All Rise for the Judges!

Meet the Judging Panel for the inaugral Heart 106 Lifestyle Awards. From fitness to food to fashion, each is an expert in their field and we're delighted to have them on board.

Rosemary Conley

Rosemary Conley CBE is the UK’s leading diet and fitness expert with more than 35 years experience and is currently recording a primetime ITV 1 show called“Slim to Win with Rosemary Conley”, to go out in December 2007.

Rosemary has presented over 400 cookery programmes on television as well as presenting her own TV series on both the BBC and ITV, She is well known for her realistic and achievable diet and fitness books and videos which have consistently topped the best seller lists in the UK.

As an astute business woman Rosemary heads up the award winning national franchise, “Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness Clubs’, helping men and women all over the country lose weight and stay in shape.

Rosemary is all about helping people look and feel good and has a wealth of experience that sits within many of our Lifestyle categories.

“Living and originating from the East Midlands, I am delighted to be judging the Lifestyle Awards in my region, in the first awards of its kind.

“I continue to educate that the effort we all put in to looking good should be an enjoyable experience, not a chore. And it should be more enjoyable today than it’s ever been, with the wonderful health clubs and spas on offer.

“I have local knowledge of the East Midlands and some of its offerings associated with these Awards.”

Rosemary's Official Website

Lucy Kite

Lucy Kite is an Entertainment Correspondent and Presenter for ITV1's flagship 6pm show, Central Tonight.

Not many celebrities get past Lucy Kite! Over the past few years she's shared chocolates with Uma Thurman, drunk wine with Sir Cliff Richard, lounged in the sun with Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster, danced on ice with Torvill and Dean, played golf with Westlife and kissed Robbie Williams…in between getting lots of juicy gossip of course!

When she's not rubbing shoulders with the stars Lucy stands in as the main anchor of Central Tonight and gets up bright and early to join Sam and Amy on Heart 106 Breakfast every Friday!

“I’ve lived in the East Midlands all my life and have a wealth of local experience when it comes to most of the Heart 106 Lifestyle Awards categories!

“I’m a real one for attention to detail and will be looking for those nominees that go that extra mile to offer an excellent service, or something a little bit special.”

Beverly C

Beverly is the UK’s most prolific female hairdresser, having started her initial training with Morris Masterclass in their advanced academy in Tottenham Court Road at the age of just 17, and within 18 months being asked to become a teacher.

From then on, she’s gone from strength to strength, working with essensuals/Toni and Guy and being named British Hairdresser of the Year for two years running in 2001 and 2002.

Having made numurous TV appearances, in programmes such as 10 Years Younger and The Salon, we’re delighted to welcome her onto the judging panel for our inaugural awards.

Upon joining the panel, Beverly told us: "I think the Heart Lifestyle Awards is a fantastic opportunity for hair salons in the East Midlands to have a chance to be rewarded in their own region, by their own clients.

"I know there are some amazingly talented hairdressers in Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire and this is the true test, not only of their ability and flair, but the service and ambience of the salons overall. I'll be rewarding those salons that are innovative and customer centric. Our overall winner must offer outstanding hairdressing combined with an exceptional salon experience."

Sat Bains

Chef Sat Bains and his wife Amanda are the proprietors of Nottingham’s only Michelin starred establishment, Restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms.

Sat has been recognised by fellow chefs and food writers from all over the world for his innovative style of cuisine. In 1999, as a young chef, he won the acclaimed Roux Scholarship-the ultimate award for any chef embarking on a career in gastronomy. He spent the following few years honing his skills and practising his craft throughout Europe and the UK.

In 2002, he opened Restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms with his wife Amanda in their native Nottingham. They were awarded their first Michelin star the following year in 2003. The accolades continued.

Most recently in 2007, the restaurant was awarded the BMW Square Meal - Best Restaurant of the Year. That same year the BBC launched a nationwide competition to find the most creative dishes for the Great British Menu. The winners would present at a dinner in Paris hosted by the British Ambassador for some of the most important gastronomes and food critics in the world. Beating off the stiff competition, Sat won for his dish and accompanied the other two winners for the gala dinner in Paris.

Sat remains passionate about training for young aspiring chefs and the industry as a whole. He is an ambassador for numerous student and industry focused activities and works closely with New College Nottingham with their CoVE (Centre of Vocational Excellence) – The Nottingham Academy of Hospitality and Catering.

Pippa Rees

Pippa Rees is one of the UK's leading image consultants and personal brand coaches, providing image consultancy advice in both the corporate and private sectors through her business, Style Company. Pippa is an expert in her field, having achieved Master Status with the Federation of Image Consultants (accredited in both style and colour analysis); she is a qualified life coach and PR Director for the TFIC. Pippa regularly writes for the media throughout the Midlands; has worked with Lorraine Kelly on LK Today and is a regular contributor to Heart 106.

Pippa explains, " I am absolutely delighted to have been invited to join the judging panel for Heart 106's Lifestyle Awards, as I am obviously passionate about shopping and keen to promote great retail practise wherever possible.
I think the East Midlands has a fabulous retail offering and I can't wait to get out there and discover who is offering their customers that real 'added value' experience."

Tim Burke

Food writer and restaurant critic Tim Burke is based in Leicester and has reviewed restaurants all over the East Midlands for Metro newspaper.

He is an experienced judge in restaurant awards programmes in the region and recently worked with BBC2's 'Great British Menu' to select chefs for their next series.

"There's tremendous variety across our region, from Michelin-starred fine dining to back street cafes serving great home-cooked food. I'm delighted to take part in anything that helps reward good restaurants and can't wait to find out where Heart 106 listeners rate as the best places to eat."

David Sandhu

David has been a prominent lifestyle/travel journalist for over ten years - firstly as deputy editor at i-D magazine, followed by a stint at Condé Nast Traveller.

Now based in Southwell, Notts, he has reviewed leading hotels across the globe for everyone from The Daily Telegraph and The Independent to Arena and Vogue. As a freelance writer/editor, he has also contributed to various Lonely Planet, Time Out and Dorling Kindersley guidebooks.

“After reviewing a couple of trendy local hotels quite recently, I know that there's some high standards of places to stay here in the East Midlands,” reveals David. "It’s going to be interesting to see which one of the hotel nominations comes out on top."

Robert Smith

Robert seems to have done just about everything from owning a deli, being a chef and presenting Live & Kicking to presenting an antiques series for C4 and stewarding on the Orient Express!

He’s currently a film and television producer and has recently finished working on a documentary for the Cannes Film Festival and is about to embark on a film for one of the biggest software providers in the world. Are there no ends to this man's talents?

Robert says: “I’ve done my fair share of awards judging. I’m local to the East Midlands; and can probably claim career experience if not expertise with most of the Heart 106 Lifestyle Awards categories.

So I hope to play an integral part of the judging panel”.