We are proud to announce that after more than 10 years of sponsoring and supporting the UK VA Conference, it is time for us to hand on the baton to a new organiser and event sponsor to take the progressive momentum and growth of the event and the awards to new levels.

Multi-award winning VA Coach, Mentor and Trainer, Amanda Johnson and VACT takes charge of organising the event and awards from 1st October 2021, with our CEO John Palmer staying on as Chair of the Panel of Judges as the transition rolls out.

John says. “It has been a pleasure and privilege to directly contribute towards shaping the VA profession over the last decade. My personal focus has been on developing innovative ways for the VA profession to have much closer engagement and inter-action with business environments and events as we have travelled the UK announcing award winners and presenting sessions to entrepreneurs and businesses about the talents, skill-sets and immense value of Virtual Assistants.

I will always be a long-term supporter of these efforts and continue to voice the values of Virtual Assistants and outsourcing in the projects that I will now be working with. My efforts will hopefully soon trickle down to day-to-day VA businesses in the not-so-far future, as I look at how the digital platform for the business world will work more efficiently and effectively in the post-pandemic era.

My humble thanks to all the VA stalwarts, and event organisers, especially the Panel of Judges, who have given much time, effort, and support in believing in what we set out to do. So many have been ‘on-board’ during the journey thus far, and I am pleased to have seen the many ‘new stars’ that have emerged and joined us on our progress and growth over the years!

Together we have more than achieved the goals we set ourselves 10 years ago and here’s to seeing further progress in the next 10 years, we look forward to Amanda and the VACT team taking the helm.”

Amanda says, “I am hugely excited that the VACT team has the opportunity to take over the responsibility and running of the UK VA Conference and UK Awards. The Awards were originally started in 2007 by VACT and it does feel as if they are coming home.

As an industry, we are hugely grateful to John (and his support team) for keeping both conference and awards not only alive but flourishing.   I would also like to thank the judges of the awards too – as without them giving up their time, knowledge and expertise it would be very hard to judge awards!

The Conference and Awards have always been about creating great opportunities for Virtual Assistants to meet and network with other VAs, in addition to helping with their professional development, something we are keen to continue and hope that you will support moving forwards.  While the UK VA Awards will continue to provide a benchmark of excellence that helps the industry to progress in the business sphere.  Please be re-assured there will be no changes to the current round of awards and award categories.”

In the short term, if you have questions about either the UK VA Conference or UK VA Awards, then please do reach out to Amanda on [email protected] who will be delighted to answer any questions or discuss potential collaborations and future marketing opportunities.

Issued October 2021 by Amanda Johnson, VACT and John Palmer, WorkSmartPA.com