Judges of The BlackBerry Business Enabler of the Year

Simon Feary’s early career was as a chartered biologist involved first in the genetics of cancer and leukaemia and their implications on prognosis followed by drug safety testing for the pharmaceutical industry. The latter involved a move away from the laboratory bench into management and, through exposure to Good Laboratory Practice and other regulatory requirements associated with the pharmaceutical environment, he gained a practical appreciation of the value to organisations of effective quality management.

Following completion of an MBA in the early 1990’s he joined the IQA in 1994 to head up IRCA, then a small UK-focused business and minor part of the IQA’s activities. During the next decade and a half he developed IRCA into an international brand synonymous with auditor and training certification, recognised and accepted worldwide as a credible component of the accredited certification landscape. In 2008, he moved to his current position as CQI’s chief executive, with a brief to promote the role and contributions of the quality professional within business and industry and to champion the CQI’s role as the leading professional body for quality and a positive contributor to UK plc.

His background and interests are both business and quality, two attributes very relevant to managing the CQI. He is also active within standards making and, through IRCA, retains an involvement in the International Accreditation Forum and other groups charged with developing standards, guidance and best practice.

Stephanie is a Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at the Bettany Centre for Entrepreneurial Performance and Economics at Cranfield School of Management. As part of her role she runs the Entrepreneurship elective on the full-time and executive MBA, which combines theory and practice through case studies and the development of business ideas. To foster knowledge into action Stephanie organised the 2010 and 2011 European Business Plan of the Year Competition (EBPYC), which brings together MBA students and faculty from around Europe to compete for the best business idea as judged by industry experts. In 2011, Stephanie was the organiser of Cranfield VentureDay, the annual conference for Cranfield's extended network of entrepreneurs, investors, and advisors. Stephanie has written several case studies published in academic journals and the European Case Clearing House. In 2010, she was awarded the EFMD prize for the best case study in entrepreneurship for the case study on GoApe! with Bettany Centre co-author David Molian. Her current research focuses on venture strategy and planning in evolutionary firms and on business survival.

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William Montgomery is a performance consultant with first class credentials. The former navigating officer of HMS Ark Royal and Head of Strategic Change at Lloyds TSB, he now heads up TEN where he has earned an enviable reputation as a powerful catalyst for performance. He has earned an enviable reputation as a powerful catalyst for performance, helping release potential to maximise profit through the creation of a success culture for start-up entrepreneurs to FTSE 100 companies. He is retained by some of the world’s most respected organisations in the areas of business, media and sport, where he uses his 10 actions of effective leaders to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. He has chaired and addressed conferences across the UK in the private and public sectors. William’s messages are practical, and presented with electrifying effect. He shakes up and inspires his audiences, showing them what lies within their grasp.