The winners of the EADT Business Awards 2024 have been announced and Jon Neal, CEO of Suffolk Mind, has been named winner of the Director of the Year category, sponsored by Churchmanor Estates.

Suffolk Mind is an independent mental health charity that has offices in Felixstowe, Bury St Edmunds and Saxmundham.

It provides a wide range of support services to over18s, as well as delivering The Mental Health Kitbag for young people and the adults who support them, involving skill-based sessions for children. It also provides mental health training for businesses and organisations.

The charity is committed to providing quality mental health support and education to people across the country, as well as making Suffolk the best place for talking about and taking care of mental health.

Suffolk Mind has earned numerous awards for its service, including its residential care home, Montrose House, and its book promoting the benefits of movement for children.

Speaking about Jon, the judges said: “Jon is dedicated to making Suffolk the best place in the world for mental wellbeing and has made great strides over the last few years to achieve this.

“Jon is the driving force – leading the organisation, overseeing its operations, and advancing its mission, and his passion for both his staff and the welfare of Suffolk is clear to see.”

They added: “Under his leadership, Suffolk Mind has implemented various initiatives aimed at promoting mental health awareness, providing support services and advocating for better mental health policies.” 

Jon said: “I’m incredibly proud of my team at Suffolk Mind. Every day they’re working hard to support people with their mental health in Suffolk, and all I have to do is try to make their job as easy as possible.

“Then there’s the hundreds of people that support us – walking on fire, jumping out of aeroplanes, sponsoring our events or buying our training.

“There are so many different people in Suffolk that are great supporters of Suffolk Mind, and therefore helping us to make Suffolk the best place in the world for talking about taking care of mental health.”

The finalists

Lucy Smith - Clarity Umbrella

Lucy Smith is the owner and founder of Clarity Umbrella, a PAYE umbrella company based in Copdock that offers employment solutions to UK contractors.

Lucy set up Clarity on her own, and the judges said she has “built up a loyal customer base and cultivated a dynamic workforce” since then, and still shows an “obvious” commitment to Suffolk.

Luke Broadley - Longfields

Luke Broadley set up Longfields in Otley just before the pandemic.

The business is an insurance brokerage specialising in agriculture, commercial and high net worth private clients.

Praising his “obvious entrepreneurship”, the judges said that “Luke is passionate about business in Suffolk and helping everyone he can achieve success”.

Samantha Cage - Ocala Healthcare

Samantha Cage is co-founder of Ocala Healthcare in Stowmarket, a social care recruitment agency that aims to deliver better agency care services while valuing care workers.

The judges said Samantha “not only excels in business, but in doing so strives to make a positive impact on society and the environment of the people Ocala supports”.

About the sponsor

Churchmanor Estates has been one of the foremost commercial property developers in the East of England for over 35 years, and is renowned for adopting a collaborative approach to the process of property development.

Through joint ventures with landowners, Churchmanor has helped to unlock the development potential of their landholdings, and for individual local and national businesses, it has developed new premises for relocation or expansion.

Churchmanor believes in creating brilliant spaces for work and life and has developed over three million square feet of commercial accommodation including research and development parks, business parks, offices, retail and leisure and major town centre regeneration.

Find out more about all of the winners here.

For more information on next year's EADT Business Awards, please keep your eyes peeled for updates at eadtbusinessawards.co.uk