel

Sarah sets the standard of what outstanding account management looks like. She is recognised as a calm authority, who removes the panic in times of uncertainty and demonstrates exceptional commercial awareness with illustrated results.

Meetings & Events Team of the Year

Meeting and Events Team, Blue Orchid Hospitality

While many teams deliver high-standard execution, Blue Orchid captured the win by actively redefining how a modern events team approaches commercial strategy, client engagement and operational hurdles.

Business Travel Team of the Year, sponsored by Situ

Direct Travel’s UK Operations Team

What set this team apart was the combination of financial performance and service excellence, supported by clear evidence including measurable client outcomes, operational KPIs, strategic initiatives and business transformation achievements.

Sales Champion

Carly Tebay, Clarity

Carly has been Clarity’s top salesperson for two consecutive years and has helped it secure two major retail accounts. She takes a refreshing, personal and relaxed approach so that she makes every sales meeting feel like a meeting with a friend.

Marketing Champion

Mark Wilson, Global Travel Management

Sometimes you don’t need to overcomplicate the process and Mark has shown exactly that, where the results speak for themselves. The supporting evidence in this submission clearly explains the logic behind what he set out to deliver, which led to an increase  in number of clients and leads. Brilliant work.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Champion(s), sponsored by Inntel

Diane Beverley, Cambridge University Press & Assessment

Diane has been passionate about inclusivity and since early in her career and her commitment to learning and curiosity sets her apart. She isn’t afraid to hold suppliers to account but she communicates with warmth, empathy and integrity. She takes a holistic approach to DEI, going beyond what are currently considered the most visible or ‘safe’ issues.

Sustainability Champion, sponsored by Blacklane

Delphine Millot, Global Business Travel Association

Delphine shows a clear initiative beyond her ‘day job’ to move the industry forwards in the sustainability space. Her passion shines through and her open source/access approach is having a tangible measurable impact.

Sustainability Team of the Year, sponsored by South Western Railway

The Thrust Carbon TeamThrust Carbon is an industry-leading team redefining the standard for sustainable business travel, showing bold leadership, industry advocacy, technical excellence and commitment to tackling Scope 3 emissions through credible, standards-led solutions.

Travel Technology Innovator – Individual

Folusho Alade, Internova Travel Group

Folusho is a real problem-solver in the tech world, focusing on the actual pain points people face every day and creating smart, practical solutions to fix them, rather than just looking for the next flashy thing.

Travel Technology Innovator – Team, sponsored by Talma Travel Solutions

PredictX Team

This team is committed to continuous innovation, consistently evolving the platform by embracing the latest technologies. The submission stood out for its strong evidence, detailed examples of impact and testimonials demonstrating how the solution effectively addresses complex challenges. 

Mentor of the Year, sponsored by Clarity Business Travel

Ed Dawson, American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) Consulting

We both feel that Ed is a worthy winner and all the evidence shows he goes over and above.  He  isn’t just a leader but a true mentor showing his exceptional commitment to developing future talent through his caring and nurturing leadership approach.   His submission showed that he thinks outside the box, which  is extremely inspiring and so many wonderful testimonials are great examples of this and his team engagement points increasing by 5% to 80% is simply incredible.”

People Manager of the Year, sponsored by DOMO

Andrea McMullan, Clarity

Andrea encapsulates the true spirit of the People Awards.  Described as a “much-needed ray of sunshine in what could have stayed a grey cloud” Andrea is clearly a compassionate and highly effective leader, dedicated to always bringing out the best in people.  

Industry Newcomer, sponsored by SAP Concur

Kayleigh Dawkins, Holiday Extras

A genuinely impressive newcomer who has gone from no business travel experience to a recognised voice in the corporate travel community in under two years, earning credibility through authentic relationship building and meaningful industry engagement.

Rising Star, sponsored by Sirius Talent Solutions

Abbie Erdbrink, Situ

With exceptional team retention, multiple promotions and recognised cultural influence, Abbie is already operating with the mindset and momentum of a future industry leader.

Shining Star, sponsored by ALTOUR

Coral Cavaye, Discover the World

Coral is not just delivering training. With her joined-up thinking she is genuinely changing the way an organisation learns and is raising the bar for what learning and development looks like across the sector.

Travel Team of the Year

Verity Phillips-Davies, Natalie Wells, Abbie Ancell, BDO LLP

This team’s outstanding leadership, innovation and long-term commitment to responsible business travel enabled it to implement impactful initiatives, with strong stakeholder engagement and effective use of digital tools and partnerships.

TMC Above and Beyond – Individual

Imogen Gargett, Access Bookings

Imogen goes above and beyond for her clients, achieving a 100% retention rate and 100% CSAT, while also finding the time to volunteer with external organisations to make a difference. She demonstrates a true passionate for her role.

TMC Above and Beyond – Team, sponsored by Direct Travel

People and Organisational Development Team, DGI

This team has embedded a people-first culture through strategic global initiatives, moving beyond a traditional support function to drive meaningful organisational change. Crucially, much of the team’s impact goes unseen, so this award embodies exactly what a People Award should recognise – people championing people.

Industry Contribution Award, sponsored by The Business Travel Magazine

Stuart ‘Mobility’ Donnelly, The Miles Consultancy

Stuart has made it his mission to drive change in a sector of corporate travel that’s often overlooked. He is relentless in his efforts to elevate ground transport and mobility, to encourage corporates to give it the attention it deserves and, in turn, to make smarter and greener decisions. He is so committed to this sector, he’s even incorporated it into his name!

Chair’s Award

Linda Bekoe, About Partners

Linda’s unwavering commitment, energy, and leadership has made a lasting impact across the global travel industry and beyond, ensuring that DEI remains firmly on the agenda when it would have been easy for it to fade into the background. She is active on several committees and is a highly respected moderator and contributor to webinars and panel discussion, developing practical toolkits. Her eadership ensures DEI does not simply survive but continues to evolve and thrive.