Pictured: Vij Randeniya and Rebecca Mawdsley
Vij Randeniya has been announced as chair of judges for
Birmingham Young Professional of the Year (BYPY) 2012 .
Mr Randeniya, who is chief fire officer of West Midlands Fire
Service, will lead an eight-strong panel of judges, putting the
BYPY finalists through their paces during an intensive judging day
in March before the winners are announced at a glamorous awards
ceremony on 17 May.
Commenting on his involvement with the awards, CFO Randeniya
said: "Having attended the awards as a guest for the past two
years, I've always found BYPY to be a worthy celebration of
achievement, identifying a truly inspirational group of winners on
every occasion.
"Celebrating and developing the talent that exists within our
city is an essential part of our work as it is the talent,
determination and resilience of our young people that will shape
the future of our great city.
"I'm looking forward to meeting the finalists, finding out more
about their work and enjoying a strong debate with my fellow judges
to identify the category and overall winners."
Rebecca Mawdsley, chair of the BYPY committee and operations
director at eNL Legal Recruitment, said: "I'm really pleased that
Vij has agreed to chair the judging panel. While the day-to-day
challenges of running West Midlands Fire Service are different to
those encountered in professional services firms, many of the
leadership and management skills are the same.
"I'm looking forward to working with Vij over the next few
months to identify the 2012 winners and am confident BYPY will
hugely benefit from the insights and fresh perspective he will
bring."
As CFO of West Midlands Fire Service, Vij Randeniya is
responsible for leading the largest fire and rescue service in the
country outside London. He is chairman of the Board of Governors at
Birmingham Metropolitan College, governor on the National
Association of Colleges Council, part of the National Strategic
Advisory Team for Fire and the Olympics and will take on the role
of president of the Chief Fire Officers Association in 2012.