BBBA's: Fast moving consumer goods Leader & Rising star category winners announced – Sponsored by Diversity jobs

INAUGURAL BLACK BRITISH BUSINESS AWARDS

Leading business figures across UK PLC came together today to celebrate the winners of the first Black British Business Awards, sponsored by EY. This year’s outstanding winners are all role models who will inspire a new generation to pursue excellence in their careers.

The Black British Business Awards, founded by Melanie Eusebe and Sophie Chandauka, celebrate and promote the significant contributions made by black professionals in businesses in Britain, uncovering inspirational role models and ambassadors across all UK industries including media, professional services, finance, infrastructure and manufacturing and STEM.

FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS (FMCG) RISING STAR CATEGORY WINNER ANNOUNCED – SPONSORED BY DIVERSITY JOBS

The judges were delighted to announce Timi Dorgu, Regional Sales Manager (London), L’Oréal as the winner of the FMCG Rising Star category.

Timi started his career at L’Oréal on their prestigious summer internship programme. Since graduating and being recruited for a full-time role, Timi has quickly progressed in the company, becoming their youngest ever Regional Sales Manager, at just 25.

As an Account Manager, Timi achieved sales growth eight times ahead of the market and developed the sales tracking system that has now been rolled out across the division. Now responsible for a £5million annual turnover, he also manages relationships with leading names in the hairdressing industry.

Keen to encourage others to enter FMCG industries, Timi is often invited to speak at industry and recruitment events, and also has a number of mentees.

FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS (FMCG) LEADER CATEGORY WINNER ANNOUNCED – SPONSORED BY DIVERSITY JOBS

The judges were delighted to announce Wilfred Emmanuel Jones, Founder, The Black Farmer as the winner of the FMCG Leader category.

Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones is the founder of The Black Farmer brand – the award-winning, premium gluten-free meat and dairy brand stocked by leading stores and supermarkets. Unqualified but ambitious and persistent, he says he talked his way into television, becoming a producer/director for the BBC and is credited with bringing many celebrity chefs to the small screen including Gordon Ramsay and James Martin, before founding a food and drink marketing company and becoming a farmer.

The Black Farmer name was very carefully chosen to reflect Wilfred’s personality - challenging and prepared to take risks. Since 2005, Wilfred has been running a scholarship scheme through which young people from inner city communities are given the opportunity to experience what it is really like to live and work in the rural community.

Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, who gave the keynote address at the awards ceremony stated:

“If we are to build a stronger, fairer, more modern society, we need to do more to back the achievements of the black entrepreneurs that are celebrated at these awards today.

“I am championing a new initiative that will put future black leaders at the top table of our biggest companies.  Working with Trevor Phillips, this campaign will get the balance in the boardroom right and encourage businesses to put ethnic diversity at the top of their agenda.”

Melanie Eusebe, Chair and Co-founder of the Black British Business Awards commented:

“The first year of the Black British Business Awards has been a wonderful journey and this year’s winners are some of the most inspiring business people I have come across. All of our finalists are role models and trail blazers, demonstrating excellence, defying stereotypes and creating opportunities for others wherever possible.

Thanks to the tremendous support of our sponsors, judges, partners and Government this inaugural year of the awards has been unforgettable and has laid the groundwork for much-needed change through collaboration.”

Sanjay Bhandari, an EY partner and member of the awards judging panel added:

“Improving the diversity of British boardrooms isn’t purely a case of political or organisational policy. It requires role models to demonstrate that barriers can be overcome and to show what can be achieved.

The winners and finalists of the Black British Business awards are all inspirational ambassadors and I hope will have a large part to play in encouraging the next generation of talent. It has been a privilege for EY, and for me personally as a judge, to lend our support.”

For further information about the awards please see: www.thebbbawards.com

BBBAwards Delivery Partner – Everywoman Ltd

Founded in 1999 by Maxine Benson MBE and Karen Gill MBE, everywoman has been leading and influencing the gender diversity conversation with government, industry and women in business globally for 15 years.

everywoman understands how to launch, develop and grow impactful, sustainable, game-changing programmes that uncover role models, engage stakeholders in the conversation, inspire change and cause a shift in diversity thinking.  www.everywoman.com

BBBAwards Category Sponsor – Diversity Jobs

DiversityJobs.co.uk is the online careers network built for the future.

We combine expertise and ground-breaking technology to connect organisations like yours with a wide talent pool.

We help our members to tap into the business case for diversity, promoting vacancies to a diverse audiences and further educating candidates on their inclusive policies. This creates a combination of candidate targeting and branding opportunities – and it is this combination that makes our offering unique and highly effective at delivering results.

As the world’s largest diversity, equality, and inclusion focused careers site, we are the only career site which will speak to you in 21 spoken languages. We receive 20 million job searches per month from a notably diverse demographic. Built with W3CAAA technology, which is the highest level of accessibility possible, we go above and beyond the requirements of what it means to be inclusive.

Our two websites work in harmony to provide users with a seamless experience. Our online hub for all things diversity and careers, beta.vercida.com compliments our careers site, www.diversityjobs.co.uk, by offering additional content and discussion for candidates and employers alike to engage with.

BBBAwards Partner Sponsor - About EY

EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

EY refers to the global organisation and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. For more information about our organisation, please visit ey.com.

Full list of judges

• Priyanka Banerji-Bhatia – Human Resources Director, EMEA, PayPal
• Sanjay Bhandari – Partner, EY
• Karen Blackett OBE – CEO, MediaCom
• Tim Campbell MBE - Head of Client Services, Emerging Talent, Alexander Mann Solutions; winner The Apprentice (2005)
• Sophie Chandauka (Chair of the Judging Panel) – Head of Asset Financing, Virgin Money Group
• David Craig - President, Financial and Risk, Thomson Reuters
• Donna Fraser – former GB Olympian, Chair of BAME Network and Leader of EDF Health and Wellbeing initiative
• Sarah Gregory – Employment Partner, Baker & McKenzie
• Donna Herdsman - Director-UK Public Sector, Hewlett Packard
• Adrian Joseph – Director, Customer Solutions & Innovation, Northern & Central Europe, Google
• Justine Lutterodt – Director, Centre for Synchronous Leadership
• Sandie Okoro - Global General Counsel, HSBC Global Asset Management
• Paul Reed - CEO of Integrated Supply and Trading, BP
• Alison Sidaway - Head of SME Pricing, Costing and Contract Management, RWE Npower
• Steve Smith – Chief Marketing Officer (Executive Director), ASDA
• Daniel Taylor – Managing Director, Metro Design Consultants