AUTUMN//WINTER 2017 11 WendyVickery marketing manager, Pentel UK Mark Janson-Smith managing director, independent retailer Postmark Ruth Burgess senior stationery buyer, B&M Retail Ltd Julia Faiers editor, Stationery Matters THE KEY to our industry’s future lies with the next generation of young professionals.Thirty Under 30 is a brand new awards initiative set up to identify and acknowledge these talented young people across the breadth of the industry. Nominations for the awards flooded in over the summer, revealing an exciting array of people under 30 shaking things up in the stationery industry. Our judges’ task was to review all 30 nominees, identify those which stood out from the rest, and describe why they deserved to be highlighted.The ‘stand out’ candidates will be revealed during the after-show party on the first day of the Manchester Stationery Show on 31 October. Nominees, who could nominate themselves or be nominated by a colleague, were asked to demonstrate their passion for their business and products, as well as show creativity, innovation and commitment to their role, and display an understanding of the wider UK stationery industry. MEET THE JUDGES THIRTY UNDER 30 AWARDS SPECIAL FOCUS