DBS is celebrating this week after coming home winners from the prestigious FSB Celebrating Small Business Awards. The FSB Celebrating Small Business Awards celebrates smaller businesses and are a chance for those businesses to shine, stand out from the crowd and make their mark within their geographical area. DBS took home the ‘Community Business of the Year’ award for the entire East Midlands area, an award which looks to honour those businesses who “partake in initiatives that support their local community or makes a positive impact through employee led activities”. The ceremony took place at the Doubletree by Hilton in Nottingham on Thursday 8th February and was attended by DBS Director, David Clarke. DBS is proud of its corporate social responsibility programme (CSR) contributing locally and internationally to worth causes. In recent years DBS has been involved with community led projects such as the Navenby and Cliff Villages Business Network and the popular Christmas In Navenby event. DBS also provides website support to the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance and local charity, Star Trust. Forging strong bonds with local schools and universities, DBS has also been involved in mentoring schemes at the University of Lincoln, Bishop Grosseteste University and with the Mission Mentor scheme, as well as providing work experience opportunities for students at the Priory Academy LSST and Sir William Robertson Academy. Last year, DBS gave back to its own employees by becoming Lincolnshire’s first Employee Owned Company, a move which drew praise from FSB Judges for it’s “ambitious model”. Click below to watch a short video from the FSB with David Clarke discussing what it means to be a community minded business: