The Parliament Team, along with speaker and former athlete Derek Redmond and his wife Maria, attended a star-studded awards ceremony in the heart of London at the end of November. The Annual Jaguar Academy of Sports Awards Ceremony was held at London’s most exclusive venue, The Savoy Hotel, and honoured the brightest young rising stars from The Jaguar Academy of Sports, as well as recognising the best sports performances of the year from The Academy’s Patrons and Ambassadors.

The guests were greeted with a sophisticated black-tie drinks reception followed by a luxurious four course meal in the Lancaster Room. The Parliament team were glad to be seated with former footballer and after-dinner speaker Chris Kamara. The wickedly funny James Corden kicked of the evening and kept everyone in stitches throughout the night. The charming and professional Kirsty Gallagher made for the perfect co-host for the event.

Among the winners was the truly inspirational Dai Green, who was awarded ‘Jump off the Sofa’ moment for his spectacular 400m hurdles performance in Degu. Steff at Parliament commented, ‘I definitely jumped off the sofa when Dai won his medal, so I’m pleased he won the award!'

A host of stars were called upon to hand out the awards, including former athlete Denise Lewis and cricketing legend Sir Ian Botham.

The ceremony was a great opportunity to catch up with some of the many sporting speakers we work with.

Derek Redmond’s former team-mates Kriss Akabusi and Roger Black stopped by for a chat and we touched based with the lovely Dame Kelly Holmes and Colin Jackson after the event.

 We even bumped into Lord Digby Jones; ‘It was great to see Digby again,' said Marek, Parliament’s MD, ‘He’s a brilliant speaker and we’ve worked with him for many years.’

 ‘Best British Sporting Performance of the Year’ went to the England cricketers for their first test series win in Australia for 24 years. Among those accepting the award were speakers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook, who made the audience laugh with their acceptance speech. Karen at Parliament was pleased; ‘They’ve done brilliantly this year, so I'm glad they won. We’re especially looking forward to working with Andrew in 2012, who is new on the speaking circuit’.

It was a double award for para-cyclist and ‘one-to-watch’ Crystal Lane, who scooped the 'Rising Star' and 'Star of the Future' awards. Crystal said she was surprised and delighted to receive one award, let alone two!

‘Most inspirational Sportsman of the Year’ went to cyclist Mark Cavendish for his fantastic performance this year. The prestigious 'Award for Sporting Legacy' went to one of Britain’s most successful Paralympics athlete to date, Dave Roberts.

All in all it was a brilliant evening, showcasing decades of Britain’s most inspiring sporting achievements; we can’t wait for next year!

Listen to live coverage of the awards here (skip to 5.15 in to miss the advertising!).

To find out more about any of these great speakers, give the team at Parliament a call on: +441202 24 24 24