Partner Article

Nominations open for Private Business Awards 2012

Nominations are open for the Private Business Awards 2012, which celebrates the most successful companies and individuals operating in the private sector.

This is the second year of the event, and will focus on highlighting the importance of private businesses to the economy’s recovery.

A launch party on Wednesday at the offices of associate sponsor HSBC Private Bank, will introduce this year’s voting panel.

Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, partner at Dechert; Alison Lees, partner at PwC and Charlie Hoffman, managing director at HSBC Private Bank Ltd, will judge entrants.

Two new awards will feature this year, including the Rising Star Award, to champion vision, strong leadership and growth strategies, and the Exporter of the Year Award, which will celebrate a strong and growing presence in overseas markets.

Paul Drechsler, CEO of Wates Group plc and Private Business Awards 2011 winner, commented: “Winning the CEO of the Year Award last year was a fantastic achievement for Wates Group and of course an honour, personally.

“The UK’s private sector has made a major contribution to supporting the economy and is at the very heart of job creation and employment.

“As an example of this, The CBI/Harvey Nash Employment Trends Survey predicts that private business will account for an 11% increase in the number of firms creating graduate positions this year, with nearly 50% looking to increase their total workforce by the end of 2012.”

Jonathan Greenaway, partner at headline sponsor PwC, expressed how pleased the firm were to be sponsoring the awards, and hoped last year’s array of innovative nominees would be built upon.

Charlie Hoffman, Managing Director, HSBC Private Bank (UK) Ltd. also commented: “With nominations opening on 1st February, now is the time for companies and individuals across the UK to have their voices heard.

“The UK is home to a fantastic array of innovative, forward-thinking and successful businesses and the Private Business Awards is a great vehicle with which to highlight their endeavours.

The Voting Panel very much looks forward to the challenge of judging each of the categories.“

Last year, three North East businesses were shortlisted in the awards: The Kerfoot Group, Kilfrost Group plc and Create Foundation.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .