Lasan chief feasts on top award at BYPY
ONE of Birmingham’s leading restaurateurs has won the coveted title of Birmingham Young Professional of the Year 2012.
Aktar Islam, aged 32, is chef director at Lasan restaurant and Lasan eatery, where he has carved out a reputation as one of the UK’s most-exciting young chefs. Winner of BYPY’s entrepreneurial category, Islam (pictured below picking up his trophy) succeeds AECOM’s Hilary Allen as overall winner, adding the accolades to a list of awards that includes The F Word and Great British Menu.
Alex Carr, associate director at Lambert Smith Hampton took the Property & Construction title, with Kate Onions, associate at Gateley winning the Legal category. Michael Shepherd, financial planner with Clay, Rogers and Partners and manager of MDP Financial Services, collected the award for Financial Services.
The HR, Recruitment and Training category was won by Emily Ford-Halliday, associate director for design courses at Birmingham Metropolitan College while Amy Kiernan, head of marketing and communications at family-owned company The Sargeant Partnership, won the Communications category.
More than 850 guests attended the awards ceremony at the ICC, which were hosted by Sir Ranulph Fiennes and organised by young professionals’ networking group, Birmingham Future.
Lloyds Banking Group’s regional managing director David Richardson was crowned Inspiring Leader in recognition of his work developing the next generation of city talent, while Anisa Haghdadi won the inaugural Aspiring Talent award; a category introduced to recognise inspirational young people who are not yet in the workplace but already making their mark on the city.
Commenting on the results, Rebecca Mawdsley, operations director at eNL Legal Recruitment and outgoing chair of the BYPY committee, said: “We had a fantastic evening and congratulations must go to all our category winners and especially to Aktar Islam, our BYPY 2012.
“Aktar has already achieved a great deal in his career, establishing two successful restaurants while playing a key role building the city’s reputation as an international foodie capital. The judges were particularly impressed by his entrepreneurial talent, determination and the contribution his success has already made to the city. We’re looking forward to working with him as an ambassador for the city’s young business talent over the next 12 months.[VIDEO: 537]
