This year’s Bedfordshire Business Women
of the Year, Jenny Tomsett of Unipalm based
in Willington dedicated her award to the workers
in the Democratic Republic of Congo who under
very difficult and sometimes impossible conditions,
have managed to maintain the quality and
delivery
of the Oil Palm Seeds to destinations worldwide.
This oil is present in many of our every
day products.
Her nomination outlined some of the challenges
that Jenny has undergone in order to develop
the sales of Oil Palm Seeds from the Congo despite
civil war and unrest over the last 8 years, and
her ability to convince clients that product
quality and supply is not compromised.
Jenny originally became involved in the exporting
of Oil Palm Seeds when working for Unilever.
She has visited the Congo on many occasions
which have resulted in some rather difficult
situations.
Today, she continues to run the Unipalm Oil
Palm Seed business as well as another import & export
company JT Trans-Global Services exporting
and purchasing many other goods.
Each year the Awards go from strength to strength
and again a record number of nominations
were received. Ann Douglas, Bedfordshire Businesswomen’s
(BBW) president stressed that all nominees
should feel proud that their names were put
forward
and asked that the nominators do not wait
for an opportunity such as this to recognise
achievement,
but make it part of their every day environment
to express their appreciation for a job well
done.
The Awards ceremony was once again held in the
beautiful venue of The Sculpture Gallery at Woburn
Abbey. After giving thanks to the sponsors Barclays,
Bedfordshire Development Agency and the Chamber,
Bedfordshire and Luton,
Richard Lacy, the Chambers CEO opened proceedings
by praising the ladies present for their valuable
contribution to the local economy.
The outgoing Bedfordshire Business Woman
of the Year, Pauline Stewart of Ingram de Havilland,
gave a truly inspiring overview of what the
past
year had meant to her personally and felt that
the recognition made her realise that “actually
I am pretty good at what I do”.
Toni de Michelle and Helen Wisson of Barclays
and Richard Lacy then presented the prizes
to this year’s winners.
Winner: Stephanie Massey
Dancevybz based in Sharnbrook
Winner: Michelle Coombs
Ouse Valley Living based in Sharnbrook
Winner: Sylvia Bourne
RBS based in Bedford
Winner: Wendy Malczyk
Mortgage Keys (3Counties) based in Shefford
Jenny Tomsett,
Unipalm based in Willington
Ann Douglas, Clear Minds Coaching, commented, “I
am delighted to see the absolute pleasure
and pride that the winners have gained by receiving
these awards today. The purpose of the BBW
Awards
is to recognise and reward the invaluable
contribution that women make to the local business
community.
Jenny is a worthy winner of the title
and it is fantastic for her to receive this
recognition for the role she
has played over the years within such a male-
dominated industry. She then concluded the
Award Ceremony by thanking the sponsors Barclays,
Luton & Bedfordshire
Chamber of Commerce and Bedford Development
Agency, Rebecca Caird of Castle Promotions
and Keith
Lilley of Greycourt Florists for the diaries
and flowers and all her committee members
who had given her so much support in the
run up to
the day.
The event’s raffle raised more than £185
for Autism Bedfordshire.
To join BBW at their Christmas Lunch at Moreteyne
Manor on 20th December 2007, please log onto
www.beds-businesswomen.org to book and pay online
or download a booking form.
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