Miniclip founder and former Growing Business Young Gun Rob Small picked up the coveted Young Entrepreneur of the Year gong at the glitzy awards ceremony last night.
Small was described by the judges as “bursting at the seams with innovative ideas and energy” and “a role model for young entrepreneurs to throw caution to the wind and just go for it.”
Other winners at the ceremony, which was hosted by television star Joanna Lumley, included John Bird and Ian MacArthur from The Big Issue who were awarded the accolade for Social Entrepreneur of the Year for “creating a product that generates revenues while providing self employment and dignity along with project re-investment for societal benefit”.
The overall winner, who will go on to represent the UK at the Ernst & Young Global Entrepreneur of the Year awards in Monte Carlo next May, was announced as Richard Harpin, chief executive of Homeserve.
Harpin founded Homeserve, which offers home emergency insurance cover and domestic repair services, in 1993 and after floating on the London Stock Exchange in 2004 now has a market capitalisation of £1.3bn. Richard Hall of Ernst & Young described Richard as a “born entrepreneur”.
“Homeserve is an immense business characterised by rapid growth, strong profitability, innovation and excellence in execution. The sky is the limit for this start-up to be a major global innovator,” commented Hall.
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2008