Finalists have been named for the prestigious Institute of Directors Wales Director of the Year Awards. The awards, which celebrate the best of Welsh businesses and leadership, will be held on May Friday, 11th and are sponsored by Cardiff Business School.
Finalists for eight categories have been announced, with a further four being announced on the day. The Director’s; Judges’ and Chairman’s Awards will be awarded at the lunchtime award ceremony at SSE Swalec. An Inclusivity accolade, sponsored by Legal & General, will also be awarded at the Awards Lunch.
Robert Lloyd Griffiths, Director of the Institute of Directors in Wales said: “As ever, we are very impressed with the standard of entries received – business leaders across Wales are really having an impact on their workforces; products and services and are leading by example. Each finalist has a different story and route to success, but we are grateful to all for taking the time to get in touch to let us know about their companies, teams and organisations.
“We are very optimistic that several of our Wales winners will also be selected as finalists in the UK-wide awards which take place in London in the Autumn. This has always been a great way to prolong the celebrations and to let the wider IoD community know about Wales’ success stories.
Professor Martin Kitchener, Dean of Cardiff Business School said: “We are very proud to continue our support for the IoD Wales Director of the Year Awards and to participate in a celebration of Welsh business and leadership.
“Recent winners and nominees have demonstrated outstanding skill, creativity, innovation and ambition. They are a credit to Wales and continue to deliver excellent results in a challenging economic environment.
“As a School we are committed to a bold and progressive public value strategy to deliver social and economic improvement. In addition to maintaining our economic impact (contributing £200 million to the local economy) we are working to address the many grand challenges facing society in the 21st century, directing our research and resources to helping find solutions to intractable social issues such as inequality, poverty and access to decent work. The overarching ambition of our strategy is to provoke positive and long-term change to business practice and society for the benefit of communities locally, nationally and internationally.
“We look forward to further success this year and the opportunity to engage with Wales’ pioneering business leaders at the 2018 IoD Wales awards.”
ITV Wales is media partner for the prestigious event and Effective Communication is PR partner.
Huw Rossiter, Public Affairs Manager at ITV Cymru Wales said: “ITV Cymru Wales is delighted to once again be media partner to the IoD Wales Director of the Year Awards. Business coverage is an important part of our news mix and we look forward to another successful event celebrating the very best in Welsh business.”
The shortlist includes:
DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR – FAMILY BUSINESS
Sponsored by sponsored by RMS / Retail Merchandising Services
Catherine Butler, Hugh Phillips Gower Butcher
Daniel Shepherd, CanDo Laundry Services.
DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR – CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Sponsored by Welsh Government
Danni Watts-Jones, DWJ Wealth Management.
Lynsey Hollins-Matthews, Jehu Group.
DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR – INNOVATION
Sponsored by ACCA Cymru Wales
Richard Purvis, Crunch Simply Digital.
Rob Dance, Rock IT.
Steve Jones, Comparison Creator.
DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR – NEW/EMERGING
Sponsored by Darwin Gray
Daniel O’Toole, Retail Merchandising Services.
Jo Foxall, PTI Cymru Ltd (Traveline Cymru)
DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR – NON-EXEC
Sponsored by Development Bank of Wales
Paul Croke, Bridgend College
Philip Roberts, Catalyst Growth
DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR – PUBLIC/THIRD SECTOR
Sponsored by Academi Wales
Michael Garvey, BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Huw George, Public Health Wales
Lesley Kirkpatrick, Techniquest
Fran Targett, Citizens Advice Cymru
Simon Pirotte, Bridgend College
DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR – SME
Sponsored by Acorn Executive Search
Liam Giles, Spindogs
Craig Palfrey, Penguin Wealth
Rob Dance, RockIT
DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR – START-UP
Sponsored by Darwin Gray
Kathryn Luckock, Share Impact Ltd
Adrian Sutton, Vortex IoT
Nathan Edwards, CDB Design