34 MANAGEMENT TEAM
OF THE YEAR AWARD
SPONSORED BY PwC WINNER The Training Room
Above: Jonathan Davies, chief executive of The Training Room with PwC director Becky Bridgen
Right: Andrew Powell, COO of The Training Room, with Mark Durden-Smith and Jonathan Davies
This final award before a break for the main dinner course was the first award on the night not contested by professional advisers.
Here the judges were assessing the performance of those directly affected by the deal – the companies and their management teams – as they took on the challenge of what for many would be the largest and most important event so far in their corporate journey.
There were three impressive candidates for the Management of the Year title: Richard Adey – and the JCC Lighting team; Jonathan Davies – and The Training Room team; Ian Finlay– and the Andante Travels team.
Richard Adey joined JCC, based on the south coast, in April 2011. He built up the market-leading LED lighting company, assisted by investment from PE firm LDC, towards its ultimate sale as an ongoing business to US company Leviton Manufacturing in autumn 2013. The deal gives JCC global reach and Adey remains as executive chairman, developing the strategic direction of the company with his management team to see it through its next expansion phase.
Jonathan Davies founded The Training Room in 2006 and has overseen its rapid
www.businessmag.co.uk
growth. When LDC invested in a £20 million transaction to support the future growth of The Training Room, it did so alongside CEO Jonathan Davies, who retained a significant shareholding in the company. The management team is now responsible for more than 100 employees and trains nearly 3,000 personal trainers a year.
Ian Finlay has more than 20 years’ experience in educational travel, directing and managing specialist tour operators both large and small. When Panoramic Growth Equity invested £1.8m in Andante, Finlay, the former managing director of Tui Travel’s education division, came to the business as incoming CEO. Finlay and his team are now planning Andante’s next stage of growth with the support of Panoramic’s investment.
With PwC sponsoring this category, director Becky Bridgen stepped up to announce the winner and present the award to Jonathan Davies, chief executive of The Training Room.
Afterwards, Davies spoke about the significance of the award to his management team. “Personally, it’s really great, because although money is important, I am driven by business success, which admittedly brings the nice things in life, but for me it’s more about the personal achievement.“
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – JULY/AUGUST 2014
His management team share that drive to achieve business objectives, he explained: “We have a really good culture in the business and when I take this award back to Poole a lot of people are going to be very happy.“
And how has Davies created his supportive management team? “The key to success is about getting the right sort of people around you. I have always tried to recruit people who are good at the things that I am not, or at least better than me at certain things.
“So, always recruit the best people you can – and sometimes that costs a bit more, but I think that pays off – then let them get on with their jobs. Also, be honest with yourself about what your skillset is for the business, then bring in people around you who can contribute different things.“
The same principle should be applied when taking on professional advisers, he added.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48