The Great British Entrepreneur Awards has been celebrating the stories of exceptional entrepreneurs for over a decade.
The accolades don’t always go to the biggest businesses. We pride ourselves on celebrating incredible stories of passion, tenacity, courage, innovation and disruption from entrepreneurs running businesses of all sizes and at all stages.
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The Allica Bank Great British Entrepreneur Awards, held at The JW Marriott Grosvenor House on the 20th of November, saw 1,400 members of the entrepreneurial community come together to witness 20 different awards given out to entrepreneurs in categories such as Retail, Sustainability, Scale-Up and Technology.
This year, in partnership with UBS Wealth Management, two of the most prestigious accolades of the evening were awarded to Dame Mary Perkins of Specsavers, and John Caudwell of Phones4U and Caudwell Children, who were inducted into the Great British Entrepreneur Awards Hall of Fame.
In 2019, the Great British Entrepreneur Hall of Fame was launched to recognise influential British entrepreneurs who work incredibly hard to champion and support entrepreneurs of all stages. Notable inductees that are supporters of both entrepreneurship and the community included Sahar Heshemi MBE, founder of Coffee Republic & co-founder of Buy Women Built; Will King, Founder of King of Shaves, and Steven Bartlett, former Great British Entrepreneur Awards winner and Dragon on BBC Dragons Den.
A qualified and registered optometrist for more than 50 years, Dame Mary Perkins founded Specsavers along with her husband Douglas while studying at Cardiff University, It is now the world’s largest private optician chain, selling more than 15 million eyeglasses and 380 million contact lenses each year. Perkins was the first female optometrist in the UK to receive the title of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2007 for services to Business and to the community.
Self-made billionaire John Caudwell founded Caudwell Group, the pioneering telecommunications company which included Phones 4U, which was the UK’s largest independent mobile phone retailer with over 600 stores across the country. John is not only a successful entrepreneur in his own right, he also gives significantly to and raises the profiles of a myriad of charitable causes. His own charities include Caudwell Children, Caudwell Youth and Caudwell LymeCo.
Both Dame Mary and John are huge supporters of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards and play a particularly active role in supporting the community and have judged for many years. This year, both Specsavers and Caudwell Children also sponsored awards at the 2023 Allica Bank Great British Entrepreneur Awards.
Francesca James, Founder of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, had this to say about the new Hall of Fame inductees:
“I am thrilled that this year we inducted Dame Mary Perkins and John Caudwell to the Great British Entrepreneur Awards Hall of Fame. The Great British Entrepreneur Awards prides itself as more than just an awards programme, and it is with the support of some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the UK that we are able to champion the next cohort of great British businesses. It is a privilege to induct Dame Mary and John; not only have they both successfully created two household name brands, but they also join a long list of incredible entrepreneurs that have given their time, expertise and support to our incredible entrepreneurial community.”
