Sir Keith Mills Honoured For A Lifetime Of Achievement At Bt Sport Industry Awards 2015
Sir Keith Mills was presented with the Barclays Lifetime Achievement Award at the BT Sport Industry Awards 2015 on Thursday 30th April in a room packed full of industry peers and sporting stars.
The man behind the bid strategy for London 2012; the entrepreneur who will bring the America’s Cup to British waters for the first time in 164 years this summer; the chair of the charitable sport for development organisation, Sported; a non-executive director at Tottenham Hotspur FC and Prince Harry’s first choice to mastermind the undertaking that was the inaugural Invictus Games in 2014, Sir Keith Mills accepted his award at Europe’s largest commercial sport awards. These, amongst the many other roles that Sir Keith Mills has fulfilled over the last 15 years have had a major lasting impact across sport.
Prince Harry gave a special video message to Sir Keith Mills and the 1,750-strong crowd at Battersea Evolution before Lord Coe and Sir Ben Ainslie handed over one of the evening’s most prestigious individual awards to a standing ovation.
Commenting on his accomplishment, Sir Keith Mills said: “Many businessmen get a big kick out of a challenge, and the one thing you get in sport is lots of challenges.
“Whether it was running the Olympic bid or helping Ben Ainslie win the America’s Cup, or even trying to help Spurs win the Premier League, all of those for me where great challenges and I’m very fortunate to be a part of many incredible teams.
“It’s working with great people that makes my job a pleasure.”
The Lifetime Achievement Award recognises an individual whose commitment and dedication to sport has stamped an indelible mark on the industry and will have made a significant contribution to UK sport. Previous winners include Alan Pascoe MBE, David Walsh, Sir Philip Craven MBE, Edward Gillespie OBE, Brendan Foster and Ron Dennis.
Alongside Sir Keith Mills was 20-times champion jockey and lifelong Arsenal fan, AP McCoy who rounded off his first week of retirement by accepting the Outstanding Contribution to Sport Award, sponsored by CWM Cyclone Promotions, from Arsenal legend Thierry Henry and racing broadcaster Clare Balding.
Comedian, actor and proud UNICEF ambassador, Eddie Izzard presented UNICEF and The Commonwealth Games Federation with the Leadership in Sport Award, sponsored by Nolan Partners, after orchestrating a remarkable and innovative Opening Ceremony that helped raise over £5m to put children first across the Commonwealth.
The winners were joined by celebrities from sport and beyond who flooded the red carpet, along with the teams behind the scenes, responsible for some of the greatest campaigns and brand performances of the year.
The BT Sport Industry Awards is the industry’s flagship event which brings together the UK’s biggest sport brands, agencies, teams, governing bodies and federations to celebrate the best of the best from marketing, PR, sponsorship, talent management community investment, event, social media, digital and innovation from the world of sport. The annual event attracts 1,750 high profile guests from the British and European sport industry, including business leaders, celebrities, sporting legends and media.
For the full list of BT Sport Industry Awards winners visit www.sportindustry.biz/winners
BT is the Headline Partner of the BT Sport Industry Award. Official Partners include Barclays, Deloitte and Eurosport. For more information on the event visit www.sportindustry.biz, and follow @SportIndustry #BTSIA.
