The Assistant community came together on Monday evening, the 28th of November, to celebrate the PA Life Star Awards 2022 winners and finalists at the very grand De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in London who kindly hosted us.
The evening was a joint PA Life’s Christmas party and Star Awards celebration with 100 Assistants in attendance, both our PA Life Club members and PA Life readers and followers. We also had events industry suppliers and some of the awards panel of judges there too.
To a true PA Life style we wanted to give the Assistant community a fantastic evening to thank them for their support during this year. And it was a fun evening with great entertainment, drinks, canapes, selfie-station. Live music wasย provided by a brilliant acoustic trio – Wandering Hands – who played great popular covers to enthusiastic crowd, now their latest fans. Thank you to Sternberg Clark Entertainment for sponsoring the music on the night!
We also had an amazing balloon artist Miss Ballooniverse making incredible balloon creations for the guests.
Ben Levy Magic had us all gasping in amazement ‘how did he do that!’ with this mind boggling tricks.
The evening wouldn’t have been the great success it was without the generosity of all our sponsors
Thank you very much to:
The Fellows House – a Curio Collection by Hilton hotel in Cambridge
Carden Park – a luxury spa hotel in Cheshire
Molton Brown – British made beauty products we all love
Gava Gifting – Scandi gifts and reuseable eggs you can fill with goodies of your liking
PopKakery – the most delicious cakes and treats that make idea Christmas and Thank Your gifts
Reed & Mackay – travel and events management company offering extraordinary personalised service
Eden Gardens Entertainment – a bar and club group behind many well known brands such as Shoreditch Bar Group and Novus Bars
The Bowls Club – 21st century twist on the quintessentially British game of Lawn Bowls with delicious summer cocktails, exquisite street food, live music & entertainment and much much more
Now on to the PA Life Star Awards 2022 winners…
We had a record number of nominations this year and the standard was incredibly high making the judges job very hard. The Awards were open to all PAs, EAs, VAs and Office Managers andย recognise the hard work and dedication of Assistants and champion everything they do in their constantly evolving roles.
PA LIFE STAR AWARDS 2022 WINNERS OF THE SIX CATEGORIES ARE:
PA Star of the Year – Mei Suen from Integrellaย
The big one! This award will celebrate the work of one Assistant over the past year. We want to hear from PAs, EAs and VAs who have had an impact on their workplaces, going above and beyond duty to make processes smoother and their Execsโ lives easier.
Natalie Richardson and Pamela Crespo were the other finalists in this category.
Congratulations to all the winners and finalists of this year’s very competitive PA Life Star Awards!
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- Liz Taylor, Taylor Lynn Corporation and Mei Suen, PA Life Star of the Year
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- Mia Shanahan, Rising Star and Adam Sternberg, Sternberg Clarke Entertainment
Rising Star – the winner is Mia Shanahan, Price Waterhouse Coopers
This category celebrates outstanding Assistants who have been working in the sector for less than five years, but have demonstrated excellence in their approach to their role in supporting their executives and wider teams.
Dani Redpathย and Ailene Young were the other two finalists.
Virtual Assistant Star – the winner is Tina Walker, Liberty Executive Services
As the name suggests, this accolade will be awarded to an individual who has shown exceptional applications of services to clients.
The other finalists were Catherine Harrison and Emilie Ashwood.
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- Morgan Robertson, PA Life Club Manager and Angela Walker, PA Life Club Member Star
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- Tina Walker, Virtual Assistant Star and Divya Chavan, De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms
PA Life Club Member Star – the winner is Angela Walker, St Paul’s Cathedral
Awarded to the member of the PA Life Club who has shown strong commitment to supporting the Club by attending events, and engaging with other Club initiatives.
Commitment to CSR Star – the winner is Danielle Francis,ย Ankura
This award will be presented to the Assistant who has helped their organisation make a difference within the workplace or wider community, via sustainability and green initiatives, charity work and more.
Finalist to make the top three were Rachel Mildon and Romeny Ray.
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- Jayne Hill, Commitment to Wellbeing Star and Giovanni Valentini, The Fellows House
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- Dan Gibson, Carden Park and Danielle Francis, Commitment to CSR Star
Commitment to Wellbeing Star – the winner is Jayne Hill, SS&C Blue Prism
Weโre looking for Assistants who have actively helped their execs, teams and organisations with wellbeing and wellness initiatives, either by introducing projects and programmes, or by managing them.
Anna Dobbs and Denise Delamain also made the final three.
The panel ofย judges was made up of exceptional industry experts:
Liz Taylor – Founder of Taylor Lynn Corporation – a leader in events management for 30 years, event partner of the Manchester PA Awards and a long term supporter of the Manchester PA network. Liz was the headline sponsor of the Awards and hosted a drinks reception on the night for the finalists.
Lindsay Taylor, Co-founder and Director of Your Excellency Limited ย Lindsay worked 10 years as a PA for high level CEOs and is the author of “A-Z Pearls of Wisdom for Executive PAS”, written to help PAs perform at their best.
Paul Pennant, Founder, Managing Director and principal trainer of Todayโs PA – established in 2005 as one of the first a training providers for PAs. Paul was a PA himself and whilst working in the City in a demanding PA role he saw a real need for a training company which could provide all the core skills needed in a PAs role.
Suzy Sanders, Founder and Franchisor of Alchemy VA. Suzy has won awards for her noticeably different approach to running her successful VA business with collaboration and community as core. and has been featured on radio, TV and in leading industry publications.
Kathy Soulsby, Founder and Director of Personally Virtual.ย After a varied career Restaurant Manager, Customer Relations, Sales and PA and EA roles in Management Consultancies, Recruitment and Executive Coaching Businesses Kathy set up Personally Virtual in 2014. Together with her team she provides services that youโd expect from a skilled Executive Assistant.
Chantelle Akerman is the Operations Director at WeAreTheCity and WeAreTechWomen. Chantelle started her career in a call centre, and then moved her career to London to become a Personal Assistant for a large investment management company. Chantelle left her role as a PA to join WeAreTheCity in 2013. Over the past nine years Chantelle has played a fundamental role in developing products and services to help over 150 companies attract, retain and develop their female talent.
Marja-Leena Toseland, Editor, PA Life. Pa Life is all about supporting the Professional Assistant community with the informative and inspiring content in both our print and digital platforms,ย as well as through our vibrant PA Life Club activity. The Assistants are at the core of everything we do.
See what we have planned for early 2023 in our Upcoming Events Calendar
