Member Article

Alex Polizzi heads Family Business Awards judging panel

TV presenter and passionate supporter of family businesses Alex Polizzi is to lead the search to find the Midlands Family Business of 2013.

The TV personality and successful business woman, who fronts the BBC series The Fixer, will lead the judging panel for the 2013 Midlands Family Business Awards’ headline category, sponsored by Midlands’ business advisory firm Smith Cooper.

Alex Polizzi has a reputation for providing robust business advice as host of The Hotel Inspector and more recently to family businesses in The Fixer, which recently aired its second series on BBC.

Commenting on judging the Awards, Alex Polizzi said: “I’m a passionate advocate of family businesses, as I know how well they can work when they’re done properly. I’m a product of a family business myself and have enormous cause to be grateful to my grandfather for setting me off down this path. It’s lovely to have a chance to celebrate success stories in this time of economic uncertainty and show that a good business model will always thrive under any circumstance.”

Charlotte Perkins, MD of The Wilson Organisation, a third generation family business and organiser of the Awards, added: “Alex is a passionate supporter of family businesses, and proactively utilises her extensive first-hand experience of being part of a family that runs a number of successful businesses, to provide support and relevant advice.

“We are simply thrilled that Alex is to join the Awards’ independent judging panel this year, and the Awards team are looking forward to working with Alex to find the regions’ very best family business.”

Each of the Awards’ ten categories has a panel of independent judges led by a senior family business figure, and this year also includes David Robinson, the President of Speedo International, John Horrell MD of Dodson & Horrell Limited, Parveen Kumar Mehta of Minor Weir & Willis Limited, Mark Samworth of Samworth Brothers, 99p Stores’ MD Hussein Lalani, Justin Hall of H J Sock Limited, Kate Manners, MD of David Manners, Sarah Holmes of Merrythought Limited, manufacturer of hand-made teddy bears, David Evans of Manor Pharmacy, and Jonathan Burch, director and investor in Weldon, a hardwood flooring family business.

The not-for-profit Midlands Family Business Awards are the regions only truly independent initiative for family businesses. Since their launch they have raised more than £15,000 for Midlands-based charities supporting young enterprise and young people. This year the Awards are raising funds for educational charity The Outward Bound Trust.

Additional category sponsors in 2013 are Barclays, Crouch Logistics, PwC, Royal Sun Alliance, Thomas Miller Investment, Triplar and Unum.

All Awards winners will be announced at a prestigious black tie dinner in Birmingham on the 14th November. For more information visit: www.familybusinessawards.co.uk.

Alex Polizzi comes from a long line of hoteliers - her mother is the hotel designer Olga Polizzi; Sir Rocco Forte is her uncle and Lord Charles Forte, of Trusthouse Forte and Savoy fame, was her grandfather. She set-up and runs Millers Bakery with her husband Marcus Miller, a 27,000 sq.ft operation, supplying most of the five star hotels, restaurants and burger joints in London. Before taking over and stamping their mark on Hotel Endsleigh, Alex and Olga Polizzi had already launched the highly praised Hotel Tresanton in St Mawes, Cornwall. Rocco Forte Hotels now has eleven hotels across Europe, with another three opening next year.

The Wilson Organisation, based in Nottingham, provides innovative insurance and financial solutions to businesses and individuals both regionally and nationally. For more information, visit: www.wilorg.com, or Tel: 0115 942 0111.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Midlands Family Business Awards .