Set your Microsoft Outlook calendars for Friday 17th July because the BMJ Industry Awards 2020 is going ahead as a pre-recorded live-stream event.

The event will be hosted by Alan Dedicoat, the Voice of the Balls on the National Lottery TV shows and also the announcer from Strictly Come Dancing. Dedicoat is no stranger to this industry, having provided the voiceovers for the BMJ Industry Awards in both 2018 and 2019.

All that is required is for attendees to log-on to the BMJ Industry Awards website at 3pm on Friday July 17th, sit back and watch the proceedings. There will also be a social wall facility where they can post live comments, tweets and have a chat with colleagues and friends from around the industry.

“It’s very disappointing that we will not be able to run the event this year in the way that we planned,” says BMJ Editor-in-Chief Fiona Russell Horne. “However, give that this is an industry that runs on networking and people getting together in large groups, it has just not proved possible. So, we believe we have come up with a viable alternative.

“The votes had already been counted and checked and the winners’ names engraved on the trophies. We couldn’t let the opportunity slip to celebrate those winners who, this year probably more than ever, have worked so hard to make their businesses a success. The benefits of cyber-space, of course, are that you are not limited by social distancing, nor by the capacity of the venue. So, I’d like to invite everyone who had hoped to attend the awards lunch, and those who wanted to come but for whom there was no room at the inn, to attend the virtual event, maybe with a glass of something to hand to toast the winners, and share in their success.

I’d also like to thank all our sponsors who have supported us this year and thank those who nominated their colleagues and peers in recognition of their achievements and talent.

“We will be circulating the link to the event shortly, so I’d like everyone to share it with their colleagues and get as many people involved as possible. Share the link, share the love and hopefully next year it will be business as usual.”