Member Article

Entrepreneurial quartet join Forum Board

Four new North East entrepreneurs have joined the board of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum, adding experience in property, manufacturing, digital and management consultancy to the organisation’s leadership.

The addition of Ian Baggett, Pamela Petty, Rob Mathieson and Geoff Thompson takes the board’s membership to 13 entrepreneurs covering a cross section of sectors, each giving their time altruistically to make the North East the UK’s number one region for entrepreneurship.

Since being founded 12 years ago, the Entrepreneurs’ Forum and its members have been the voice of business owners, championing the North East and providing inspiration for many aspiring entrepreneurs.

Ian Baggett was the Forum’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2007. From an inheritance of just £2,000, which he invested in a house in Bowburn to refurbish and rent to fellow students, the Adderstone Group has grown into one of the biggest property businesses in the North East.

Rob Mathieson leads one of the region’s fastest growing digital agencies, Gateshead-based AYO Digital, and is the Entrepreneurs’ Forum’s Emerging Talent of the Year 2013. AYO Digital was established just five years ago, and investment worth £400,000 from FW Capital will see the business develop two new innovative business software products this year with plans to double the workforce to at least 60 by 2016. Rob, who worked for Fusebox Design and TH_NK before joining with two partners to establish AYO, is aiming for it to be the biggest manufacturer of digital systems in the UK.

Pamela Petty is the daughter of John Elliott MBE, the founder of Ebac, a market leader in European production of water coolers. Pamela has worked her way up at Ebac after joining in 1986. She went on to head the company’s IT projects and was appointed manufacturing director in 1997. As group managing director of the £15m turnover business since 2003, Pamela is overseeing its expansion to a new £7m manufacturing facility at Newton Aycliffe and diversification into air source heat pumps, freezers and a revival for the UK of washing machine production, a move that is expected to see the workforce double to 400.

Geoff Thompson worked as a management consultant and held a number of management positions in industry before launching Utilitywise in 2006 with two colleagues and his eldest son. The business acted as intermediary between energy suppliers and their commercial customers, helping the latter to get more value from their energy contracts, and turned over £100,000 in the first year. Rapid growth led to a successful listing on AIM in the 2012 with the business valued at the time at £37m. It now services nearly 20,000 customers and employs over 700 people across the Group with turnover approaching £50m and a market cap approaching £200m.

Nigel Mills, Chairman of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum, said: “Entrepreneurship is at the heart of business growth in the North East and the Entrepreneurs’ Forum is a fantastic organisation which offers support, mentorship and a cohesive voice for members and the wider business community across the North East.

“We are very proud to have some of the region’s leading entrepreneurs on our board, sharing experience from a wide range of sectors and giving guidance to their peers. The addition of Ian, Pamela, Rob and Geoff to the board adds to that wealth of knowledge and continues the growth of the network we have built to champion entrepreneurship and its role in the North East economy.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Recognition PR Business Team .