And the Winners Are …

Boeing, Chicago Shakespeare Theater & Laurence S. Geller, President & CEO, Strategic Hotel & Resorts, Inc. are proudly named by the BABC Chicago as recipients of the 2011 British Consul General Award.

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION ENDS AUG. 31. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER: British Consul General Awards Dinner

The awards will be presented at a BABCC dinner on September 21, 2011, from 6-10 p.m., sponsored by Baker & McKenzie LLP, Boeing, Wells Fargo International, and the InterContinental Chicago. Click here to register: British Consul General Awards Dinner

Boeing is among the world’s leading aerospace businesses, specializing in the manufacture of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems. Headquartered in Chicago, Boeing employs more than 166,000 people across the United States and in 70 countries. This represents one of the most diverse, talented and innovative workforces anywhere. The company’s long-standing relationship with British industry, the armed forces and the air transport industry dates back over 70 years. Today, the UK remains a critically important market, supplier base and a source of some of the world’s most inventive technology partners. In addition to its own local presence, Boeing has an extensive network of industrial and academic partners and suppliers across the UK. Through these relationships, Boeing is helping to create and sustain thousands of high-grade, high value jobs in the British aerospace industry and wider economy. Boeing’s expenditure also stimulates new capital investment in the UK industrial base, which helps companies maintain their competitive edge. Boeing is being honored on its 10-year anniversary in Chicago, its average annual $1 billion sourcing from the UK and its expanded presence in the UK through Boeing Defense UK. John Tracy, Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President for Engineering, Operations and Technology will accept the award.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) is nationally recognized as a Regional Theatre Tony Award recipient whose resident playwright forms the core of its programming. The Theater offers a broad spectrum of theatrical experiences year-round, engaging and entertaining audiences from all walks of life and from around the world. Through its World’s Stage Series, CST regularly imports and showcases artists from the UK and across the globe, including productions from Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and the National Theatre of Scotland. Chicago Shakespeare contributes to this international exchange by sending some of its best works abroad, including the Olivier Award-winning CST production of Pacific Overtures at London’s Donmar Warehouse, Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2 at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Theater’s Edinburgh Fringe First Award-winning production Funk It Up About Nothin’, which played at London’s Theatre Royal Stratford East in 2011. Celebrating its 25^th anniversary, Chicago Shakespeare Theater is being honored for regularly engaging world class artists from throughout the UK, sharing its American brand of theater abroad, serving as the largest employer of Chicago actors, and attracting nearly 200,000 patrons including 40,000 students and teachers in metropolitan Chicago. Barbara Gaines, Artistic Director, and Criss Henderson, Executive Director, will accept the award.

Laurence S. Geller, a British national, and President and CEO of Strategic Hotels & Resorts, Inc., is receiving a special individual award for his over 40 years of service to the lodging industry and for his tireless civic and philanthropic efforts. An authority on Winston Churchill, Geller founded Strategic in 1997 after heading Geller & Co., a gaming, tourism and lodging advisory consultancy. Before that, he was an executive with Hyatt and London’s Metropolitan Hotels. He is known for his hands-on approach to his properties, high-end hotels and resorts in gateway cities and destinations in the United States, Europe and Central America.

Mr. Geller serves on the boards of Children’s Memorial Hospital and the American Jewish Committee. He also serves on the President’s Council of the Midwest Region of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. Laurence is a member of the Chicago Convention & Tourism Board, and in May, 2011, he was appointed Chancellor of the West London University (formerly Thames Valley). Mr. Geller has played a leading role in the Churchill Centre & Museum at the Cabinet War rooms in London as one of the original founding members in 1995 and now proudly serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Churchill Center. He is also Ambassador for North America for the Hotel and Catering Institutional Management Association of the U.K.

“I am pleased to congratulate this year’s recipients,” remarked Saul T. Caisman, President of the BABCC. “Despite the difficulties and challenges facing the worldwide economy, Boeing, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and Laurence Geller continue to set high standards for leadership, innovation, cultural exchange, and philanthropic activities.”

Previous recipients of the British Consul General Awards include Kraft and the Five Ten Group (2010); Aon Corporation and BigHand (2009); George W. Buckley, Wm. Wrigley Company, Manpower, Inc., and TradingPartners (2008); Tate & Lyle and Neogen (2007); Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. and the British School of Chicago (2006); RR Donnelley and Gripple, Inc. (2005); Dyson,, Mintel USA, and Newark InOne (2004); and Robert Culshaw, former British Consul General Chicago (2003).

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