20 Hugh Osmond David Furby
Year of Birth: 1962 Residence: Moulsford Business: Sun Capital Partners, Rare Bird Hotels
Business Location: Streatley-on-Thames, Sonning and London Turnover and year: Undisclosed Worth: £250m*
Description: Financier and hospitality industry entrepreneur
Year of Birth: 1966 Residence: Hampshire
Business: Novatech – a Hampshire-based technology company employing over 200 people. Founded by Furby in 1987, Novatech makes computers capable of everything from schoolwork to 3D rendering
Novatech is now one of the UK’s top mail-order computer suppliers and the on-site production team has the capacity to manufacturer over 6,000 PCs and 4,000 Notebooks per month
Business Location: Cosham, Portsmouth Turnover and year: £38.7 million in 2013
Description: Computer entrepreneur and founder of Novatech
Business THE M A GA ZINE TM
Commentary: Osmond graduated from Oxford and went to America, working in clubs before joining an investment bank in Spain. Back in the UK, he ran PizzaExpress, which was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1993, turned private again in 2003, and was recently sold by Cinven to a Chinese group. Osmond headed investment firm Sun Capital Partners, which secured a major investment in Pearl Group in 2005, and was involved in a number of corporate turnarounds involving pubs and insurance.
Osmond founded Punch Taverns in 1997 as a pub and bar operator, and remained as executive chairman until 2001, selling all his shares by 2003. Most recently, Osmond formed Rare Bird Hotels, where his partner Lucy Potter is managing director, to acquire The Swan at Streatley, a 45-bed riverside hotel, from John Nike, the Bracknell entrepreneur. He then bought the Great House at Sonning for some £25 million. Former tennis star Tim Henman is a minority shareholder in Rare Bird Hotels.
Quote: “If you look at our track record, we have always left behind businesses that are functioning better.”
*Source: Sunday Times Rich List.
Commentary: David Furby says one of his specialties is “delegation”. He has built his business from scratch, after learning to program and graduating from University of Portsmouth with a Bsc (Hons) Engineering with Business Studies. He started selling printer ribbons from his bedroom in Portsmouth and founded Novatech in the mid-2000s.
Quote: “It’s all about recruiting the best people, and training them.”
www.businessmag.co.uk
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – OCTOBER 2014
SOUTH
E
RN NTREPRENEURS
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 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68