The preschool industry celebrated a year of excellence on Tuesday 5 November 2019, as more than 400 suppliers, retailers and a host of other influential partners came together to recognise the outstanding achievements of the last 12 months.
As the biggest and best-attended event in the awards’ seven-year history, the Progressive Preschool Awards 2019 was held in the beautiful ballroom at the Grosvenor House Hotel, in Mayfair, London.
The day’s events began with guests being welcomed to the champagne reception, before publishing director Rob Willis and editor Jacqui Parr kicked off the day’s proceedings with their official welcome speeches, followed by a delicious three-course lunch.
‘Comedian’s comedian’ Stuart Goldsmith then took to the stage to set the tone for proceedings, delighting the audience with his candid tales of parenting in the modern age.
The awards themselves saw a record number of winners taking to the stage to collect their trophy, with notable achievements including The Entertainer for its impressive hat-trick of wins and the BPA’s Robert Anslow, who was awarded The Outstanding Achievement Award before thanking the industry in an emotional and heartfelt speech.
“We were delighted to be nominated for this award, we were up against some fantastic product,” commented Ffion Aykroyd-Davies, director of Aykroyd & Sons who won the first of the day’s product awards for its Peter Rabbit TV range for George . “Hearing our name called out was a fantastic feeling, I think we all started shouting (quite loudly!). We always have a great day at this award ceremony, this year made extra special as one of the winners.”
The PPSA 2019 winners list can be seen in full here.
“Once again the PPS awards have been a genuine celebration of the hard work, dedication and commitment that has been seen across the preschool industry over the past year,” said publishing director Rob Willis. “We are honoured to host an event that brings together the cream of the preschool sector and our thanks go out to every entrant, sponsor and guest for making this year’s event so very special.”
The online photo gallery from the Progressive Preschool Awards 2019 is also available now with the option to view download and share your favourite images from the industry’s biggest event of the year. The gallery can be seen in full here.
The raffle – which is held each year to raise money for industry charity, The Light Fund – was drawn by Sanrio’s senior licensing manager Sabrina Segalov.
Sponsors of this year’s event included: Alpha Animation & Toys, Amscan International, Aykroyd & Sons, Azaria PR, BBC Worldwide, Blues Clothing, BTHA / Toy Fair, Bump PR, Centum Books, Cooneen By Design, Diono, East Coast Nursery, Fundamentally Children / Good Toy Guide, Harrogate International Nursery Fair, Hippychick, LicensingSource.net, Media Snug, Misirli, Mr. Men Little Miss, Nickelodeon, PreschoolNews.net, Rainbow Designs, Redan Publishing, RH Smith & Sons, Skip Hop, Toymaster, Vista PR, Walker Books, Wildbrain spark
