Judges of The Transformational Change of the Year

Colin Cram has held senior procurement positions in the public sector for over 30 years, including central government, higher education, scientific research and local government. He was responsible throughout for initiating and implementing innovative strategies for procurement, shared services, outsourcings and organisational re-engineering. In creating several leading edge procurement organisations and collaborations, he was responsible for third party spends of up to £7bn a year. Cash savings from his initiatives exceed £1bn pa. 

A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, Colin is a member of SOLACE (Society of Local Authority Chief Executives), a guest Member of IACCM (International Association for Contract and Commercial Management), was appointed a Senior Adviser to the Office of Government Commerce and is an Honorary Associate Fellow at Manchester Business School. He is a regular speaker and chair at national and international conferences and seminars, is a regular contributor to professional journals and web-sites and a regular broadcaster.

Why has Colin agreed to judge the National Business Awards?
"I am keen to encourage and support the best in public and private sectors and the National Business Awards are an excellent means of doing so".

My career began in Youth Training, where I quickly understood that we all need good leaders and that being technically excellent at a job does not ensure you can lead effectively. That experience led me to invest 30 years in leadership development. In 1985, I co-founded Harthill, building on my work with major private sector organisations as an independent consultant. Harthill is a leading-edge leadership development consultancy specialised in supporting organisational transformations. If what ensures effective leadership is no longer a mystery to me, I continue to develop the craft of how to support leaders in serving others well.

Why has Jackie decided to judge the National Business Awards?
"I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to judge the NBA Transformational Change of the Year Award. Leading a successful organisational transformation is a particularly tough challenge to pull off in any climate: it is a necessary challenge to face in the current one. Leaders who achieve this not only deserve to be recognised and celebrated, but must be".

Phil Smith is UK & Ireland CEO of Cisco - the worldwide leader in networking for the internet and is responsible for the company’s largest operation outside of North America. He has a thirty year track record within the ICT industry, advising leading global organisations in the private and public sector on how to drive transformation, productivity and sustainable growth. Phil is also an advocate of technology and innovation to the region’s business and political leaders, sitting on a number of boards including Young Enterprise, e-Skills UK and the Employers Forum for Disability.

Why has Phil decided to judge the National Business Awards?
"I am passionate about innovation and we know that the UK landscape inspires market leading businesses; from start-ups through to large enterprises across a range of industry sectors. The National Business Awards provide a powerful  inclusive platform to showcase the nation’s talent, innovation and skills, supporting organisations at different stages in their evolution and I am looking forward to having the great opportunity to meet some of the individuals behind them".

Charles is responsible for sales, marketing, communications and relationship management of Intellect’s 750 members. Charles' role involves day-to-day involvement with member companies of all types and he regularly contributes to executive level seminars on a variety of topics including sales strategy, performance benchmarking as well as software pricing and licensing. He regularly speaks on the state of the UK ICT sector and market entry strategies for overseas companies. Involved in a number of national award schemes, Charles is chairman of the judging panel for Intellect’s ‘IT Excellence in Local Government’ and a member of the BCS/Computing panel. Charles was on the judging panel for the 2007 Digital Challenge competition and has spoken on Digital Inclusion at various forums. Charles joined Intellect from Compaq (previously Digital) where he was EMEA Head of Marketing for Customer Services Division. Prior to joining Digital in 1989 Charles held a variety of marketing and sales roles in De La Rue Payment Systems, Johnson & Johnson and 3M United Kingdom.