The wait to discover the winners of the Suffolk Business Awards 2022 is almost over. The cream of Suffolk’s business community will soon be recognised at a glittering awards dinner at The Hangar, Kesgrave Hall on Thursday, September 29.
But before we get to that point, there’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes to ensure the right businesses get to walk up on the stage and collect those awards.
The nominations go through two rounds of judging. Round one is based on the businesses' applications, with judges reading through the information provided and judge against the five-point criteria.
Each judge then submits their scores, and these are combined to create a shortlist of six to eight businesses that make it through to round two.
Round two is a meeting with the judges. Either virtually or in person, the judges visit each shortlisted business for a short meeting. Again, each judge scores the businesses against the five-point criteria to determine the four finalists. And from these finalists, one winner is chosen.
There are two judges per category: one is a representative from the category sponsor and the other is either a representative from Archant, a well-respected member of the local business community, or a previous winner.
Victoria Blake, director of commercial events and projects said: “We are so appreciative of these ambassadors and thankful for the time they commit to judging these awards. They are are an essential part of the robust judging process and without them the awards couldn’t take place.”
Here we find out a bit more about the judges and why they wanted to be part of the Suffolk Business Awards:
Terry Hunt, former editor of the EADT
Judging - Environmental and Sustainability Award, sponsored by Lovell
Suffolk-born Terry Hunt was editor of the EADT for 21 years before retiring in 2017. He was also editor of the Ipswich Star for a total of six years during two spells.
During Terry’s tenure, the annual Suffolk Business Awards developed into the major event which we know today.
Terry is a deputy lieutenant for Suffolk, chair of Inspire Suffolk, chair of the development board at the Food Museum, a trustee at St Elizabeth Hospice and a board member at Ipswich Central. He is leading the Wolsey 550 project to celebrate Ipswich’s most famous son, Thomas Wolsey.
“Over the years I have worked with so many impressive Suffolk businesses, from small start-ups to large companies trading internationally,” said Terry. “I am always amazed by the breadth and energy of the county’s business community.
“Judging the Suffolk Business Awards is always an incredibly positive experience.”
Stuart Dantzic, managing director at Caribbean Blinds UK
Judging – Young Entrepreneur of the Year, sponsored by Cory Brothers
Stuart Dantzic is an award-winning and forward-thinking entrepreneur and managing director of family-owned business Caribbean Blinds. Since taking over the reins in 2017, Stuart’s working mantra that ‘being good isn’t good enough’ continues to give this dynamic company an edge in its field.
Stuart won the Young Business Person of the Year award in 2019 and, this year, was chosen as one of the Suffolk 100.
“It was a real honour to be asked to be one of the judges,” said Stuart. “As a winner of Scale up Business of the Year 2021 and Suffolk Young Business Person of the Year 2019, I feel I can bring experience and understanding of what it takes to win and, as such, was blown away by the calibre of entries for the 2022 awards.
“This county has a lot of talent – I need to watch my back!”
Ian Surtees, CEO Vertas Group
Judging – Small Business of the Year, sponsored by JM Finn
Ian Surtees MBA FIoD joined Vertas Group in September 2014 having spent 30 years working within the facilities management arena. Ian has worked within total facilities management organisations across Europe and the UK and has successfully delivered multi-million-pound projects as an operations director and project lead.
Ian has also been selected as one of the most influential people in Suffolk as part of the Suffolk 100 2022, and after studying for two years, was awarded his MBA in early 2017.
“As previous winners of Employer of the Year and Business of the Year in 2021 for Vertas Group, I am delighted to be offering my support to this year’s awards by being part of the judging process,” said Ian.
“As CEO for the Vertas Group, I hope to bring a wealth of strategic and operational experience to the process, as well as insight into the local community and economy. I wish all those participating the best of luck.”
Keith Leeming, head of learning delivery at Archant
Judging – Education in Business Award, sponsored by Suffolk New College
Keith has been involved in training teams and managers for over 15 years. He has worked in local media throughout that time and has also had operational roles in sales, management and circulation.
The local media industry has changed massively in that time, and Keith has found it exciting to see how Archant's teams have embraced that and learned skills and ideas that might not have existed when they started in the industry.
“I’m pleased to be involved in the awards this year as it’s a great opportunity for local businesses to showcase what they have done to improve and develop the most important asset they have, which is their people,” said Keith.
Marlini Finney, managing director at Challs International
Judging – Innovation Award, sponsored by University of Suffolk
Qualified in both accountancy and HR, Marlini first joined Challs as accounts and administration manager in 2004. She has since held roles as HR manager, financial controller and finance director, before becoming managing director in 2019.
In 2019, Marlini was named as one of the Top 100 by The Manufacturer, which lists the 100 most inspirational individuals working in the UK manufacturing industry. She also received the Unsung Hero Award.
Marlini believes passionately in the wealth of opportunities that exist in manufacturing businesses, and is a careers enterprise adviser for New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership and a trustee for YMCA Trinity Group.
“At Challs, we are experts in creating new and exciting products and understand the importance of true innovation,” said Marlini. “It has been a real privilege to be invited to be involved in these awards and see first-hand the great things that are coming out of Suffolk.”
Sophie Alexander-Parker, CEO at Ipswich Central and All About Ipswich
Judging – Medium Business of the Year, sponsored by Pound Gates
Sophie Alexander-Parker took over the role of CEO of Ipswich Central and All About Ipswich in February 2022.
With over a decade of experience in place management, Sophie is one of the BID industry’s most experienced individuals, having worked with many towns and cities across the UK.
Sophie first joined Ipswich Central as a street ranger in 2007 and has spent the past 15 years learning about the town centre, watching it develop, getting involved in several projects, and meeting the people who work hard to make the town centre a better place.
“From having worked within the town centre and amongst SMEs for 15 years, I truly believe that these are the businesses who are the bedrock of places,” said Sophie.
“Being involved as a co-judge for the medium business category has been a hard job, but it’s been great to have conversations with businesses who have pushed through some challenging times and shown just how resilient they are.”
Laura Adams, head of content development at Archant
Judging - Growth Business of the Year, sponsored by Ashtons Legal
Laura Adams is currently director of content development for Archant, having started with the company as deputy editor of the Ham&High newspaper in 2008.
Since then, she has held a number of roles across Archant's extensive portfolio of magazines, newspapers and websites, including editor, digital editorial director and client editorial director.
"I am delighted to be judging the Suffolk Business Awards for another year,” said Laura. “It is a privilege to meet the inspirational businesspeople across the county who passionately drive their businesses forward day after day and make such a valuable contribution to the Suffolk economy."
Darren Burroughs, executive director at Archant
Judging – Director of the Year, sponsored by The Churchmanor Estates Company plc
Darren has worn many hats over his 20-plus years in media and advertising, starting off as a London media agency buyer running blue chip accounts such as British Airways, O2, Warner Music and the Richemont Group.
Since then, he has led the Vice Media sales team, been group head of the Telegraph’s creative solutions team, launched and run Dennis Publishing’s creative solutions division, before being approached by Archant to build and lead a new creative agency in 2020.
“Judging the Suffolk Business Awards is one of the highlights of the year for me as it is an absolute treat to take a bit of time out of the day job to get under the skin of amazing and varied businesses across the county,” said Darren.
“This year has been particularly exciting, as it’s my first time judging the Director of the Year category, which has led to some thought-provoking chats with inspiring individuals.”
Brad Jones, editor of the EADT
Judging – Large Business of the Year, sponsored by Larking Gowen
Brad Jones is only the ninth editor of the East Anglian Daily Times in its 148-year history, a position he has held for five years. He also edits the Ipswich Star.
Across all platforms, the EADT and Star now reach more readers than at any other time in their history. Its digital audience is growing rapidly, while print sales performance of both the EADT and Star are among the best in the UK regional newspaper industry (ABC figures, July-December 2021).
The titles have a campaigning tradition and campaigned on several fronts during the pandemic, such as inspiring volunteering and fundraising to support those in most need.
Brad also successfully led the £100,000 campaign for a statue of Ipswich Town’s greatest ever player, Kevin Beattie, which was unveiled in Portman Road last December.
“It's always a privilege to look behind the scenes of our most successful local businesses, and to find out what makes them tick,” said Brad. “The judging process is fascinating, an education, and inspiring, and I always feel really lucky to do it.
“I also can't wait for the EADT to tell the stories of our finalists. It's so important we shout about the extraordinary business talent we have in the county.”
Julie West, programmes coordinator at New Anglia LEP
Judging – Customer Excellence Award, sponsored by Greater Anglia
Julie has worked within the business community across Suffolk for many years as a Business Link adviser, CEO of regional food group Tastes of Anglia, and latterly for the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, coordinating the support programme offering services and grants to SMEs in Norfolk and Suffolk.
Julie has previously been involved in judging both nationally and locally, including the Suffolk Food Awards.
“This year I am delighted to be involved in the Suffolk Business Awards, meeting a range of excellent businesses and business owners whose expertise covers a wide range of subjects and whose passion is driving their business forward,” said Julie.
“Deciding a winner for this category has been challenging and a very difficult decision to make.”
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