Institute of Directors North West
Director of the Year Awards 2011

Tony Attard, OBE is the founder and Chief Executive of Panaz Limited, specialist in the design and manufacture of flame retardant fabrics for the international hospitality, leisure, commercial and healthcare sectors. Under his direction, Panaz has gained two Queen’s Awards in recent years in the Export Achievement and Enterprise categories: formed in 1986, the company today exports to 46 different countries, operating worldwide through subsidiary companies in Europe and the USA and a global network of agents and representatives.

Immediate past-Chairman of the British Contract Furnishing & Design Association (BCFA), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, an Associate of the Institute of Textiles and a Member of the Institute of Management, Tony Attard has received an Outstanding Alumnus award from Manchester University together with accolades from the Design Council and the DTI in recognition of his contribution to the development of design in the contract sector. Mr Attard is a Freeman of the City of London, sits on the Board of Creative Lancashire and the General Assembly of Manchester University, and was named Lancashire Director of the Year 2006 by the Institute of Directors. He is also currently the BCFA spokesman on design and export matters and was named Chair of the Institute of Directors North West in January 2011.

Cary L. Cooper is Distinguished Professor of Organizational Psychology and Health, and Pro Vice Chancellor at Lancaster University. He is the author/editor of over 120 books, has written over 400 scholarly articles for academic journals, and is a frequent contributor to newspapers, TV and radio. He is Founding Editor of the Journal of Organizational Behaviour and Editor-in-Chief of the medical journal Stress & Health. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, The Royal Society of Arts, The Royal Society of Medicine, The Royal Society of Health, British Academy of Management and an Academician of the Academy for the Social Sciences. In 2001, Cary was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

Professor Cooper has been an adviser to two UN agencies; the World Health Organisation and ILO; published a major report for the EU’s European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Work Conditions, produced a scientific review for the WHO/ILO, and was special adviser to the Defence Committee of the House of Commons on their Duty of Care enquiry (2004-05).

Professor Cooper is President of the Institute of Welfare, President of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy, National Ambassador of The Samaritans and Patron of the National Phobic Society.

Dr Cathy Garner has a life-long dedication to innovation for economic and social improvement and over 20 years of experience in practice. She is founder and current principal of an international consulting network specialising in innovation in cities and university- business partnerships for knowledge exchange.

She has worked with clients around the world from Europe to Japan and Australia. She is currently also an Associate of the Council for Industry and Higher Education of the UK; a member of the New Club of Paris and an advisor to the World Capital Institute in Mexico on knowledge-city development.

As Chief Executive of Manchester: Knowledge Capital for six years she built a globally recognised partnership for innovation by bridging the boundaries across business, universities and government. Her partnership building skills and style of leadership delivered success by inspiring and supporting innovation across projects and sectors. Manchester achieved global recognition for this effort by being named most admired Knowledge City in 2009. With a background in policy development and research in social housing, regeneration and community development she has worked in economic development, urban systems, innovation, knowledge transfer and business entrepreneurship. Her initial academic research career was in school educational performance.

In the UK she served on the Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property between 2008 and 2010, was a member of the Cabinet Office Innovators’ Council in 2009. Cathy has served as a non-executive director on number of public and private sector Boards and is a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

In 2002 Cathy established an international charity to address the health needs of the global poor through creative intellectual property solutions, working with the Rockefeller Foundation, international NGO’s, multinational corporations and universities worldwide. She continues this work in a volunteer capacity. Previously Cathy established and ran the Research and Enterprise Office at the University of Glasgow in Scotland where she led the establishment of the Scottish Institute for Enterprise and was a founder director of the Scottish North American Business Council. She was a member of the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) in the USA and served as their inaugural Vice President for International Relations.

Always impatient and searching for the next big idea, Phil’s lot in life is a passion for leadership, innovation and making the competition irrelevant.  At the helm of the UK arm of the giant Brother group, the fast paced nature of the industry and the marketplace, mean there’s never a dull moment in Phil’s life and he’s always trying to stay one step ahead.  Known for his expertise in sales, marketing, social networks, trends, leadership and innovation, he’s a popular regional and industry voice.  Phil is also the current Manchester and North West Director of the Year.

Andrew is a Chartered Director and Tutor on the IoD Company Direction Programme. His company, Carroll Strategies advises on strategic alignment, corporate governance and the director’s role in leading the organisation. He has extensive experience as a Non-Executive to SMEs and Public Companies, from start-up to exit e.g. Westinsure Group plc. Currently his major projects include a FTSE250 Company, a specialist City insurance business, a niche manufacturing start up and a renewable energy business

Gary is a Corporate Finance Partner and heads up the Corporate Finance team in Baker Tilly's Manchester office. Gary has a wide range of Corporate Finance experience gained over the past twenty years.  He specialises in advising AIM Companies and is Head of Capital Markets for the North of England and Scotland.  He has acted as Treasurer to the IOD North West Region for the last six years.