The BHTA represents over 450 company members, many of which are the largest and most influential in the healthcare industry. The evening was compared by Angela Rippon and over 250 of the leading figures in the healthcare industry attended the event, which saw awards being presented in recognition of outstanding product design, customer service and team performance.

Ray Hodgkinson, Director General of the BHTA congratulated all the winners saying: "The awards we present each year are given only after a rigorous process involving a panel of judges and the winners represent excellence in what is an important and growing marketplace. This is one of the fastest growing and most important market sectors and one in which excellence in product design and customer service really does mean a great deal to the customers, many of whom rely on our member companies to maintain their independence.”

The Independent Living Design Awards, now in their sixteenth year saw twice the number of entries this year, with a number of innovative products being assessed by a judging panel that evaluated the products against stringent criteria. Four products gained recognition this year.

The Comfizz Stoma Support Wear from Comfizz Ltd was highly commended. The products not only provide the support and compression needed and reduce discomfort, but also help to encourage personal confidence because of their aesthetics and simplicity.

Also Highly Commended was the All Star Hockey Sledge by RGK Wheelchairs Ltd. Ice sledge hockey is one of the official sports in the Winter Paralympics and RGK has worked with the British Sledge Hockey Association to produce a sensibly priced and innovative sledge. The runner-up was the Mountain Trike which has an innovative drive system and unique wheel layout, enabling people to go places and do so many things that previously might have been impossible or very challenging.

The winner of the Independent Living Design Award for 2011 was the Simple Stuff Works Positioning System. An easy to use positioning system for use during day and night, it helps individuals with movement difficulties to protect their body shape.

For the Excellence Awards, The Hearing Care Centre from Suffolk was highly commended in the rehabilitation category, with the winner being Park House Healthcare. The judges were impressed with the company's consultative approach to sales, its focus on quality, staff qualifications and its apprenticeship scheme.

1^st Call Mobility picked up a special commendation due to its attitude to providing a personal and very responsive customer service.

In the Mobility Retailer category, Tremorvah Industries were highly commended with a strong performance regarding customer satisfaction and the low level of complaints. With a strong commitment to customer service, activities to promote high standards in the industry, confidence displayed by suppliers and by the staff development initiatives, the winners were Simplyhealth

In the orthotics award section, Trulife was highly commended for maintaining very high standards, particularly regarding staff and training and development. The winner was Chan e co, a company that has supplied the NHS for 40 years and was able to demonstrate the excellent service it provides not only the NHS but also the trade and the general public.

Other presentations included an inaugural Assistive Technology Practitioner Society's Practitioner of the Year award. Baroness Thornton of Manningham, patron of the Society, established to encourage and promote competencies and recognise standards of those working in AT alongside healthcare professionals, presented the award to Brian Porter who was the BHTA Individual of the Year in 2007.

This year's Individual of the Year was named as Iain McIntyre from Simplyhealth who was

commended on no less than ninety customer satisfaction cards and the Team of the Year, again chosen from the feedback from customer satisfaction cards was TGA.

Two of the BHTA Sections, eCAT (Electronic Communication Assistive Technology) and FAME (First Aid and Medical Equipment) acknowledged outstanding achievements in their particular fields, with recipients receiving their trophies from Lord Rennard, who recently joined the BHTA as Director of Communications.

The eCAT award went to David Mason who has worked tirelessly over a thirty year period to change Augmentative and Alternative Communication. One of David's early clients was Stephen Hawking. The FAME award was presented to Barbara Froomberg, who started business from a North London garage in 1975 and now has a business with sixty staff.

For the prosthetics section, ‘Long-Servers' from Ability Technology, Blatchford and RSL Steeper were recognised.

A new award recognised the achievements of an individual within the wider world of healthcare. The winner, who joined the Rehabilitation Equipment Group of the Department of Health in 1983 and was appointed Head of the Blackpool Centre of the Medical Devices Agency, subsequently expanded under the Medical and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to cover all Assistive Technology devices, was Alan Lynch.

The final presentation was for the Lifetime Service award. The winner was described as

a ‘nuts and bolts' kind ofguy with a well-earned reputation for bespoke design modifications and adaptations on wheelchairs. The award went to John Payne of Kent Mobility.