And the winners are … North West Leadership Awards 2025
19 winners were crowned in front of the North West business community at the Midland Hotel in Manchester city centre tonight (27 March 2025).
The overall winner was Nicola Ryan from One + All who also won the HR Leader category. Asked what her secret is to build what the judges identified as “an amazing team with a great culture,” she said: “I think it’s really simple. And for us, it’s just been about showing true, genuine care for our colleagues and respect, and in return for that, they’ve absolutely flourished and thrived, and so has our business.”
The awards were independently judged by a panel of region’s business leaders and our panel of judges for this year consisted of Elise Wilson Janine Smith, Oli Randell Catherine Brown Elizabeth Cameron in a the session hosted at Alliance Manchester Business School.
TheBusinessDesk.com’s North West editor Michael Taylor, who chaired the panel, said: “Congratulations to all our winners – and those shortlisted. The standard of this year’s nominations was higher than ever, displaying the depth and breadth of the leadership talent in the North West.”
Special guests at the start of the night were Joseph Adams and his Dad Phil, who talked about Joseph’s efforts to run 10 x 10KM runs in 10 countries to raise money for disabled sport projects, initially led by Altrincham FC.
Over the course of six intense days, Joseph completed the challenge of running 10x10ks, finishing his remarkable journey in his hometown of Altrincham on Sunday, 1 September at the Alti 10k.
The night was started with an insightful opening message from Roy Ellis, CEO and founder of Mission Mars.
Check out the North West Leadership Awards 2025 gallery.
THE WINNERS
Young Leader: Sara Auty, Saz Media
Shortlisted:
Nile Henry, The Blair Project
Lawrence Perrt-Hall, CYFOR Group
Ollie Plastow, Consensus Workplace
Scot Rothwell, DASCO construction
Kate Winstanley, Morson Group
Public and Third Sector Leader: Amer Gaffar, Manchester Metropolitan University
Shortlisted
John Herring, NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care
Jo Henney, Nugent
Yvonne Sampson, GM Business Growth Hub – Enterprise & Growth
Revd David Ireland, Francis House Children’s Hospice
Mentor: Louise Stephenson, Drax
Shortlisted
Victoria Price, Alvarez and Marsal
Renata Bochenek-Gasiorkiewicz, SGI Consulting Engineers
Nick Leech, Chase de Vere
Karen Turton, Purple Story
Brian Moran, Jigsaw Homes Group
Emerging Entrepreneur: Sid Sethi, Specscart
Shortlisted
Nile Henry, The Blair Project
Scott McNicol, Harper
Mitchell Walsh, Integras
Mark Kearsley and Laura Leslie, DSG Accountants
Nick Owens, Magnify PR
Diversity and Inclusion Leader: Claire Ebrey, The Level Consultancy
Shortlisted
Nile Henry, The Blair Project
Sam Days, THG
Kate Winstanley, Morson Group
Louise Stephenson, Drax
Kate Cowan, Hope Capital
Professional Services Leader: Victoria Price, Alvarez and Marsal
Shortlisted
Karen Garrattley, Complete Office Support Bookkeeping
David Kendrick, Cooper Parry
Caroline Grant, Slalom
John McCaffery, Alexander & Co
Josh Chinn, Wealth Recovery Solicitors
Transformational Leader: Ebrahim Sidat, AMS
Shortlisted
Nigel Oddy, American Golf
Phil Wedgwood, Engage
Rachel Fletcher, Slater Heelis
Greg Johnson, Warwick North West
Josh Chinn, Wealth Recovery Solicitors
Green Leader: Amer Gaffar, Manchester Metropolitan University
Shortlisted
Dr William Beer, Tunley Environmental
Suzy Jones, Urban Splash
Asif Ghafoor, Be.EV
Celia Gaze, The Wellbeing Farm
Tom Bloor, evec
HR Leader: Nicola Ryan, One+All
Shortlisted
Marc O’Hagan, p3od
Sam Wilkinson, AMS Group
Elaine Wrigley, American Golf
Katie Winstanley, Morson Group
Claire McLean, Realise HR
Natasha Clarke, Aptus Utilities
Hospitality Leader: Celia Gaze, The Wellbeing Farm
Shortlisted
Viki Tahmasebi, THG
James Bates & Thomas White, QVO Hospitality
William Lees-Jones, JW Lees Brewery
David Fox, Tampopo
Marcello Distefano, San Carlo Restaurant Group
Manufacturing Leader: Steve Mulcahy, Contact Originators Group
Shortlisted
Greg Johnson, Warwick North West
Donna Edwards, Made Smarter North West
Education Leader: Chris Hill, Northcoders
Shortlisted
Mark Parello, Daintree Wealth Management & Daintree Wealth Tomorrow
Amer Gaffar, Manchester Metropolitan University
Sales Leader: Ian Bold, Aqueous Digital
Scott McNicol, Harper
Marketing Leader: Marie-France van Heel, Be.EV
Shortlisted
Constance Smith, Evolve B G
Scott Taylor, American Golf
Nick Owens, Magnify PR
Kristen Drummond, Slater Heelis
Anna Heyes, Active Profile / Tech Climbers
Technology Leader: Nikolaos Charalampous, CredAbility
Shortlisted
Lawrence Perrt-Hall, CYFOR Group
Antony Seddon, Evolve
Jon Dunning, Nomical
Phil Wedgwood, Engage
Anna Heyes, Active Profile / Tech Climbers
Finance Leader: Lucy Williams, JS
Shortlisted
Tanzeel Rehman, TR Forensic Accountants
Mark Lyons, Puma Growth Partners
Craig Cornick. I Quote
Scott Marshall, Roma Finance
Nick Leech, Chase de Vere
Property Leader: Sean Keyes, Sutcliffe
Shortlisted
Stephanie Cox, E3P
Ollie Plastow, Consensus Workspace
Lynn Haime, Baltic Creative CIC
Mitchell Walsh, Integritas Property Group
Company Leader (up to 50 employees): Dr William Beer, Tunley Environmental
Shortlisted
Ben Craven, Safeseal Roofing
Ollie Plastow, Consensus Workspace
Karen Turton, Purple Story
Sid Sethi, Specscart
Michelle Laithwaite, FuelHub
Company Leader (51-100 employees): Steve Mulcahy, Contact Originators
Shortlisted
Chris Bliss and Chris Renshaw, The Momentum Group
Jonathan Murphy, Assura
Andrew Wood, ESP Play
Lucy Williams, JS
Stephen Johnson, For Everyone
Company Leader (101+ employees): Nick Cooper, Adept Corporate Service
Shortlisted
Ryan Stephenson-Brown, Evolve B G
Jo Henney, Nugent
Matthew Moulding, THG
Scott Rothwell, DASCO Construction
Rachel Fletcher, Slater Heelis
Leader of the Year: Nicola Ryan
