Finalists Announced for the Smith & Williamson Entrepreneur of the Year Award

LONDON, July 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

- Finalists announced for 2015 National Business Awards -  

- Visit http://www.nationalbusinessawards.co.uk for shortlist -

Over 140 of Britain's leading businesses, business leaders and social enterprises have today been revealed as finalists for the 2015 National Business Awards, including outstanding individuals from ten businesses who have been shortlisted for the Smith & Williamson Entrepreneur of the Year category.

Finalists for this award include entrepreneurial leaders from a pharmaceutical company, a firm of solicitors, a digital agency and a wholesale exporter among others, representing a wide range of businesses which have all beaten competition to excel within this category.

The finalists for the award are:

Gary and Carmen Lewis, A1 Pharmaceuticals Plc
Robert Camp, Stephens Scown
Sean Ramsden, Ramsden International
Daniel Robinson, Gus Robinson Developments Ltd
Daniel Gilbert, Brainlabs Digital
Titus Sharpe, MVF
Crispin Moger, Marmalade
Danny Bluestone, Cyber-Duck
Andrew Yates, Artesian Solutions
Debra Charles, Novacroft

Focusing on the contribution of a dynamic, creative and visionary leader, this award recognises an enterprising individual who has achieved sustained levels of growth and financial performance through a culture of innovation, market knowledge and talent development.

Guy Rigby, Head of Entrepreneurial Services at Smith & Williamson, the accountancy and investment management group, commented: "This year's entries were outstanding, creating real challenge for the UBM shortlisting panel. Selecting a winner from these finalists is going to be even more difficult!"

Hundreds of businesses entered or were nominated for a chance to be shortlisted for a National Business Award, before those entries were narrowed down to the finalists. They will now make live presentations to a multi-disciplinary panel of judges who will decide the overall winner for each accolade, to be announced at the National Business Awards ceremony on 10 November.

This year's finalists represent award categories such as The Grichan Partnerships Sustainable Business Award, The Lloyds Bank New Business of the Year Award and the Inflexion International Growth Business of the Year Award.

An all encompassing range of industries are represented in the shortlists for this year's awards, with companies from recruitment and kids clothing all the way to pet food and online marketing being selected for the chance to win a National Business Award. The scale of the finalists is just as varied, whether the company is turning over below a million pounds or over £25 million, employing 20 people or over 70,000 people.

Tom Broughton, Programme Director of the National Business Awards said: "This shortlist is a selection of highly impressive business figures that have demonstrated a keen entrepreneurial mind over the past year and have consequentially helped further progress their businesses both financially and in terms of scale."

Visit http://www.nationalbusinessawards.co.uk for a full list of all finalists and to book a table at the event on 10 November 2015.

About the National Business Awards  

Organised by UBM, who operates in over 23 countries and organises many of the world's largest, most important exhibitions, conferences, awards, directories, websites and publications across a wide variety of industries, the Lloyds Bank National Business Awards is the flagship awards programme that recognises and rewards excellence across all sectors. Visit http://www.nationalbusinessawards.co.uk for further information or follow us on Twitter @businessawards.

Categories include -  

The Corporate Citizenship Award
The Customer Focus Award
The Lloyds Bank Digital Business of the Year Award
The Employer of the Year Award
The Smith & Williamson Entrepreneur of the Year Award
The UKTI Growth Business of the Year Award
The Market Gravity Innovation Award
The Lloyds Bank New Business of the Year Award
The Inflexion International Growth Business of the Year Award
The Duke of York New Entrepreneur of the Year Award
The Lloyds Bank Small to Medium-Sized Business of the Year Award
The Social Enterprise of the Year Award
The Vonage Business Enabler of the Year
The Grichan Partnerships Sustainable Business Award
The Duke of York Award for University Entrepreneurship
The QBE FTSE 100 Business of the Year Award
The Ashridge Business School Leader of the Year Award
The Lloyds Bank Excellence in Business Award

About UBM EMEA 

The National Business Awards is organised by UBM EMEA. UBM EMEA connects people and creates opportunities for companies across five continents to develop new business, meet customers, launch new products, promote their brands and expand their markets.   Through premier brands such as MD&M, CPhI, IFSEC, TFM&A, Cruise Shipping Miami, the Concrete Show and many others, UBM EMEA exhibitions, conferences, awards programs, publications, websites and training and certification programs are an integral part of the marketing plans of companies across more than 20 industry sectors.

Official Partners  

Lloyds Bank, The Grichan Partnership, Inflexion Private Equity, Market Gravity, QBE, Smith & Williamson, UKTI, Vonage.

Note to editors 

Smith & Williamson is an independently owned professional and financial services group with around 1,500 people. The group is a leading provider of investment management, financial advisory and accountancy services to private clients, professional practices and mid-to-large corporates. The group has twelve offices; these are in London, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cheltenham, Dublin, Glasgow, Guildford, Jersey, Manchester, Salisbury and Southampton.

Smith & Williamson is the official sponsor for the National Business Awards' search for the Entrepreneur of the Year in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Smith & Williamson LLP

Regulated by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales for a range of investment business activities. A member of Nexia International