November 30, 2023

People Awards: Meet the 2022 M&E Team of the Year

The trophy toured the UK like the Olympic torch, says Richard Shacklock, National Head of Operational Performance, Agiito Venue Find and Events

We’ve been really fortunate in the Business Travel People Awards over the years, picking up several awards, but never the Meetings and Events Team Award, so we were absolutely delighted to win this year.

Winning an award always feels like a massive validation that what you are doing is working well, and all of the hard work the team has put in is recognised. It means that your industry peers and customers are somehow giving you the rubber stamp of approval.

I personally take the most gratification around seeing the team rewarded for all their efforts and seeing first-hand the boost to morale that being able to call yourself ‘an award-winning team’ brings. So often winning trumps integrity, so it is fantastic to be recognised with such a great award that recognises our positive values and culture.

Even to make the finalist list was an honour but hearing our name called as the winners and going up onto the stage to collect the award was both a humbling and proud moment. We had several members of the team present at the ceremony who were all really excited to be part of the evening and to see their faces when our name was announced as the winner was a pretty special memory; their celebrations that followed certainly made for a fun evening!

After the past few tough years in our industry, it felt great to get back to celebrating success and positive experiences. I am ecstatic the team have been recognised with such a prestigious award.

On the awards evening several of the team were working onsite at our customer events and once we shared the news initially on the team WhatsApp there was a collective cheer from all over the world (literally!) and much celebration.

As a business we were lucky enough to win several awards on the night, so it really did feel like a win for the whole of Agiito and everyone has been involved and hugely supportive. Our M&E team trophy has actually done a tour of our offices and team meetings, so it’s been dubbed the ‘Olympic Torch’ as it has travelled the length and breadth of the country for photo opportunities!

We have had an overwhelmingly positive reception and it’s amazing to see the lift it gave the whole team.

The support and acknowledgement from partners and customers alike has been heart-warming to receive. Many of our customers had sent testimonials in support of the nomination and were as happy as us to see the team recognised for their hard work. In addition, several of our team (myself included) have been approached to speak at industry events across the UK and sit on judging panels from various different sectors so it has given us the opportunity to network further and spread the word about what we are doing.

The value the award brings has continued to be of benefit to our business beyond just the awards evening.

There is a category for all and it’s a great opportunity to celebrate the fantastic people we have in our industry across the board. The positive effects of reflecting upon our achievements during the submission completion alone are worth it with even greater pride upon potentially winning the award. We will be back next year!