Judges
Once again, we have assembled a top-quality judging panel for the 2022 Comms National Awards who have in depth knowledge of the ICT industry and broad experience across the channel spectrum.
NIGEL SERGENT
ADAM ZOLDAN
ADRIAN BARNARD
AIDAN PIPER
CLAIRE MADDOX
IAN FISHWICK
JOHN CHAPMAN
JONATHAN SHARP
KATE BRUNNING
KATE WOOD
LEE SHORTEN
MARK SAUNDERS
PAM BLANCHARD
ROB SIMS
ROGER WHITTLE
SHAHRAM BAGHERZADEH
STEVE SMITH
TONY COOK
NIGEL SERGENT
As chair of judges, Nigel supervises the Comms National Awards judging process and ensures each judge is provided with selected categories where their experience and impartiality can be best deployed and there is absolutely no conflict of interest.
ADAM ZOLDAN
Adam is a co-founder of Knight Corporate Finance, a corporate finance boutique that advises business owners on strategy, funding, acquisitions, and exit. Knight has grown to become the leading advisor for entrepreneurs in the TMT sector having advised on nearly 160 TMT transactions since its inception in 2008.
ADRIAN BARNARD
Adrian founded ICT company, Modern Communications, which he sold in 2014 to embark on his next venture Prime Networks, which he helped re-value before exiting with its future guaranteed. As a media commentator for the TMT sector Adrian regularly provides market insight on TV and Radio and in the Press.
AIDAN PIPER
An inspirational business leader and CEO with over 25 years of commercial sales and marketing experience, ultimately responsible for providing the vision and direction of Welcomm Group Businesses. Aidan’s specialties include strategy formation and execution in SME markets, new business, product and service creation which deliver revenue, profit and margin growth.
CLAIRE MADDOX
Having worked in the comms industry for the past 20 years, Claire is the Managing Director of Eurolink Connect and has been instrumental in leading the business from a traditional voice provider to a successful MSP delivering holistic cloud solutions to their customers.
IAN FISHWICK
Ian is Chairman and Founder of AdEPT Technology Group. He had the honour of reporting increased EBITDA for 29 consecutive years. Ian represents the Telecoms industry at Cabinet Office level on the SME Panel. He is currently Chair of the Cabinet Office Industry Working Group on Carbon Net Zero for public sector suppliers.
JOHN CHAPMAN
Though officially retired now after 46 years in the IT and Communications industry, John still moderates panels and leads discussions at major events including the prestigious Comms Vision Convention at Gleneagles and IT Europa’s Managed Services and Hosting Summit
JONATHAN SHARP
Jonathan is Sales & Marketing Director at Britannic Technologies. He is a communications visionary and established technology business leader with over 25 years’ proven excellence in driving business innovation and transformation. He puts enthusiasm into technology adoption, helping businesses to connect with their customers and staff in the most efficient and intuitive ways.
KATE BRUNNING
Kate Brunning is the People Director of Virtual1. She joined the organisation in 2013 having previously ran her own HR consultancy. Her passion and enthusiasm for people engagement led Virtual1 to be a multi-award-winning organisation. She played a significant role in the growth journey hiring over 400 people into the organisation.
KATE WOOD
Kate Wood provides culture as a service to multiple organisations, helping them transform their employee engagement strategy to improve business performance. Passionate about D&I Kate heads up Women in Tech North and sits on the Unlimited Potential Board. Kate She will be a guest presenter at Comms Vision this year
LEE SHORTEN
Lee Shorten is a non-executive, part-time/interim board member and freelance consultant working with a broad range of different companies. He delivers coaching and training to business leaders for some of the world’s largest brands and their channel partners; he has steered numerous companies through varying stages of growth, turnaround, merger, acquisition, and sale.
MARK SAUNDERS
Mark has enjoyed a thirty-year career in the telecoms industry, working in sales director roles with Telia and Gamma, before joining 9 Group in 2009, where he was Marketing Director until his retirement in 2021. Mark retains a part time consultancy role with FTP Group and is involved in various copywriting projects.
PAM BLANCHARD
Pam Blanchard is director of North West based ICA, which she founded in 1995 to provide engineering support to Alcatel Lucent, after she qualified as the first female field engineer for the vendor’s PBX’s. Over the last 27 years, Pam has grown the business and its team to specialise in UCaaS and CCaaS working with all leading vendors.
ROB SIMS
Rob’s 25-year career in ICT spans carrier, channel and direct across a variety of Industry verticals and technologies. Following the successful sale of his business in 2017 to Elite Group, Rob took the role of CEO, using his extensive Industry knowledge and M&A experience from both sides of the fence to reposition Elite as a technology business.
ROGER WHITTLE
Jigsaw24 founder and CEO Roger Whittle has seen his company grow over the last 30 years into one of the UK's most respected Apple B2B IT service and solutions providers. He is often called upon to speak at technology events and is regularly involved with environmental and sustainability discussions in the IT channel.
SHAHRAM BAGHERZADEH
Shahram, MD of Colchester based MSP Loop Voice & Data, has been in telecommunications since 2000, starting out as an agent and becoming a telecom reseller in 2003. He is keen to supply his customers with the latest technology and has always focused on partner companies which offer the best products, services, and support.
STEVE SMITH
Steve’s comms career spans 50 years. In 1984, he co-founded Astro Communications supporting customers around the world. Steve now spends much of his time giving back as a Liveryman in the IT Livery Company and as a trustee of CITA. In 2018, Steve received an Honorary Fellowship of the Institute of Telecoms Professionals
TONY COOK
Tony Cook has been in the telecoms channel for over 30 years and is best known for being the founder and former MD of Union Street, the UK’s leading developer of billing solutions for the channel, winning multiple awards and enjoying year on year business growth. In 2020 Cook retired from, the business following a trade sale.