E3 business awards judges announced

The judging panel for the 2014 E3 Business Awards has now been named by the the organiser, 1 Events Media.

A total of eight judges, selected from the private, public and academic sectors, will begin to assess the shortlisted candidates after the close of nominations on Friday 16th May.

The awards evening itself will take place on Thursday 18th September at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton. It will celebrate companies and individual entrepreneurs in the North West that are helping to boost the region’s economy by making a meaningful investment in Enterprise, Education and Employment – the three ‘Es’.

The E3 Awards are intended to be as inclusive as possible so in addition to mainstream businesses, the hosts are keen to encourage good representation on the part of women, young entrepreneurs, social enterprises, people from minority ethnic backgrounds and those coping with disability. Given this focus on diversity, the judging panel has been selected for its broad range of experience and its collective understanding of different sectors, communities and scales of enterprise.

The judges will be:

• Riaz Ahmed, Founder and MD of Sweet Dreams. • Dr Nighat Awan OBE, Founder and CEO of the Shere Khan Group. • Kirsty Craig Dip RP, MD of Kirsty Craig Associates and a director of TEAM UK • Dr. David Edmundson-Bird, Principal Lecturer in Digital Marketing Communications & Enterprise at MMU • Richard Jeffery, Director of Business Growth at Manchester Solutions. • Siddiq Musa, Partner at KPMG. • Elaine Owen FRSA, Chair of the Women's Enterprise Forum and Director of Women in Business. • Martyn Shaw, Director, Bolton Business School, University of Bolton.

"Some of the judges were on the E3 Awards panel last year and others are new,” said 1EM director, Mubarak Chati. "We feel we've found an excellent balance in terms of specialisms and expertise, but we're also pleased that the judges share a real understanding about the positive social impacts of education, entrepreneurship and the creation of life opportunities.

"They recognise that the Awards are about people and communities as much as about business success, so any company that is doing good things in terms of jobs, skills or local communities should have no hesitation in submitting a nomination." The event will feature twelve award categories in all and nominations should be submitted via the awards website – www.e3businessawards.co.uk