Hampshire Business Awards association partners explain why they chose to get involved

The Hampshire Business Awards are less than two weeks away.

Set to take place at the Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre on the 30th November, the awards will celebrate excellence in the Hampshire business community across 14 different categories.

The awards are a partnership between The Business Magazine and Hampshire County Council, with Farnborough Airport as headline sponsor. Each award is also sponsored by a different company.

Alongside the sponsors, four organisations have come aboard as Association Partners, these are:

• Farnborough College of Technology
• Solent University
• University of Southampton
• University of Winchester

Each of these have explained why the decided to back the Hampshire Business Awards.

Farnborough College of Technology

Farnborough College of Technology is delighted to be a part of the Hampshire Business Awards and to play a role in recognising the hard-working and talented efforts that fuel local enterprises.

Working in partnership with more than 500 organisations in our region, the College is well-known for playing its role in training and connecting individuals with workplaces that can fuel exciting new opportunities and growth for all involved.

Our involvement in the Hampshire Business Awards aims to bring more focus to the work the College does with local enterprise and encourage more businesses to get in touch with the College for a conversation around how we can support them.

Principal CEO Virginia Barrett said: “We see our alumni going on to work in all types of business, and I am particularly thrilled when we visit a new company and recognise former students working there and recounting their career journey since studying with us.

“Some of the most popular collaborative work we do with local businesses include apprenticeships, industry placements, feeding into our careers education programme through guest speaking and careers fairs, and of course through our Industry Committees where employers can help shape our curriculum.

“I would encourage all employers to get in touch with the College if they want meaningful contact with tomorrow’s workforce, to benefit from our range of training opportunities, and to help address the nation’s skills gaps.”

The College delivers qualifications at all levels and for all ages, including T Levels, A Levels, BTECs, Apprenticeships, Degrees, and CPD qualifications. It is the only college that works with the University of Surrey to award its degrees and received an ‘Outstanding’ judgment from Ofsted following a full inspection in 2022.

It has campuses in Farnborough, Aldershot, and now in Fleet where the new Hart Professional Centre for adults has opened.

Solent University

As a partner of this year’s awards, the University is keen to foster new relationships while nurturing existing ties with local businesses. And as a top 30 university in the UK for business management and marketing, and with Theo Paphitis as chancellor, driving entrepreneurial spirit is part of Solent’s DNA.

Vice-Chancellor, Professor James Knowles, says: “As a future-ready university, Solent is dedicated to working in partnership with local businesses to not only support students in achieving their goals by connecting them with key contacts, but to drive the region’s economic growth.

“Working alongside the business community to help inform our thinking, research and student success is a huge part of what we do, and sponsoring these awards enables us to reach businesses and cultivate new opportunities that benefit all involved.”

In September, Solent was awarded triple Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework, recognising their typically outstanding teaching, learning and student outcomes. With this recognition, the University is in a good position to continue its work as champions of the region’s diverse business community.

In 2024, the University will continue to nurture businesses in the south through the Government’s Help to Grow programme.

Supporting entrepreneurs with strategy and productivity, the initiative invites new businesses to connect with experts at Solent for meaningful one-to-one mentoring that can enhance their reach and delivery.

With deeply embedded roots in Southampton’s business community, and a passion for growing the region’s reputation as a city of innovation, Solent University’s support of this year’s Hampshire Business Awards is an obvious fit.

To find out more about Help to Grow visit https://www.solent.ac.uk/work-with-us/business-services/help-to-grow-management.

University of Southampton

The University of Southampton is delighted to be sponsoring the Hampshire Business Awards.

As a proud and strong Civic University for the Central South, we are strongly committed to nurturing the economic prosperity of our region.

The University of Southampton is well equipped to do this.

We consistently come in the globe’s top one hundred universities according to QS World University Rankings; and more than ninety per cent of our research is independently judged as world-leading.

We have a strong culture of enterprise. Approaching half of our research activities involve industry collaborations. More than 150 international businesses have chosen Southampton as a major research partner, including GSK, Rolls-Royce, QinetiQ, IBM, BAE Systems, Airbus, Microsoft, DePuy, Philips, Vitacress, Eli Lilly, and Google.

We are renowned for commercialising our research. Our business incubation partnership, SETsquared, is the most influential university business incubator globally.

Our strengths in research impact mean we are good at commercialising our research and making a real difference to people’s lives , as the University’s Professor Jane Falkingham, Vice President International & Engagement, explains:

“For us sponsorship of the Hampshire Business Awards is a golden opportunity to  celebrate and champion the strength of the region’s enterprise and industry.

As a world-leading research-intensive institution we know the University of Southampton has an important role to play in the region.

We are determined to use our influence and the impact of our research to help people and communities across the South. “

The University has a good track record forging and nurturing connections with industry. We understand one of the biggest challenges for businesses today is finding people with the right skills.

Over twenty-four thousand students from more than one hundred and thirty countries chose the University of Southampton to study and reach their potential in preparation for the world of work.

University of Winchester

The University of Winchester is committed to developing competent and responsible business leaders of the future.

The Faculty of Business and Digital Technologies, incorporating the Winchester Business School, teaches and researches in business management, marketing, event management, accountancy and finance, and computer science.

Around 1,500 UK and International students are registered in the Faculty across a range of full or part-time, undergraduate, postgraduate or doctoral programmes.

Courses are led by a team of educators with a broad range of experience in the business world.

Connections with the professional community, ensure that teaching is relevant and that graduates possess essential employability skills.

Winchester has been awarded the Small Business Charter in recognition of its support for small businesses, student entrepreneurship, and its commitment to the local economy.

As part of its support for SMEs the Business School offers the Help to Grow: Management course, a 12-week executive development programme designed to help managers boost their firm’s performance and growth potential. The programme was developed by the Chartered Association of Business Schools, of which Winchester is a member.

Participants in Help to Grow become part of its alumni group which organises regular talks and networking events.

The programme is 90 per cent subsidised by the Government and the University currently fundings the remaining 10 per cent to support local businesses.

In 2008 the University of Winchester Business School became an early adopter of the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME).

Dean of the Faculty of Business and Digital Technologies and Director of the University of Winchester Business School, Sarah Moore-Williams, said: “As an organisation we are committed to supporting businesses and are delighted to sponsor these awards which celebrate their successes and achievements.”

Find out more here.