2021 Director of the Year Awards "Small but Enterprising Businesses" (JEP - 19 May 2021)

There are far more small businesses in Jersey than there are large ones. Here, almost nine out of ten undertakings employ fewer than ten staff, according to Statistics Jersey, and that’s a proportion which hasn’t substantially changed in the last decade. SMEs, are therefore essential to our Island. They employ a large number of people and make a substantial contribution to our economy.

It’s not just a situation peculiar to Jersey, 99.9% of businesses in the UK are small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), although their definition is a little different. In Jersey a small business is that which employs fewer than ten staff, whereas in the UK it’s fewer than 49 staff. The definitions are relative to population and economy size.

Away from the numbers and statistics, small businesses provide variety and innovation, whether that’s on a local scale, or internationally. They increase competition in an industry and marketplace, and reflect the culture and diversity of the Island. It’s why the IoD Jersey is once again including the SME category in the 2021 Director of the Year awards.

The last winner of this award was Tim Crowley, Managing Director of La Mare Vineyards. Tim won in 2017, and went on to win the UK national award as well. Tim has been at the helm of La Mare since 1997, and led the development of the brand and its expansion into the UK market and beyond. 

Leaders like Tim are not only responsible for helping drive small businesses forward, growing them and increasing profits, but are the reason why so many organisations have been able to survive the challenges Covid-19 presented. Small businesses are able to respond and adapt quickly to changing economic climates, in part because of the quick decision making due to size, and also because they’re often embedded into their communities and are very customer-oriented. 

The leaders of SMEs are big employers and as such have an essential role in creating jobs, training local people and acting as role models. SMEs are diverse in form, culture and function, and the greater diversity there is in an economy, the stronger it is. SMEs also don’t necessarily stay small, they are the seed for every large business.

The SME category Award, will go to a director of a business who is able to show outstanding initiative, boldness and imagination in enterprise, sustainability, as well as sound management practice, good corporate governance and commercial success.

Now is a fantastic time to celebrate a director who has worked with their staff over the past year to drive forward their business, even if it has had to pivot and change due to the pandemic. You can nominate yourself or somebody else.

This is just one category in this year’s awards, sponsored by Appleby. We want to celebrate leaders in all fields, whether you’re an established business, innovative start-up, NED, Third Sector director or family business. Entry is free and you do not have to be a member of IoD Jersey to enter.

The full list of categories are:

Large Business

SME Business

Family Business

Start-up

Third Sector

Public Sector

Young 

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

Sustainability

Non-Executive

We have an excellent panel of judges, some of Jersey’s finest directors and former directors from a range of business sectors and backgrounds. The panel will be chaired by Kevin Keen who will be joined by John Henwood MBE, Brendan McMahon, Dr Lesley Dickie, Kate Wright, Kristina Le Feuvre and Tom Hacquoil.

We also hope to celebrate our 2021 Award winners at a black-tie ceremony at the Royal Yacht on Friday September 17th.

You have until Friday, 4 June to get your nominations in by clicking on “Awards” on the www.IoD.je website. 

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