The ‘outstanding success’ of six senior staff has been officially marked at this year’s Newsquest Excellence Awards.

The awards recognise achievement by individuals who have performed with excellence in a highly demanding and competitive environment.

Held at the headquarters of the Institute of Directors in Pall Mall, London, the awards – the third to be organised by Newsquest – had six categories covering advertisement sales, support services, finance, editorial, newspaper sales and publishing.

Company chairman and chief executive Paul Davidson presented the awards.

The winners of Newsquest Excellence Awards were:

EDITORIAL
Jan Lever, editor, Warrington Guardian
Judges said: “A challenging year for the editorial discipline but the recipient has, as she always does, met all the criteria in terms of leadership, creativity, motivation and cost control.”

PUBLISHING
David Kelly, managing director, Newsquest (North-East)
Judges said: “With strong revenue growth in every advertising category and overall revenue up more than 9 per cent on last year, it is no surprise that his centre’s profit is up more than 16 per cent. Great results that speak for themselves. But the real reason for the award is how these results were achieved – by strong leadership and great teamwork leading to a host of initiatives.”

Paul Davidson with the award-winners

SUPPORT SERVICES
Geoff Harvey, printing services manager, Newsquest (Oxford)
Judges said: “A manager who has been pivotal in successfully delivering a £25m capital project. The project, a new press and hall within which to house it, was delivered more than two months ahead of schedule and within budget.”

ADVERTISEMENT SALES
Ian Clarke, commercial director, Newsquest (North-East)
Judges said: “There was overwhelming evidence in every area of performance to support this winner.”

FINANCE
Andy Thomas, regional finance director, Newsquest (London)
Judges said: “Our winner made an excellent contribution to the business through improved credit control, high quality financial reporting, delivery of major property changes and system implementation. An effective contributor in the management group and in developing talent in his finance department.”

NEWSPAPER SALES
Carol Bannister, head of newspaper sales & promotions, Bolton Evening News and Bury Times Group
Judges said: “We were particularly impressed with the focus on long-term growth which underpins so much of what this individual and their department does.”

In addition to the above, the award for Advertising Sales Executive of the Year was presented to Vina Dhaliwal of the Harrow Times.

Back to the awards index

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