A specialist in urban design and heritage has walked away with the 2015 Birmingham Young Professional of the Year title.

Katie Kershaw, from Birmingham-based consultancy Node Urban Design, wowed judges who praised her for being an engaging individual expected to inspire young professionals in the city to achieve greatness.

Ms Kershaw was one of six categories winners on the night and, having been named top property and construction professional, was then chosen as the overall BYPY 2015.

Paul Kehoe, Birmingham Airport chief executive and chairman of the judging panel, said: "Being involved with BYPY was a fantastic reminder of the talent and ambition we have in Birmingham.

"It was incredibly hard to choose a winner but for us Katie stood out because of the understanding she showed of both the challenges and potential of the city.

"As a team, we were impressed by the solutions Katie put forward and we all felt that she truly embodied everything we were looking for in the overall winner."

Michael Shepherd, chairman of networking body BPS Birmingham Future which organises BYPY, added: "We're delighted for all the BYPY 2015 winners and especially for Katie.

"We can't wait to start working with Katie to see if we can bring some of her ideas to life to help support other young professionals in the city."

The other categories winners at the 15th BYPY were:

- Sarah Bennett, Deutsche Bank (finance)

- Verity Stokes, Katie Bard (HR, recruitment and training)

- Rachel Seaton, Shoosmiths (legal)

- Tom Cullen, I CHOOSE Birmingham (marketing and communications)

- Simon Kaguramamba, Action Starter (technology)

Lewis Sinclair Parry, from Aston University, won the aspiring talent award for 16 to 24 year olds and Mike Steventon, senior partner with KPMG in Birmingham, was named inspiring leader.

Ahead of the final, all 2015 BYPY finalists were profiled on the Birmingham Post website whose digital coverage of this year's event is in association with The Mailbox.

The ceremony was held at the ICC last night and hosted by Countdown's Rachel Riley with around 900 guests in attendance.

It was organised by Sam Pennell, chairman of the BYPY committee and founder of espi PR & Events.

The event was supported by headline sponsor Chiltern Railways Mainline alongside Deloitte, SimkissGuy Recruitment, Connect Group, Gateley, Greater Birmingham Professional Services Academy, The Effective Board Member, Forresters, Squire Patton Boggs, CBRE and Common Purpose.