Pop Up Consulting shortlisted for Lord Mayor's Dragon Awards
Westminster headquartered consultancy Q5 has been announced as part of the shortlist for the 2021 Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards, thanks to its work as part of the Pop Up Consulting initiative. The ceremony, which takes place digitally this year due to the ongoing pandemic, sees the City of London commend businesses which have an important social impact in the UK.
The Lord Mayor is the head of the City of London Corporation, which provides local government services for the financial and commercial heart of Britain’s capital. As part of his responsibilities within the ‘Square Mile,’ the Lord Mayor oversees the annual Dragon Awards scheme which celebrates the social impact of commercial enterprises. The Awards laud businesses that are achieving excellence in social impact in Greater London and for the Regional Impact Award and Lord Mayor’s Award, across the UK.
A total of 14 companies have made the shortlist for the 2021 Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards, recognising firms which go the extra mile to build strong community relationships, tackle disadvantage or inequality, promote inclusion or boost skills, while this year’s applicants supported over 188,000 people, provided almost £3 million in support and mobilised volunteers who contributed over 13,000 hours to community groups and other worthy causes.
This year, one of the organisations shortlisted for its good work is Q5, which is being commended for its pro bono consulting initiative. Launched in collaboration with Leeds based charity Ahead Partnership, Pop Up Consulting has seen the two organisations collaborating to help third-sector entities facing hard times during the current crisis.
Commenting on the shortlist, Lord Mayor of London William Russell said, “I am always inspired and encouraged by the breadth and scope of the projects companies across the capital deliver to make a real difference to their communities and society as a whole, and this year is no exception. Now more than ever, as the effects of the pandemic continue to take their toll, businesses can play a vital role by utilising their resources, their ingenuity and their passion to make a positive impact on people’s lives.”
Story so far
Since March, Pop Up Consulting has offered one-to-two days of pro bono consulting interventions to medium-sized businesses and charities, who would welcome some help, but do not have budget for consulting support. During the sessions with clients, Pop-up Consulting works with leaders to tackle issues specific to their organisation; acting as an emergency service for everything from strategy to design, change, people and culture. The group uses an accelerated and focused method that confronts challenges at pace, identifies potential options for recovery and creates clear action plans for them to take forward.
The initiative proved extremely popular, and by May it has already completed 16 interventions, and its slots were booked up until the end of June. After it’s first full year of work, this enabled the group to release a testimonial package featuring a wide variety of happy clients.
Speaking on a video released by Q5 in February, Craig Jones, CEO of the Royal Osteoporosis Society, said, “The team were fantastic facilitators, who really understood our business brilliantly, and helped us develop an annual plan that has really boosted our confidence, and is about as Covid-proof as we can get at this point.”
Meanwhile, Hitesh Patel, Head of Sustainable Partnerships for the Born Free Foundation added, “The process allowed for us to distil the best ideas and actually work through whether they were going to feasible and viable to roll out.”
Q5 is in the running for the Boosting Social Impact Award at the 2021 Dragon Awards. Due to Covid-19 restrictions the prestigious awards, organised by the City of London Corporation, will for the first time be announced ‘virtually’ at an online-only event to be held in April.
