Due to the current pandemic, the London awards gala was cancelled but many of the UK’s top thought-leaders, authors, entrepreneurs, publishers and journalists joined the virtual awards ceremony via a live Facebook feed.

They joined together to celebrate the books which are set to transform the way we do business, live and work in 2020.

The following books received awards: 

• Overall winner and Winner of the sustainable change category

The Human Edge by Greg Orme

• Highly Commended in the business self-development category

Resilience by Jo Owen

• Highly Commended in the personal development category

The Speaker’s Coach by Graham Shaw

• Highly Commended in the specialist book category

Agile Strategy by Ralph Fernando

Sustainable Change and Overall Winner

• The Human Edge: How Curiosity & Creativity Are Your Superpowers In The Digital Economy by Greg Orme

Greg Orme, won in the sustainable change category and the overall business book of the year award at the 2020 Business Book Awards for his book The Human Edge.

The Human Edge won the award from the six books that were shortlisted within the Business Book Award’s sustainable change category and was one of the eleven books that won an award category.

The book helps you harness your human skills of creativity, curiosity and connectivity to position and equip yourself for the changing world of work.

The book is relevant in the current climate where AI has already been introduced into a large number of organizations which lead to a reduced workforce.

Robots and AI are here to stay, but so are humans.

Winner of Business Book of the Year 2020, Greg Orme said:

“I’m so grateful and thankful that my work has been honoured in this way. I wrote this book for anybody who wants to future-proof their career in a world of technological disruption and machines. Of course we see the world now being disrupted like it’s never been before but we need to respond in a creative and curious way.

"It’s more important now than it’s ever been. I’d like to think of The Human Edge as a subversive handbook to keep underneath your desk to ignite your human superpowers, even without the permission of your boss.”

Business self-development

• Resilience: 10 Habits to Thrive in Life and Work by Jo Owen

Jo Owen, was highly commended in the Business Self Development Category at the 2020 Business Book Awards for his book Resilience.

Resilience was shortlisted as one of six books within the Business Book Award’s business self development category. Written for a mass audience, the book is the result of 10 habits which anyone can learn to discover how to change the way you think, work and act with Resilience.

Personal Development & Wellbeing

• The Speaker’s Coach: 60 Secrets to make your talk, speech or presentation amazing by Graham Shaw

Graham Shaw, was highly commended in the Personal Development Category for his book The Speaker’s Coach.

The Speaker’s Coach was shortlisted as one of six books within the category along with another Pearson title, The Rules of Thinking. Whether you’ve got a talk, speech or presentation to do, The Speaker’s Coach is your secret weapon.

With 66 short sections you can read this book the night before, the morning of, or just before your talk. Covering all the typical questions plus lots of helpful tips, you’ll be best placed to prepare, perform and perfect your talk in no time at all.

Written by an expert who trains TEDx speakers and whose TEDx talk has been viewed over 23 million times.

Specialist Book

• Agile Strategy: How to create a strategy ready for anything by Ralph Fernando

Ralph Fernando was highly commended in the Specialist Book Category at the 2020 Business Book Awards for his book Agile Strategy.

Agile Strategy was shortlisted in the specialist book category along with another Pearson title, Reinventing Retail. Aimed at senior managers, Agile Strategy is a practical guide for setting the strategic direction of an organisation in increasingly dynamic markets.

Through its frameworks, tools and real-world examples, the book explains how to transform business performance through greater organisational agility.