Cornwall Business Leader of the Year Awards 2007

Well I am really pleased. Following my journey back from Cambridge yesterday I ended up at the Cornwall Business Awards dinner at St Mellion. Gordon, my Business development Director, came with me.

I was nominated in the Business Leader of the Year category. And was delighted to be voted one of the top two business leaders in Cornwall and the top woman!

The award for the Business Leader of the Year was sponsored by NatWest
This award is made to the outstanding individual who in the last year has best demonstrated exceptional leadership and vision. The judges are looking for evidence of how the organisation has significantly improved performance for its employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders,and how the entrant has contributed to that success. Specific qualities that the judges considered include the performance of the current business including sales and profit growth, and a vision for the future.

The award was given to leaders who had been able to drive their businesses through difficult change and still demonstrate growth.

Entries were judged by a panel of high-profile business figures, including Eden Project Chief Executive Tim Smit; former Bank of England governor Lord George; John Smith, CEO of BBC Worldwide and Sir John Banham, Chairman of Johnson Matthey PLC and former Chair of Whitbread.

Around the country

Caroline and I at the Print Industry Conference

Both of us are keen to get women into high profile positions in print

Mad couple of days rushing around. I left home at 5am on Wednesday morning to get to a Print conference near Rugby. I am a committee member of the Independent Print Industries association which is an organisation that allows manufacturers and print management companies to meet and exchange views.

The conference was excellent covering aspects of environmental issues for the paper industry through to the latest technology using web pages. There are some truly excellent innovations in web page development.

It also means that I get to catch up with a number of customers in one place rather than various journeys around the UK.

Following the conference I stayed at Cambridge so I would be able to visit some customers in the area. There is no substitute for getting out of the office and actually seeing your customers. Email and the phone cannot replicate actually sitting and chatting through customers needs face to face.

Election results

The council elections are over! When John Major went on to win the 1992 General Election he had 46% of the vote - Cameron needs to do better.

In Cornwall the battle is on - a clear two horse race between us and the Tories.

The BBC estimated share of the national vote for Liberal Democrats in the local elections is 26%. The final calculations on estimated national vote share for the Liberal Democrats between 1994 and 2006 are all in a range of 23% - 27%.

This year's estimate for the Liberal Democrats is therefore towards the very top of the range of estimated vote share in the last 13 years. It is just 1% below the record high level achieved by the party in last year's local elections (27%).

The estimated share of the vote for Labour in the first local elections with Tony Blair as Leader was 47%. Labour appears to have lost 20% of this vote share in the 13 years since Tony Blair became Leader.

The highest estimated national vote share for the Tories in recent times was the 46% achieved under John Major in 1992 which was also the last year in which the Conservatives won a General Election. The BBC estimate for the Tories this year is 40%.