Third Annual Business Leaders Anniversary Dinner raises over £20,000

On Wednesday 15th November, 280 people from the Norfolk Business Leaders network attended the annual awards dinner at the Top of the Terrace, organised by Barclays Wealth Manager, Richard Pearce and Morris Peacock of Howes Percival.

During the evening, attendees enjoyed a three-course meal accompanied with wine from Loads4Less, followed by the infamous Foundation fundraising balloon raffle and a game of bingo. The network were also invited to take part in both a live and silent auction, with incredible prizes up for grabs, including overnight stays, Norwich City FC memorabilia, and fantastic experience days.

A variety of guest speakers took to the stage during the evening, including event host Richard Pearce (Barclays Private Bank and Wealth Manager and founder of the Business Leaders Anniversary Dinner) and Jackie Thornton (Director of Strategy and Development at the Foundation).

We were also lucky enough to be joined by Foundation Chairperson Jake Humphrey who gave an exclusive talk about his podcast, High Performance, discussing the need to be vulnerable, to learn through failure, and to come together as a collective to support charitable organisations such as ours. Jake then welcomed Realising Potential participant Charlie Pinner to learn more about the impact the Foundation has had on him. Charlie has been attending programmes with the Foundation since he was eight years old, attending over 1500 sessions with us during his time.

As the dinner neared conclusion, honours were awarded to business partners for an array of milestones, achievements, and acknowledgements.

Richard Pearce was named the winner of the Pay It Forward award (sponsored by Norwich Accountancy Services & Macinnes Whiskey), Norfolk’s Future Award (sponsored by Fisher & Co.) was taken home by Stokely Howard of Trendy Grandad, and John Adams from Jarrolds took the Lifetime Achievement Award (sponsored by Motorvogue).

New for 2023, the Foundation awarded the Outstanding Achievement award to the Peaky Climbers, for their incredible efforts in raising over £40,000 for the Foundation earlier this year.

The Foundation would like to extend a huge thank you to all the sponsors of the event:
Howes Percival, Broadland Consultants, Loads4Less, Barclays, Adsmart SKY, JMS, Motorvogue, Fisher & Co, MacInnes Whiskey, and Norwich Accountancy.

Additional thanks goes to to JMS and Sky for producing our TV advert for The Nest. View the advert here.

Head of Fundraising, Emma Fletcher-Dungay said:

“Thank you so much to everyone who attended the Business Leaders Anniversary Dinner, or donated a prize for our auction and raffle. Thank you to all our sponsors who contributed to the evening and congratulations to the award winners – all thoroughly deserved.

“A big shout out must go to both Richard Pearce and Morris Peacock, who continue to support the Foundation. Their passion for local businesses coming together to celebrate success is apparent to see.

Finally, a special thanks to our Foundation Chairperson Jake Humphrey who inspired the room with his High Performance presentation. The money raised from the evening is so important as we look to ensure programmes such as Realising Potential continues way after its funding ceases.”

Richard Pearce also commented:

“Once again, Morris and I have been completely overwhelmed with the love, kindness, and generosity of the Norfolk Business Leaders community. To see something that started as an informal lunch for 6 people grow into a living, thriving ecosystem, is truly a marvel and at the cornerstone of that is the inclusive nature of those that attend.

2023 saw nearly 600 different attendees across 9 events and 13 charities supported, with guests travelling from all over East Anglia. The culmination of this was once again our 3rd annual dinner and awards. When we see the pride with which the award winners are sharing their success and the immense number of celebrated comments from peers on socials. Thank you to all those businesses, individuals, and charities that make this group so special.

The biggest thanks go to Emma Fletcher-Dungay, Jade Nicholson and whole team at the Norwich City Community Foundation who worked tirelessly with us for close to 6 months to deliver another outstanding event and over £20,000 of fundraising.

Truly changing lives. That is the legacy of The Norfolk Business Leaders Group and all who it serves.”

Click here to view the full photo album of the evening.