Suffolk company directors urged to enter award scheme

Businesses across Suffolk are being urged to enter an award scheme to celebrate success in the East of England.

The Institute of Directors (in Suffolk would like to see an executive from the county to be among the winners in the East of England Director of the Year Awards.

They are also hoping to see more women nominated after marking this year’s International Women’s Day by calling on employers to step up their efforts to increase the number of women in executive leadership positions.

Lady Barbara Judge CBE, the first female chairman in the IoD’s 110-year history, said: “The remarkable success in increasing the number of women on boards in the UK over the past six years shows how enthusiastically businesses have embraced their role as champions of female progression.

“Now, we must channel this progress into tackling the next item on the agenda – getting more women into senior, executive, decision-making roles.”

So far, the IoD East of England has received just 19 nominations for business directors in Suffolk. Of these, nine have female directors – making up 47%.

IoD Suffolk Chairman, Graham Kill, urged directors to nominate themselves or anybody else that knows of a great Suffolk business and associated director(s) to nominate a business(es) before the March 11 deadline.

He said: “Anyone can nominate and you do not need to be a member of IoD. It’s quick and easy.”

“The East of England hosts a very diverse range of industries, from traditional manufacturing, agriculture, extraction, education and professional services, through to new sectors such as technology, biotech and cleantech.”

“We hope to see nominations from a spectrum of businesses in a range of categories which provide scope of entry for all directors in the region.”

Categories include big, medium and small company director, international director, young director, family business, corporate responsibility and a section for public and third sector companies.

Winners of the East of England Awards will be put forward for the IoD Director of the Year Awards UK National Final later in the year. There they will compete with other winners from across the UK.

Nominations only take a few minutes to make, and must be submitted by Friday 1March 11. Nominees will then be asked to complete their entries by the end of March 2016, in readiness for judging in April.

For more information visit https://iod-awardseastern.co.uk/nominate.aspx