Businesses across Newham were recognised at an awards ceremony in Stratford.
Newham Chamber of Commerce held the Newham Business Awards, supported by the Recorder, at Old Town Hall last night (October 13).
There were 14 awards dished out during proceedings, ranging from customer service and Covid response and resilience to civic and community engagement and e-business of the year.
The evening's big winner was Tinique Hay, whose business Hay Events won business of the year.
The West Ham resident was also awarded the young entrepreneur of the year accolade.
She said: "I was completely taken aback by it - I never thought I would get two awards."
Tinique officially launched the business in February 2020 and said moving to virtual events helped her through Covid.
"I didn't want a global pandemic to stop me in my stride and stop me from pursuing what I really wanted to do."
It was always her goal to become an entrepreneur, she revealed, and she initially dreamt of owning her own Caribbean restaurant.
Other inspirations include BBC TV show The Apprentice.
On being named business of the year, she said: "It means everything. For me, it means that I've been seen and heard. It means I am able to elevate my visibility and credibility for the work that I've been doing."
The solo entrepreneur won £1,000 and said she plans to invest the money towards employing another member of staff and growing the business.
London School of Academics managing director Sheila Singh won business person of the year and the school also took home the corporate social responsibility award.
Sheila said: "I feel really good because I didn't realise how much the work I did actually benefitted people."
Her advice to start-up businesses was "follow your dreams".
"If you choose the right path and you believe in yourself, you can conquer anything."
It was the sixth year of the Newham Business Awards and Chris Abell, who was on the judging panel and is head of property and local affairs at Tate and Lyle, hailed the scheme.
He said: "This is always a fantastic event and Newham is a fantastic place to do business.
"This event underlines the vitality, the entrepreneurialism, the variety, the excitement and opportunity within the borough and it's great to come out and celebrate it."
The evening, which was attended by dignitaries such as East Ham MP Sir Stephen Timms, also included a speech from Josephine Fairley, the co-founder of Green and Black's chocolate company.
Full list of winners:
Business of the year - Hay Events
Business person of the year - Sheila Singh, London School of Academics
Young entrepreneur of the year - Tinique Hay, Hay Events
Business growth - IC Training Centre
Civic and community engagement - Irons Supporting Foodbanks
Best innovation in business - Eagle London Agency
Corporate social responsibility - London School of Academics
E-business of the year - Promo2u
Covid response and resilience - Stratford Original Business Improvement District
Positive mental health and wellbeing - IC Training Centre
Sole/micro trader of the year - Date Sultan
Customer service - Contemporary Home Designs
Staff training and development - Good Hotel London
Green business of the year - Aardra Systems
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