Insider 42 Under 42 2010
Insider’s 42 under 42 will be 20 years old next year. Back in 1991 we started picking out young entrepreneurs and business leaders who called the North West their home. Since that time we have built up a list of nearly 800 individuals considered to be important to the future of the region.
So with a growing number of business people to engage with, it was with great anticipation that this year’s dinner at the Radisson Edwardian in Manchester was held – another year, another great crop, another great set of speakers, and a new website dedicated to this great institution.
Following an introduction from Insider editor Michael Taylor, former 42 under 42 Tony Barnes, chief executive of Darwen-based smart metering company Bglobal, took to the stage to outline his journey from newspapers to smart meters.
“Everyone here has got a really interesting story to tell,” he said. “I know I’ve done a few things that people will find peculiar – I’ve gone from being a journalist on a local paper to being a chief executive of a listed smart metering company. In between that I was also a reporter on local and national TV."
“I think a lot of people in the list have probably done what I’ve done – that is to take a stick of dynamite and place it under their previous career. There are many, many stories that are similar to mine. I discovered that I like to build businesses – I’m not a reporter or an entrepreneur – I’m a builder. That’s what I’ve been doing for the past 11 years or so,” he added.
Bglobal has operations in Singapore and Australia. Earlier this year it acquired Utiligroup in a deal worth up to £12.8m, boosting its client base in Asia and Oceania. The deal should also add £5m to its annual turnover.
“I think there’ll be a huge explosion in the energy industry in the next few years,” said Barnes. “The market is about to fragment in a way that the insurance industry did when Direct Line came in and changed the way insurance was sold. I’m massively excited that we’ll be right in the middle of that – we’re seeing huge opportunities everywhere at the moment.”
There was also a presentation from Team Eclipse – a group of pupils from Clitheroe Grammar School – who scooped the top prize at the North West Young Enterprise Awards and represented the region in the national finals.
As revealed in the October issue the current crop of 42-ers includes figures from major local companies such as PZ Cussons, CSL Sofas, United Utilities and Timpson, alongside the big businesses of tomorrow: frozen dessert entrepreneur Kirsty Henshaw and Peter Harrison from FGH Security, both made famous by winning investment on BBC’s Dragon’s Den, were just two of those in attendance.
To view the complete 2010 list, please visit: insidermedia.com/42under42-nw.
