- Norwich-based Epos Now among the finalists
- Diane Harrington of Chelsea Group, one of New Zealand’s most successful entrepreneurs, to chair London and South judging panel
- The 27 companies from across London and the South employ over 16,600 people and turnover more than £1.06bn
Jacyn Heavens, CEO of Epos Now, an award winning electronic point of sale (EPOS) provider, will join 26 other companies across London and South at a regional award event to be held in June.
Finalists of the London and South programme include 33 business leaders from 27 companies, with a combined workforce of over 16,600 people and turnover of more than £1.06bn. The finalists are now part of a global network of fast-growth business leaders, with similar events also being held in Scotland, the north of England, and the Midlands.
In each region, an independent panel of judges will select regional winners in each category, who will progress to the UK final held in the capital in October, to vie for the title ‘EY UK Entrepreneur Of The Year’. Each country winner will then attend the ‘EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year Forum’ in Summer 2018, which gathers the world’s most inspiring entrepreneurs, game changers and government leaders from more than 60 countries.
Now in its 31st year globally and 19th year in the UK, ‘EY Entrepreneur Of The Year’ recognises the spirit and contribution of exceptional entrepreneurs, running in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries worldwide.
Dave Hales, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year leader for London & South, said: “The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year programme brings together the UK’s most innovative and forward thinking business leaders at events held up and down the country every year, where they can share knowledge and ideas, debate the challenges of the day, and form lasting contacts and even working partnerships.
“It serves to support the enviable entrepreneurial community we have in the UK and celebrate the contribution that it makes to the economy, creating wealth and jobs.”
Social impact award
This year the programme will honour a UK entrepreneur, in each region, who is delivering positive social impact, with a special ‘Building a better working world’ award. A nod to EY’s organisational purpose, the special award acknowledges the role that business plays in driving change and making the world work better.
During times of change entrepreneurs thrive
Despite market uncertainty, entrepreneurs reported a strong performance in the last 12 months and remain optimistic in their outlook, according to EY’s Entrepreneur Of The Year Alumni survey released in February.
69% of respondents quoted an increase in profits over the last 12 months, while 38% experienced double-digit growth (greater than 10%). In addition, 88% created new jobs, with over half (54%) taking on more than 20 new recruits in the same time period.
Looking ahead, despite 30% of entrepreneurial business leaders describing their single biggest business challenge as ‘economic uncertainty’, 54% predict a greater than 10% profit growth in the next three years and nearly a third (32%) plan to hire more than 20 people in the next 12 months.
Judges
The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year London & South judging panel will be chaired by Diane Harrington of Chelsea Group, one of New Zealand’s most successful entrepreneurs, named EY Entrepreneur Of The Year New Zealand winner in 2009.
She will be joined by: Saleem Asaria, Chief Executive Officer, Cambian Group; Melissa Bethell, Managing Director, Bain Capital; Matthew Bridge, Principal, The Virgin Group; Kym Denny, Chief Executive Officer, hVIVO; Matt Issac, Founding Partner and Executive Chairman, Essence; Michelle Morgan, Founder and Managing Director, Livity; and Chris Sellers, Group Business Development Director, Capita.
Sponsors: EY Entrepreneur Of The Year is nationally sponsored by LGT Vestra. The Financial Times is the programme’s UK media partner.
Full list of London & South 2017 finalists by category:
Disruptor
- Pontus Noren, CEO of Cloudreach, based in London - Global cloud enabler driving innovation at major enterprises through the use of cloud technologies.
- Dr David Taylor, Founder, CEO and Chairman of MR Solutions Ltd, based in Guildford - World leader in the development, manufacture and marketing of helium free pre-clinical scanners using MRI, PET or SPECT separately or in combination; supply of spectrometers to independent manufacturers of clinical and preclinical MRI scanners.
- Dr Gordon Sanghera, CEO of Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd, based in Oxford - Technology to enable the analysis of any living thing, by any person, in any environment. Oxford Nanopore Technologies has developed the world's first and only nanopore DNA sequencer, the MinION.
- Ed Bradley, Co Founder/ Head of Sales, and Tim Ingham, Co Founder/ Head of R&D, of Virtualstock Ltd, based in Reading - Virtualstock, a British technology company, has developed a Cloud-based SaaS platform that has revolutionised supply chain distribution within the Retail and Health sectors and is a pioneer in the new enterprise digital transformation era.
International
- AdrianBinks, Chairman & Chief Executive of Argus Media Ltd, based in London - Argus is a leading provider of price data, news, analysis, conferences and consulting services to the energy and commodities sectors.
- Christopher Baker-Brian, Co-Founder, and CTO, Mansoor Hamayun, Co-founder and CEO, and Laurent Van Houcke, Co-founder and COO, of BBOXX Limited based in London - BBOXX is a venture backed company developing solutions to provide affordable, clean energy to off-grid communities in the developing world.
- Clive Nation, Chief Executive Officer of Cennox based in Camberley - Cennox provide a varied portfolio of services to support the Banking & Retail industries.
- Andy Black, Co-Founder, Board Director of Kinapse Ltd based in Wimbledon - Advise-Build-Operate services for the life sciences industries.
- Dr Stephen Cameron, Executive Chairman of Nucleus Global based in London - A provider of medical communications across a range of media for global medical affairs departments of large pharmaceutical industry companies, international medical societies and healthcare charitable foundations.
Master
- John Dawson, CEO of AlliancePharma plc, based in Chippenham - A pharmaceutical company providing prescription and consumer healthcare products.
- Sam Smith, Chief Executive Officer of finnCap Ltd, based in London – A leading independent broker to ambitious companies, the top adviser on AIM and a top ten adviser on the LSE.
- ManpreetBawa, Managing Director of Foodspeed Ltd, based in Hayes - Foodspeed Ltd are suppliers of fresh milk, dairy products, ingredients and Artisan produced products to the hotel restaurant, bakery and catering trade.
- Simon Rogerson, Group Chief Executive, and Christopher Hulatt, Founder, of Octopus Capital, based in London - Building highly disruptive, customer obsessed businesses in the financial services, energy and healthcare sectors.
Rising Star
- Justin Basini, CEO and Founder of ClearScore, based in London - ClearScore is a free credit score and report service.
- Ella Mills, Brand Director, and Matthew Mills, CEO, of Deliciously Ella, based in London - Food and lifestyle brand.
- Jacyn Heavens, CEO of Epos Now, based in Norwich - Epos Now is an award winning electronic point of sale (EPOS) provider safeguarding the profitability of 30,000 businesses in 109 different countries.
- Vivek Chadha, Hotelier, Nine Group based in Watford - Nine Group owns and operates Hotels in London and in major cities around the UK. The business was founded by Vivek Chadha where he saw an opportunity to scale a hotel business due to the lack of supply in the UK regions and M25.
Scale-up
- Robin Sheppard, Chairman, and Haydn Fentum, CEO of Bespoke Hotels, based in High Wycombe - Formed in 2000, Bespoke Hotels has grown to represent over 200 properties worldwide, and now stands as the UK’s largest independent hotel group.
- Graham Ewart, CEO, Direct Healthcare Group based in Cardiff - The Direct Healthcare Group, based in South Wales, supports healthcare organisations in the UK and around the world with the delivery of harm-free patient care.
- Thomas Smith, CEO and Founder of GlobalWebIndex, based in London - GlobalWebIndex combines the world’s largest ongoing study on the digital consumer with powerful analytics to drive marketing that works.
- John Turner, CEO, Regulatory Finance Solutions Limited, based in Swindon - An independently owned regulatory management consultancy.
- Jason Trost, CEO/Founder of Smarkets, based in London - With technology and innovation, not gambling and entertainment, at its core, Smarkets is improving the bloated betting industry by providing the best odds in the world.
- Clare Johnston, Founder & co-CEO of The Up Group, based in London - The Up Group is Europe’s leading digital executive search and networking firm. With over a decade of expertise in building outstanding leadership teams across the digital landscape, The Up Group offers unrivalled insight into the challenges facing companies going through disruptive growth and transformational change.
Transformational Leader
- Roger Bootle, Chairman of Capital Economics based in London - Capital Economics provides economic research.
- Jason Miller, CEO, CLEAN Linen Services Limited based in Maidenhead -Linen and workwear laundry & rental services provider.
- Gareth Hughes, Chief Executive of Marston Holdings (Marston) based in Essex - Marston Holdings (Marston) is the UK’s largest judicial services Group. It recovers unpaid debts, taxes and court orders on behalf of central government, local government and private creditors.
- Harnoop Atkar, Chief Executive of Oakland Primecare, based in London - Premium elderly care group.
About EY Entrepreneur Of The Year
EY’s Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world’s most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. It has been running for 19 years in the UK. The award makes a difference through the unique way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential and recognises the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement.
As the first and only truly global award of its kind, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognising them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 145 cities in 60 countries. The programme is sponsored nationally by LGT Vestra and the Financial Times is UK media partner.