Judges announced for ABCC awards

The judging panel has been announced for the upcoming Asian Business Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) awards celebration.

Businesses of all sizes will have the opportunity to be recognised for their accomplishments at The National Conference Centre on Saturday, 18 November.

Chairing the awards this year is Raj Kandola (pictured) , director of external affairs at Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce.

Joining Raj on the judging panel is Mark Smith, executive director of business engagement at Aston University, Professor Martin Levermore MBE DL, CEO of Medical Devices Technology International Ltd (MDTi), management consultant Mashkura Begum and managing director of MSDUK Reshma Sheikh.

Raj Kandola is the director of external affairs at the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce tasked with covering the organisation's research, campaigning, stakeholder engagement and media & communications activity.

Prior to joining the Chamber in 2016, Raj worked in communications for a former Shadow Minister and spent eight years in London recruiting staff across the financial services industry.

Mark Smith is Aston University's first-ever executive director of business engagement. Mark takes strategic responsibility for all business engagement activities at the University and showcases the commercial benefits of working with Aston to business, professional and public sector organisations.

This includes Aston's business growth programmes, student placements, knowledge transfer partnerships (KTPs), and other initiatives. Mark also oversees the development of degree apprenticeship programmes.

Professor Martin Levermore MBE DL is chair of Medilink Midlands and vice chair for Nehemiah United Churches Housing Association (UCHA). In addition, Martin is also the founder and CEO of Medical Devices Technology International Ltd (MDTi).

He has over 18 years at senior board level in the life sciences sector and sits on the executive board of PIONEER as commercial adviser, whilst chairing the advisory board to HDRUK.

Mashkura Begum has over 20 years' experience of working in the third / public sector, government regeneration programme and international development. Her expertise is in community cohesion, local government devolution, housing, stakeholder analysis and business development.

She was the Head of Community Cohesion and Engagement at Urban Living and turned around a failing programme to 'outstanding' as deemed by the Audit Commission.

Reshma Sheikh is a chairperson, business leader, lawyer, public speaker and consultant born and raised in the Midlands. She was one of only a few, Muslim female business leaders in the UK within the Security Industry, for an 8-figure turnover business.

Reshma was also recognised as one of the 'top 100 Asian Stars in UK Tech' and she is a regular speaker on BBC and ITV News along with mainstream media publications for celebrity security cases.

Speaking about the upcoming judging duties, Raj Kandola said: “This year we've received a number of outstanding entries for the ABCC awards and it's been a privilege to chair the judging process.

“It was brilliant to see the breadth of organisations that had applied for the various awards and the extremely high calibre of applicants that have gone above and beyond in making a real difference across the region.

“We look forward to celebrating the work of the nominees on the awards night and champion their fantastic work.”

For sponsorship opportunities, contact ABCC director Anjum Khan on a.khan@birmingham-chamber.com