19th October 2007

Leicester City Council has joined the elite after beating off challenges from across Britain to reach the final of Remploy’s prestigious annual Leading the Way awards.

Remploy, the country’s leading provider of employment services for disabled people, launched this year’s awards back in January and hundreds of entries soon flooded in.

The awards, run this year in association with The Times, recognise outstanding employers and individuals who have made significant efforts to actively encourage diversity within their organisations and Leicester City Council overcame the first obstacle by making it onto an early shortlist.

Six regional finals were then held around the country and Leicester City Council was judged best employer in the large category (employing more than 1,000 people) in the Midlands region.

Entrepreneur and former Dragon’s Den TV show ‘dragon’ Richard Farleigh was on hand to present the awards but the council narrowly missed out in the final round of judging and was pipped to the post in the race for the national title.

Richard congratulated everyone who had reached the final and said that it made business sense for companies to be inclusive and a caring working environment generated respect.

“We should be looking at all angles to get the right people,” he said. “It is the mark of a good business that it is able to do that.”

Remploy chief executive Bob Warner told the audience at the awards, “It is always a privilege to applaud those businesses and individuals that go the extra mile in the employment of disabled people.

“Thanks to the example that many of you in this room have set, more employers are understanding the benefits of employing disabled people and helping to create a level playing field for disabled job seekers.”

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