Juliet England: Entrepreneurs in the spotlight at Deaf Business Awards

Organisers have described this year’s Deaf Business Awards ceremony, held in Liverpool earlier this summer, as the ‘best yet’.

It was the third time the scheme has been run by Deaf Business Academy (DBA), in conjunction with the biennial International Festival for Business in Liverpool, the largest event of its kind to be held in the UK.

CEO at DBA Dionne Thomas says: “At the festival, we held an event called Foundations for Growth, focusing on the tools, education and resources needed to help deaf-led businesses build strong foundations so they can grow. Our awards are part of our ethos of recognising, promoting and celebrating deaf-led business. Encouraging and facilitating growth will always be a huge part of what we do.

“Deaf-led business is rarely recognised by mainstream award givers, yet deaf people contribute massively to business. We want to see a world where deaf-led business not only competes equally with mainstream business, but is appreciated for its contribution to the economy and for the wealth of skills and talent within the Deaf community.”

In a change of venue this time, the ceremony was held at the Foresight Centre, part of the University of Liverpool and a centrally located, Grade II-listed building.

“We’ll be back!” enthuses Thomas. “It’s stunning on the outside and modern on the inside, with original features like ceilings, tiles, arches and pillars.”

She spoke at the ceremony, alongside honorary research fellow Dr Audrey Cameron from Heriot-Watt University, and Dr Luigi Lerose, BSL and Deaf Studies lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire.

Both are part of European employment projects researching barriers to employment and self- employment and developing tools, resources and training to overcome them. Heriot-Watt includes interpreters in its project.

Joining these speakers was Michael Green of Kaleidoscope Investment, which invests in disabled entrepreneurs. He talked about his organisation’s ethos and aims, and the investment programmes open to deaf businesses.

Thomas adds: “We built in a lot of networking time into the day, because there are so few chances for deaf businesses to network without the need for interpreters. Everyone said how much they valued meeting other deaf-led business people, and that they were impressed at the range of businesses who attended.”

In all, the scheme this year attracted a record number of more than 6,500 online votes from members of the public in five different categories, with more than 30 deaf businesses nominated.

And the winners were:

Outstanding Development – 1st place, Queesra & King Boutique, 2nd place Support the Deaf People

Outstanding Contribution – 1st place, Support the Deaf People, 2nd Remark! Community

Best Creative Business – 1st place, Angel & Teresa’s Handcrafted Goods, 2nd Alex Jobson, Magician

Best Business Start-up – 1st place, Deaf4Deaf Counselling, 2nd Yumma Food & Cafe

Finally, the most coveted award of all, for Best UK Deaf Business, went to Queesra & King Boutique, with Teach Me Sign the runner-up.

Thomas concludes: “It was amazing! It’s been the best most participated in awards scheme to date and shows that deaf business is a growing community, which the awards will continue to support and promote for a long time to come.

“It was people’s reactions to their awards that got me. It really meant so much that we had emotional responses and even tears!”

Victoria Nelson, director and counsellor at Deaf4Deaf says: “It’s such a boost to our team to be recognised and valued in providing a much-needed counselling service. This award will enable us to open more doors and break down barriers – we’re proud to continue the team effort.”

Meanwhile, winners Queersra & King simply said on Facebook “Yes, yes, yes! We have won two awards!”

The Deaf Business Awards scheme will be run again in 2020.

By Juliet England. Read more of Juliet’s articles for us here.

Juliet England does freelance social media and PR work for cSeeker.