A NUMBER of the North East’s leading ladies are in the running for some of the UK’s most prestigious business awards.
The judges for the Women In Business Awards, organised by Forward Ladies and sponsored by HSBC, announced their shortlist this month (August) after narrowing down hundreds of candidates.
Forward Ladies, which is a leading forum designed to support professional women and help them to further their careers, started the awards to recognise and reward the hard work of business women in the UK.
The shortlist, which includes a number of categories, includes a number of North East professionals including Kristy Giblin co-owner of The Pudding Parlour, Prudhoe, who is in the running for the Retail Award.
Jules Quinn owner of The TeaShed, Newcastle, Robyn Wilson owner of Wilson Barbershop Co, Newcastle and Chloe Hall founder of Bumble and Bloom Media, North Tyneside are all in the running for the Young Entrepreneur award.
Sophie Milliken, operations director for recruitment consultancy Smart Resourcing Solution Ltd, Newcastle is on the shortlist for the SME Emerging award and Kayley Smith, retail and marketing director at Sweet Tooth Delivery, East Boldon is in the running for the Rising Star award.
“There are so many successful business women out there and it’s important to recognise their achievements.
“These awards are a great way to do that and to inspire the future generations to be just as driven as the women before them.”
This year’s awards were judged by some of the country’s most successful business people, who judged nominees on six key criteria, including personal integrity and resilience, community impact, sustainability, leadership and strategic direction, financial performance and innovation.
The rest of the finalists from the North East and Yorkshire are businesses based in and around Yorkshire. All the finalists will go on to take part in a regional heat in Newcastle on September 29, at the Crowne Plaza.
There will also be a number of other heats across the country including The Midlands awards in Nottingham, on October 9, the London and South awards in London, on October 16, and the North West and Isle of Man awards in Manchester on October 23.
The regional heats will culminate in a final awards ceremony, at the Queen’s Hotel, Leeds onNovember 20, which will include a VIP drinks’ reception, talks from several high profile speakers and the awards presentation by the event sponsors.
For more information about the awards or about Forward Ladies visit the website forwardladies.comor visit the social media sites @ForwardLadies on Twitter or search Forward Ladies on Facebook.