With the deadline for the shortlisting of the 2021 Supply Chain Excellence Awards closing on 30 July 2021, the organiser, Akabo Media, has announced seven new faces to the judging line-up, which Claudia Davidson, Awards Director, believes reflects a shifting dynamic among senior executives in the UK supply chain sector.
The new recruits include: Jules Handy, Head of Logistics at Atkins; Mark Atkinson, Global Sourcing & Inbound Supply Chain Director at The Very Group; Mark Robinson, Director of Supply Chain at John Lewis Partnership; Vikki Roberts, Head of Supply Chain Strategy, Development & Control at Johnson Matthey; Rosemary Wilkins, Director of Logistics at B&Q; Sally Leigh, Strategic Purchasing & Logistics Director at Elior UK; and Ashish Joshi, Global Supply Chain Director B2B/B2B2C E-Commerce at Unilever.
“We are overjoyed to welcome our seven new judges to this, the 25th Supply Chain Excellence Awards,” Davidson said. “One of the strongpoints of our Awards – and therefore the shortlisting and voting – has always been the integrity of the process and wealth of experience of those on the judging team and of course we still retain that, but reflecting the type of industry that supply chain is in this day and age, we believe we have the most exciting judging line-up we have ever had – some real movers and shakers in the supply chain sector!”
In a month when the UK Warehousing Association has appointed its first female Chief Executive, Clare Bottle, Davidson says she is delighted that five of the seven new Supply Chain Excellence Awards judges are not only women but also superb young role models at the top of their professions.
According to research from REPL Group (part of Accenture), women now occupy 41% of the supply chain workforce, up from 35% in 2016. And that includes 33% of first-line manager and supervisory roles. “Clearly companies in supply chain are placing more emphasis on gender diversity and not only that, women now consider supply chain a career worth pursuing. That might not have been the case a few decades ago.”
There is still time to submit your entry for the Supply Chain Excellence Awards 2021 and in a year that has seen the supply chain and logistics sector really step up to the plate, we are certain to have some commendable projects put before the panel for shortlisting.
More judges are to be announced in the coming days, so please check the website for further updates.
For further information and to view the categories, please click here. For queries about entering or any other Awards-related questions, please email Daniel Jessop by clicking here
