Winners celebrate success at The Véyaon Awards
The Véyaon Awards evening brings together entrepreneurs from all sectors to celebrate the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit in Guernsey
On Thursday 17th November, over 180 people gathered at the inaugural Digital Greenhouse’s Véyaon Awards at St Pierre Park to highlight those individuals and businesses who have strived to take risks to grow and succeed in 2022.
At the head of the evening our compere, John Fernandez introduced the Digital Greenhouse and headline sponsor Blenheim Chalcot, followed by Lucy Kirby, Director of the Digital Greenhouse and organisers of the awards. Charles Mindenhall, Co-Founder of Blenheim Chalcot, took attendees through a history of innovation through a Guernsey lens. Followed by a fantastic line-up of awards to present including 7 Véyaon awards, the YBG Bill Green Award and the winners of the Guernsey Venture Challenge.
In the last few months, the Guernsey Venture Challenge and the Véyaon Awards saw over 100 entries across all categories. It has been impressive to see the calibre and variety of entries for the seven Véyaon award categories, covering topics of entrepreneurialism, upskilling, leadership, technology and innovation.
The first award of the evening was Creative Entrepreneur, sponsored by TPA. This category saw the most entries of all of the awards, but the winning entrepreneur was someone who demonstrated creativity and innovation in their work and a clear mission to take it further. The winner being, Aaron Smillie, Founder of Digital Motion Workshop.
Next, Disrupter of the Year, sponsored by C5 Alliance saw winner Crewdentials take the trophy for their software platform that is radically disrupting crew management in their sector.
Digital Leader of the Year, sponsored by Sure Business was awarded to Patrick Cunningham, Director of Indulge for his ‘ability to overcome adversity and how it has enabled the company to exploit knockbacks and pivot into new areas.‘
In the next award, Entrepreneur for Good, sponsored by Islands Insurance judges felt that the winners Trevor & Catherine Nicholls, Founders of EaseeDo had demonstrated a clear mission: to provide a reliable, affordable tool to support executive function skills, which helps individuals and their support network - enabling exponential impact for people on a global scale.
Michael Creber was awarded the Learner of the Year, sponsored by JT for showing leadership and a team-focused approach to driving change in their organisation.
The Innovation in Technology, sponsored by PwC looks to promote organisations that are leading by example in technology-driven innovation projects. The winner of this award is Crewdentials, the judges of this category were really impressed by the level of innovation being demonstrated.
The last Véyaon Award announced was the Scale Up Business of the Year, sponsored by Resolution IT. The winner of this award was Black Vanilla, and the judges thought that the winning business demonstrated a real sense of drive and ambition, well attuned to revenue models and product development, but also attention to staff development and well-being.
“It is a pleasure to have launched the first Véyaon Awards, celebrating innovation and entrepreneurship in Guernsey. Véyaon meaning ‘go for it’ in Guernésiais highlights where individuals and businesses have strived to take risks to grow and succeed. We hope that this home-grown showcase inspires others to follow in their footsteps.” commented Lucy Kirby, Director of the Digital Greenhouse
