Moray Business Women

CELEBRATION MORAY BUSINESS WOMEN AWARDS 2021

The Moray Business Women Awards evening has always been a highlight of the year. 2021 was going to be extra special especially as we had only just returned to face-to-face events and as you all know it had been a long time since we have been able to hold such events. In fact, it had been a long 2 years since MBW last celebrated in the same room. Everyone was so looking forward to it.

Unfortunately, Storm Arwen had other ideas and as everyone in the north-east is well aware the night of 26th November meant, not a celebration as planned, but a night of utter devastation of millions of trees, blocking of roads, damaging properties and lengthy power cuts for many.

Changes again in Covid restrictions also meant the rescheduled date had to be cancelled which then took the event back online as we had done in the previous years, hopefully 2022 will be better.

Not to be thwarted we all came together over zoom, with a drink in hand to celebrate our women in business. We were welcomed with our long-standing members and many new ones, even during the lockdown and restrictions we were delighted that many new members have joined the group.

A lovely evening was had by all. It was great to have all our finalists able to attend. Many had been unable, due to various circumstances, to attend the in-person events. One benefit of online events means you can attend an event which you may not normally be able to, no travelling, no worrying about babysitters and no need for a taxi home.

It wasn’t quite the way I expected to end my year as MBW President, however it was great to share the moments with our members.

After the event, as I did in 2020, I went out to meet our winners to present their trophies, certificates and flowers. It was fantastic to see them all, socially distanced of course.

First, we had Marie Smith of Artisan Bothy who was the winner of Most Enterprising Business, Laura Thomson of ST Law took the prize for Best New Business, Caroline Dunbar of Kula Coffee Hut won Best New Product/Service. Debi Weir of Moray School Bank was the very popular winner of Moray Business Woman of the Year and Susan Longmuir of Susan Longmuir Architect was the Member of Inspiration voted for by her peers.

I wish to congratulate again all our finalists and winners on their achievements.

I had one more duty to undertake before handing over my Presidency. It was a great pleasure to hand over our fundraising cheque of £3124.29 to Jean Pryde from Moray Wellbeing Hub. This was a fantastic achievement through the year of restrictions. Thank you to all who contributed.

Each year Moray Business Women choose a charity or good cause to help raise funds and also raise awareness.

Amy Mortimer - President for 2021.

New year and new President, Alison Read held the first event for 2022, once again an on-line event. It was held on the 26th January to allow the shortlisted ‘charities’ for 2022 to pitch to the MBW members. CHAS, Moray Baby Bank and Moray School Bank had been shortlisted and all gave outstanding presentations to the members along with a short Q&A. It was a very tough decision for the members as all are very worthy causes. All MBW members were then given the opportunity to vote, those not in

attendance being able to watch a recording of the presentations prior to the vote closing on Sunday 30th January.

On Monday 31st January Moray School Bank were announced as the winners of a very close vote.

MBW look forward to working with our new charity in 2022 and helping them fundraise and raise awareness.

Our next event will be a networking evening on February 24th. Details available via our Facebook page: @MorayBusinessWomen and website www.mbwc.org.uk

Two new initiatives for members in 2022 are a Book Club and Lunch and Learn sessions.

You can find out more about the benefits of membership through our website, or by emailing www.mbwc.org.uk

Alison Read – President for 2022.

Marie Smith Laura Thomson

Caroline Dunbar Debi Weir

Grow your network Promote your business Develop yourself and others with Moray Business Women

Moray Business Women is a dynamic organisation for women across Moray. We are friendly, supportive and committed to empowering our members to reach and exceed their business goals. Join us at our monthly events for networking, business and fun.

To find out more, visit our website: www.mbwc.org.uk, find us on Facebook: @MorayBusinessWomen, or simply speak to any of our members.

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