Richard Godfrey co-founded software development company Rocketmakers in 2007 - and since then, has worked to make it a successful business that is always pursuing innovation and excellence. Richard is always looking to learn new things and build on his expertise - and goes out of his way to share his knowledge and skills, both with the Rocketmakers team and the wider business community. Richard has led several projects over the years - including a 2018 project to develop a new medical records system for British athletes - a project that received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for its work.

David Kelly is one of the co-founders and the chief executive officer of digital technology company Storm Consultancy. David works to help build relationships with clients - helping them define their ambitions and the ways that Storm can help them craft the right strategies. David’s work helps ensure that Storm is only ever producing solutions that are tailored to the specific needs of clients, and optimised to help them reach their potential. David is also an active member of Bath’s business community - as chair of the TechSPARK community board and the Co-forest initiative.

Adam has over a decade of experience acting as a CTO to tech startups and scale-ups and has a background in Computer Science. Adam provides the technical oversight for all of Storm's projects. As a perfectionist, his meticulous nature makes him the perfect steer to any technical implementation. Alongside his work for Storm, Adam is a CTO to Storm's joint ventures, CiteAb, the world's largest Data Life Science search engine, saving the industry $1.8bn a year, and to iAM, a compliance tool where schools can manage health and safety, statutory reporting, staff training and more.

Bath Rugby strives to make sure that everyone working at the club feels like part of one team. With its headquarters and commercial offices in the same place, the club is able to foster a sense of connection between players, coaches and staff alike. Bath Rugby works to provide an open and friendly working environment - free of discrimination in which everyone can feel welcome. The club also strives to provide staff with meaningful benefits - including enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave, an employee assistance programme, and ample learning and development opportunities.

Emberson Group Ltd is a business dedicated to nurturing talent, passion and creativity in its employees - and providing a working environment where they can feel truly valued. The business communicates with employees to find out what is most important to them - then devises plans for the company along these lines - with members of the team working towards a common aim that they feel invested in. Emberson Group also invests 20% of its profits into a fund that employees receive a share of, aimed at improving wellbeing.

Emberson Group Ltd recognises that it has a significant duty to its employees - to ensure that they thrive just as much as the business does. Emberson has set up a fund which all employees receive a share of - and which can be spent on themselves or a loved one in a variety of areas including education, the environment, the community, or their pension. The business also consults employees on what matters to them - devising plans for the company along these lines so that team members are truly invested in their work.

Join the Dots is a media agency dedicated to having a positive impact. The business has worked with a range of charities in Bath in an effort to improve life for the community - including litter picking for the RSPCA and a cycle for Prostate Cancer. Join the Dots is also environmentally proactive, and committed to being a sustainable business. Join the Dots has signed up with organisations like Ad Net Zero and Two Sides - to ensure it remains transparent and is leading by example in its efforts.

For over a decade, the Bath International Comedy Festival has showcased a wide range of cultural talent - from up and coming comedians to established pros, to cabaret, music, variety shows and more. The festival was cancelled in 2020 with the onset of the pandemic - which presented significant challenges for the BICF. Despite the obstacles of lockdown, in 2021 the festival was able to host a smaller event, named “Permission to Laugh” - a 10 day festival that brought some much needed laughter to Bath during a difficult time.

Mary Shelley’s House of Frankenstein is an attraction that celebrates both the author and the novel. Despite the obstacles the pandemic presented, between October 2022 and July 2021, the business was able to open a new attraction - renovating a four storey townhouse and filling it with content designed to help visitors experience the enduring appeals of Frankenstein. Since opening Mary Shelley’s House of Frankenstein has also introduced hosting for birthday parties, Halloween and Valentine’s events, and talks on Gothic literature as well as live theatre.

With more than 250 years of history to its name, The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa has provided guests with impeccable service for years - and continued to do so despite the challenges of the pandemic. The business took lockdown as a chance to make changes aimed at becoming more sustainable, and reshape it ready for the future. When the hotel reopened after lockdown, the team demonstrated outstanding dedication and effort in getting it up and running again in a short time.

Interaction is a business that works to provide clients with well-designed workplaces that actually encourage health and well-being. With a key focus on sustainability, Interaction has made key strides towards being environmentally friendly. One of its most significant achievements was its becoming a climate positive business in 2022 - offsetting 110% of its carbon emissions from 2021. Interaction also maintains a sustainability fund, with funds going to sustainable causes as well as the business’ own efforts - including a plan to offset all of its carbon emissions from the last 30 years.

Naturbeads is a business that aims to help preserve the environment through the production of biodegradable and sustainable microbeads. Currently, microbeads are created through the use of microplastics - which are extremely hard to remove from the environment, and which are capable of making their way into almost any part of the natural world - including the animals we eat. With microbeads made from biodegradable cellulose, Naturbeads hopes to prevent harmful plastics infiltrating the environment - and is currently working to lower the cost and scale up production of sustainable microbeads.

Made with microplastics, microbeads are environmentally-damaging products that are capable of insinuating themselves into various parts of the natural world - from the stomachs of animals, to our oceans, to soils, and even the placentas of humans. Naturbeads is a company that works to end reliance on these plastics - producing biodegradable cellulose microbeads, which can fulfil the same function without harming the environment. Naturbeads has already opened a pilot plant, and is working on making production more efficient so that natural microbeads can compete with plastics.

Founded in 2007, Rocketmakers is a software development company that consistently strives to develop and provide innovative solutions. As well as its clients, Rocketmakers seeks to do the best for its employees - creating an encouraging and rewarding work environment where members of the team can really thrive. Despite the obstacles presented by the pandemic, Rocketmakers has been able to adapt and succeed - with revenues for 2022 projected to see a 69% increase over 2021, and an increase in employees from 27 to 56 since the start of the pandemic.

Truespeed is an internet service provider that works to provide quality broadband alongside impeccable service. The business is constantly looking for ways to innovate - from its broadband technology to its customer delivery strategies, Truespeed has helped more than 300 communities across the South West get connected with high quality broadband. This dedication to excellence has helped Truespeed grow in the face of a difficult time - with the team at Truespeed growing by 30% in the last year alone.

EnsiliTech is committed to ensuring that everyone is able to receive vaccines no matter where they are - through the creation of vaccines that are safe and stable at all temperatures. Currently, vaccines degrade when not kept at very low temperatures - and the failure of this process during the transportation of vaccines to remote places leads to the discarding of around 50% of doses. In working to produce vaccines that are stable at various temperatures, EnsiliTech aims to avoid this wastage and ensure that millions of people can receive the vaccines they need.

When vaccines are transported, usually they must be kept at low temperatures to avoid degrading - and when this refrigeration fails during transportation to remote places, the vaccines must be discarded and people lose out on vital protection against disease. Up to 50% of vaccine doses can be lost this way - but EnsiliTech is working to produce vaccines that remain stable at a range of temperatures - and in doing so to avoid the discarding of vaccines that could save lives.

Lucra Mortgages is a broker dedicated to providing customers with helpful advice at every stage of their mortgage journeys. Free of fees, Lucra’s ambition, and dedication to providing quality and building relationships with customers has helped it grow substantially - founded in 2021, the business has gone from a team of three to a team of fifteen in a short time, increased its client base, and is also on track to nearly quadruple its profit revenue for 2022 compared to 2021.

With a team of just five people, Mary Shelley’s House of Frankenstein has created an attraction that entertains, and educates people about the author and her famous novel - largely written during her time in Bath. Situated in a renovated four storey townhouse, the House of Frankenstein holds a museum that tells the story of Shelley, and examines the novel and its enduring appeals to this day. The attraction also holds an escape room, and host various events throughout the year - from talks on Gothic literature to live theatre.

Every year, Curious Universe sells more than 25 million products - including books, stationery, toys, and arts and crafts supplies - to a global audience in more than 38 languages across 77 countries. Curious Universe seeks to have a positive impact - for communities, employees and the environment. The business has dedicated plans for sustainable production, works to provide an inclusive and encouraging work environment with extensive training opportunities, and works with employees to fundraise for causes they are passionate about.

Comprising four agencies - Emberson Marketing, Emberson LeadGen, Future Positive and HALO Present - Emberson Group Ltd provides creative services to a wide range of industries - from lead generation, to branding, to marketing campaigns and more. Emberson Group is an ambitious business with its eye on growth - and recognises that the team behind it - currently comprising 22 people - is vital to that success. Emberson communicates with employees on subjects that matter to them, before building plans for the business along those lines - and giving team members work that they feel truly passionate about.

Working with client companies of various sizes, Rocketmakers is a software development company dedicated to providing customers with innovative solutions that helps them realise their ambitions. Rocketmakers has worked on several important projects - including a 2018 project to develop a medical records system for olympic and paralympic athletes - for which the company received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise. Faced with the challenges of the pandemic, Rocketmakers was nonetheless able to grow - increasing revenue and expanding its team from 27 to 56.

Bath Rugby is a stalwart presence in Bath and the south west - and is always working to create the best experience possible for fans, staff, businesses and the community. The club works to make sure its employees benefit while it does - offering enhanced parental and adoption leave, and working to create an inclusive and engaged working environment. Bath Rugby works to enrich Bath’s economy by buying from and working with local businesses - and reaches out to the community in a variety of ways, delivering 300 days of rugby sessions to 7000 children each year.

Dedicateds to connecting the South West, Truespeed is an internet service provider working to provide people with high quality broadband no matter where they are. Truespeed is constantly working to innovate its broadband delivery, allowing it to provide broadband even in places that pose significant challenges - such as areas of cultural importance, remote locations, and areas with complex land permissions. Providing impeccable customer service at the same time, Truespeed has helped connect more than 300 communities across the South West.

Carole Banwell is the current General Manager of Bath City Football Club - and during her time has spearheaded the efforts of countless volunteers to deliver the Romans’ resurgence as one of Bath’s most important anchor organisations. Carole has worked to help the club become a vital force for good in the community - with the aim of creating classic Saturday afternoon entertainment for the masses and unifying the city, these efforts have helped the club produce their highest revenues for many years.

Eddie Ilic is an inspiring Bath figure. Eddie is 27 years old and got into recovery aged 21, he is now 7 years clean and sober. Having recovered from alcohol and drug addiction he gives haircuts to the homeless in Bath and Bristol, including on Christmas Day, spreading a message of hope particularly for those struggling with or recovering from addiction. He started up the Eddie’s Street Cuts community project to recruit more hairdressers and passes on his message by giving talks at schools, prisons and a TEDx Bath talk.

George Samios, Headteacher at Twerton Infant School & Nursery, an inspiring forward-thinking school with nurture and support at its heart. Under George’s leadership, the school has worked to be one that truly cares, and provides children with the support they need to grow and learn. With George at the helm, the school currently runs a breakfast club, a forest school, play-based counselling, FareShare food support and a mentoring partnership with Bath Rugby Club with weekly support from players, among other programmes.

Pauline Swaby-Wallace is a fantastic asset to the Black and Ethnic Minority community in Bath and runs Black Ethnic Minority Senior Citizens Association (BEMSCA) - based at the historic Fairfield House, the former home of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie 1. Pauline and her team spearhead a host of initiatives to support its elders and highlight the heritage and contributions made to a wider community

Bath Rugby is a long-standing part of Bath’s culture and community - and as a business works to enrich both. The club works to build relationships with local businesses - using local products where possible to boost Bath’s economy. Bath Rugby also engages in significant community work - working with more than 900 schools to promote activity and offer rugby sessions, totalling 300 days worth of delivery with more than 7000 children across the south west. The club also strives to support its employees -offering benefits like enhanced parental leave and extensive development opportunities.

Curious Universe is a business that makes a variety of products - from Books, to toys, to stationery and even arts and crafts supplies, selling more than 25 million of these products each year and striving to have a positive impact in the process. The business works to ensure that this production is as sustainable as can be, with the entire Curious Universe team working together in these efforts. The business also endeavours to give back to the community - with employees championing charities close to their heart that Curious Universe then fundraises for.

Storm Consultancy is a digital technology agency that works to help clients realise their ambitions and reach their potential with innovative digital solutions. Offering a wider range of services from project management, business launches, responsive design, user experience and web software among many others, Storm aims to build meaningful partnerships with their clients and provide an impeccable service. Storm’s commitment to innovation helped it win a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the innovation category in 2022.