Women 1st announces 2014 Shine Awards shortlist
Women 1st has announced the shortlist for its 2014 Shine Awards, which celebrate the achievements of women working in the hospitality, passenger transport, travel, tourism and retail industries.
Shortlisted individuals from the hospitality industry include VisitBritain chief executive, Sandie Dawe MBE, Whitbread's head of HR shared services, Susan Gomes, and The Cloud Hotel owner, Avril Owton MBE, all of whom are in the running for the Lifetime Achievement award, while Accor Hotels and HIT Training are both shortlisted for the Large Business award.
The winners will be announced at a black-tie dinner hosted by former England rugby star, Matt Dawson MBE, on 16 September 2014 at the London Marriott Grosvenor Square.
Simone Roche, director of Women 1st, said: "It's fantastic to read so many inspiring stories of women achieving great things in our industries. Women are still underrepresented in senior roles in hospitality, so celebrating and sharing these stories is incredibly important to create strong role models for our future female leaders. It's going to be a tough job to pick the winners!"
The full shortlist for the 2014 Women 1st Shine Awards is as follows:
Individual awards:
Rising Star Award]
•Graziela Bittencourt - banqueting manager, London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square
•Alexandra Flinton - materials manager, East Coast Main Line Company
•Linzi Martin - district operations manager, William Hill
•Louisa May Matthews - junior sous chef, Sodexo
•Janie Stamford - foodservice editor, The Caterer
Stepping Up Award
•Catharine Barras - operations manager, BaxterStorey
•Jo Dowell - director of human resources, St Pancras Renaissance Hotel
•Katy Green - operations manager, Premier Inn London Kings Cross/St. Pancras
•Janine Marshall - executive assistant director, One Aldwych
•Claire Maynard - retail business manager, Mitchells & Butlers
Mentor of the Year Award
•Stephanie Hamilton - executive operations director, ISS Food and Hospitality
•Jeanette Pritchard - founder and chair, Brand Amplifier
•Jayne Rees-Baynes - proprietor, Elm Grove Country House
Outstanding Entrepreneur Award
•Sally Fielding - owner, Sally's Cottages
•Kim Kaewkraikhot - owner/chef director, Thai Leisure Group
•Kirstie Loveday - managing director, Love Drinks
•Julianne Ponan - director, CEO, Creative Nature
Woman of the Year
•Karen Boswell - managing director, East Coast Main Line Company
•Stephanie Hamilton - executive operations director, ISS Food & Hospitality
•Louise Smalley - group human resources director, Whitbread
•Alison Tyler - CEO - commercial, CH& Co
•Norma Unwin - route operations manager - First Capital Connect, FirstGroup
Lifetime Achievement
•Sandie Dawe MBE - chief executive, VisitBritain
•Susan Gomes - head of HR shared services, Whitbread
•Avril Owton MBE - owner, the Cloud hotel
Business awards:
Small Business
•Affordable Car Hire
•Debbee Dale Development
•Sally's Cottages
•Zibrant
Large Business
•Accor Hotels
•HIT Training
•Merlin Entertainments
Women 1st is a campaigning arm of People 1st, the skills and workforce development charity for employers in the hospitality, tourism, leisure, travel, passenger transport and retail industries. It was launched in 2009 to address the issue that large numbers of women were leaving the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism industries each year and the imbalance between men and women at senior levels.
