Four Stockport based entrepreneurs are among 18 from North West based businesses – which in total employ over 5,600 people and have combined sales of £2.45bn – who have been shortlisted in EY’s North of England Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards 2014, sponsored by Credit Suisse.
Mark Austin and Paul Kenyon, Joint Founders, Avecto (Cheadle); Tracy Mort MBE who is Managing Director of Grace Cole Limited (Cheadle) and Simon Cooper, CEO, On The Beach (Cheadle) join a group of 20 entrepreneurs from across 18 companies, including fashion retailers, advanced manufacturers and food and drink businesses, 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 24 June 2014 at the Lowry Hotel, Manchester.
The North of England winners will go on to vie for the title of EY UK Entrepreneur Of The Year 2014 and a chance to represent their country at a global awards ceremony in June 2015.
The 2014 North of England judging panel will be chaired by Sir Peter Vardy of Vardy Group, who built his family’s car dealership company, Reg Vardy plc, into a £2bn national business employing 6,000 people, before selling the company in 2006. He will be joined on the panel by eight Northern business leaders including Angela Spindler, CEO of N Brown Group; Paul Gilbert, Chairman of the Gym Group, Better Bathrooms and Clothing Sites, Ian Kelly, Founder and CEO of Matrix and Grant Berry, Managing Partner at NorthEdge Capital LLP.
Sir Peter Vardy said: “Recognising and celebrating the success of entrepreneurs is so important. It is a privilege to be involved in the judging of EY’s North of England Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards 2014.
“We will be looking for the best examples of business building, scalability, innovation and contribution to the regional and national economy. I am sure we will see some amazing success stories that need to be told so as to encourage the next generation of business builders throughout the UK.”
Last year’s North of England category winners from the North West included Tom Drury and Zachary Lewy of Manchester-based Arrow Global, Keith Rimmer of Warrington-based Belfry Group, Richard Law of Chester-headquartered GB Group, Rizwan Khan of Cheadle-based Advanced Childcare and Majid Hussain of Blackburn-based Accrol Papers.
Robert Crooks, North West Entrepreneur of the Year Leader at EY, commented:
“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.”
Stuart Watson, UK Entrepreneur Of the Year Leader, added: “I am delighted to see the calibre of this year’s finalists and wish to congratulate them all. The UK’s entrepreneurs have been growing their businesses over the last few years despite the flat economy and are now looking forward to stronger growth. These dynamic fast growth businesses are vital to the UK’s global competitiveness and these awards celebrate their success.”
This year’s North West finalists are:
- Mottie Kessler, Chairman and 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 CEO, 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 (Brewers) Limited (Manchester)
- Clare Roberts, CEO, Kids Planet (Lymm)
- Jonathan Coxon and Alex Elliott, Joint Managing Directors, Liquid Personnel (Manchester)
- Nitin Passi, Managing Director, Missguided (Manchester)
- Simon Cooper, CEO, On The Beach (Cheadle)
- Bill Holmes, Chief Executive and Founder, Radius Payment Solutions (Crewe)
- Heejae Chae, Group Chief Executive, Scapa Group plc (Manchester)
- Mark Bigley, CEO, Secured Mail (Warrington)
- Jane Davis, Director,The Reader Organisation (Liverpool)
- Sarah Dunning, CEO, Westmorland Limited (Penrith)