City of sydney business awards 09 - Supporting better business

How the Awards are judged

Finalists in all categories will complete a business questionnaire to aid the judges in selecting the winners. The questionnaire will ask you to provide specific examples responding to the following criteria:

1. Financial results
2. Strategic planning
3. Industry innovation
4. Community participation and leadership
5. Marketing and Communications
6. Evidence of environmental sustainability planning

Finalists in some categories may be visited by a mystery shopper or be contacted by the judges for further information. Mystery shopping reports will be evaluated by the judges and considered in your final score.

The Judges

The Awards are fortunate to have the assistance of prominent small business experts from government, academics and business serving on the judging panel.

The 2011 Panel of Judges included:

Greg Hayes, Director, Hayes Knight

Greg has a passion for a challenge. He brings a wealth of practical experience, an astute commercial mind, and his knowledge of tax law to his work and leadership of the tax advice and corporate finance team in Sydney. Greg specialises in strategic planning techniques, working with enterprises going through a structured growth phase.

He is a familiar face in the Australian media as an expert commentator on business and taxation issues. He regularly appears in the Australian Financial Review, Business Review Weekly and other business publications. He is also a well known and regarded presenter in Australia and overseas.

Garth McNally, Director, Hayes Knight

Greg has a passion for a challenge. He brings a wealth of practical experience, an astute commercial mind, and his knowledge of tax law to his work and leadership of the tax advice and corporate finance team in Sydney. Greg specialises in strategic planning techniques, working with enterprises going through a structured growth phase.

He is a familiar face in the Australian media as an expert commentator on business and taxation issues. He regularly appears in the Australian Financial Review, Business Review Weekly and other business publications. He is also a well known and regarded presenter in Australia and overseas.

In addition to his client work, Garth advises accountants Australia wide on superannuation fund strategies and compliance requirements on behalf of their clients.

Sharing his knowledge Garth writes and presents on SMSF and superannuation issues. He is a regular, knowledgeable, and practical presenter for industry groups and private organisations including CPA Australia and Knowledge Shop. Garth is an Authorised Representative of the Magnitude Group.

Christopher Witt, Kalori Investment Group

Chris Witt is Director of Entrepreneurship at UTS, and Founder of the UNSW Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Chris has written extensively on leadership, strategic direction and private equity, and is the official Business Advisor for Dell Computer, Westpac Bank and ANZ Bank clients.

He is a Founding Partner at Kalori Capital Partners, a boutique private equity and corporate advisory firm based in Sydney.

Previously he spent 15 years with AT&T, Telstra and Motorola in line-level operations including management of acquisitions, distribution networks, marketing & sales, and strategic relationships.

Stephanie Gray, State Manager Small Business Banking NSW/ACT

Stephanie Gray is the State Manager NSW/ACT for Small Business Banking with ANZ. Her areas of specialisation are: Coaching and Leadership Development, Change Management, Stakeholder Management, Sales/Operations and Client Relationship Management.

She holds a:

Master Organisational Coaching – The University of Sydney
Cert IV Workplace Training and Assessment – University of New England
Graduate Diploma Performance Psychology – Australian College of Applied Psychology
Graduate Diploma Banking and Finance – Sheffield Hallam University

Bruce Harrison, District Executive, ANZ Business Banking CBD North

Bruce has in excess of 20 years experience in relationship banking with ANZ in the Australian market.

In his current role as District Executive for ANZ Business Banking, Bruce leads an experienced team of eight relationship managers specialising in the SME client segment within the Sydney CBD market.

Prior to this role, Bruce spent in excess of ten years within the Institutional division of ANZ holding various senior relationship management roles directly responsible for key client relationships across the Institutional and Corporate client segments.

Kate Groom, Principal, Starfish Consulting

I help people focus on what drives performance and create ways to share knowledge and experience so they can produce remarkable results in business.

My experience includes benchmarking, franchise operations, marketing and business strategy and I know what it takes to get things done in the real world. I’ve established benchmarking and performance improvement programs in franchises and led through periods of growth and change.

My commitment is to inspire people to achieve more so they have an profitable, enjoyable and rewarding business life.

I help people in franchising have conversations about profit, performance and results. My goal is to give people the ability and confidence to make and act on decisions that produce profit, business value and enjoyment.

My interest is in benchmarking initiatives that produce results, ways to share information, knowledge and experience and what it takes to make a business work.

I work with groups and individuals to inspire, coach, mentor and guide people to act on what matters through benchmarking, peer support, goal setting and accountability.

Iain Smale, Director, Pangolin Associates

Iain is proud to continue his association with the Awards program in his third year of judging.

For the past five years Iain has tailored sustainability solutions around carbon and energy reduction for a diverse range of clients. Iain has more than 20 years of business solutions experience, many of those in technology. He has worked closely with SME’s, corporates and government.

Extensive experience in systems integration with its compliancy responsibilities has been invaluable. He is a trusted partner for businesses facing environmental regulations, commercial or supply chain pressures, as well as those wanting to be socially responsible. Iain has earned a reputation in Australia for developing smart sustainability plans.

Helen Giannakis, Eastern Division Manager, Cumberland Courier Newspapers

Helen Giannakis leads a team of Sales Managers and Advertising Consultants at Cumberland Courier Newspapers to deliver $30m plus in display print advertising sales in well known weekly publications covering Sydney metro and the eastern suburbs. These titles include Central Magazine, Wentworth Courier and Southern Courier which combined have over 180,000 weekly readers.

She has over 20 plus years in marketing and sales management in both B2B and B2C segments and a diverse range of industries including advertising, motoring insurance, water and waste management. She is a long time supporter of the Sydney Business Awards and Small Business September and views these programs as effective ways of helping small businesses promote, brand and position themselves for success.

Paul Wallbank, CEO, Netsmarts

Paul Wallbank is a speaker and writer charting how technology is changing society and business. Paul has three regular technology advice radio programs on ABC, a weekly column on the smartcompany.com.au website and has published six computer books. Since 1995 Paul has setup and run four business including PC Rescue which he grew to be a national IT support business. Paul currently works with government and businesses to help them navigate the challenges and opportunities of the new digital economy.

Camden Jobbins, Director, National Business, TAFE NSW - Sydney Institute

After completing his Associate Diploma in Hotel & Catering management at Ryde College of TAFE, Cam was lucky enough to be one of only 3 Australians to be contracted by Club Mediteranee in the late seventies. Over the next few years, Cam worked for the Club in New Caledonia, Tahiti, the Bahamas, Israel, France & Spain as Chef du Bar.

On arrival back in Australia he worked for the Regent and Intercontinental Hotels in Sydney before joining the Sheraton Hotel chain in Townsville, Queensland and then transferring to the Sheraton Hotel and Towers as Beverage Manager.

Cam joined TAFE NSW in 1991 as a fulltime teacher of Hospitality Management. He has held a number of positions within TAFE including his current one as Director, National Business at TAFENSW-Sydney Institute.

Esther Aarons, Business Development Consultant, TAFE NSW - Sydney Institute

Some 11 years ago I retired as a Senior Head Teacher and joined the Business Unit at Sydney Institute as a Business Consultant. I have been with TAFE for more than 30 years and prior to that a High School Teacher both here and in Wellington New Zealand.

Gayle Sullivan, Business Development Consultant, TAFE NSW - Sydney Institute

Gayle is proud to be associated with the City of Sydney Business Awards for the third year in a row.

Gayle has many years experience in marketing and business development, as well as qualifications in marketing and management. For the past six years she has been a Business Development Consultant with the TAFE NSW. Her clients have included industry leaders in retail, manufacturing and business.

She is a strong advocate for vocational education and training and has a long history of supporting the workplace development of apprentices and trainees across all industry sectors. In previous roles Gayle has been responsible for promoting the City of Sydney to international clients and she places a high value on the City of Sydney Business Awards as a benchmark of quality.

Alastair Walton, Engagement, Strategy and Leadership Consultant

Alastair specialises in strategy writing, brand development, crisis management, media relations, large event management, digital story telling, data visualization, social media tactics, project leadership, video production, sponsorship development, multicultural communication and campaign execution.

He is a director of several companies that partner with organisations, companies and events to establish a compelling brand and corporate story that will deliver extensive engagement and high participation rates.

His career has successfully spanned Australia’s most testing communications sectors: TV journalism for the ABC and NINE Network; managing Australia’s iconic event – Sydney New Year’s Eve; advising the NSW Premier and Ministers on media and political issues; leading industry deregulation campaigns of the building industry; developing and promoting the City of Sydney’s acclaimed Sustainable Sydney 2030 Plan; establishing the Green Electricity Market and gas retail markets; launching the brand and communications for the world leading SMART Infrastructure Facility; and revitalising the brand of Italian Commerce and Industry within Australia.

Check the Terms & Conditions for more information on judging.