Funeral director shortlisted for Female Executive of the Year award
Joanne Hutsby, a partner in Gillotts Funeral Directors, was named in a shortlist of three in the Female Executive of the Year category of the Women in Business awards run by her local newspaper, the Nottingham Post.
A Nottinghamshire funeral director says she welcomed the chance to get the industry recognised in the limelight after being named as a finalist in a prestigious local women in business award ceremony.
Around 300 people, including Joanne’s family and staff from Gillotts, attended a glittering award ceremony at a top Nottingham hotel earlier this month.
Joanne has been nominated following a busy year for Gillotts. She has overseen a comprehensive rebranding exercise, the relocation of a key office and the opening of a new branch, whilst continuing to ensure that Gillotts remains at the heart of the five communities it serves.
Unfortunately, Joanne, who is also the current president of the Nottingham, Derby and District Funeral Directors Association, did not win her category, losing out to the MD of a national car rental firm’s East Midlands region.
However, she enjoyed the occasion and appreciated the opportunity to remind fellow nominees and attendees the important role that the funeral industry plays in the local business community.
She said: “It was a real honour to be recognised in the awards and even though I didn’t win, it was great to fly the flag for the funeral industry at such a prestigious occasion.
“There were plenty of inspiring stories of entrepreneurship among the nominees and it’s only when I reflected on what Gillotts has achieved in the past year that I realised how entrepreneurial businesses in our industry have to be in order to thrive as well.”
Gillotts, which employs 12 staff, operates four funeral homes in Nottinghamshire, in Eastwood, Kimberley, Stapleford and Selston, as well as a further office in Heanor, Derbyshire.
