Making the world a better place is not anathema to achieving a business’ objectives – financial or otherwise. The Corporate Engagement Awards has, for the past nine years, celebrated those organisations that seek to do good in their communities while simultaneously benefiting the business itself.

This year’s winners set the benchmark in sustainable development, collaborative partnerships, CSR initiatives and the communications surrounding them. The Corporate Engagement Awards were celebrated last night at a gala ceremony at the Brewery in London.

This year’s ‘Grand prix’ winners exemplify that excellence across their communications activities. Warner Bros. Entertainment worked with partners to make the entertainment industry a more inclusive, diverse and welcoming place to young creatives across Britain. Additionally, companies like UBS, which have supported a local school for many years, or Samsung, which partnered with the Science Museum to affect change in STEM education, are seeking to make a difference to people at a young age. Others, like Enable Sweden and Hepsiburada are working through partnerships to make change in their respective communities.

Brittany Golob, publishing editor of Communicate magazine, says, “Having reported on corporate sponsorships, partnerships and CSR in Communicate magazine for almost seven years, the excellent, inspiring, world-changing work done by businesses across Europe has never been a surprise to me. But what has been pleasantly surprising is the shift in employee attitudes making the companies that strive to do good the most sought-after employers. The organisations represented in this year’s Corporate Engagement Awards are setting the standard for developing excellent CSR programmes, community-improving partnerships and employee-driven collaborative change. I congratulate all of you for your hard work at making the world a better place, one company at a time.”

The winners list this year also includes several companies that have consistently proven a commitment to CSR, sustainability and collaborative working. The likes of Lansons, O2, the NSPCC, Coca-Cola and UBS, among others, have been lauded by judges year after year for a consistently excellent approach to corporate engagement.

More information about the winners can be found here.

The full list of winners is as follows:

Partnerships

Best arts and culture programme
Gold – Warner Bros. Entertainment & AMPAS, BAFTA, BFI, Chickenshed, Glasgow Caledonian University, IADT, Into Film, NFTS, RADA, Ravensbourne, ScreenSkills and University of Hertfordshire
Silver – HighTide and Lansons
Bronze – Edinburgh International Festival and Edinburgh Gin

Best charity, NGO or NFP programme
Gold – The Daily Mile and Media Zoo
Silver – KPMG, National Numeracy and Forster Communications
Bronze – My Peak Challenge and Bloodwise

Best educational programme
Gold – UBS and the Bridge Academy
Silver – Young Citizens Charity and FTI Consulting
Bronze – Battersea Power Station Development Company and EdComs Ltd
Bronze – Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust and HSBC
Highly commended – Jazz Pakistan and VEON

Best environmental or sustainable programme
Gold – WWF UK and Coca-Cola Foundation
Silver – Barratt Developments plc and RSPB
Bronze – DP World FZE
Bronze – Smart Energy GB and Hill+Knowlton Strategies

Best pro-bono work for a charitable, social or ethical cause
Gold – Publicis Sapient
Silver – Fujitsu and Macmillan Cancer Support
Bronze – Dulux and AidCamps

Best sports and leisure programme
Gold – Enable Sweden, Gålö Foundation and Lundquist
Silver – Dulux and Threshold Sports
Bronze – DP World FZE
Highly commended – Heineken, UEFA Champions League and Edelman

Sponsorship

Best sponsorship activity to support or develop corporate reputation
Winner – Simplyhealth

Best alignment of brand values through a sponsorship activity
Winner – UBS and the Bridge Academy

Best engagement of an internal audience in a sponsorship programme
Winner – Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity and Royal Bank of Canada

Most effective sponsorship of a single event
Winner – Heineken, UEFA Champions League and Edelman

Most innovative sponsorship activity
Winner – Samsung, in collaboration with the Science Museum and Cheil UK

Corporate social responsibility

Best CSR activity or programme to support or develop a corporate reputation
Gold – Jazz Pakistan and VEON
Gold – O2 (Telefónica UK)
Silver – Battersea Power Station Development Company and EdComs Ltd
Bronze – Debenhams and Help for Heroes
Highly commended – AstraZeneca UK Ltd and Ashfield Meetings & Events

Best alignment of brand values during a CSR programme
Gold – Samsung, in collaboration with the Science Museum and Cheil UK
Silver – Young Citizens Charity and FTI Consulting
Bronze – AstraZeneca UK Ltd and Ashfield Meetings & Events
Bronze – Dulux Academy and Outward Bound Trust

Best community involvement during a CSR programme
Gold – Coca-Cola Great Britain, UKactive, Dundee, Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Stoke–on–Trent, Nottingham, Birmingham, Swansea, London Newham, Southampton Local Authorities and StreetGames
Silver – Beeline Russia and VEON
Bronze – Coca-Cola European Partners GB and UK Youth
Bronze – Debenhams and Help for Heroes

Best engagement of an internal audience in a CSR programme
Gold – BT
Silver – AstraZeneca UK Ltd and Ashfield Meetings & Events
Bronze – Dixons Carphone and Threshold Sports
Highly commended – Internet Matters, BT Group, Sky, TalkTalk, Virgin Media, Google, BBC, Huawei, Facebook, Instagram, Three and Samsung

Best collaboration for a single event
Gold – Barclays and Unreasonable Group

Most innovative collaboration
Gold – Samsung, in collaboration with the Science Museum and Cheil UK
Silver – HighTide and Lansons

Best foundation
Gold – Wheatley Group and Wheatley Foundation
Silver – SITA, Computer Aid, PEAS and Wits Foundation
Bronze – Moto in the Community and Help for Heroes

Time

Most effective one-off campaign
Gold – Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), Harry's, adam&eveDDB and ITV plc
Silver – NSPCC and O2

Most effective long-term commitment
Gold – NatWest MoneySense
Silver – Coca–Cola Great Britain, UKactive, Dundee, Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent, Nottingham, Birmingham, Swansea, London Newham, Southampton Local Authorities and StreetGames
Silver – Cotton Traders and Help for Heroes
Bronze – Internet Matters, BT Group, Sky, TalkTalk, Virgin Media, Google, BBC, Huawei, Facebook, Instagram, Three, Samsung and Goldbug
Highly commended – Moto in the Community and Help for Heroes

Communication

Best stakeholder communications
Gold – Anglian Water and Spring

Best PR and external communications
Gold – Goldbug, Internet Matters, BT Group, Sky, TalkTalk, Virgin Media, Google and BBC
Silver – Dulux, Community RePaint and Resource Futures
Bronze – Simplyhealth

Process

Best collaborative approach
Gold – NSPCC and O2
Gold – The Walt Disney Company, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children
Bronze – HighTide and Lansons

Best execution
Gold – Hepsiburada
Silver – The Daily Mile and Media Zoo

Grand prix
Winner – Warner Bros. Entertainment & AMPAS, BAFTA, BFI, Chickenshed, Glasgow Caledonian University, IADT, Into Film, NFTS, RADA, Ravensbourne, ScreenSkills and University of Hertfordshire