Paralympic champion to take centre stage at national awards ceremony

A Paralympic champion will take centre stage at a national awards ceremony.
Chris Hunt Skelley MBE, a gold medallist in judo at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, has been announced as the keynote speaker for the 2026 Loo of the Year Awards.
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The event will be held at the National Motorcycle Museum in Solihull in January.
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Mr Skelley, who was ranked world number one in his sport and most recently claimed bronze at Paris 2024, retired from competitive visually impaired judo earlier this year.
He now works as a motivational speaker, judo instructor, and advocate for disability awareness.
Becky Wall BEM, chief executive of the Loo of the Year Awards, said: "We are absolutely delighted to welcome Chris Hunt Skelley MBE as the keynote speaker at the Loo of the Year Awards this January.
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"Having Chris join us is not only an incredible honour, but a powerful opportunity to amplify the message at the very heart of our work: that accessibility matters for everyone.
"Chris represents the ability to rise above challenges and push for a more inclusive world.
"His journey reminds us that the right support, opportunities, and accessible environments can make all the difference, not just in sport, but in everyday life."
Now in its 38th year, the Loo of the Year Awards celebrates excellence in public and commercial washroom provision.
Entrants—from hotels and pubs to shopping centres and offices—agree to unannounced inspections that assess facilities against 101 criteria, including cleanliness, accessibility, décor, signage, and customer care.
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Mr Skelley will share his personal story at the event, highlighting the vital role accessible washrooms play for people with disabilities.
"It's a huge honour to speak at the Loo of the Year Awards," he said.
"It means a lot to share my story."
Ms Wall said Mr Skelley's involvement will bring a "powerful" message to the awards.
She said: "We believe Chris will do more than inspire our audience, he will empower them.
"His presence will encourage everyone in the room to think differently, to act boldly, and to consider how their spaces and services can become more inclusive."
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Read more: Paddy McGuinness 'heartbroken' on Father's Day morning as star shares message
Inspections for the awards will take place throughout the summer, with entries closing on July 31.
Nominees are graded from 'diamond' down to 'bronze,' with the top facilities honoured at the annual ceremony.
Nominations for the 2026 Loo of the Year Awards are now open.

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Silicon Valley's Leadership Lessons

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Leadership lessons Fischer: how different is the practice of leadership in such organizations? Pulcrano: First, leaders must normalize failure. In the Valley, failing fast and moving on is a badge of honor. Max Levchin, Elon Musk's Paypal cofounder, struggled with his first four startups struggled (and mostly failed). The fifth was PayPal. Most legacy firms? They'd have fired him after the second flop. Fischer: Failure becomes data? Pulcrano: Exactly. In the Valley, failure isn't the opposite of success—it's part of the process. That's a cultural shift. Leaders must model that by sharing their own missteps. Celebrate intelligent risk-taking, not just polished outcomes. Nobody wants to fail, it's f**king awful, but if you're trying to do something new, whether it be the technology, the business model or some combination, failure is likely, so learn from it. Second, diverse thinking isn't a bonus—it's a baseline. The best decisions in VC firms often come after heated debates. The VC firm Greylock Partners has even studied this—their biggest wins were investments that triggered the fiercest internal arguments. So if your executive team always agrees, you're in trouble. Fischer: That's quite a departure from many boardrooms; it reminds me of the adage: 'polite teams get polite results.' Pulcrano: It is. And that leads to another principle: permissionless innovation. In the Valley, junior people prototype without asking for five layers of approval. Those prototypes could be products or sales models. Leaders should ask themselves: "Am I enabling action, or am I an obstacle?" Fischer: What does that look like in practice? Pulcrano: One example is Google X. When a moonshot project failed—after years and millions invested—the team that shut it down got a bonus. Why? Because they made the right call. They stopped something that wasn't going to work and freed resources for better bets. Does Culture Really Eat Strategy for Breakfast? Fischer: Peter Drucker famously told us that 'culture eats strategy for breakfast,' so I'm interested in what you think about organizational culture, and how important it is for success in Silicon Valley? Pulcrano: A few things about culture: First: optimism. Even when Silicon Valley Bank [SVB] collapsed, in 2023, the Valley shrugged and poured money into AI startups the next week. That attitude? 'What if it works?'—it's infectious. Second: role models. Everyone in the Valley knows someone who built something, or at least tried. That proximity to success makes ambition feel doable. Third: constructive promiscuity. At a typical Valley barbecue, people swap business cards before burgers. It's not impolite—it's expected. Fischer: Am I right in thinking that the way you see it in Silicon Valley is that a lot of culture is tactical? Pulcrano: In the Valley, it's curiosity and opportunity rolled together. 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