The judging panel for the inaugural Tannery of the Year Awards is now complete. In all, five judges from diverse business backgrounds and specialisms will study the in-depth reports World Leather has published on the ten finalist tanneries, meet the finalists on Monday, March 29 in Hong Kong, and listen to a presentation from each one before deciding on a winner for each of five regions around the world, as well as one global Tannery of the Year for 2009.

Alan H Smith was vice-chairman for the Pacific Region of leading global investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) until his retirement. Prior to joining CSFB, Mr Smith was the chief executive of the Jardine Fleming Group, a leading Asian investment bank, and its chairman from 1994 to 1996. During this period, he was named Asia’s Banker of the Year.

Mr Smith has over 25 years’ investment banking experience in Asia. He was elected a council member of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on two occasions, and was a member of the Hong Kong government’s Economic Advisory Committee from 1994 to 2001. He is currently a member of the Hang Seng Index Advisory Committee, and of the EuroMoney Asia Advisory Board. He is also an independent non-executive director of a number of companies listed in London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuwait.

Kim Reid is currently head of leadership and talent at British Airways (BA). Her roles include identifying and developing people to their highest potential at all levels in the organisation. She is also involved in much of British Airways’ charitable work.

Prior to joining BA, Ms Reid was global human resources (HR) director of MBDA, a joint venture set up by leading aerospace groups EADS, BAe Systems and Finmeccanica. Her primary role was to establish cross-border HR strategies and working practices. Previously she was HR director of the customer support and solutions division of BAe Systems, a highly innovative team whose function was to supply complete solutions to BAe’s customers. Prior to this position, she was head of young people, education and charities at BAe Systems.

Professor Dr Bi Shi is the president of the International Union of Leather Technologists and Chemists Societies (IULTCS). He was a member of the organisation’s executive committee for four years before that.

Professor Bi is the professor of the leather engineering department of Sichuan University, China. He is also the director of the national engineering laboratory for clean technology in leather manufacture. He was elected as a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2009 owing to his outstanding contributions to the Chinese leather sector in science and technology.

Paul Pearson is secretary to the International Council of Tanners (ICT), a role he has carried out since December 1997. He is also the director of the UK Leather Federation. With a history of work in trade associations, including 14 years with the Food and Drink Federation, Mr Pearson joined the British Leather Confederation (BLC) in 1988 and has also acted as secretary to BLC Research, and director of the Hide and Allied Trades Improvement Society.

His areas of special interest and expertise include raw material supplies and quality, environmental legislation, international trade and statistics.


Steven A Jesseph is chief executive of Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP), a non-profit, factory certification group. WRAP certifies factories to a 12-point code of conduct covering legal, labour, environmental, security and customs compliance areas for labour-intensive consumer products manufacturing. It is supported by 22 international trade and business associations has certified factories in over 72 countries.

Prior to joining WRAP, Mr Jesseph was the vice-president for compliance and risk management at Sara Lee Branded Apparel. His responsibilities included environment, health and safety, product liability, social compliance for operations in more than 30 countries. He was the founding chair of the Social Responsibility Committee of the American Apparel & Footwear Association.

The ten finalists for Tannery of the Year 2009 are: Bridge of Weir (Scotland) and Josef Heinen (Germany) for Europe; Ethiopian Tannery Share Company (Ethiopia) and South Cape Ostrich Tanning (South Africa) for Africa; ISA TanTec (Guangzhou) and Simona Tanning (Huizhou) for China; Procesos Húmedos (Mexico) and Curtiembres Fonseca (Argentina) for the Americas; and PrimeAsia Vietnam (Vietnam) and TATA International (India) for Asia excluding China.

The judging session on March 29 will be followed by a gala dinner that evening, during which the long-awaited awards will be presented. It promises to be a spectacular evening for all who attend. The evening starts with a champagne reception followed by a gourmet four-course meal, including unlimited fine wine.

The dinner takes place in the glittering surroundings of the Bauhinia Banqueting Suite within the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, which overlooks Hong Kong Harbour. Buy your ticket now online and take advantage of the special discount which ends March 15.

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