Our judging panel
Professor Harris Beider
Joanna Duggan
Justice Williams MBE
Liam Dillon
Marverine Cole
Mike Hopkins MBE
Mike Owens
Dr Nik Kotecha OBE DL
Parveen Mehta
Simon Marks
Steph Smith
Wendy Morgan
Harris took up his role as Pro Vice-Chancellor for Engagement, Enterprise and Innovation at BCU in May 2024. He has held leadership roles at universities including PVC for Research, Innovation and Engagement at the University of Bradford, Head of the School of Social Sciences at BCU, Director of Research Development at the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations & Academic Director of the Institute of Community Cohesion: Coventry University, and Senior Fellow at the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies at the University of Birmingham
In 2014 and 2016, Harris was awarded a Visiting Professorship in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in the City of New York teaching on the MPA Programme and was nominated for the Columbia University Presidential Teaching Prize in 2017.
Prior to working in higher education, Harris started his working life as a community development enterprise worker establishing social enterprises in East Birmingham before leading two national organisations including being the Executive Director of the Federation of Black Housing Organisations working with the housing sector and government to address the issues of race equality in policy and practice.
Harris’ passion on issues of inclusion, identity and change is shaped in part by being born in Karachi, Pakistan but growing up inner city Birmingham and then attending secondary school in one of the poorest parts of the city. In this way he is committed to the role of universities to work in partnership to transform the lives of people and places.
Joanna Duggan is a fundraising and marketing professional with over 15 years of nonprofit experience. She is currently the Director of Fundraising, Communications & Marketing at Newlife the Charity for Disabled Children and was previously Director of Income Generation & Marketing at John Taylor Hospice. Alongside her career, Joanna has served as a magistrate and held several board level roles. She holds a background in psychology and a certificate in fundraising management.
The proud co-founder of two kids aged 7 and 14, Justice Williams MBE was previously named Cosmopolitan Magazine's Most Inspirational Woman of the Year. Justice is the Co-Founder, Publisher and Editor in Chief at Black Business Magazine, Host of the Dream Plan Launch® podcast, and a multi-award-winning business strategist, international speaker and personal brand expert with over 15 years of experience in the start-up and branding economy. She has supported thousands of entrepreneurs in starting and scaling their businesses and has partnered with corporates and brands such as Meta, Google and Lloyds Bank. In 2024, Justice was appointed as chair of the Birmingham Advisory Committee for the UK Black Business Show and Vice Chair of the Great Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Black Business Collective. Justice also serves as a judge for the PPA Awards.
Since 2017, The Boat has been our home. It has evolved over the years and continues to grow with the ambitious creativity of chef owner Liam Dillon.
Liam’s career spans some of the country’s top kitchens, starting in London with Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley, Five Fields (1*) in Chelsea and Story (2*) by Tom Sellers in Bermondsey. He was inspired internationally with stints at Quay in Sydney, Noma in Copenhagen, and at Eleven Madison Park (3*) and Gilt (2*) in New York, before returning to his hometown of Lichfield in search of a place he could call his own.
In the beginning, the walls and décor may have resembled a roadside pub, but endless renovations and tireless efforts from the whole family have reinvented our restaurant into a place for Liam to share his knowledge and passion for refined, British cooking with a lightness of touch.
Marverine Cole is a multi-award-winning journalist and broadcaster from Birmingham. She can often be seen as a newsreader on ITV1’s Good Morning Britain.
Celebrating 21 years as a live news and current affairs broadcaster, Marverine’s media career spans more than three decades. Being a Brummie born, bred and proud she started out as a Reporter, Producer, and Presenter for ITV Central News and BBC Midlands Today. From there she was head-hunted to work as an anchor for Sky News, and she went on to present for Arise News and 5 News. Marverine has also produced and presented several radio documentaries for BBC Radio 4, 5 Live, 1Xtra and the World Service. Although she works primarily in London, the West Midlands remains Marverine’s home and base for her creative entrepreneurial business.
Mike has been the Principal for 17 years at South and City College Birmingham (initially South Birmingham College), having been Vice Principal prior to this. The College is now 3 times the size it was when he became Principal and is the largest college within the region and one of the largest in the country. The College is 14+ but also has the largest Adult Education Budget nationally.
Despite this, individual students and staff are still important to him and perhaps uniquely for a college of the size it is, he is still available to every student and staff member individually and has very regular meetings for students and staff to talk to him. He has a genuine open door policy. Unlike many other colleges the College is open to all people from Birmingham no matter what their background and prior attainment and has one of the highest overall levels of indices of multiple deprivation in the country.
He is a member of the City’s Prevent Steering Group. He works very closely with the West Midlands Mayor and Birmingham local MPs and local councillors providing advice and briefings on FE matters and potential local initiatives. Importantly his focus has always been Birmingham and his involvement in national issues is only where this is necessary for local Birmingham requirements. He has a personal commitment to serving the needs of the local communities and supportive of the regional skills agenda.
Mike was awarded a MBE for services to education in the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours and in 2024 was awarded a Honorary Doctorate from Aston University.
Mike has been a prolific ambassador and fundraiser for various charities, including Teenage Cancer Trust, Macmillan Cancer Support, Help Harry Help Others, and Promise Dreams. By far the largest has been Cure Leukaemia which included him riding the full Tour de France one week ahead of the race in 2021 as part of a team which raised £1.1 million.
Mike openly admits that he loves what he does and the College is a large part of his life
In his non-college personal time he is a very active cyclist, he still races competitively and takes part in major cycling challenges to fund raise for local charities.
Mike has worked in manufacturing for over 35 years and has held roles at Senior European Leadership Team level as well as in Plant Management, Operations and Finance. He has developed effective teams, delivering results within the corporate, private equity owned and family run business sectors. He is passionate about people development, innovative technologies, continuous process improvement and sustainability. Mike holds an MA (Hons) Degree in Economics from Edinburgh University. He is Vice-President and a Board member of the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce.
Dr Nik Kotecha is an internationally renowned businessman, scientist, influencer and serial entrepreneur. He founded and led the inspirational growth of leading Midlands-based developer and manufacturer of generic medicines, Morningside Pharmaceuticals Ltd, and is Founder and Chairman of RandalSun Capital.
Arriving in the UK (1972) with his family as a refugee, Dr Kotecha’s family settled in Leicester. After academia, his career moved into drug discovery, focused on type II diabetes and infection. Next steps drew on his love of science, knowledge of pharmaceuticals and his passion for affordable, accessible and high-quality healthcare for all. Starting from a home garage in 1991 as a 100% export business, when he divested his interests (2022), Morningside Pharmaceuticals had exported to 120+ countries, with a global product range of over 300 generic and branded EU and UK licensed medicines.
Growth was driven by an unrelenting approach to innovation, new markets, new jurisdiction product registrations and international commercial partnerships within a socially focussed business model, where key contracts included those supplying global aid agencies.
Dr Kotecha holds many national and regional roles on boards as diverse as The Prince’s Trust Council, Midlands Mindforge and the Centre for Social Justice. Closer to home, he’s been a long serving board member for the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) until it closed in March 2024; he is the former Chair of the Loughborough Town Deal Board and he has held the position of Chair for the successful Leicestershire Innovation Festival since its inception. He has represented the region in diverse roles including Deputy Lieutenant for Leicestershire, and as both Export Champion for over 10 years, and Trade Policy Advisor for HM Government Department for Business and Trade.
Dr Kotecha was awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise, for International Trade in 2012. He accompanied the then Prime Minister Teresa May on a trade mission to India in 2016 and in 2018 he received a Board of Trade Award, issued by the then Department of International Trade.
He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science by the University of Leicester in July 2023, formally recognising his contribution to science and the scientific community. In 2022 he was recognised by De Montfort University, where he is Pro Chancellor, by being awarded the role of Professor of Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Philanthropy. In 2022, he also received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Imperial College, London.
His current global business portfolio is wide ranging and includes investments from start-ups to patient capital, with retained interests in health, life sciences and high innovation, IP rich businesses.
In 2017 he and his wife Moni established the Randal Foundation CIO, giving it powerful worldwide reach (www.randalfoundation.org.uk). The Foundation works with aligned partners and organisations to deliver its central ambition: to save 1 million lives, globally.
Parveen Mehta is a distinguished business leader and entrepreneur, celebrated for his deep expertise in supply chain management, human capital development, and sustainable business practices. With over two decades of impactful experience in the retail and wholesale sectors, Parveen has consistently driven business transformation through strategic innovation and operational excellence.
In his role as Director of Operations at Minor Weir & Willis Ltd, one of the UK’s leading fresh produce companies, Parveen has been a driving force behind process optimization and efficiency improvements, significantly contributing to the company’s growth and industry prominence. His commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship has earned him recognition as a forward-thinking leader, dedicated to reducing the ecological footprint of business operations.
Parveen’s influence extends beyond his corporate responsibilities. As a Director at The Black Country Industrial Cluster, he is a key figure in promoting industrial innovation and economic development in the Midlands. He has also regularly served as a Lead Judge for the Wilson Family Business Awards, where his advocacy for the success of family-owned enterprises underscores his dedication to excellence and community development.
Parveen’s academic foundation includes a B.Sc. (Hons) in Physics from Loughborough University and advanced executive education from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, equipping him with a broad strategic perspective. His blend of business acumen, leadership in sustainability, and commitment to nurturing future leaders positions him as a visionary in both business and community spheres.
Simon is Arcadis City Executive for the Midlands, with over 500 staff in the Midlands office in Birmingham. With 30 years property, construction, regeneration and asset experience he helps clients make the best of their built and natural assets in relation to achieving their vision, strategy and key priorities. He has led and delivered a range of projects across the public, private and infrastructure sectors and has a deep understanding of the development, housing and regeneration arena. He is currently on the advisory board of City Redi at the University of Birmingham, a Board Member of Women in Property and a trustee and Board Member of Malvern Theatres. Simon is a former board member of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership and former Chair of the Curzon Enterprise Zone Board.
Arcadis is the leading global Design & Consultancy firm for natural and built assets. Applying our deep market sector insights and collective design, consultancy, engineering, project and management services we work in partnership with our clients to deliver exceptional and sustainable outcomes throughout the lifecycle of their natural and built assets. We have knowledge and expertise to improve the quality of life in rapidly growing cities around the world.
Steph works as Business Manager for Crown Highways and has over 20 years’ experience across a wide range of construction companies. Taking responsibility for driving inclusion, wellbeing, and employee engagement within the business, Steph takes a strategic approach to ensuring that every member of staff is valued for the contribution that they make and that recognition and reward for a job well done is a priority focus for Crown Highways.
Wendy Morgan, Founder and CEO of Jumar since its inception in 1999, has spearheaded the company's remarkable 25-year journey. Jumar works with its financial, insurance and public sector clients to provide a holistic range of IT services including digital transformation, application development, resource augmentation and executive search.
Wendy's strategic vision expanded beyond organisational growth as she actively engaged with local stakeholders, developing valuable collaborations. In 2023, Jumar secured a pivotal investment from Aliter Capital, reinforcing its position as a key player in the UK's technology resourcing and solutions landscape.