Up-and-coming finance professionals from across the region have been honoured at the inaugural Yorkshire Rising Star Awards sponsored by Grant Thornton and Cobbetts.
Vicky Godliman, financial controller at York-based software licencing company Trustmarque Solutions was recognised with the coveted Overall Yorkshire Rising Star award.
The judging panel praised her leadership qualities, her capacity for building a motivated team and a high degree of commercial acumen. Vicky also triumphed in the £70m-£15m turnover category.
Other winners included Andrew Ward of fast-growing food group Zubrance Limited, Monica Turner of ASDA Stores Limited and James Hart of Firth Rixson.
The Yorkshire Rising Star Awards, sponsored by Grant Thornton and Cobbetts, have been established by financial recruitment firm Sharp Consultancy to promote the new breed of finance professionals across the Yorkshire region.
Vicky said: “I was really proud to be nominated and it’s fantastic to win my category. That was good enough but to win overall is amazing. I work with some great people and this award is as much for them as it is for me.”
Founder and director of Sharp Consultancy Chris Sharp said: “We had a fantastic number of high calibre nominations from companies across Yorkshire, and it’s been an honour to recognise the very best of them. Vicky’s influence at Trustmarque shows how a suitably minded finance department can contribute to the sales growth of a business.
“We’re looking forward to the Rising Star Awards becoming an annual fixture on the Yorkshire business calendar.”
Entrepreneur Lee Strafford, chairman of Sheffield Wednesday FC, gave a keynote speech to 150 business leaders at the gala dinner, which took place at the Cedar Court Hotel in Wakefield on Thursday 13 May 2010.
The complete list of category winners is as follows:
- Yorkshire under £25m turnover: Andrew Ward, Zubrance Limited (Elland, West Yorkshire)
- Yorkshire £25m to £70m turnover: Andrew Mill, Lexia Solutions Group Ltd (Leeds, West Yorkshire)
- South Yorkshire £25m to £70m turnover: Gary Vaughton, esg Holdings Ltd (Sheffield, South Yorkshire)
- Yorkshire £70m to £150m turnover: Vicky Godliman, Trustmarque Solutions Limited (York, North Yorkshire)
- South Yorkshire £70m to £150m turnover : Jon Furniss, Tunstall Healthcare Group (Whitley Bridge, South Yorkshire)
- Yorkshire over £150m turnover: Monica Turner, ASDA Stores Ltd (Leeds, West Yorkshire)
- South Yorkshire over £150m turnover: James Hart, Firth Rixson (Sheffield, South Yorkshire)
- Yorkshire Public Sector/Not for Profit: Andrew Eckford, Sheffield Hallam University (Sheffield, South Yorkshire)
- Overall Yorkshire Rising Star: Vicky Godliman, Trustmarque Solutions Limited (York, North Yorkshire)