Finalists in Tenth Battle for BYPY Crown

Eighteen of the city’s top young professionals are locked in a fierce battle to become the tenth Birmingham Young Professional of Year.

A panel of judges, chaired by Michelin starred chef Glynn Purnell, has interviewed three finalists for each of the six categories, which include Communications, Financial, Legal, Recruitment and Training, Property and Construction, and Entrepreneurial.

The 18 candidates endured a tough grilling from the panel, which also included Alun Thorne, editor of the Birmingham Post, Paul Thandi, chief executive of the NEC group, last year’s BYPY winner Suzie Branch of BHMG, Trevor Foster of Lockton, Birmingham Forward chairman Sue Lewis of Eversheds and Birmingham Future chairman, Amanda Porter of Mills & Reeve.

The overall BYPY winner will be chosen from the winners of each of the six categories, all of which will be announced at the 10th anniversary awards ceremony on Thursday 27 May at the ICC.

The short listed candidates include creative brains Mark Scourse of Birmingham International Airport, second time finalist Rob Langley-Swain of the NEC Group and Katie Banks from the Town Hall and Symphony Hall Birmingham in the Communications category.

In the Financial Services category Heather Griffin of Yorkshire Bank, Simon O’Neill of Ernst & Young and David Neale of JNJ Financial Management have made it through to the final stages of the competition.

Ruth Creed of Mills & Reeve, Matthew Heaton of Pinsent Masons and Lisa Clark of HBJ Gateley Wareing are the contenders for the Legal category, while Joel Graham-Blake of Cultiv8 Solutions, Kaye Thumpston of eNL Legal Recruitment and Kam Vara of Katie Bard are going head to head in the Recruitment and Training sector.

Paul Daulton of MACE Group, Damien Byrne of MCD Developments and Gareth Poole of Turner & Townsend will fight it out in the Property and Construction category, and Chris Unitt of Meshed Media will take on James Villarreal of Glide Utilities and Tim Nutbeam of Moo Moo Youth Marketing in the Entrepreneurial category.

Darren Walker, associate at law firm Cobbetts and chairman of the BYPY committee, said: “This year more than ever we wanted to find the very best professional talent Birmingham has to offer to make the tenth BYPY the most competitive yet.

“Becoming BYPY is a fantastic opportunity to act as an ambassador for the city and we hope the previous nine winners will join us on the night when we will announce the tenth professional to join their ranks.

“Just being short-listed is a great achievement and all of the finalists, past and present, should feel very proud of their accomplishments.”

Tickets for BYPY are now on sale priced £850 + VAT per table (or £85 + VAT per person for single tickets). To reserve your place please contact Claire Hawkins at the Birmingham Future office on 0121 632 2204 or via email claire@birminghamforward.co.uk.

The BYPY judging panel deliberates after an interview with one of the finalists.

Nominations sought for Inspiring Leader

The Birmingham Young Professional of the Year (BYPY) committee has received record nominations for its 10th year of awards.

The finalists have been selected and face a tough day of interviews with a panel of judges, chaired by Michelin starred chef Glynn Purnell, on 29 March.

The committee is now looking for nominations for this year’s Inspiring Leader award, which recognises the efforts of individuals who have made a lasting contribution to Birmingham’s business community.

Last year Alan Chatham, director at Birmingham Development Company, won this significant accolade.

Darren Walker, chairman of the BYPY committee and an associate in the corporate team at Cobbetts, said: “I would like to thank everyone who put themselves forward or who nominated someone else for BYPY 10.

“We have received record numbers of nominations for every category and I would like to wish all the finalists the best of luck for judging day.

‘We would now like your help with the BYPY 10 Inspiring Leader Award. During the past 10 years Birmingham’s young professionals have become Birmingham’s leaders and for the last five years the BYPY committee has strived to recognise those individuals who are knowledgeable, supportive and truly inspirational leaders with this award.

“If you have had first hand experience of someone who displays these qualities then please consider nominating them so they can receive the recognition they deserve.
“The Inspiring Leader Award is there to recognise Birmingham’s most influential business people so please give some thought to the people who have inspired you and nominate them.”

Tickets for BYPY are now on sale priced £850 + VAT per table (or £85 + VAT per person for single tickets). To reserve your place please contact Isabel Drabble at the Birmingham Future Office on 0121 632 2200 or via email isabel@birminghamforward.co.uk.

Volunteer Spotlight – Anthony McCourt

I am a property developer working for Birmingham Development Company, the regenerations specialist behind The Mailbox and The Cube. I won the Birmingham Young Professional of the Year 2008 award. I’m also Chairman of the Local Advisory Board for the Metropolitan Enterprise Academy in Birmingham, the first Academy dedicated to enterprise and business for 16-19 year olds. Originally from N.Ireland, I now count Birmingham as my home and am passionate about the place!

1. Who / what is your inspiration?

Sheer hard work and grit is hard to accomplish in practice – I had a perfect example of it in my dad. He always put me and my siblings first to make sure we had every opportunity we could. You don’t need a superstar or a politician to aspire to, it’s often the most selfless deeds that make the biggest impact – so for me it’d have to be him.

2. Which / what type of organisation are you involved in?

I am Chair of the Local Advisory Board for the Metropolitan Academy for Enterprise and Business. That’s a new academy set up for 36 get-up-and go students who are taught (alongside their normal studies) business and enterprise by the city’s leading business professionals. The aim is to change these kid’s attitudes to and experience of business.

3. What prompted you to get involved in volunteering?

For businesses, it’s no longer a luxury to be discretionary about corporate social responsibility. I’ve found that my professional and social life is enhanced by volunteering, meeting new people and generally running towards a problem! I have been helped during my career – it’s not rocket science to pass that on.

4. What’s the best thing about volunteering?

Volunteering brings out the best in people. The difference you make is tangible and often long-lasting. It provides transferrable skills to use in business such as time management, prioritizing tasks, meeting new people, owning a problem, finding a solution etc. For me, the best thing is the personal satisfaction in knowing you’re adding to a community that you live and work in.

5. Who have you met while volunteering?

I have made some good friends volunteering. I enjoy meeting the people at the ‘coalface’ of a charity who are trying to make a difference to the lives of people in the City. I sign up to the saying that ‘people will readily forget what you’ve said to them but they’ll never forget how you’ve made them feel’.

6. What project are you working on at the moment / would like to highlight?

The Academy work is really gearing up now. We have a group of gifted students who are putting themselves out to go that bit further and get ahead in their education and personal development. They want to step out of the Aston classroom and into the Birmingham boardroom.

7. Why should others get involved?

The best volunteers I have seen aren’t those that do it out of an obligation or to tick a box. Do it because you think you can make a difference and really change something!
If any employer is interested in the future of their business and in good young talent, get involved with the Career Academies and support the future business leaders of our great city.
To get involved in this type of voluntary work, please see the Career Academies’ website: www.careeracademies.org.uk and if people are interested in getting involved with their work please contact ….

Birmingham Young Professional of the Year ( BYPY) nominations open for another year…

Birmingham Future seeks outstanding young professionals for 10th annual business awards

Birmingham Future is hoping to find the city’s most exceptional young professional yet as nominations open for the tenth Birmingham Young Professional of the Year (BYPY).

BYPY was launched in 2001 as Birmingham Future’s flagship awards ceremony and many of its past winners, including Gary Taylor, Victoria Garrad and Chris Robertson, have gone on to enjoy high profile careers in the city.

Entries are being sought from different business sectors including communications, entrepreneurial, financial, legal, property and construction and recruitment and training.

The awards recognise the individual achievements of members of the business community and are open to anyone under 35 working in Birmingham’s professional and financial services sector.

Last year the awards attracted a record number of nominations and this year the organisers want to find the most outstanding candidates the city has to offer in honour of BYPY’s 10th anniversary.

Darren Walker, an associate in the corporate team at Cobbetts, chairman of the BYPY committee and deputy chairman of Birmingham Future, said: “This is a very important year for BYPY and we want to find a winner who not only deserves to be the tenth Birmingham Young Professional of the Year but who will go on to leave a mark on the city for years to come.

“We’re looking for talented, ambitious individuals working in Birmingham who can demonstrate not only exceptional professional achievements but also a real commitment to Birmingham and the wider community.

“Previous years have shown that the city is brimming with top calibre professionals and we would like everyone to consider putting themselves forward or nominating a colleague or contact who they think deserves recognition.

“BYPY is an award that Birmingham Future is very proud of and as the previous ten years have shown, being a finalist in any of the categories brings great benefits and opportunities with it.”

This year’s winner will take the tenth spot on BYPY’s roll of honour, which includes Gary Taylor, joint MD of Argent, Karl George, MD of Andersons KBS, Chris Robertson, partner at Deloitte, Victoria Garrad, partner at HBJ Gateley Wareing, Stef Lewandowski, web entrepreneur, Ruth Ward, managing director of Rewired PR, Clare Edwards, consultant, formerly part of the Learning and Skills Council, Anthony McCourt of Birmingham Development Company and Suzie Branch, client services director of BHMG Marketing Services.

The BYPY 10th anniversary winners will be announced at a spectacular awards ceremony at the ICC on Thursday 27th May.

Nomination forms are available now from the BYPY website, www.birminghamyoungprofessional.co.uk. Entries must be received no later than Monday 1st March.

BYPY 2010 Launch

On Thursday evening last week we launched Birmingham Young Professional of the Year 2010. I have to say a big thank you to 11 Brindley Place and Argent for hosting the event and providing the food and drinks that we enjoyed.
We were also lucky to have some 10th birthday cakes courtesy of Buttons Bakery. They were delicious, so if you have failed on your New Year’s resolutions, and want to try more of Buttons products please visit their stall at the Brindley Place farmers’ market.
After the event a few hardy souls carried on the party at City Inn who invited us to a welcome cocktail in their bar.
It was an exciting night for all involved in this year’s event. Importantly, I was able to recognise and thank our sponsors for this year’s awards. MACE Group have continued their support from last year, along with Wesleyan. I was also able to confirm new sponsors in law firm, Mills & Reeves and recruitment agency Katie Bard. However, most excitingly we were able to announce Birmingham Development Company, the guys behind the Mailbox and the exciting Cube development, as main sponsors of BYPY 10. I am hugely excited about the superb line up of sponsors and look forward to a successful partnership amongst us all over the next 12 months.
We are very close to confirming a number of further sponsors, so, whilst I won’t mention them by name, I would also like to thank them for their support in anticipation of finalising the deal.
It is a very exciting year for Birmingham Forward and Birmingham Future. 2010 is significant as it is the 20th anniversary of our parent organisation Birmingham Forward and the 10th anniversary of Birmingham Future’s flagship event, Birmingham Young Professional of the Year. BYPY began in 2001 as a vehicle for Birmingham Future to recognise Birmingham’s up and coming talent. It has grown into one of the premium nights in the Birmingham business calendar, and the event to be seen at for the young and not so young of the professional community.
We like to think that BYPY differentiates itself from other award ceremonies. Whilst there are a plethora of industry specific awards we are one of very few awards that recognise talent from across Birmingham’s professional industries. This means BYPY has a unique dynamic and provides the judges with a very interesting challenge when trying to reach a consensus on who is Birmingham’s Young Professional of each year.
Whilst excellence in your business life is essential, our judges do not only look for that. What we want to see in every nominee is that something extra that shows you really are contributing to Birmingham’s business community as well as Birmingham and its people as a whole. As such, we have been lucky enough to meet many talented, driven and inspirational people over the last 9 years.
I like to think that this search for those that make a real contribution to Birmingham has made BYPY the success it is.
At the event I spoke about how you can get involved with BYPY 10 and I thought it would be useful to repeat my thoughts here.
Firstly, you can consider nominating yourself, your colleague or your business associate for the award. Every year we recognise 3 nominees in each of 6 categories: communications, property & construction, financial services, recruitment & training, legal and entrepreneurial. Being involved with the awards is a great opportunity for you and your business to increase their profile in Birmingham. Your name and employer will be liberally publicised leading up to the event and at the event itself. This means coverage in the press, including our annual supplement with the Birmingham Post, and broadcast to 700 people on the night from across the professional community.
Being nominated in itself is also recognition for all the hard work. Nominees work very hard to deliver great professional service to their clients, and also, spend their precious free-time doing more for the benefit of the community as a whole. It is only right that they are celebrated for this effort and we hope that BYPY is a perfect opportunity to do this. We have also seen, over the life of BYPY, that this award has been a platform for opportunities that perhaps might otherwise not have been so readily available.
As well as recognising the young talent in Birmingham we also have a special award to recognise those leaders in our industries that have inspired their younger colleagues. At the event was last year’s inspiring leader, Alan Chatham, from the Birmingham Development Company, as well as Peter Rees-Steer, who won the award in 2008. Whilst it is important to recognise those that are on the way up, it is equally significant that the leaders that nurture the professional environment in which young professionals are given these opportunities are also celebrated.
A third way to be involved is to sponsor the event. Over the last few months the BYPY team have spoken to many businesses across the city about the evnt and, even in this challenging economy, the strength of the awards has shone through. Sponsors are not only a sponsor of one of the most successful and well known events in Birmingham business they are also a sponsor of all that Birmingham Future does. This message that the sponsor’s organisation is standing firmly behind the next generation of professional leaders of this city is a powerful one. And, under the umbrella of Birmingham Future and BYPY, it reaches a broad cross-section of professionals and, through them, their clients.
The final way to be a part of BYPY 10 is to be there. The diverse nature of those that come to BYPY means it is a excellent opportunity to network with a lot of people you know, but even more that you should know better. As well as the networking opportunity we are also committed to making the night itself the best night out of the year for everyone there. Obviously it is a great excuse to get glammed up. And we will work tirelessly to make sure you have great food, a compelling compere and an entertaining night. I can promise you, you will have a great time as we are going to kick the party up a gear this year with live music so we can celebrate, or commiserate long into the night.
Nominations are open for BYPY and inspiring leader, tickets for the event are now available and we still have a limited opportunity for sponsorship. Please check the website for more details.