EY reveals shortlist for Entrepreneur of the Year awards
THE leaders of 18 businesses, including the founder of recently floated fashion retailer Boohoo and the boss of one of the region’s most successful family-owned breweries, are in the running for EY’s North of England Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards,
In total the 20 shortlisted individuals lead more than 5,600 people and their businesses have combined sales of £2.45bn.
The North West finalists will compete with leaders from 10 other firms based in Yorkshire and the North East at the North of England final, which will be held on June 24 at the Lowry Hotel.
The winners will go on to vie for the title of EY UK Entrepreneur Of The Year 2014 and a chance to represent this country at a global awards ceremony in June 2015.
The North West finalists are:
Mottie Kessler, chairman and chief executive CEO, 2M Holdings Ltd (Runcorn);
Amin Amiri, founder and managing director, a2e Venture Catalysts (Manchester);
Mark Austin and Paul Kenyon, joint founders, Avecto (Cheadle);
Mahmud Kamani, joint founder and chief executive, Boohoo (Manchester);
Stephen Thorpe, executive chairman, CME Medical UK Ltd (Blackpool);
David Judge, managing director, Cormar Carpets (Bury);
Ed Salt, managing director, Delamere Dairy (Knutsford);
Tracy Mort MBE, managing director, Grace Cole Limited (Cheadle);
William Lees-Jones, managing director, JW Lees & Co (Manchester);
Clare Roberts, chief executive, Kids Planet (Lymm);
Jonathan Coxon and Alex Elliott, joint managing directors, Liquid Personnel (Manchester);
Nitin Passi, managing director, Missguided (Manchester);
Simon Cooper, chief executive, On The Beach (Cheadle);
Bill Holmes, chief executive and founder, Radius Payment Solutions (Crewe);
Heejae Chae, chief executive, Scapa Group (Manchester);
Mark Bigley, chief executive, Secured Mail (Warrington);
Jane Davis, director,The Reader Organisation (Liverpool and
Sarah Dunning, CEO, Westmorland Limited (Penrith)
Robert Crooks, North West Entrepreneur Of The Year leader at EY, said: “Our 2014 North West finalists have delivered significant growth by developing strong, differentiated propositions. Their business achievements are all the more impressive having been conceived and largely delivered during some of the most challenging economic conditions UK companies have ever faced.
“Product innovation, exporting, customer engagement and investment in technology are just some of the ways these outstanding businesses have driven expansion and are positioning themselves for further accelerated growth in the recovery.
“It is crucial that we continue to recognise and support these and other entrepreneurial companies in the North West. They lay the foundations for job and wealth creation, and have a critical role to play in regional economic expansion.”
The judges for the North of England awards include Grant Berry, managing partner of NorthEdge Capital; former Matalan boss Paul Gilbert, former winner Ian Kelly, founder and chief executive of green energy firm Matrix and Angela Spindler, chief executive of N Brown Group.
