The finalists have been named, so now its time to meet the judges of the 2019 Ely Standard East Cambridgeshire Business Awards.
The judges will visit the shortlisted entrepreneurs and companies before deciding on the winners in various award categories.
MEET THE JUDGES
Ian Piper
As a chartered accountant with 25 years' experience, Ian heads up the business client division at the Ely office of Whiting & Partners, where he helps SME clients run and develop their business.
Mike O'Toole
As the managing director of Deanta UK, Mike has been pivotal in coordinating and achieving significant growth within the business over the past seven years. Mike is also leading a rapidly growing team and oversees all aspects of the business.
Joe Hemsley-Rudd
Joe is the sales director of Ellgia Limited and since 2011 Ellgia has grown from three employees into one of the East of England's largest recycling and waste companies with four operating sites based in Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire.
In 2018, Ellgia was named independent operator at the MRW national recycling awards and were named as one of the top 100 businesses in Cambridge.
Gill Prangnell
Gill is a seasoned business award judge having been a judge for the past nine years. Since taking early retirement Gill and her husband have built a house and enjoyed spending time with their daughters and grandchildren.
Jo Evans
Jo Evans is the economic development officer for Enterprise East Cambridgeshire and chairwoman of the Ely Chamber of Commerce. Jo is a former East Cambridgeshire Business Awards winner, winning the new business award in 2011 with her own marketing consultancy.
Jordan Day
Jordan has been head of media and public relations at King's Ely for three years and loves being able to promote the school. Before moving to King's, he was a journalist in the Ely and Cambridge area for eight years.
Alan Todd
Alan has lived within East Cambs all his life and has over 40 years experience of business in the Cambridgeshire area. He has spent the last seven years as a director of Cambridge Business Advisors after a career in various management positions with Barclay's Bank. He is also the Federation of Small Businesses policy representative for the East of England.
Kieran Carr
Joining Cambridgeshire ACRE in early 2015 as its EU programmes manager, Kieran has supported both local business and community organisations in successfully securing European funding for a range of projects and initiatives. Before joining ACRE he worked in the voluntary sector for over 15 years, primarily in project management and business development.
Bukki Dada
Buki's background in physics and business has been applied within various roles at Thorlabs for 13 years, supporting the company's focus on customer-centricity and innovative photonics products. She is involved in a growing focus on staff development as part of the company's Investors in People (IIP) accreditation.
Matt Bradney
Matt is the owner of Atrium Fitness. Since 1992 Atrium Fitness has helped thousands of people which live in East Cambs get fit and stay fit. After winning the customer service award three years in a row he decided to judge it this year.
Richard Garwell
Richard is a director of local management consultancy WLP. He has spent the last ten years advising and mentoring businesses across the Eastern region, supporting their growth and improvement. His background is in engineering and has a wealth of experience in world-class manufacturing environments, from both the aerospace and automotive manufacturing sectors.
Jackie Jessiman
Jackie is a senior associate in the family department at Fraser Dawbarns based in Ely and March. Qualifying in 1995, Jackie is a highly experienced family lawyer, specialising in cohabitation law and finance within divorce.
Jackie is a member of Resolution and the Cambridge and District Law Society and a committee member of the Cambridge and Ely Contact Centre.
Peter Watts
Peter has spent most of his working life in industrial printing as a senior manager and running his own business covering UK and European markets. He spent the last ten years as membership development officer with Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce and recently retired, but is still active in the business community.
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