Norfolk Business Awards 2022: 'We look for a business that has stood the test of time'

Can you tell us a bit about your business journey?

I'm a Barclays man through and through. I have just started my 44th year, believe it or not. I had my 43rd anniversary a couple of weeks ago.

It’s pretty unusual these days to have anyone with that length of service in the business – and I don't think we'll see that in the future either because the jobs market is so different.

But it's been a really enjoyable journey – from starting off watering the flowers in the Harleston branch to head of agriculture for the UK and Ireland, and now my present job which is head of corporate banking in East Anglia.

What's impressed you most about the Norfolk business community over the past year?

The continued adaptability of businesses. They still need to be very agile – even more so as we move into the next couple of quarters with the challenge of enormous rising costs.

I think businesses are going to have to be very careful in the way they try to maintain margins and profitability – but at the same time really squeezing costs as far as they are able, because a lot of them are out of their control.

Why were you keen to get involved in the Business Awards again?

We enjoy trying to encourage our customers to enter, and it is also important for a bank like Barclays, which has got its roots in Norfolk.

We effectively started in Norwich as Gurney’s, so I think we need to maintain that tradition and celebrate the success that businesses have in our county. That's what the awards have enabled us to do over the 20-odd years that we've been involved in them.

What do you bring to the judging process?

I have visited more businesses than I could possibly imagine, and seen the good and difficult situations in and around business. So, I think my experience, or my general knowledge and feel for businesses, is helpful in the in the judging process.

And, of course, fairness. That is the real thing that I strive to achieve – a real balanced view of our finalists, and then our winner.

Tim Seeley, head of corporate banking in East Anglia at Barclays (Image: Barclays)
What do you enjoy most about the judging process?

As a judge, we visit a lot of the finalists, and it's actually been a privilege to be able to walk into a business where they open their doors and their books to you – and tell you everything.

Even after all these years, I find it pretty amazing how our businesspeople are prepared to take us into their confidence. It's really nice to be able to go and see a business, feel it, and talk to the staff. It does give you that balanced view on what the business is really all about.

How do you pick a Business of the Year from the category winners and finalists?

The thing about the individual categories is that those finalists have excelled in one particular area. For Business of the Year, we look at all areas of the business.

Sometimes it can confuse people that a business can be a finalist in a category, not win that award, but win Business of the Year. That's because they might not have excelled in that particular area, but they have in the other areas we look at – such as profitability, branding, staff turnover, personal development, and how they treat the environment.

What, for you, is the definition of an 'Outstanding Achievement' in business?

I always think it should be called the Outstanding Sustainability Achievement, because what we really look for in that non-entry category is a business that has stood the test of time.

It's successful, it continues to grow, it invests in its people, and it is always run by an individual that has stood out in terms of what they've given back to the business community. But it isn't always prepared to put its hand up and enter an award.

To submit an entry to the Norfolk Business Awards 2022, please visit www.norfolkbusinessawards.co.uk