13/04/16
ACCESS ABILITY SHORTLISTED FOR 2016 E3 BUSINESS AWARD
Blackburn based CIC, Access Ability has been shortlisted as a finalist in the 2016 E3 Business Awards, which will be held at the Macron Stadium in Bolton on Friday 3rd June.
The company, which supports Deaf and disabled individuals, was selected from among hundreds of nominees to become one of the finalists for the prestigious Skills, Education & Training category.
Speaking on behalf of the company, Managing Director Emma O’Connor said: “At Access Ability we recognise and respect the diversity of peoples’ needs and therefore, enabling opportunities is at the heart of our vision. We are proud to be an E3 Finalist, which is a testament to the hard work of our staff, volunteers and members of our service.”
“Each year, it becomes more of an achievement to win a finalist’s place,” said Mubarak Chati, managing director of 1 Events Media, which hosts the E3 Awards. “Every year since we’ve started, we’ve seen an increase in nominations and a corresponding increase in quality. This year, across all sixteen award categories, we’ve seen an increase of around 25% on last year. That’s on top of last year’s increase which was itself up more than 30% on 2014.
“We’ve had nominations from throughout the North West and we’ve seen real strength in all areas. One of the big surprises has been the number of entries from social enterprises. We had so many, in fact, that we decided to introduce a seventeenth award category, specifically for charities. It’s always been a key purpose of the Awards to celebrate the achievement of all parts of the community – not just the mainstream – so to see charities, young entrepreneurs and women coming forward in such numbers is very gratifying indeed.
“Given the number and the high standard of entries, we certainly gave the Nominations Panel a difficult job. They have risen to the challenge, though, and their final selections represent the very best of the whole North West region. For Access Ability to have been named as a finalist for 2016 is an achievement of which it should be very proud.”
More information about the E3 Business Awards, including a full list of finalists, can be found at www.e3businessawards.co.uk
