Forward Ladies has announced the winners of the National Awards for 2017, sponsored by HSBC. The Awards took place on Friday at a celebration lunch at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Stephenson Quarter, Newcastle before an audience of senior and influential business leaders.
The esteemed National Awards were introduced eight years ago to acknowledge, reward and celebrate the exceptional work and female talent throughout the business community. This year, Forward Ladies continues to recognise and honour the most respected businesswomen, within a variety of industries.
Discussing her pride in the winners, Forward Ladies Managing Director Griselda Togobo said: “This has been a fantastic year for women, and through our National Awards we are once again delighted to be working in partnership with HSBC to showcase the very best women in business in the UK.
“The calibre of entries has been increasing year on year, but this year we had a number of outstanding entries and it was a wonderful afternoon of celebration and sharing their remarkable success. The standard of all our shortlisted entries was truly exceptional.”
Jennifer Crawley, Head of UK Performance for HSBC and Chief Awards judge said; “I am always impressed by such talented businesswomen who enter each year – and this year is no different. They play a significant part in the UK economy which is recognised by these awards. A very well done to all those who have joined us and provided such inspiration for other entrepreneurs through their ongoing achievements.”
The twelve category winners will now take part in a judging day in Manchester in November, before a distinguished panel of business leaders, where they will join finalists from regional events in the Midlands, London and the South East, and the North West, Wales and Ireland. The overall national winner will be announced at a grand finale to be held in Leeds on the 1st December.
The keynote speaker was Pamela Petty, entrepreneur and board member at the Entrepreneur’s Forum. Pamela is former managing director of Ebac, and she is passionate about Great British Manufacturing, recently adding the UK’s only British manufactured washing machines to the company’s portfolio.
Bespoke glass trophies were presented to the winners in each category:
Corporate Leader Category
Winner: Deborah Steane – Johnson & Johnson
Deborah Steane is Director of Customer Supply Chain Innovation, within Medical Devices at Johnson & Johnson. She’s focused on creating value for Healthcare customers to improve efficiency, reduce costs and improve patient outcomes. Prior to J&J Deborah spent 10 years in the NHS.
Highly Commended: Sarah Tulip – aql
Digital Business of the Year Category
Winner: Emma Black – Cascade
Dr Emma Black joined Cascade Cash Management at its inception in March 2012. Her role principally lies in managing the firm’s strategic sales and technology relationships while also working closely with the client support team for the day-to-day running of the business. Emma holds a PhD in Behavioural Finance from Durham University.
Inspiring Leader Category
Winner: Leanne Silverwood – Local Care Force
Leanne Silverwood is the Managing Director of Local Care Force and founded the business 13 years ago. Leanne originally worked in mental health care and could see that she could improve the industry by creating a caring agency that providing quality, trained and well-supported Nurses, Carers and Support Workers.
International Category
Winner: Zillah Doyle – Mechanical Engineering Ventures
Zillah Doyle is an Expert Senior Executive and has a proven record of delivering strategic growth in global organisations and is CEO of Mechanical Engineering Ventures. Zillah is able to manage multicultural, multidisciplinary teams to achieve competitive targets, aimed to consistently meet and exceed customer expectations.
Highly Commended: Anne Wilson – Numill Tooling Solutions
Not for Profit/Social Enterprise of the Year Category
Winner: Helen Mills – Age UK Northumberland
Helen Mills has over 27 years’ experience of working in the Health and Social Care Sector, and was recently appointed CEO at Age UK Northumberland. She has held 3 other CEO roles in mental health services, palliative and end of life care services.
Highly Commended: Lara Bundock – The Snowdrop Project
Michelle Cohen – Art on Scotland
Rising Star Category
Winner: Nikki Dixon – ASDA
Nikki Dixon’s career started at a marketing agency working with clients such as Asda. 13 years ago she joined the Local Marketing team at Asda and then moved to the Own Brand team, where her current role is Senior Manager, Own Brand Strategy.
SME Emerging Category
Winner: Andrea Eli – Venture Office Supplies
Andrea Eli is director at Ventura Office Supplies Ltd – an office products reseller for the Commercial and Education markets. Andrea has a strong work ethic and a will to succeed and hopes to champion successful women in business in 2017.
Highly Commended: Sophie Milliken – Smart Resourcing Solutions
Louisa Harrison-Walker – Benchmark Recruit
SME Growth Category
Winner: Jules Quinn – Popaball
Jules Quinn is MD of Popaball Ltd, a drinks company, manufacturing or packing their own products, which are then sold online and to businesses. She’s expecting significant growth this year and planning to increase their current work force of 24, to 60 by the end of this year.
Highly Commended: Rachel Hill – Hillside Childcare
Lisa Pogson – Airmaster
Start Up Category
Winner: Katie Mallinson – Scriba PR
Katie Mallinson self-confessed ‘word nerd’ and technical PR specialist, Katie Mallinson founded Scriba PR in 2013. Since then, her niche public relations agency, which now boasts five employees, has focused on providing comms support to technical B2B companies, who often think their story is too complex to tell!
Highly Commended: Razan Alsous – Yorkshire Dama Cheese
STEM Leader Category
Winner: Natasha Sayce-Zelem – SKY
Natasha Sayce-Zelem is the Head of Technology for Digital Trading at Sky, working out of Sky’s new Leeds Dock campus. She is an award-winning digital geek and passionate about improving diversity in the creative/tech industries. Natasha is the curator of the Technology strand at the Leeds International Festival.
Highly Commended: Jeanette Forbes – PCL Group
STEM Rising Star Category
Winner: Tara McCully – Carrillion
Tara McCully joined Carillion Plc in 2014 as a graduate Civil Engineer progressing to site engineer. She’s worked in various locations on a variety of construction projects with professional employees, contractors and apprentices. She also write articles supporting females within the industry and mentor young people thinking about careers in engineering/construction.
Young Entrepreneur Category
Winner: Rachel Hanretty – Mademoiselle Macaron
Rachel Hanretty studied English and French at St Andrews as a gateway to a year in Paris. She wrote a novel, overcame epilepsy and graduate ‘under-employment’, and took a bet to start making and selling macarons from scratch all on her own; Mademoiselle Macaron creates French macarons in the belief that every Mademoiselle deserves a moment of luxury.
For further information, please contact Gill Bowker on gill.bowker@forwardladies.com