Diversity in hospitality honoured as Women 1st announces 2012 Shine Award Winners and Top 100 Club inductees
Winners of the Shine Awards from the hospitality industry include Jill Stein, director of The Seafood Restaurant, who won the Lifetime Achievement Award; Emily Perry, marketing manager of Learnpurple, taking home the Rising Star Award; and HTP Training, which was awarded the Small Business accolade.
Last night’s event, hosted by radio and TV presenter Emma Forbes, also saw 16 new inductees from the hospitality sector joining the exclusive Women 1st Top 100 Club of the most influential women in the industry.
The 2012 inductees from the hospitality industry into the Top 100 Club are:
- Alison Gilbert, human resources director, CH&Co.
- Caroline Walters, head of corporate affairs, JD Wetherspoon plc
- Clair Preston-Beer, individual franchise director, Costa Coffee
- Claire Sullivan, category marketing director, Unilever Food Solutions
- Debbie White, chief executive UK and Ireland, Sodexo Ltd.
- Debrah Dhugga, general manager, DUKES St. James London
- Elaine Higginson, managing director, United Coffee UK and Ireland
- Helen Jones, managing director, Zizzi
- Jackie Cupper, operations director, Spirit Group
- Jan Matthews, head of catering, Cleaning and Waste Services London 2012, LOCOG
- Janis Kong OBE, non-executive director, Network Rail, TUI, and VisitBritain
- Julie Barker, managing director, The University Caterers Organisation (TUCO)/ Head of Residential and Catering Services, University of Brighton
- Kellie Rixon, group brand development director, De Vere Group and Managing Director, De Vere Academy of Hospitality
- Suzanne Jackson, executive director, The Hospitality Guild
- Vicky Williams, HR director, Compass Group UK and Ireland
- Zoe Jenkins, General Manager, Coworth Park
Sharon Glancy, founder of Women 1st, said: “The quality of the nominations we received this year was remarkable, and each and every one was an inspiration. It was a tough task to whittle it down and make our final selection.
"Our winners and the extraordinary women in our Top 100 Club, are a critical force which will play no small role in ensuring the future success of the industry. Women 1st is proud to recognise their accomplishments and we hope they will encourage and motivate other women and men to pursue their career aspirations, within our industry, with tenacity and enthusiasm.”
Jill Stein
The Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Stein for having ‘all of the great qualities of a successful leader; calm, humble, charismatic, inspirational, selfless and eloquent’. She was last year awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Business for her work in the hospitality industry and spoke to BigHospitality in this Pearls of Wisdom interview in which she said she was proud to be recognised as a leading woman in the sector.
Also shortlisted for the award was Penelope, Viscountess Cobham, chair of VisitEngland; Jackie Cupper, operations director of Spirit Pub Company; Avril Owton MBE, owner of The Cloud Hotel; and Tanya Wheway, chairman of Wheway Lifestyle International.
The full list of the Women 1st Top 100 Club of the most influential women in hospitality, passenger transport, travel and tourism, including those inducted into the Club in 2012, is available at www.people1st.co.uk/top100club and more information about the Shine awards can be found here: www.people1st.co.uk/shineawards
