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BBA 2021 Nominees UK-Japan Partnership

Written by BCCJ
November 1, 2021
British Business Awards

By the conclusion of the British Business Awards 2021 (#BBA2021) nomination period, we had received 38 eligible nominations across 6 categories.

The following 7 companies are now in the running to lift the BBA UK-Japan Partnership trophy.

“Nominees should be joint-ventures, alliances, or other partnerships that have made demonstrable contributions to the enhancement of the UK-Japan economic or commercial relationship”.

BBA 2021 UK-Japan Partnership Nominees

Drax Group and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

This nomination is to recognise the UK’s first carbon capture contract which combines UK innovation and Japanese technology, with the potential to deliver the world’s largest carbon capture project. Drax Group are renewable energy giants, and a negative emissions pioneer – and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering, Ltd is a world leader of carbon capture technology.

Moixa Energy Holdings and Itochu Corporation

The partnership leverages Moixa’s cloud-based GridShare software in Japan, partnering with ITOCHU selling GridShare as part of ITOCHU’s home battery product offering to consumers in Japan. This has been a big success with more than 30,000 customers on the platform, an aggregate of 300MWh of stored energy.

NEC Software Solutions UK x NEC Corporation

Through this collaboration, by which NEC has welcomed NEC-SWS, formerly known as Northgate, into the group, NEC is enabling smoother flow of digital government practice between UK, Japan and beyond. By joining NEC group, NEC SWS gained financial clout to grow faster through acquisition and enjoy the benefit of advanced technology residing in the global NEC network.

Ocado Group x AEON Group

This nomination is to recognise the vital progress over the past 12 months – in challenging global conditions – of a partnership between two significant Japanese and UK businesses that are set to transform the nature of online grocery retailing in Japan.

Octopus Energy and Tokyo Gas

Octopus Energy, a UK-based energy disruptor using unique digital technology to spread renewable energy around the world, and Tokyo Gas, one of the largest new entrants to the Japanese electricity market since full deregulation, have partnered to form a new joint venture in Japan called TG Octopus Energy (consumer facing brand is ‘Octopus Energy’).

TG Octopus Energy, will work towards achieving its mission of providing affordable, renewable energy in Japan while delivering award-winning customer service like in the UK.

Sunderland City Council and Nissan Motors

In July 2021, Nissan with partners of Envision AESC and Sunderland City Council launched the EV36Zero project, £1billion investment for electric vehicle and battery hub in the UK Sunderland plant to accelerate the journey towards electrification and carbon neutrality in the automotive sector.

Wrightbus International and HATO BUS

Wrightbus International and Hato B Co Ltd have been delivering excellence in their respective regions for 75 years. This year sees the two iconic companies come together to showcase their excellence in innovation, sustainability and customer service on the streets of Tokyo and beyond.

Judging

The decision on a winning BBA 2021 entry is the result of the combined score of 6 separate judges, who independently score assigned submissions using the same scoring matrix.

To ensure transparency, each judge independently returns his or her score sheet to the BCCJ office by 3 November 2021 and the results are tabulated confidentially. The scores from each judge are then totalled for each nominee, and the nomination with the highest accumulative score is declared the category winner.

In the event of two nominees receiving the same final score, all judges will be asked to review their scores for these companies/individuals, and the submission with the highest score from this second round of judging will be declared the winner.

The final results remain confidential until the BBA ceremony – held on the evening of November 5, 2021 online. To book your space at the Awards, please register via the bookings page HERE

Judges

We are delighted to reveal the names of our BBA 2021 judges – a truly great lineup of accomplished leaders who are actively engaged in bolstering UK-Japan relations! This esteemed panel of judges will put into practice their expertise and specialist experience to decide which companies and individuals should receive a prestigious BBA trophy.

Noel Thatcher MBE | British Paralympian
Carolyn Davidson | British Consul-General, Osaka
Miwa Seki, Kathy Matsui, Yumiko Murakami | MPower Partners
Hideo Tomita | Managing Director, Refinitiv Japan K.K.
Liza Aono | Presenter, Cool Japan TV
Adrian Gillespie | Chief Executive, Scottish Enterprise