The aim of the awards is to highlight and reward the achievements of women in business in the region. All winners will be profi led in future issues of Swansea Bay Business Life and the Evening Post.
“We ran this event for the first time last year as a fairly intimate occasion. We wanted to ensure we got the criteria correct received quality entries across all categories,” says Lisa Cameron, advertising director of South West Wales Media, the parent company of Swansea Bay Business Life and the Evening Post.
“We were delighted with the response last year. In response to demand from sponsors and the local business community we will be taking the event to a bigger venue this year – the Dragon Hotel. “Even in these tough economic times, there are many businesses achieving extraordinary things and many of them are either run by women or have female directors or managers at the heart of their structures.
“Over the next three months, we will be seeking application forms outlining the achievements of these individuals. We anticipate an even better response than last year and we look forward to the tough task of helping our judges whittle these submissions down to just six winners.”
The event is being sponsored by accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. It will be presented by Blanche Sainsbury, managing director of South West Wales Media. The nominees in each category will be shortlisted and the winners selected by an experienced panel of judges comprising Jill Burgess, the owner of Burgess World Travel and a prominent fi gure in the local business community; Ian Price, the regional director of the Confederation of British Industry; Lucy Richardson, the managing director of greetings card design company Allihopa and last year’s winner; and a representative from sponsor PricewaterhouseCoopers. The judging panel will be chaired by Wyn Jenkins, editor of Swansea Bay Business Life.
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WOMEN IN BUSINESS AWARD Categories
This award will go to one of the winners of the five categories. We will be seeking an individual who has seek exceptional success in business in the last 12 months and who we believe will continue to champion entrepreneurship and ambition in business going forward.
This award will go to a woman who has been promoted or fast tracked within the company in which she is employed or who, in her capacity as owner/CEO, has been directly responsible for their company’s exceptional growth/success/profi tability in the past 12 months.
This award will go to a woman who has shown leadership in terms of infl uencing her company to embrace higher environmental standards or to any company involved in environmental activities such as energy saving technology with a woman at its heart.
This award is open to all businesses that have started trading in the past 12 months in the Swansea Bay region and which have a woman at their heart, either in terms of ownership, directorships or executive control.
This award will go to a woman who has achieved successes in expanding the scope of her business into overseas markets through import/export growth and/or by growing a client base overseas or any company with a strong track record in terms of import/export.
This award will go to a woman who has been central to introducing innovative practices to a business that have either helped it grow or diversify through tough economic times or to any company with a strong track record in innovation in terms of product/offering or strategy with a woman at its heart.