Michael Purtill, who has headed the national hotel chain, which includes the Queen's Hotel in Leeds, since it was first established in 2003 was named Director of the Year.

His group has expanded, through acquisition and development of its existing sites, to 21 hotels with over 2,800 bedrooms and over 250 meetings and conference rooms across the UK.

The successful Leeds-based operation was also recently named as the AA Hotel Group of the Year.

The IoD also presented former Morrisons' chairman, Sir Ken Morrison, with a Lifetime Achievement award as testament to what the organisation described as "his inspiring 55-year career spent transforming his father's market stall into a £13bn supermarket chain".

Other winners from across the region included Young Director of the Year, Michael Taylor of Fosters Bakery (Staincross) Ltd and ICW Modular Glazing Ltd's Margaret Wood, who was given the Judge's Special Achievement Award.

The awards, now in their fourth year, were presented at a black tie ceremony at the Queens Hotel, Leeds.

Other winners were: Entrepreneur of the Year, Craig Miller, Extend A Room Ltd; Not for Profit Director of the Year, Kevin Southwell, South Yorkshire Housing Association; Business Advisor of the Year, Paul Firth, DLA Piper UK LLP; Non-Executive Director of the Year, Colin Glass, Winburn Glass Norfolk;
Environmental Sustainability, John Brooksbank, Associated Waste Management.

Nimble Thompson, regional chairman for the IoD in Yorkshire & the Humber, said: "This was a superb night that celebrated the outstanding achievements of some of Yorkshire's most dynamic business leaders.

"I want to congratulate all those who made it onto this year's shortlist and acknowledge the success of the winners, whose hard work and innovation achieves incredible results for their companies and contributes to the prosperity of this region."