Hargreaves boss wins QCA award

29/01/2010 Robert Tyerman

Gordon Banham, Entrepreneur of The Year at the 2010 Quoted Company Awards

Gordon Banham, chief executive officer of energy support services specialist Hargreaves Services, has won the title of Entrepreneur of the Year in the 2010 Quoted Company Awards, presented by Growth Company Investor and sponsored by accountant and business advisory group Grant Thornton.

A distinguished panel of judges from the worlds of business, finance and the media chose him for his role in growing sales and profits at the Durham-based AIM company from the management buy-out he led in 2004, helped by a series of judicious acquisitions.

Scientific entrepreneur Jonathan Milner received the award for Chief Executive of the Year for steering fast-growing Abcam, a fast-growing Cambridge-based bioscience company he founded in 1998, which supplies high-quality antibodies for protein interaction studies. With most of sales abroad, he says he is contemplating moving the company offshore if the government does not reduce corporation tax.

Simon Embley, chief executive officer of LSL Property Services, carried off the crown for Deal of the Year, namely his company’s purchase of Halifax Estate Agencies for all of £1 from a hard-pressed Bank of Scotland. Clinched at a low point in the property cycle, the recently completed deal has created the second largest estate agency network in the UK.

IPO of the Year was judged to be the float of Nanoco Group, maker of ‘quantum dots’, fluorescent energy-efficient semi-conductor nano-particles which improve performance and cut power use for LCD TVs and other products. The shares have risen nearly fourfold since chief executive officer Michael Edelman brought the company to AIM in May.

IT services and technology specialist Morse won the Turnaround of the Year award. Operating in the UK, Spain, Ireland, the USA and Asia Pacific, the company slashed losses in the year to last June from £5.2 million to £400,000 after a major restructuring and recently said the six months to December showed ‘significant growth’.

Mike McTighe was named Chairman of the Year for his role in that capacity at power cord and cable maker Volex, while he also holds a string of other public company chairs and directorships. Chartered accountant David Forsyth won the Finance Director of the Year award for helping car sales group Pendragon weather the latest financial storms before his recent departure.

The Non-Executive Director of the Year award went to investment and finance specialist Charles Sebag-Montefiore, who sits on the board of membrane roof and facade specialist Hightex Group. Gervais Williams, redoubtable head of Gartmore’s smaller companies team, was named Investor of the Year, while Hygea Venture Capital Trust won the Specialist investment Vehicle of the Year award.

David Blackwell, who writes perceptively on the smaller companies scene for the Financial Times, carried off the Lifetime Achievement Award 2010.

The coveted Quoted Company Awards were unveiled at a dinner in London’s Royal Courts of Justice, hosted by business personality and former Birmingham City Football Club boss Karren Brady. Comedian Hugh Dennis entertained guests from the City, commerce, law and the media.