Top companies win prestigious business awards

Richard Gooding, (pictured right) chief executive of London City Airport, declared that the judges must have suffered “a rush of blood to the head” to pick him out as Business Person of the Year, an award sponsored by The Wharf.

Later he said: “There are hundreds of people who work here at the airport and they are the unsung heroes and heroines every day.

“I get the privilege of being seen and being identified and taking the credit often for what they do. So this is huge recognition for the team.”

Other winners included IT quality assurance consultants Testhouse Ltd, named business of the year after it had acquired blue-chip names such as Barclays and Microsoft as clients.

Pinpoint Communications took the marketing excellence award and the green business award went to Park Communications.

Alongside Gay Harrington, of sponsor Canary Wharf Group, DBC chairman Rita Beckwith hosted the award ceremony. She told invited guests that “there were no losers” as the standard of entries had been so high.

The judging process involved submissions and presentations to DBC officials and award sponsors.

The evening began with a champagne boat trip from Canary Wharf to Greenwich where guests were met by airport marshalls in a mock-up of a landing strip, reflecting London City Airport’s backing of the event.