High fives as E&Y honours leading entrepreneurs
THE LEADERS of five North West companies were among the Northern region winners at Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of Year awards last night.
With the overall Northern entrepreneur title going to Yorkshire ice cream tycoon James Lambert of R&R Ice Creams , there was still much to celebrate for the North West at the event at the Hilton Hotel in Manchester.
Regional winners were:
Tom Drury and Zachary Lewy from Manchester-based Arrow Global, which buys of defaulted consumer debt from lenders, who took the category award for business products and services. Arrow Global, based in the city centre raised £220m in a public bond offering earlier this year;
Judge Anthony Preston praised the pair for having built the business, which has 100 staff, from scratch and developing “their own form of business alchemy, where they take bad debt and turn it into gold.”
Richard Law, chief executive of GB Group, the fast-growing, AIM-listed identity management group based in Chester, who took the technology, media and telecoms award.
Mr Law said the secret of his and GB Group’s success was “thinking about things differently”.
Keith Rimmer, managing director of Warrington company Belfry Group and inventor of the energy saving EcoPod device (cleantech and energy).
Mr Rimmer told the audience how his device had helped take 10,000 people out of fuel poverty. He said he wished his family had been with him to share the success, because: “It was not long ago that my children were ironing logos on to polo shirts because we couldn’t afford uniforms.”
Rizwan Khan, chief executive of Stockport company Advanced Childcare won the private equity-backed category. Advanced, which is owned by GI Partners, has made several acquisitions since it changed hands in 2011 in a £28m deal.
He said: “Most entrepreneurs will understand that growing a business is a challenge and it can be a lonely place. I could not have achieved what I have though without the staff at the business. I have also been lucky to have some fantastic backers behind me over the last four or five years.”
The manufacturing award was won by Majid Hussain, a former barrister and now managing director, of Blackburn tissue company Accrol Papers and collected by his brother.
Simon Allport, North West senior partner at Ernst & Young said: “The region has produced some truly outstanding winners from across a wide range of business sectors, which demonstrates the vibrancy of the North West’s economy. The entrepreneurial spirit is continuing to shine bright in the region.”
