HERE’S your chance to get a front-row seat to the CREST21 Business Awards event, with registration now open and absolutely free.

Surrey’s first sustainable business awards are being streamed live from The Lightbox in Woking on Thursday 20 May.

Originally intended to take place last November in a gala setting, they were postponed because of the pandemic. This has allowed the founders, Woking News & Mail in association with the University of Surrey’s Centre for Environment and Sustainability (CES), an opportunity to re-introduce the awards as a hybrid event – in itself, more environmentally sustainable with the advantage of allowing a wider audience via online access.

CREST21 Awards provide an exclusive chance to gain insight on business sustainability from an exciting panel of speakers who include this year’s keynote speaker Joanna Yarrow, former Head of Sustainable & Healthy Living at IKEA. Joanna became something of a household name when she presented a number of TV programmes focused on protecting the environment, including the BBC’s Outrageous Wasters.

The awards aim to inspire and motivate innovation by enterprises to protect the environment and promote sustainable working and lifestyle habits with a series of categories. The event will also reveal the 2021 Sustainability Hero of the Year.

CREST21 Awards have drawn generous sponsorship and support from businesses and organisations based in Surrey, as well as headline sponsorship from Surrey County Council, and news of the shortlist of entry finalists is due to be published next week.

The categories are: Resilience in Crisis, Transforming Food, Going Circular, Efficiency Champion and Sustainability Impact.

Other speakers at the event include Ian Christie, senior lecturer at CES and knowledge exchange coordinator of the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity.

The awards also welcome Ruth Nic Aoidh, an executive director at McLaren Automotive and Natalie Bramhall, Surrey County Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change.