Celebrating innovation and entrepreneurship in Oxfordshire

Now in their 12th year, the annual Oxford Trust Enterprise Awards recognise and celebrate the breadth of innovative companies and individual science entrepreneurs working in the Oxford region. The 2017 award ceremony will take place on 20th June at The King’s Centre on Osney Mead in Oxford and is run in partnership with Venturefest Oxford. The awards support entrepreneurs who are just starting out on their journey to success – in ground-breaking life sciences, cutting-edge engineering, and boundary-pushing digital technologies. They also reward established businesses who have made an impact on the regional economy. Over the last 12 years, around 40 individual businesses have won an enterprise award. This year the awards are sponsored by Barclays, Triteq and Marks & Clerk. The award categories are: the Barclays Award for Innovation; the Triteq Young Entrepreneurs Award; and the Marks & Clark Best Pitch for Technology. Both the Triteq and Marks & Clark awards will recognise companies that feature in Pitchfest – Venturefest’s growing programme of pitching events for new ideas. The Barclays Award for Innovation is given to an organisation that has spotted an opportunity in the market and created a new product that benefits society and the economy. Previous winners have been Mirada Medical and Immunocore – now a billion dollar company – and last year’s winners were Adaptix. They’ve developed a portable x-ray machine the size of laptop that will transform healthcare by reducing the number of hospital visits and providing access to hard-to-reach areas. Brilliant. The final presentation will be the Oxford Trust Lifetime Achievement Award. This will be given by Sir Martin and Lady (Audrey) Wood, founders of The Oxford Trust and celebrates an entrepreneur who’s had a major positive impact on enterprise, our economy and local communities. It is a great evening and, what’s more, you get to drink science-themed cocktails! Here’s to the future of science and technology in our region.