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OUTSTANDING companies in the South East of England have joined our campaign to highlight their success as part of our initiative in partnership with NatWest.

Companies in the heart of their communities have been nominated as part of our campaign to find the best companies in the region.

They were nominated in nine different categories ranging from small and medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurs to community and customer focus.

A jury sifted through all the nominations to determine our winners.

At this point we would like to thank everyone who got involved with us in this campaign.

Here we present our jurors and their outstanding work in their respective economic areas.

“It drives me to be able to create fairness and justice”

SHARNIYA Ferdinand’s enthusiasm for her role in business banking is contagious and inspiring.

The word “passion” often comes up when she talks, and it is clearly the passion she has for her role as CEO at NatWest.

In addition to promoting entrepreneurship, Sharniya is responsible for supporting ethnically diverse business owners across the UK.

As a member of NatWest’s London and South East Regional Board, she is particularly involved in community and business initiatives in the South East region.

Last year, Sharniya led the Black History Month marketing campaign for NatWest, among many other projects and initiatives.

The campaign featured social clips, articles and videos starring black British business owners. The content has been viewed more than 165,000 times on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, with videos on the channels being viewed more than 16,200 times.

It’s just one of the projects Sharniya has been involved in since the beginning of her role, and demonstrates a drive for which she has won multiple awards.

For the Top 100, Sharniya will look for two things when judging the nominees in her category: “Passion and Innovation”. She said, “One of the things I’ll be looking for is innovation. It’s very exciting to learn about organizations doing things in new ways, or approaching problems in new ways and finding new ways to address a problem that may not have been fixed before. ”

Sharniya added what drives her in her role: “I think ultimately my drive is to create fairness and justice for as many people as possible.”

“Looking for companies that can show resilience”

SARAH Bilby is passionate about helping small businesses thrive.

With a wealth of experience from a long, illustrious career, she helps dozens to grow and be successful in their role as regional managing director of NatWest.

She takes great pride and satisfaction in seeing people make their business successful, running the regional commercial banking franchise, and helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

“My father was self-employed and over the years I have watched and admired the way he built his business,” said Ms. Bilby, who started in banking in 1984 and has held senior positions for 25 years.

“It gave me a great insight and that’s something I took into my own career after starting out in banking when I was 16.

“I enjoy this side of my job and have a real passion for leading people and helping them achieve their goals and ambitions.

“Starting a small business is a challenge and a risk, but in everything we do, the customer and our employees are at the fore.”

Ms. Bilby says her current role is the most comfortable of her career.

As well as advocating for small businesses, she is also passionate about promoting businesses that are founded and run by women.

“I’ve always been interested in women in business,” says the 53-year-old.

“As a working mother, it wasn’t always easy to balance work and home, but organization and resilience were key to my success.

“I’m looking for innovative companies that can demonstrate their resilience,” she said.

“I’m also interested in how companies assess their impact on the climate.”

“We’ve provided more than £ 2 billion in corporate loans”

FROM making phone calls to business owners during the pandemic to helping grassroots nonprofits, Stuart Johnstone goes out of his way to see businesses thrive.

Stuart, Regional Managing Director, Corporate and Commercial Banking at NatWest, and his team provided more than £ 2 billion in loans to thousands of companies in difficulty during the Southeast crisis.

“The most obvious thing we do is provide financial services: from maintaining bank accounts, to helping people in need of working capital, to funding longer-term investments for people who need to pay employees or export overseas,” explains Stuart.

“We often use the power of our network to pass it on to people we know, who can help them with a specific subject that we can’t.

“During the pandemic, we were on the end of the phone or by zoom to talk to business owners about trouble, in some cases we talked about opportunities, and we provided liquidity to companies to keep them going.

“A large part of it helps them access the various government loans, such as the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) and the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme. Companies definitely feel more confident than they used to be. I think we will hopefully see a gradual return of confidence. ”

NatWest is a sponsor of COP26, the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2021, to be held in the UK in November.

Stuart has a stake in the Business Growth Fund (BGF), which provides growth capital to SMEs in the UK, but they will only ever be a minority shareholder.

He also works with a charity that helps nonprofit social enterprises that support local communities.

“It could be the perfect time to explore new opportunities”

Just do it. That’s the advice for anyone looking to start their own business, says Georgina Mackey, Natwest’s regional ecosystem manager for London and the Southeast.

Miss Mackey has a proven record of contributing to the success of start-ups and has supported more than 150 concurrently through the NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator program.

Believing now may be the perfect time to explore new opportunities, the 27-year-old said, “My advice would be to just do it.

“A lot of people are at a crossroads in their lives and different factors have to be considered, such as finances, risk awareness, lack of self-confidence and issues like childcare.

“There can be a gap between the idea itself and its profitability, and our job is to break that barrier down.

“When someone has a great, untapped idea and it serves a customer need, there is never a better time to turn it into a reality.

“Use resources like NatWest’s Business Builder.

“It’s a completely free online tool that helps companies get started with challenges and opportunities.

“After supporting more than 20,000 entrepreneurs so far, it is completely self-service and accessible around the clock.

“There is so much support out there and that goes for people who already run their own businesses but need help.

Don’t be afraid to ask about it. ”

Miss Mackey from Islington helps companies overcome challenges, gain clarity and push boundaries.

She helps startups refine their business strategy and prepare for investments to grow and scale their ambitions, and create the capacity and motivation for success.

“At NatWest, we want companies to grow and thrive,” she said.

Denise Rossiter, executive director of the Essex Chamber of Commerce

DENISE is the chief executive of the Essex Chambers of Commerce, a leader in business development across Essex, serving as a pre-eminent advocate for commerce and beating the drum for business in the county and beyond.

The chamber is represented in all important strategic partnership bodies in the district and represents the voice of its members in all important regional development projects.

Whether you’re a multinational looking to influence Westminster or a small business looking to make the right local connections, the Essex Chamber of Commerce helps businesses move forward.

Whether companies are oversized or very interested, Essex Chambers of Commerce is here to help them do it bigger, bolder – better!

Anne Newton, Chief Executive, Richmond Chamber of Commerce

ANNE Newton, a member of the executive team of the London Chambers of Commerce and CEO of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce, has held UK and international business director positions at De La Rue – leading advice to FMCG boards on counterfeit-proof technologies and strategies for their respective supply chains and business infrastructures ; in airline retail IT track and trace technologies and logistics solutions; in the UK and international FMCG packaging sector; in the sports sector to innovations for world brands; and in leading pharmaceutical FMCG marketing consultancy.

Glyn Jones, Chief Executive, London Southend Airport

GLYN started his career at British Airways where he was trained in sales and marketing.

He switched from aviation to aerospace and moved to BAe Commercial Aircraft, where he was responsible for commercial aircraft sales in Asia.

He then moved to DHL as a marketer before becoming Commercial Director for the UK.

Glyn’s first position in general management was at Bournemouth Airport, where he was Managing Director for four years.

He then headed the palletized distribution network Palletline for four years before working as Managing Director at London Luton Airport for seven years.

Glyn joined Stobart in September 2015 as chief executive officer for the aviation division, including London Southend Airport