BUSINESS
POWERING
THROUGH MICK CROSSAN OF POWERDAY, IS THE WINNER OF OUR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNER FOR 2019
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NETWORKS
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very year at our annual BITA awards we announce our lifetime achievement winner; a very special category as they are selected from our members by our BITA board. Previous winners are Pat Gallagher from Gallagher’s who accepted the award in 2017 in a particularly emotional event, and Danny Tim O’Sullivan of Danny Sullivan Group who collected his award in 2018 surrounded by his family members. The board always thinks long and hard about who will be awarded this trophy each year, and take into account not only success in business, but contribution and impact on the community or charitable causes. Needless to say, it is a difficult decision each year, and in 2019 we were honoured to have Mick Crossan, founder of Powerday, with us on the evening to accept his award. The recipient never knows that they are there for an award; their family bring them ostensibly just to enjoy the evening.
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To be able to accept with family and life-long friends present to share in the moment is another reason that it is such a special category. Mick Crossan has been featured in our magazine before, or more accurately we featured his initiative ‘Put Down the Knife, Pick up the Gloves’ in issue 2 of NetWorks. We thought it especially fitting that he win an award, in part, for this work. Mick is the owner and chairman of Powerday, a family run business that really lives by its policy of ‘putting the community at the heart of what they do.’ The business has been going for 40 years and is established across London and the south east. The company puts a priority on sustainability and aim for zero waste to landfill which they are working towards through recycling schemes and using residual waste to create high-quality renewable fuels. They work with Geminor, one of Europe’s largest suppliers of renewable fuels. They invest in their vehicles and machinery to ensure an efficient, environmentally friendly service, and their Euro 6 compliant fleet is FORS Gold and CLOCS accredited. They now employ over 200 people at their three sites across London and are continuing to grow. Our lifetime achievement award isn’t just for business acumen, and it is his community work that has made such a big impact. A life-long lover of sports, Mick has long supported a variety of clubs and sporting initiatives across London. He also believes that all young people should be given the chance to get ahead, and Powerday supports them in gaining skills and experience through different projects across London. In getting ready for the awards, the BITA team arranges and films interviews with friends and family members of the recipients, to get a better idea of the person, and to hear about their achievements. For Mick’s video we spoke to Paul King, from the Amateur Boxing Association, Dave Beasant, Ex-Chelsea Footballer, Kieran McCarthy, Chairman of the London Irish Rugby Club, Edward Crossan, Mick’s son, and an old friend of Mick’s, Brendan Reynolds. Since 2011, Powerday has partnered with the London Amateur Boxing Association (ABA) to deliver a sustainable boxing development programme throughout London. The objectives of the programme are to increase participation
