Lloyds Banking Group’s Martin Lewis has been named Enterprise Mentoring Champion of the Year at the annual Celebrating Enterprise Awards after his expert advice helped young entrepreneurs succeed in business.

The annual awards, hosted by the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs (IOEE) and the Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative (SFEDI), bring together key figures from the small business, enterprise and skills sector in the UK to celebrate the very best in enterprise learning and skills.

This year Martin Lewis at Lloyds Banking Group, was handed the Enterprise Mentoring Champion of the Year award after the judges praised his outstanding work as an enterprise mentor. Martin was one of Lloyds Banking Group's first enterprise mentors who has had many successful mentoring relationships of his own but has also helped to raise the profile of mentoring across the business by proactively supporting colleagues new to mentoring.

He has a background in Key Markets and an extensive professional network, which has made him an invaluable source of support for mentees and fellow mentors.

Martin said: “I feel very honoured to win this award. I find mentoring hugely rewarding,  it's been fantastic to see so many businesses overcome challenges to turn their ideas into reality. Awards like this are a great encouragement to everyone that's volunteering their time to mentor others. I'd encourage everyone with knowledge to share to consider mentoring, it's great for your own skills development and it widens your network too".

Martin was one of three Lloyds Banking Group mentors who were shortlisted for the Enterprise Mentoring Champion of the Year by SFEDI, the government-recognised sector skills body for enterprise and enterprise support.

The other finalists were Duncan Webster and Michael Rourke.

They were all recognised for their enthusiastic participation in the Business Finance Taskforce (BFT) mentoring initiative, a nation-wide programme set up by the five major high street banks and the British Bankers’ Association with the aim of helping the economy return to sustainable growth by training industry professionals to share their skills and experience with entrepreneurs.

Lloyds Banking Group has pledged 20,000 hours of time to the initiative and has more trained Enterprise mentoring volunteers than any other bank, including staff from across the company from senior management to specialist finance departments.

A total of twelve awards were handed out at the House of Lords on October 23, including the IOEE Lifetime Achievement Award, which went to John Timpson CBE.

Ruth Lowbridge, Executive Chair of SFEDI and IOEE, said: "It's a huge honour to be able to recognise those individuals that have contributed to the growth and sustainability of the small and micro business sector. We hope to inspire the whole business sector to continue to do what you can to ensure all small and micro businesses have the right enterprising skills  and knowledge to start, survive and thrive."