“I am delighted to have been appointed as Chair of Judges for the National Business Awards 2011. There are so many great innovators and entrepreneurs in the UK. I look forward to helping to identify and reward Britain’s leading businesses with the 100 judges or so taking part in this year’s exciting programme,” said Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone.
2011 judges include Julie Meyer, CEO, Ariadne Capital; Sherry Coutu, Investment Committee, Nesta; Martin Stiven, VP of Business at Orange, part of Everything Everywhere; Mr Eric Van der Kleij, Chief Advisor to UK Government’s Directorate for Investment, UK Trade & Investment; Martin McCourt, CEO, Dyson; Sir John Banham, Chairman, Johnson Matthey; Sir Roger Bone, President, Boeing UK; and Simon Calver, CEO, LOVEFiLM.
Commenting on the judging process, Anthony Salz, Executive Vice-Chairman of Rothschild, also judging the National Business Awards said: “The awards give due recognition to the talents and efforts of some special individuals – and it is rather special to be involved in choosing the winners.”
“The National Business Awards 2011 is the third year that I have judged the NBA’s and I find the process very rewarding. As someone who meets and spends a lot of time with business owners across the UK and has also built and sold three businesses I get a lot of satisfaction from working with all of these nominees,” said Richard Alvin, Group Managing Director, Capital Business Media group, publishers of Business Matters
Richard North, MD, Wow! Stuff, 2010 Orange Innovation Award winner and 2011 Entrepreneur of the Year judge is particularly excited about the leaders of tomorrow: “Like writing your business plan, I personally found that entering the National Business Awards really refreshes, tests and crystallises your company strategy and vision. Each entrepreneur is as different and diverse as the businesses they create or run. I will be on the lookout for the stars of the future. I want to see how smaller businesses and entrepreneurs are taking an idea to market, how they have overcome the obstacles to get to where they are today, and how they are nurturing the business and preparing for future growth.”
A series of judging events for the 17 awards categories will be held in September and October at the offices of Coutts & Co at 30 St Mary’s Axe and The Soho Hotel in London. The judging sessions will be hosted and co-chaired by Alex Evans, Editorial Director of the National Business Awards; Professor Dominic Swords, Henley Business School and Economist; and Damian Reece, Head of Business Telegraph Media Group & Chair of the NBA Advisory Board.
Caroline Jackson Levy, Managing Director of UBM Awards said: “I am delighted to welcome Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone as Chair of Judges to the 2011 programme. The National Business Awards honour outstanding achievement to give leading businesses the recognition they deserve and Baroness Bottomley will add enormous value to the programme. I would also like to thank our judges across all industries for taking part this year. Their combined knowledge and expertise will allow us to judge businesses of all shapes and sizes from every corner of this country.”
Visit www.nationalbusinessawards.co.uk for a full list of all the judges.
