FOUR leading Midlands business figures have been nominated for honours in this year’s Institute of Directors Director of the Year Awards.
Craig Errington, of the Birmingham-based Wesleyan Assurance Society , has been nominated in the Director of the Year (Large Company) category, while Michael Phillips, of Shrewsbury-based stationary firm West Mercia Supplies, is nominated in the Public Sector Director of the Year category.
Jason Wouhra, head of Smethwick-based East End Foods and Stuart Laight, of Black Country haulier Aspray Transport are both shortlisted in the Family Business Director of the Year category.
The IoD Director of the Year Awards celebrate the very best in UK business. Open to directors across the business spectrum, the awards take the winners of the regional competition to determine the UK’s best of the best.
There are seven categories with the winner of each category going forward to compete for the overall UK Director of the Year award.
The awards ceremony takes place on October 1 at the Lancaster London Hotel and the event will be hosted by Michael Portillo.
External judges this year include:
• Will King, founder of King of Shaves • Simon Calver, Chief Executive of LOVEFiLM • John Elkington, co-founder of SustainAbility • Priya Lakhani, founder of Masala Masala • Nigel Crouch, former senior advisor to BERR and founder of ‘Times 100 best companies to work for’; • Peter Grigg, Deputy Director of Policy and Research at Enterprise UK
IoD judges will include:
• Neville Bain, Chairman; • Miles Templeman, Director-General; • Andrew Main Wilson, Chief Operating Officer
The seven categories and respective short lists:
Director of the Year (large company)
Stephen Martin – Clugston Group Limited – East Midlands Craig Errington – Wesleyan Assurance Society – West Midlands Ciaran Sheehan – Care Circle Group – Northern Ireland Erhard Paulat – GMAC UK PLC – Wales Helen Bunbury – Ogier – Jersey Mark Crowther – Liberation – Jersey
Director of the Year (small & medium company)
Mark Box – Rieke Packaging Systems – East Midlands Patricia O’Hagan – Core Systems NI Ltd – Northern Ireland Eleanor McFadden – Frontier Science (Scotland) Ltd – Scotland Balbir Panesar – PEC Building Services – Yorkshire Howard Wilder – Genitrix Ltd – South Liz Russell – Envirosystems – North West Nasser Siabi – Microlink PC (UK) Ltd – South Simon Biltcliffe – Webmart Ltd – South
Global Director of the Year
Maija Pykett – Smallprint (Franchising) Ltd – South West Conor Walsh – Andor Technology Plc – Northern Ireland Dr Derek Shepherd – NgenTec Ltd – Scotland Graham Honeyman – Sheffield Forgemasters International Ltd – Yorkshire Paul Winter – Wire Belt – South David Price CBE – Chemring Group PLC – South
Young Director of the Year
Steve Walker – SWA – East Midlands Joe Blackman – Green Ant Creative Events Ltd – Wales Jonathon Bloor – Doctor Communication Solutions Ltd – South West Cathy McCorry – Grafton Recruitment – Northern Ireland Iain MacGregor – Global Energy Group – Scotland James Woollard – Polythene UK – South
Public Sector Director of the Year
Michael Phillips – West Mercia Supplies – West Midlands Mark Powles – Business Stream – Scotland James Dunbar – New Start Highland – Scotland Purnima Tanuku – National Day Nurseries Association – Yorkshire Anna Kennedy – Moorcroft Manor Ltd. – South Suzy Brain England – Community Health Partnerships – Yorkshire
Family Business Director of the Year
Entrants for this award will be directors in second-generation or more family businesses and will have responded to the specific challenges that face directors in such well established family firms.
Jason Wouhra – East End Foods – West Midlands Brian McErlain – McErlain’s Bakery – Northern Ireland Jim E McAlpine – McAlpine & Co Ltd – Scotland Stephen Blatchford – Chas A Blatchford & Sons Ltd – South Sarah Dunning – Westmorland – North West Stuart Laight C Dir – Aspray Transport Ltd – West Midlands
Environmental Leader of the Year
This award seeks to recognise those directors who are able to demonstrate that, through their direct actions and leadership, they have had an impact on the environment.
Julian Dennis – Wessex Water – South West Pat McGarry – Henderson Group – Northern Ireland Mervyn Jones – Aquamarine Power Ltd – Scotland Nick Heaton – EnviroVent Ltd – Yorkshire Duncan Goose – Global Ethics – South Ian Jackson – Imerja – North West
Other awards given out on the night will be:
Director of the Year 2010
This award is for the overall Director of the Year for the UK. The winner will be a director who has shown outstanding leadership in the face of either difficult internal issues or tough market conditions, and who is able to point to outstanding achievements in their business during the course of the previous 12 months. Finalists for this award will be the winners of the other categories on the day of the UK Final.
The Lifetime Achievement Award
Voted for by the IoD’s Director readers and a specially selected panel of leading business thinkers, this award will recognise a senior figure in business who has done something truly worthy of special recognition and who merits admittance into the Director Business Hall of Fame.
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