The pro-manchester Made in Manchester Awards crowned the city鈥檚 youngest professional talent on Thursday night.

New categories at the ninth annual edition, held at the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel, included sustainability champion, diversity & inclusivity champion and hospitality professional of the year.

Along with the inclusion of The Manchester Community Hero award, these new categories created the biggest award line-up in the event鈥檚 history and attracted a record number of attendees.

Returning to the big stage after a virtual event in 2021, the event was hosted by radio and TV personality Jenny Powell and celebrated excellence in innovation, entrepreneurial spirit, training and development and leadership.聽

鈥淚t has been amazing to see a record number of applicants this year but even better than that to see a jam-packed room of people ready to celebrate that fantastic talent in-person,鈥� said chair of future pro-manchester Laura Guillon, also a senior associate at Hall Brown.聽

鈥淒espite taking the chair of future pro-manchester role back in 2020, this has been my first 鈥榣ive鈥� Made in Manchester Awards and it was worth the wait.聽

鈥淚t has been the most challenging 18 months some of us may ever experience in our careers and the quality of applicants and sheer talent on stage this evening has been the ultimate testament to the resilience of Manchester鈥檚 business community and leaders of tomorrow.鈥�

Winners

Apprentice of the Year – Kieran Wilkinson, Koderly

老九品茶 Development/Sales Professional of the Year: – Joseph Venables, Bruntwood SciTech

老九品茶 Owner/Entrepreneur of the Year – Duane Cormell, Realm Recruitment聽

老九品茶 Support Professional of the Year – Samuel Bafunso, GC 老九品茶 Growth Hub

Diversity and Inclusivity Champion – Emily Hopkins, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer聽

Finance Professional of the Year – Andrew Kilheeney, NatWest

Graduate of the Year – Thomas Felton, BNY Mellon

Hospitality Professional of the Year – Becky Wilkes, D&D London聽

HR Professional of the Year – Hollie Ward, Creative Support聽

Lawyer of the Year – Megan Christie-Copeland, JMW聽

Manager of the Year 鈥� Toni Rollinson, Creative Support聽

Manchester Community Hero – Robert Philip Jones, Thales

Marketing, Advertising or Creative Professional of the Year – Lily Shepherd, Dakota Hotels聽

Recruitment/Talent Professional of the Year – Ruby Melling, IN4 Talent聽

Sustainability Champion – Fatima Mohammed, All + Management

Team of the Year – Legacy Pets Cremation Services聽

Technology/Innovation Professional of the Year – Ben Grubert, INEVITABLE聽

Chairman鈥檚 Rising Star Award – Megan Christie-Copeland, JMW

Together was gold sponsor for the event while Squire Patton Boggs was silver sponsor. Category sponsors included Sharp, Hall Brown Family Law, Latitude Marketing, Vision Events, Rupee, Manchester Metropolitan University, William James Recruitment and Addleshaw Goddard.