Final call for unsung heroes of the business world

A final call is being made for the unsung heroes of business across the West Midlands to be put forward for industry recognition.

Nominations are being made for this year’s Birmingham PA Awards, first launched by the Birmingham PA Forum in 2018 to celebrate the successes and achievements of executive, personal and virtual assistants and office support teams.

Birmingham-based Katie Bard, a leading recruiter of office support and executive roles, is urging applicants not to miss out on the opportunity to be recognised ahead of the entry deadline of Wednesday, March 6.

The firm, which is part of the Angela Mortimer Group, is headline sponsor of the Birmingham PA Awards for a second year.

Kam Vara, director at Katie Bard, said: “A true PA does an incredible a role. They form the heart of the organisation by acting as the key interface between the board with the rest of the business while maintaining huge amounts of discretion and professionalism.

“Behind every successful business is a hugely talented PA. It’s about time that they received recognition for what they do.

“We are encouraging all of our clients to submit nominations. For them, it is a positive piece of employee engagement and shows that they take pride in their staff and support them, and that they are a good place to work.

“Angela Mortimer, who is co-founder of the Angela Mortimer Group which we are part of, will be on the judging panel, bringing years of experience and understanding of the role to the table.”

Last year’s Awards saw Fay Gleeson, executive personal assistant at SCC, crowned PA of the Year.

Due to the success of the inaugural awards, the number of categories have been extended this year from five to eight with new accolades for independent virtual assistant, event extraordinaire, corporate responsibility champion and team of the year.

Colleagues are also able to nominate for the first time, in addition to managers and PAs themselves.
Daniel Skermer, founder of the Birmingham PA Forum, said: “We are absolutely delighted that Katie Bard is supporting the Birmingham PA Awards for the second year and that Angela Mortimer will be a judge as she is prolific in the PA world.

“Our current PA of the Year Fay Gleeson will be joining Angela on the panel and there will be a similar opportunity for this year’s overall winner so as well as recognition, the Awards do offer the chance to elevate yourself further.”

Application forms and further information is available at birminghampaforum.co.uk/paawards/
The winners will be announced at the Awards ceremony at VOX at Resorts World Birmingham NEC on July 19.