Attendees at the King’s Award Outreach Promotional Event, 12 May 2026 | Photography Credit: Nigel Skinner
As a new outreach initiative strives to expand access to the King’s Awards, we explore how business leaders and founders from all ethnicities can celebrate their achievements and receive the recognition they deserve OPENINGTHE DOORTO EXCELLENCE
A pioneering outreach initiative led by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Ethnic Minority Business Owners, in collaboration with the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), is helping to widen access to the King’s Awards for Enterprise.
The programme, now in its second year, is designed to ensure business founders from underserved and underrepresented ethnic minority communities are fully informed about the Award and supported to apply. It aims to address a long standing challenge: many
Parliamentary support Three high profile events have already taken place in a bid to highlight the many benefits of applying for a King’s Award. A parliamentary outreach event was held in 2025, a second parliamentary session took place this year, and a regional afternoon tea and speaker reception was held in Leeds. Last year’s parliamentary event was attended by Gareth Thomas MP, the then Small Business Minister, alongside MPs and Peers from across the House. This year’s parliamentary event was attended by Rupa Huq MP in her capacity as Chair of the APPG for Ethnic Minority Business Owners. The Leeds event was joined by Deputy Lieutenant Sandy Needham OBE, together with representatives from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). These events are already generating meaningful outcomes. An ethnic minority business owner from the wider outreach community has now received a King’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade, and dozens of founders have contacted the APPG and DBT with follow up questions about applying. As one attendee says: “It was an honour to attend such a distinguished occasion bringing together
exceptional ethnic minority led businesses are unaware of the King’s Awards for Enterprise or assume it is not accessible to them. Early results show that this targeted approach is already breaking down barriers and inspiring a new wave of applicants. “We want every eligible founder to feel informed and confident about the King’s Awards for Enterprise,” says the APPG Chair. “By taking this outreach directly into communities, we are widening awareness and ensuring more outstanding businesses know this opportunity is open to them.”
King’s Award Outreach Event Breakfast, House of Commons 30th April 2026. Left to right - King’s Award for Enterprise previous recipients Sunny Jain, Purnima Sen, APPG Special Advisor Diana Chrouch OBE, APPG Chair Rupa Huq MP and King’s Award for Enterprise previous recipient Jay Shen | Photography Credit: Andy Sillett
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