Centrick Chairman wins coveted leadership award

James Ackrill, Centrick Chairman, has been awarded “Company Leader (100+ employees)” at The West Midlands Leadership Awards 2022, hosted by TheBusinessDesk.com.

Fending off competition from other well-respected business leaders, James received the coveted award at a well attended ceremony, which saw around 200 business leaders from across the region celebrate a year of business innovation and achievement, not least from within Centrick, who recently announced plans to create around 50 new jobs across the UK as part of a national expansion drive.

Commenting on his win, James said, “I am incredibly humbled and proud to receive this award, especially when compared to the quality and character of the other nominees. None of what Centrick has achieved could have been done, without the innovation, vision and hard work of the entire Centrick family. It’s real testament to our collective success that we’ve continued to deliver growth, opportunity and world-class customer and client care. I’m truly thankful to the entire team, none of this would be possible without you .”

James, who established Centrick in 2005, picked up the award in a category that included Dale Parmenter, DRPG, Graham Leitch, Palletline, Iain McCallister, MAN Commercial Protection, Jonathan Till, GTAccess, and Victoria Sylvester, Acacia Training.

Held at the Burlington Hotel in Birmingham City Centre, the awards ceremony also saw a moving speech from Barrie Hodge, Head of Fundraising for St Basil’s, the young people’s charity, emphasising the philanthropic work undertaken by business leaders and the profound changes that such work can have on people’s lives.

The awards saw a double win for Squire Patton Boggs’ Mariyam Harunah, who walked away with both the Diversity & Inclusion and Leader of the Year Awards.

TheBusinessDesk.com’s Midlands editor, Sam Metcalf, said: “TheBusinessDesk.com first created the West Midlands Leadership Awards to celebrate the people who are role models within their organisations – and we make no apology tonight for celebrating the individual. For it is our shortlisted individuals tonight who have demonstrated how vitally important strong, forward-thinking leadership is.”