Winning a Business Travel People Award for TMC of the Year meant a great deal to us as our submission reflected upon every area and level of our business. We aimed to focus on the new talent we have brought into the industry supported by quality knowledgeable staff already at Blue Cube. This was backed up testimonials from staff, suppliers and clients. It really was a true win for our entire team something everyone played a part in and could be proud of.

On the night we brought our youngest and newest members of our team to experience the event. As always we were crossing fingers and toes around the table in the hope our name would be called. All of the younger ones were so positive and couldn’t conceive that we wouldn’t win, but I was aware of the huge talent we were up against. When our name was called our table erupted and some of the ‘youth’ joined me on stage to collect the award. They felt they were part of something special and they were. I felt immensely proud and overwhelmed to be standing there with them knowing that we were setting the bench mark for them for their future.

Everyone has been so supportive and fully believe in everything we do. Our offices are completely open plan so management, trainees, I.T., reservations etc all sit as one. We have family days in the office and operate a very inclusive environment.

When we won it was a win for everyone, phones were pinging with congratulatory messages, employees children were proudly telling their friends my mum/dad works for the ‘Best’ Travel Management Company, the colleges we work with filtered it through to all of their students our clients said, well we knew that anyway.

It truly invigorated our wonderful team to strive to be even better. Personally I was humbled and grateful that it allowed everyone a moment to shine and receive a pat on the back from our amazing industry recognising what they do. It’s allowed us the opportunity to put something tangible in front of prospective clients which has helped in winning new business.

In terms of the impact on our business, if I’m honest it’s always simply been business as usual at Blue Cube. We recognise the honour of winning the award and take nothing for granted. We feel the award comes with a responsibility to truly be what you have been awarded, maintain the standards we set for ourselves, the standards that won us the award.

I think we were reasonable well liked and respected before and I hope nothing has changed. We receive a huge amount of positive feedback from others in our industry and often from people you wouldn’t expect or didn’t even realise were looking. I’m sure it’s raised our profile more than we would imagine.

If you’re thinking of entering the People Awards this year, go for it, believe in what you do. If you think you are the best then you should be proud to promote that. It’s a huge morale boost for all employees to be linked to an award and even the process of putting your submission together, if it’s a collective one, it gives them an opportunity to reflect and understand why they and their colleagues are so amazing and hopefully winners. It’s also a time to remind you what a fantastic team of people you have working within your business and you might just win!