Finalists announced for 2022 Black British Business Awards

Celebrating the exceptional achievements and contributions of Black professionals and entrepreneurs to the UK economy.

The Black British Business Awards (BBBAwards) are back and celebrating exceptional Black business talent for the ninth year. The BBBAwards is the premier UK awards ceremony of its kind that celebrates exceptional professionals and business owners from the Black community. The BBBAwards ceremony will be held in the City of London on 29th September.

To date, the BBBAwards have showcased over 350 individuals and 80 organisations who are championing Black excellence in business. The BBBAwards ceremony is a key highlight of Black History month in the UK and the celebration is attended by senior business leaders, government officials and prominent Black influencers from all industries. 

Previous winners of the BBBAwards include Steven Bartlett, co-founder of Social Chain and the latest Dragon on Dragons Den, Dorothy Koomson, award-winning writer, and Sir Trevor McDonald OBE.

The BBBAwards also leverage its convening power to collaborate with strategic partners and drive cross-company initiatives that focus on the advancement of racial and ethnic minority professionals and business owners in the UK.

Interventions that are delivering transformational impact include the Mid-Career Talent Accelerator, Race in the Boardroom, Employee Resource Group Leader eMBA Programme, Facebook Boost and Weber Shandwick ‘RISE’ strategic PR initiative all of which support Black professionals and their representation within all sectors, from the most senior leaders to rising talent, who all make significant contributions to the UK economy. 

Sophie Chandauka MBE, Head of Americas Risk Management and Intelligence at Meta and Chair and Executive Founder of the BBBAwards said: “We are proud to reveal this group of BBBAwards finalists that are recognised by industry leaders as individuals who are delivering extraordinary value, demonstrating relevance and criticality to some of the most systemically important global corporations following the cataclysmic events of 2020. Our creatives are redefining advertising, music, cuisine, film, art and architecture. Their works have been featured and celebrated in prestigious venues and festivals internationally including the BAFTAs, Cannes, Guggenheim Museum, Somerset House and The Africa Centre. Our entrepreneurs have ceased this moment to pitch for venture capital, digitise their businesses and compete in marketplaces that were previously impenetrable in the pre-George Floyd era. This ninth year of the BBBAwards is simply breath-taking!”

For the third year running, J.P. Morgan will be the Key Partner of the BBBAwards and will retain this role going into the BBBAwards’ 10-year anniversary next year. 

Cecil Peters, Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in EMEA at J.P. Morgan: "We’re proud to sponsor the Black British Business Awards again. They celebrate a remarkable group of people who have made a real impact and driven meaningful change across the industry. Heartfelt congratulations to the finalists”.

Wells Fargo is the 2022 Judging Day Sponsor, and the Daily Telegraph will be the BBBAwards’ official Media Partner.

Category Sponsors include Baker McKenzie, Barclays, Bloomberg, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, P&G, Tranzfar, and Wellington Management. Through their support of the BBBAwards, these organisations are demonstrating that race equity is a key priority as they celebrate the progress made at this year’s BBBAwards ceremony.

The 2022 BBBAwards honours outstanding business talent in six industry categories, celebrating both rising stars and senior leaders. The finalists for the 2022 BBBAwards are as follows:

Arts and Media Rising Star  

• Ola Christian, Casting Director & Producer, Levile TV
• Yinka Ilori, Founder and Creative Director, Yinka Ilori Studio
• Natalie Morris, Journalist and Author, Freelance

Arts and Media Senior Leader of the Year   

• Suzann McLean, CEO and Artistic Director, Theatre Peckham
• Juanita Rosenior, Managing Director, TGRG
• Trix Worrell, Writer and Co-founder, Distant Voices

Consumer and Luxury Rising Star

• Prince Chakanyuka, E-commerce Customer Supply Chain Manager, P&G
• Tahlia Gray, Founder and Director, Sheer Chemistry International
• Ephraim Onyegbule, Director, Ephthebarber Ltd

Consumer and Luxury Senior Leader of the Year 

• Patrice Gordon, Director, Commercial Strategy Development, Virgin Atlantic
• Sharon McBean, Owner, Nia Ballerina
• Kené Umeasiegbu, Campaigns Director, Tesco

Entrepreneur Rising Star

• Jessica Elliott, Talent Agent, Jessica Elliott Management Ltd
• Fabio Ussumane Embaló, Chief Executive Officer, Viaduct Generation
• Troy Johnson, Founder, Juici Jerk Ltd

 Entrepreneur Senior Leader of the Year  

• Connie Barrett, Owner & Director, Kids in Charge
• Tommie Edwards, Founder and CEO, Tedbree
• Gori Yahaya, Founder & CEO, UpSkill Digital

 Financial Services Rising Star  

• Simeon Greaves, Associate Director, Wealth Manager, Coutts & Co.
• Tracey Ofori-Kumah, Equities Trading, Wells Fargo
• Natalie Ojevah MBE, Eagle Labs Diversity & Inclusion Lead, Barclays

Financial Services Senior Leader of the Year  

• Adesuyi Agbede, Chief Data Officer, Wellington Management
• Sean Alleyne, Chief Operating Officer for Credit Suisse AG London, Credit Suisse AG
• Tobi Rufus, Executive Director, Goldman Sachs

Professional Services Rising Star  

• Hanna Afolabi, Managing Director and Founder, Mood and Space
• Samuel Aluko, Manager, Business Risks & Controls – Financial Services, PwC
• Vincent Egunlae, Strategic Leadership Team, Assistant Manager, Grant Thornton UK LLP

Professional Services Senior Leader of the Year  

• Raymond Evans, Owner and Managing Director, SRI Forensics Limited
• John McCalla-Leacy, Partner & UK Head of ESG, KPMG (UK)
• Amaechi Nsofor, NED, Institute of Directors, and Partner, Grant Thornton UK LLP

STEM Rising Star  

• Becky George-David, Product Head, Business Banking Partnerships, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
• Ivan Kayima, CEO, Spiela
• Tolulope Oke, Global ID&E Customer Engagement Leader, Amazon Web Services

STEM Senior Leader of the Year   

• Kunle Falodun, VP Distribution & Networks, Africa, Sony Pictures Television
• Edmund Reid, Group Head of Corporate Development, Centrica
• Ike Olowoye, Senior Director, Late Oncology Global Portfolio and Project Management, AstraZeneca

The official announcement of the 2022 BBBAwards winners will happen on 30^th September.

The  Black British Business Awards (BBBAwards) is the only premium awards programme of its kind in the UK. Established in 2014, it has been endorsed by three Prime Ministers, the Mayor of London and global business leaders. The annual Awards ceremony confirms the strength of the Black talent pipeline by highlighting the commercial excellence of Black professionals and entrepreneurs, who stand as role models and substantial contributors to the UK economy.

The BBBAwards has emerged as a powerful change agent for Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic talent advancement in the UK.  From inception, in addition to the world-class awards ceremony, the BBBAwards has focused on strong collaborations with corporate partners and global thought leaders such as the 30% Club, CBI’s Change the Race Ratio (CtRR), London First, Diversio, the Executive Leadership Council (ELC), Portfolio Institutional, Delta Alpha Psi (Delta) and The Network of Networks (TNON) to drive perception, culture and systems change to ensure racial equity at work. Through these partnerships, the BBBAwards has established research-led, high-impact initiatives to promote the attraction, retention, and advancement of racial and ethnic minorities in the workplace. 

These initiatives deliver value to a growing network of over 130 significant multinational corporations including Bloomberg, Barclays, Cisco, Deloitte, Facebook, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Moody’s, Morgan Stanley, Ralph Lauren, Shell, Virgin, Visa, Weber Shandwick to name a few. 

For more information, visit www.thebbbawards.com/  

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com