North West entrepreneurs win national awards
The co-founders of forecourt operator EG Group were named the UK’s best entrepreneurs at a major awards ceremony in London.
Mohsin and Zuber Issa were the overall winners at EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year awards and also picked up the prize for Building a Better Working World.
The brothers started their Euro Garages business in 2001 with a single petrol forecourt in Bury that they ran themselves. Today, they operate around 4,500 sites across eight different markets – UK, France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Germany and the US – and employ more than 20,000 people.
Mohsin told the audience that their father, who ran one petrol station, continues to encourage them further.
“He says ‘you can do better guys’,” said Mohsin. “We have been incredibly lucky – the secret of our success is being in the right place at the right time.”
Joanna Santinon, partner and EY Entrepreneur Of The Year leader, UK, added: “From operating one forecourt themselves, Mohsin and Zuber have grown EG Group into a distinctive and successful global business that has placed the customer at the heart of its strategy.”
It was a successful night for other North West-based entrepreneurs.
John Timpson, chairman of family-owned and run Timpson, collected the EY Family Business Award of Excellence during the ceremony.
A special award from judges went to David Bellis, of Oldham-based Innovative Technology, for being a role model to UK entrepreneurs. The judges described David as “demonstrating a lifetime of unseen invention” and in his 80s, “David is just getting started”.
