Author: Oleksandr

What is The Lloyds Bank British Business Excellence Awards?

The Lloyds Bank British Business Excellence Awards is the elite business awards programme for businesses of all shapes and sizes.
Celebrating the resilience, innovation and creativity of British businesses, whether big or small, an innovative new start-up or an established industry player, private, public or third sector, the awards aim to showcase excellence in the country. The awards host a year long programme of networking events, round tables, exemplar judging processes which all then culminate in a glittering awards ceremony on Tuesday 9th November at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London.

We’re delighted to be finalists in the New Business of the Year Award

The New Business of the Year recognises the companies that have exceeded their initial targets for growth and already show importance within their sector or industry through significant innovation and leadership. After what has been a very strange year for a lot of us, EVONA are proud to have tripled in size and not furloughed a single member of staff through lockdown. We’ve been keen to keep the company together and inclusive, seeking new innovative ways to stay connected and ensure new members of staff are onboarded so they feel they’re part of the crew from day one.

The winning entry will demonstrate how their business concept has met and overcome challenges, adopted a clear understanding of their market, shown significant innovation, built a strong team and has the foundations in place for continued success and potential expansion – EVONA are hopeful that we will meet, and exceed, all of these specifications.

Open to any organisation that began trading less than three years ago, this award will go to the company that best demonstrates the following:

• Significant growth through meeting and exceeding key objectives
• Innovation through product and services
• Consideration of customer and employee engagement
• Effective leadership and vision
• Ethical approach to business
• Plans to sustain financial growth
• Finances on track with business strategy

Event Director of The Lloyds Bank British Business Excellence Awards (BBEA), Sarah Austin said: “Our awards are a national platform to showcase, celebrate and honour the very best of British business. Becoming a finalist is a very impressive accolade; all our finalists stood out as truly creative and innovative during a turbulent year for British businesses; they have proven their companies to be resilient, entrepreneurial and really are best of class.”

We’ll find out in November if we’ve been awarded this outstanding accolade, but for now, getting this nomination is proof enough for us that we’re heading in the right direction.

What are the Stevie® Awards?

The Stevie® Awards are the world’s premier business awards.  They were created in 2002 to honour and generate public recognition of the achievements and positive contributions of organizations and working professionals worldwide.  In short order the Stevie has become one of the world’s most coveted prizes.

More than 3,700 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year for consideration in a wide range of categories, including Company of the Year, Marketing Campaign of the Year, Best New Product or Service of the Year, Startup of the Year, Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year, and Executive of the Year, among others.  This year’s competition also featured a number of categories to recognize organizations’ and individuals’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The International Business Awards are the world’s premier business awards program. All individuals and organizations worldwide – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small – are eligible to submit nominations. The 2021 IBAs received entries from organizations in 63 nations and territories.

Stevie Award winners were determined by the average scores of more than 260 executives worldwide who participated in the judging process from June through early August.

A Gold and 3 Silvers for EVONA

We’re delighted to say that, EVONA was named the winner of a Gold Stevie® Award in the category in Founding Team of the Year – Business Services Industries

PLUS a Silver in Management Team of the Year, Employer of the Year ( Business and Professional Services) and Company of the Year – Small Business or Professional Services in The 18th Annual International Business Awards®!

You can view all the winners here>

“What we’ve seen in this year’s IBA nominations is that organizations around the world, in every sector, have continued to innovate and succeed, despite the setbacks, obstacles and tragedies of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” said Stevie Awards president Maggie Gallagher.  “All of this year’s Stevie Award winners are to be applauded for their persistence and their resilience.  We look forward to celebrating their achievements with them during our 8 December virtual awards ceremony.”

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About the Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in eight programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, the Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards®, The International Business Awards®, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000 nominations each year from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honouring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.StevieAwards.com.

What are the Growing Business Awards?

The Growing Business Awards are the most credible and highly valued recognition of exceptional growing businesses. Now entering their 23rd year, they celebrate the strength, vision and resilience of fast-growing SMEs – these are the accolades that UK SMEs really want to win!

Since 1998, the Growing Business Awards have been bringing together and honouring some of the UK’s most outstanding entrepreneurs and high-growth businesses. Consistent high-quality of nominees, numerous categories and a finely-honed judging process have ensured the Growing Business Awards have made a name for themselves as a leading judge of past, current and future entrepreneurial success.

EVONA Nominated as Employer of the Year

We’re honoured to be nominated as finalists in Employer of the Year Category.

Our team is always at the core of everything we do and we believe that a happy crew is where the strength of any company lies. From incredible flexible benefits to unlimited remote working and unlimited holiday, from the day EVONA was created we knew we wanted to be different.

We promise our crew no Sunday night anxiety and no Monday morning blues. This is what nominates like this mean so much to us!‍

EVONA’s Co-founders Ryan and Jack went to London on the 17th September to meet with the judges and impart our passion for our sector. We’ll be going to the award ceremony on the 24th Nov and will be sure to take you all with us! Keep an eye on our socials and hopefully a bit of good news!

Huge news this week for EVONA as we were nominated as finalist in the Great British Entrepreneur Awards!

Born out of a belief that entrepreneurs are as much about their story as they are their balance sheet, in 2012, the Great British Entrepreneur Awards were launched. The aim was to create a platform that celebrated and championed the entrepreneurs behind brilliant businesses (hear that, they said: ‘brilliant businesses‘!)

Last week EVONA were selected as a South West finalist for the coveted Disruptor of the Year award – beating over 5,000 companies in the process.

Check out all the nominations here >>

What is a ‘Disruptor’?

Disruptors are purpose-driven pioneers of change. This rare breed of entrepreneur is conspicuous for their modest talk and wealth of action; they pick up on the missed stitches in business to bring solutions that make our lives easier, faster and better connected…

Tenacious and analytical, innovators live outside the box and are guided by their entrepreneurial imagination. Free flowing ideas mean they naturally adapt to change and take the lead while doing so. They expect the unexpected and perceive opportunity in all facets of life.

The Disruptor of the Year will engender these attributes through unique alternatives that have improved their sector and disrupted the status quo.

EVONA has always strived to challenge perceptions – whether that’s breaking down the perceived barriers to enter into the space sector through our STEM work, creating a business model that turned recruitment on its head or tipping the life/work balance in the right direction through flexible remote working, we’re constantly pushing boundaries.

Announcing the finalists

GBEA Founder, Francesca James, said the quality of this year’s entrants exemplified the strength of entrepreneurship across the UK: “We have seen some incredible finalists over the years, and this year is no exception. It really is one of the strongest shortlists we’ve ever had, and the fact that so many exceptional people have applied during such a tough year is a testament to the resolve and entrepreneurial talent that exists across the UK.

“Creating the shortlist out of so many wonderful applications was incredibly tough, so I don’t envy the judges who will now decide the regional winners. Everyone who has been shortlisted should be incredibly proud and we’re thrilled to be able to showcase their achievements.”

And, how ‘Incredibly proud’ we are…‍

The results of the category will be announced later this month on the 15th July and we’ll be sure to keep you up to date. However, this nomination is recognition enough of an incredible year for EVONA. A year where we’ve tripled in size, improved company performance YoY, not furloughed a single member of staff and grown the business into an incredible force – all during a global pandemic.

What a crazy ride it’s been so far with many more great times ahead of us!

NEVER GO TO SPACE ALONE

This year EVONA have pledged to reduce our carbon footprint…

Together we must act now

The climate crisis has been at the forefront of many of our minds for the past few years, with increasing global temperatures, rising sea levels, extreme weather events and melting icecaps – It’s impossible to ignore the impact human activity is having on the earth. Whilst the term climate change is used by scientists to describe complex changes caused by greenhouse gas emissions, the levels of carbon dioxide are the most worrying, accounting for 76% of all emissions. These carbon dioxide emissions are mainly created from burning organic materials such as coal, oil, gas, wood, and solid waste.

It has been estimated that the globe only has one fifth of its “carbon budget” left until the amount carbon in the atmosphere will cause an increase of 2 degrees in the global temperature. Something that would be catastrophic for the earth and life as we know it, which is why it is so important for us to act now.

In light of this, EVONA have pledged to reduce our carbon footprint with an aim to become carbon neutral, but what does being carbon neutral mean?

Carbon neutrality does not mean producing no carbon; however, it is the balance between carbon emitted to carbon absorbed from the atmosphere – which usually happens through carbon sinks. The main natural carbon sinks are forests, soil and oceans which are estimated to remove between 9.5 and 11Gt of CO2 per year and yet the world produced around 34gt in 2020.

We are planting 2 trees per employee every month

As part of our strategy to reduce our carbon footprint and become a carbon neutral corporation we have started growing our own forest with the help of Tree-Nation, a reforestation initiative aiming to stop climate change by planting trees. EVONA has committed to planting two trees every month per employee in order to offset the carbon that we produce. Here’s a few reasons why and what we have achieved so far…

Trees are vital to the planet’s survival

During photosynthesis trees absorb carbon from the atmosphere and use it for the construction of new biomass, whilst a small percentage of carbon is re-released back into the atmosphere a great deal of it gets trapped in carbon locking processes. This is why not only reforestation is important but also protecting existing areas as when trees are cut down and burned or allowed to rot, their stored carbon is released into the air as carbon dioxide.

It’s important to remember that planting trees cannot replace slashing carbon emissions…

As we grow, we are becoming more aware of our impact on the environment and are continuously looking for ways of incorporating greener strategies into our business. The seriousness of the climate crisis cannot be ignored and the decision to plant trees as our main strategy is not the only way we are contributing to helping the planet. For example, our office is completely paper free, and you can find out more about the pledges EVONA have made this year and the ways we are working to be a greener company.

‍How you can make a difference

You may have already heard of the Paris agreement, which has seen 196 parties agree to a legally binding international treaty on climate change. With many countries submitting drastic action plans to tackle the issues in 2020, there is hope that the next 30 years we will begin to see real change happen. That doesn’t mean your own personal efforts go unnoticed and we all have a part to play in this.

We would love for you to be a part of our mission to plant as many trees as possible and offset carbon by growing the EVONA forest. You can see the work we have already done over on Tree-Nation and plant your own trees in our forest too!

TO DONATE TREES TO THE EVONA FOREST CLICK HERE

If you are as passionate about the cause as we are and want to consider a number of ways you can live more sustainably the UN has suggested 10 simple actions to get you started:

•  5-minute showers
• Bring your own bag – all EVONA staff have their own branded bag when they join the company
• Drive less
• Turn the lights off – our office lights switch on and off automatically, saving us money and saving the planet! 
• Buy local produce (or even grow your own)
• Eat more plant-based meals
• Recycle – we recycle all the waste from the office where we can
• Refill and Re-use – all EVONA staff have their own insulated mug and water bottle in their welcome pack when they join.
• Unplug devices when you aren’t using them – EVONA operate a remote working / hot desk policy, so no electronic screens or computers are ever left on stand by in our office.
• Zero waste fashion

Also, if you are curious to learn more about the environment and the effects of climate change, there’s a number of resources and documentaries you can turn to:

• Our Planet – David Attenborough
• An Inconvenient Truth
• Chasing Coral
• Kiss the Ground
• Cowspiracy
• Paris to Pittsburgh
• 2040
• One Strange Rock

EVONA ANNOUNCES NEWSPACE HIRING SURGE AND 610% YEAR OVER YEAR REVENUE GROWTH

Newspace specific recruitment group announces expansion plans and global hiring surge

(BRISTOL, UK March 17, 2020) Bristol-based space-sector recruitment firm, EVONA announced today an 610% increase year percentage in year-over-year revenue for the NewSpace specific Recruitment firm. EVONA is focusing on high-growth opportunities including global expansion based on a 300% increase in staff since the first year of its inception. EVONA was founded by four experienced space industry recruiters and career-shapers: Ryan Hill, Richard Joyce, Tom Kelly, and Jack Madley. The founders have made it their mission to further the progress of today’s space sector by preparing and sourcing talented members of the space workforce.

EVONA’s expansion culminated in a new office move this year to commemorate the exponential Year over year growth and the announcement of new international expansion plans. EVONA has continued to build on its successes after launching in January 2019 offering itself as the first firm exclusively dedicated recruitment and resources for New space companies and candidates. The company is reinvesting the new capital in creating a one-stop resource for new space candidates and those in industries that may not be aware of new space opportunities, focusing on high-growth opportunities for companies and candidates alike. The rebranding is signalling its readiness to expand staffing and recruiting services from the UK and Europe to serve global markets with an emphasis on the US market. A space-sector recruitment firm. EVONA positions itself to be a thought-leader in space-sector recruiting with an engaging new website.

“We’re seeing and searching for candidates from more traditional industries and job sectors, who may not even know they have very applicable and desired skills in the news space sector. We are tremendously excited to show job-seekers and our clients just how simple and painless recruiting can be. We realized the big difference that impassioned, newspace-focused recruiters can make on a space-sector startup’s trajectory. We are lowering the barrier for those interested in joining the revolution. We want people to look at every position in NewSpace and see someone who looks just like them. It is the only time in our day when it’s not rocket science,” said Tom Kelly Co-CEO and Co-Founder of EVONA.

A key component of EVONA’s mission is instilling an interest in and passion for space-sector careers in school-age students, as they represent the next generation of minds who will help move humanity beyond Earth in the decades to come. EVONA’s in-school programs and online curricula aim to inspire and prepare students to take the steps necessary to pursue careers in the space industry. EVONA’s tagline, “Never Go to Space Alone,” encapsulates the company’s intention to foster a global network of passionate industry talent and companies who will work together to elevate the potential of humankind.