Winners of the CorpComms Awards announced

The John Lewis Partnership and its agency Given emerged as the big winners at the CorpComms Awards, in association with Unicepta, on 17 November at London’s Porchester Hall picking up the Grand Prix trophy.

The employee-owned organisation also picked up the trophies for Best Embodiment of Corporate Purpose, as it sought to re-engage its 78,000 partners with a refreshed purpose that remained true to the founding vision of John Spedan Lewis, and Best Employee Engagement Programme and Internal Communications Strategy as the new purpose rolled out across both John Lewis and Waitrose.

Matt Ridsdale, executive director of Camelot, received the Communications Professional accolade for his work in recent years, which included an innovative solution to save local theatres and enable them to stage pantomime performances despite Covid restrictions on audience numbers.

More than 450 guests attended the gala evening, which was hosted by Irish comedian Jason Byrne, where they saw Transport for London getting recognised for its work launching the Elizabeth Line and Dogs Trust receiving a trophy for its campaign to highlight its fostering arm, after the animal welfare charity saw an unprecedented rise in the number of dogs being brought to its rehousing centres as owners worried about the rising cost of living.

The two-person communications team for AkzoNobel, which is best known for its Dulux paint brand, picked up the trophy for Best in-house corporate communications team while Accenture was awarded Best in-house media relations team for the second year running. The judges noted how both entries highlighted the individual strengths of each team member, while offering insights into how they worked together. Amy Stone, senior communications consultant at Hard Numbers, was the recipient of the Young Achiever award while Victor Pinchuk Foundation’s Russian War Crimes House, a photographic and video exhibition of war crimes against Ukrainian people, which debuted in Davos, received the Editor’s Award.

The results:

Best community initiative
WINNER
The National Databank
Virgin Media O2, with Good Things Foundation
Agencies: Hope & Glory, Missive

Best consumer campaign
WINNER
The pathway to inclusive investment
BNY Mellon
Agency: FTI Consulting

Best corporate campaign
WINNER
Reshaping results
EY-Parthenon
Agency: Wardour

HIGHLY COMMENDED
Champions of SMB
Sage Group

Best corporate website
WINNER
group.legalandgeneral.com/en/inclusive-capitalism
Legal & General
Agency: Wardour

HIGHLY COMMENDED
lloydsbankinggroup.com
Lloyds Banking Group

Best digital campaign
WINNER
Milliways
Agency: Headland

Best diversity and inclusion programme
WINNER
Black internship programme
Health Data Research UK

Best embodiment of corporate purpose
WINNER
A Journey to Happier – How JLP embodied their new Purpose
John Lewis Partnership
Agency: Given

HIGHLY COMMENDED
Schneider Electric
Agency: Team Lewis

Best leadership communications
WINNER
New division, New leader
How we engaged colleagues with authentic leadership through a period of change
Legal & General
Agency: Kaptcha

Best media relations campaign
WINNER
Cost of living campaign
Dogs Trust

Best publication
WINNER
Perspective
Brewin Dolphin
Agency: Wardour

HIGHLY COMMENDED
Beyond Words – Images from the COVID-19 Pandemic
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Best use of video
WINNER
The Boxer
DRPG 

Best low budget campaign
WINNER
Launching the Elizabeth Line
Transforming transport in London
Transport for London

HIGHLY COMMENDED
Love Admin
Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust

Best live event
WINNER
The World Audiences Summit 2022
Kantar
Agency: Tyler Events

Best internal communications strategy
WINNER
How To Be Happier – Creating Purpose For 78,000 Partners
John Lewis Partnership
Agency: Given

Best employee engagement
WINNER
How To Be Happier – Creating Purpose For 78,000 Partners
John Lewis Partnership
Agency: Given

Best wellbeing initiative
WINNER
Growing Stronger Together – Rest, Reflect, Recover
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Best international campaign
WINNER
Work 2035: The Born Digital Effect
Citrix
Agency: Man Bites Dog

Best use of content
WINNER
Tomorrow, Today
Accenture
Agencies: Taylor Made Media, Fourteen Forty

In-house media relations team
WINNER
Accenture

HIGHLY COMMENDED
St James’s Place Capital

In-house corporate communications team
WINNER
AkzoNobel

HIGHLY COMMENDED
Kent Police

Best crisis management
WINNER
Best crisis management
Helping Amigo Home Loans Survive
Amigo Loans
Agency: Lansons

Young achiever
WINNER
Young achiever
Amy Stone
Senior communications consultant
Hard Numbers

Editor’s Award
WINNER
Russian War Crimes House
Victor Pinchuk Foundation
Agency: Finn Partners

Communications professional of the year
WINNER
Matt Ridsdale
Executive director
Camelot

Grand Prix
WINNER
John Lewis Partnership