THE organisers of eat:Festivals are celebrating after making it into the Outstanding 30 LGBT+ Public and Third Sector Executives List.

Bev and Sarah Milner were ranked number 20 on the list which shines a light on diversity champions in the workplace.

The pair were recognised for their roles as gay role models in the rural and food & farming sectors whose work benefits local communities and raises awareness for LGBT+ issues.

Bev said: “We are amazed to move up and to be placed at number 20 in this global influencer list, and to be once again the only couple to be listed.

"We try and be role models for everyone who wants to be a positive change in their community.”

All of the 2019 Role Models were nominated by peers and colleagues and nominations were then reviewed by OUTstanding’s judging panel.

The panel consisted of Lord Browne, Executive Chairman, L1 Energy; Ashok Vaswani, Global Consumer and Payments Head, Barclays; Harriet Green, CEO & Chairman, Asia Pac, IBM; Dawn Airey, Independent Director, Grosvenor Estates GBI; Suki Sandhu OBE, Founder & CEO, INvolve & Audeliss; Lianna Brinded, Head of Yahoo Finance UK.

Each person was scored on their impact on LGBT+ inclusion inside and outside the workplace, their business achievements, and the seniority and influence of their role.

For the 100 LGBT+ Executives, 50 Ally Executives and 30 LGBT+ Public Sector Executives, the nominee’s seniority and influence was taken into consideration.

Founder & CEO of INvolve, Suki Sandhu OBE, said: “We’re delighted to be celebrating another fantastic group of people from across the globe who are collectively driving cultural change and creating workplaces where everyone can succeed.

"LGBT+ discrimination is still prevalent in a lot of the world’s biggest economies but highlighting the work of successful role models changes people’s perceptions.

"They demonstrate that you can be successful and out at work, but most importantly inspire the next generation of LGBT+ leaders.”