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The winners
We spend years building relationships with our clients, helping them grow and develop their leadership skills. It’s always wonderful to see our members succeed, especially following the instability of the last few years. By Millie Green
MDHUB LEADERS AWARDS 2022
It was a pleasure to bring MDs not just from Sussex but also London, Kent and the Channel Islands together at Hendall Manor Barns near Uckfield for the MDHUB Leaders Lunch & Awards 2022. With wonderful Ridgeview sparkling wine and a fabulous selection of food, the event was an opportunity for our members to come together, as friends, to learn from and congratulate one another. As one attendee said, “it was lovely to see so many other founders/ MDs and leaders in one place, sharing each other’s successes.”
At the MDHUB, we support MDs at all stages of their professional development. We presented Emma Penn, plastics manufacturer Nordell’s head of HR, with our Rising Star award, for her phenomenal drive and commitment to her job. This award was available to attendees of our Futurehub programme that develops future business leaders. MDHUB’s Phil Green has watched Emma thrive on the Futurehub course, and described how “Emma’s dedication to her team, her company and her boss shines through everything she does. There have been times on the
Kath Akturk of TEK Express – Best Supporting Act – being presented with her award by sponsor Phil Green of MDHUB
(Top) Justin Sayers of Adventure Connections – The Alchemist Award being presented by sponsor Andy Sturgeon (Above) We had three Honourable Mentions for Best Supporting Act – L to R: Jo Lucas of Alistair Fleming Design, Emma Penn of Nordell, Nicki Conboy of Extech Cloud
❛❛ Running a business is far easier with help. This is demonstrated wonderfully by the winner of our Best Supporting Act award, Kath Aturk at Tek Express ❜❜
Futurehub programme when we have all sat back stunned with the latest things Emma is dealing with. She throws herself into the tasks and challenges on the programme, leading some challenges and proving a great team player on others, she soaks up the learning and is very clearly one to watch for the future.”
Nordell’s MD Paul Mason sung Emma’s praises too, with anecdotes that illustrate her dedication and skill: “not only did Emma successfully guide, recruit and onboard 120 new staff inside of 12 months, our new staff were integrated seamlessly with our existing [staff]. Emma performed further miracles through implementing two completely new shifts over weekend days and nights. Over the coming months, our business continued to evolve to its demands, Emma again delivered on several shift changes for the business which were precisely implemented and positively received by staff.”
Honourable mentions for The Eco Warrior Award went to Harriet Mears and Molly Freshwater of the Secret Linen Store
(Left) Honourable Mention to Andy Ferrett and Josh O’Riordan of Brightec for The Lioness Award (Near left) Sam Francis of TEK Express – MDHUB MD of the year –being presented with her award by sponsor Paul Mason of Nordell (Below left) Emma Penn of Nordell – The Rising Star Award – being presented by sponsor Paul Feist of Plus Accounting
It’s fantastic to see such drive, and we’re all excited to see how Emma continues to develop and prove her skills in the future.
Matt Turner of Creative Pod, a multi-disciplined marketing agency, was awarded with our Lioness award for looking after and rewarding his workforce and developing fantastic working relationships with key clients. His efficient processes mean that his team have autonomy to connect with companies’ prospects and build pipelines, while Matt handles the conversion. Building trust and accountability is at the heart of Matt’s philosophy, as demonstrated by the team leadership adventure weekend attended by 50 of his staff and clients.
Matt is extremely generous. His workforce are rewarded through a bonus scheme that contributes to both individual and team KPIs, and support with the cost of living crisis is one of his current top priorities. As a result, his team is highly productive, committed, and happy. Matt’s leadership is a fabulous example to any business looking to improve workplace culture.
The MDHUB was thrilled to award English sparkling wine producer Ridgeview’s entire workforce with our Eco-Warrior award, for their extraordinary collective effort to minimise their environmental impact while running their business.
In an interview with Fiona Shafer, the MDHUB’s MD, Ridgeview’s CEO Tamara Roberts revealed the philosophy behind their project: “as a purpose-driven, family business, we have always had a vision to match the quality and dedication we devote to our wine with our commitment to a positive social impact, our employees, customers, suppliers and our wider community.”
As well as recently being awarded B Corp status, Ridgeview has introduced a bee-keeping project as part of a wider plan to promote and enhance biodiversity by planting wildflower meadows. The vineyard is also one of only a few in the UK to achieve the Sustainable Wines accreditation. Ridgeview is setting a fantastic example of which we hope all vineyards take note.
In the spirit of going above and beyond, the Beyondce Award was presented to Wave Leisure’s CEO Duncan Kerr, for his contributions to the wider community. The amazing outreach programmes they run help participants to prevent falls, escape from long-term pain or recover from serious illness. Through these programmes participants get stronger, keep active and keep safe.
This is all summed up in Wave Leisure’s mission to ‘inspire active lifestyles’. There may have been challenges along the way, but Duncan’s trusty whiteboard and adaptive plans have allowed Wave Leisure to continue to flourish.
Adaptivity is the theme of the next award that the MDHUB presented: the Alchemy Award. Justin Sayers, CEO of Adventure Connections, received this award for his graceful navigation of several turbulent years as an events business.
Duncan Kerr of Wave Leisure – The Beyondce Award being presented by sponsor Anna Shephard of E & S Heating and Ventilation
Just before the pandemic took hold of the world, Justin and his son Josh (who also works for the company) visited a team of developers in Ukraine to start a development project of a new platform
❛❛ At the MDHUB, we support MDs at all stages of their professional development ❜❜
for the business. Sadly, that project could not progress due not only to the impact of the pandemic but also the outbreak of war. With the events sector shut down and Christmas effectively cancelled, things looked dire. Yet with his agility, prudent financial management, great team and his brilliant sense of humour, Justin built back even better than before. Midway through 2021, Justin invested in a non-exec advisory board for the business for the first time. This massive leap allowed Adventure Connections to develop a set of core values which spell out the word FIESTA – fun, innovative, empowering, successful, trustworthy and adventurous. The development project is now back on course with a team in Moldova, and Adventure Connections is set to have their best year in the company’s history in 2022.
When demand rockets and you have to scale your business, it can be easy to lose quality in your service. The Born to Run award, which we presented to Rachel Walker and Kate Underdown from The Foldline, celebrates the right way to handle rapid business growth.
Based in London, The Foldline was created in 2015 by Rachel and Kate to build a diverse, inclusive and sustainable online community for people who love sewing their own clothes. Their clear-sighted and ambitious business strategy is underpinned by their passion for championing independent sewing pattern designers from around the world.
During just seven years of trading, they have successfully navigated Brexit and rapidly rising costs alongside the pandemic to maintain a profitable business. Today, they have 132,000 Instagram followers, a 1,600-strong Facebook community, over 5,000 designs, and are now the largest supplier of sewing patterns in the world.
(Left) Rachel Walker and Kate Underdown – Directors of The Foldline – sponsored by Jonathan Grant of DMH Stallard (Below far left) Matt Turner of Creative Pod – The Lioness Award – being presented by sponsor Russ Mckenzie of nTrust (Left) Esther Dawson of Ridegview, collecting the Eco Warrior Award on behalf of all of the Team at Ridgeview – being presented by sponsor Sam Francis of TEK Express
❛❛ An MDHUB member for 14 years, Sam has always been an excellent and encouraging supporter of her fellow peers. Thank you Sam, for being you ❜❜
Running a business is far easier with help. This is demonstrated wonderfully by the winner of our Best Supporting Act award, Kath Aturk at Tek Express. Kath’s boss Sam Francis nominated her for the award, and explained the potential that she showed right from the start.
“In 2016, I convinced my friend Kath who was a part-time working Mum to become TEK’s deputy as Operations Manager, as her skills were being vastly wasted. Within months, I elevated her to Operations Director to match her acumen. What Kath lacked in confidence she exuded in professionalism and the team took very quickly to her, looking to her for management and guidance. “Covid was obviously a challenging time and she took the lead on ensuring everyone’s mental health was covered. Being such an empathetic person, she was always putting others first. She played a huge part getting 100% of the team back to work as well as helping me navigate the rocky path through Covid, reducing costs and maximising our profit.
“I may be the business owner, but when I brought Kath into the business it was to have a sidekick; one that would challenge me and support me with demanding situations and decisions. This is no easy task for anyone that knows me! The business has never been in such great shape.” Our final award of the event, MD of the year, was awarded to Sam Francis of TEK Express.
In 2000, Sam set up TEK Express when she spotted a gap in the IT support market for businesses and their remote workers, as traditional in-house support was no longer a fast or effective solution. Sam and her team provide fast, remote repair that gets employees’ tech back up and running in a few hours and returned to them via courier.
Sam and her team also offer TEK Refresh to their customers, a recycling service for laptops, mobile phones and tablets. Over 10,000 devices have been re-sold instead of going into landfill.
Nurturing great, long-term customer relationships is absolutely crucial to TEK Express’ success, alongside Sam making excellent strategic decisions in her business. She also champions her team and leads from the front, investing in her their development so that they all lead equal and fulfilling lives.
An MDHUB member for 14 years, Sam has always been an excellent and encouraging supporter of her fellow peers. Thank you Sam, for being you.
Thank you to everyone who attended the awards; it was a pleasure to celebrate your successes together. As one member put it: “so many lovely people in one room. I think that may be something to do with getting the membership you deserve.” It’s great to see that our MDs are as happy with the service that the MDHUB provides as we are to support them.
