College chief wins top industry award
THE WOMAN behind Hinckley’s college and an Earl Shilton school has been named Business Woman of the Year.
Marion Plant, principal and chief executive of North Warwickshire and Hinckley College, received the accolade at the Enterprising Women awards organised by the East Midlands Chamber.
As well as being in charge of the college she is also chief executive of the Midland Academies Trust - which sponsors four secondary schools including Heath Lane Academy.
She is also a non-executive board member of the Department for Education, a trustee of WorldSkills UK, a board member of Leicester and Leicestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) and the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) and skills lead for both, a trustee of the National Society Council (Church of England), a board member of Coventry University and member of the Academic Affairs committee and a governor at Stephenson College of Further Education.
There were six other winners chosen from a shortlist of 34 finalists.
Co-chairman of Enterprising Women, Eileen Richards, founder of ER Recruitment, Leicester, and a member of the board of directors at East Midlands Chamber, said: “The standard of entries was, again, very high this year and proves there is a real hunger among women in the business community to be recognised for their achievements.
“These awards - now celebrating 21 years - are one of the best ways to achieve that recognition. In the past we have had some very worthy winners and I’m delighted that Marion is now among them, although every entry deserves to be celebrated.”
Co-chairman Jean Mountain, a past president at the Chamber, said: “By highlighting their contribution and telling their stories, hopefully we can inspire other women to pursue their business dream.”
After the ceremony, Marion said: “I am delighted to accept this award and pay tribute to the other finalists in this category who all had strong stories to tell.
“I am privileged to work with many fantastic staff, students and partners on whose support the college depends for its success.
“I will use this fabulous award to inspire female students in our schools and college campuses to be ambitious and to be confident in pursuing traditionally maledominated careers such as engineering and construction.
“I will also use it to inspire female colleagues to be ambitious in their aspiration for promotion into leadership roles.”
The college group said Ms Plant’s commercially-focused approach has led to the successful development of partnerships and joint ventures that will deliver specialist training for the automotive engineering, logistics, and the health and life sciences sectors.
Successful projects Ms Plant has lead include a £9.5 million specialist automotive skills centre due to open on the MIRA Technology Park and the merger of North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College in 2016.