Blackburn boss wins directors award

The Institute of Directors North West has bestowed its top honour on a Blackburn director.

Ian Brown of Graham & Brown scooped both director of the year for a large company and overall North West director of the year awards at the Institute of Directors North West annual awards. He will now go on to compete for the title at national level.

This year’s awards attracted a record number of entrants, and as they were divided by size and sector rather than region for the first time, the competition Ian faced for the title was tougher than it has ever been.

Graham & Brown, based in Blackburn, is a wallpaper and wall art retailer and supplier, with offices in countries all around the world, from the US, Canada, Russia and Holland to France, Poland and China.

Tony Attard, chair of IoD North West who also sat on the judging panel, said: “We have been extremely impressed with the calibre of expertise our region has to offer. This year has been tough for many businesses, but we are delighted to be able to recognise the high performer whose strategic vision and best practices have helped them to beat the recession. The judging process was particularly tough this year, so we’d like to congratulate all of the finalists.”

All of the winners are now automatically considered for entry into the IoD’s UK Director of the Year Awards 2013.

Full list of North West winners:

Non Executive Director of the Year
John McGuire, N Brown Group, Manchester

Public & Third Sector Director of the Year
Louise Shepherd, Alder Hey Children’s NHS, Liverpool

Director of the Year for Leadership in Corporate Responsibility
Mark Buchanan, Eco Environments Ltd, Liverpool

Family Business Director of the Year
Mike Roberts, Roberts Bakery, Northwich

Global Director of the Year
Howard Goldman, Rayburn Trading Company, Manchester

Young Director of the Year
Christopher Eccles, Charge Point Technology Ltd, Liverpool

Director of the Year for a SME
Matthew Kimpton–Smith, Cygnet Group Limited , Northwich

Director of the Year for a Large Company
Ian Brown, Graham & Brown, Blackburn

Chartered Director of the Year
Graham Keegan, Costain, Manchester

The Weightmans Award for Innovation
Dr Neil Murray, RedX Pharma, Liverpool

Overall North West Director of the Year
Ian Brown, Graham & Brown, Blackburn