NW Business Masters – Meet the judges

JUDGES of the first North West Business Masters awards have been meeting this week to scrutinise the nominations.

Our independent panel is made up of five leading business people from across the North West.

Award winning Internet entrepreneur Steve Purdham, founder of SurfControl, an Internet security business which he floated and which was later sold for more than £201m, represents the digital sector on the panel.

Cheshire-based Mr Purdham’s latest venture is free-to-use music software business www.we7.com, which has been backed by rock legend Peter Gabriel.

Professor Michael Luger, left, Dean of Manchester Business School, represents the world of learning. Prof Luger, has led the country’s largest business school since 2007. A native of Pennsylvania, he has a PhD in economics and is an expert in planning and architecture.

He is currently lobbying for the Government to change its controversial stance on immigration.

Writing in the Financial Times this week Prof Luger warned that the proposed 20% reduction on work visas amount to: “triple whammy” that could end up reducing the flow of talent to the UK, decreasing innovativeness and removing a major source of economic development.”

Jim Martin, the former chief executive of Manchester-based home shopping company N Brown and current chairman of The Christie – the internationally-famous cancer hospital, remains an active member of the North West business community.

Mr Martin, whose roots are in the North East, spent 18 years at the helm of N Brown, and along with his position at The Christie, sits on the board of several North West businesses including property services company Styles & Wood and pensions provider AJ Bell.

In his role as Agent for the Bank of England for the North West, John Young, left,  gathers opinion on economic issues from across a wide range of sectors in the region.

His findings are then fed-in to London, where they help form a regional view for policymakers setting interest rates on the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee. 

Damian Waters, regional director for the North West for the business group CBI, also has his finger on the pulse of sentiment in the region.

In the role for more than eight years and with the CBI for more than a decade, Mr Waters’ role includes representlng the views of busineses on key policy issues, shaping and forming policy, driving regional membership, and organising a number of high profile events for members in the region.

Chris Barry, North West Editor of TheBusinessDesk.com said: “It is great that the North West Masters has attracted such a high calibre of respected business figures to judge the awards.

“We have had some great entries for the first-ever North West Masters, reflecting the outstanding quality of the businesses in this region, and the people running them.”

The winners will be announced at a lunch on April 7 at The Point at Lancashire Cricket Club.

Click here to buy tickets for the North West Business Masters.