2023 Top 100 List
professor Waljit
Dhillo
2023 WINNER
Professor Waljit Dhillo
Waljit is an eminent researcher who has made major breakthroughs in addressing problems with body weight and women’s reproductive systems.
He is Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism at Imperial College London. He has made a real impact of thousands of women’s lives by discovering a treatment for debilitating hot flushes in the menopause.
His research also includes the development of safer IVF treatment for women; robotic sensors to diagnose women’s reproductive health problems and exploring whether a particular drug can treat men with common psychosexual disorders.
His other area of research is on how gut hormones regulate the feeling of hunger and the consequent amount of food eaten. He has been investigating the use of gut hormones to suppress appetite with fewer side effects than other drugs.
Waljit is also the Director of Research at the Division of Medicine and Integrated Care at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and the Dean of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Academy.
He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP), and the Royal College of Pathologists (FRCPath).
He is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion in academic research and ensuring that an academic career appeals to researchers from all backgrounds.
Nick
Doman
2023 WINNER
Nick Doman
Nick is co-founder and co-CEO of Ocean Bottle whose pioneering work has already prevented 7,112,382 kgs of plastics from heading into the oceans. His passion to pursue a business model that puts the mission ahead of profit lies behind the creation of a reusable water bottle company which funds work to remove plastics from our oceans.
After graduating from Edinburgh University, Nick completed a Masters in Management at the London Business School. Here he met fellow student Will Pearson whose interest in solving the ocean plastic crisis inspired them to go into business together.
For every Ocean Bottle sold, the company funds the work to collect 1,000 used plastic bottles from riverbanks, roads and beaches. This is achieved by partnering with Plastic Bank and other reputable organisations which remove plastic before it reaches the ocean, in Indonesia, the Philippines, Haiti, Brazil, and Egypt.
Nick and Ocean Bottle have won a number of awards, including the Silver award at the global award Young Founder of the Year 2022; London Business School’s Accomplished Entrepreneurs Award Early Stage Winner 2021; Forbes 30 Under 30 2020; Green Product Award 2020; Environmental Company of the Year at the London Business Awards 2020; and the Red Dot Product Award 2020.
Mark
Dowds
2023 WINNER
Mark Dowds
Mark is a serial entrepreneur and philanthropist whose current mission is to disrupt the clothing industry and clean up the planet.
He founded RESPONSIBLE in Belfast to fight for sustainability in the fashion industry. It aims to create a platform for sustainability and circularity in fashion by incentivising brands and consumers to buy, sell and trade clothes.
In March 2022, RESPONSIBLE invested over £1.2million in its business to support innovation and business development, creating 13 jobs at its Belfast headquarters.
Mark is also founder of the Ormeau Baths co-working space for local innovators and entrepreneurs. He is passionate about the start-up scene in Northern Ireland and wanted to give back to the community by creating a space where budding entrepreneurs could get good advice and good capital. He is also chairman of two other programmes in Northern Ireland: TechstartNI, an early-stage venture capital company and Generation Innovation, which reinvents work experience.
He is the co-founder and chief strategy officer of Trov, the world's first on-demand insurance platform enabling customers to insure as and when needed. He raised £100 million in capital to grow the business.
Mark is a fanatical mountain biker and has run several dozen ultra-marathons.
David
Downes
2023 WINNER
David Downes
David is a highly respected autistic artist and supporter and Vice President of the National Autistic Society (NAS). He was diagnosed with high functioning autism at the age of 32.
David has been immersed in the arts his whole life and sees art as his way of communicating. After completing an MA in communication design at the Royal College of Art, he worked on a range of high-profile projects including a major commission for the BBC to record the Corporation’s most important architecture at the turn of the century.
He was commissioned by the Savoy Hotel to create a picture of the Diamond Jubilee Pageant that now hangs in the foyer of the hotel.
In 2019 he was selected by ITV to paint a public mural for the launch of period drama Sanditon.
David’s talents have taken him all over the world to study and exhibit, including Brighton, London, and California.
He has also contributed original artwork for auction at special events, including a depiction of the renovated St Pancras Renaissance Hotel and a piece showing the London 2012 Olympic Park for the NAS Spectrum Ball in 2012.
David has raised thousands of pounds for the NAS, including running the London marathon in 2009.
Matt
Downie mbe
2023 WINNER
Matt Downie MBE
Matt is a passionate and highly effective advocate for the homeless.
He was appointed as Chief Executive of the homelessness charity Crisis in January 2022, after seven years of outstanding success in his role there as Director of Policy and External Affairs.
During that time he oversaw several landmark policy successes, including the Homelessness Reduction Act (2017). He also championed the development and sharing of best practice and the use of evidence in services delivery, both inside Crisis and across the sector. He headed Crisis’s detailed analysis of what it would take to end homelessness, the piece of work that he is most proud of.
He has exciting plans to tackle homelessness including involving some of the major players in the housing market and he hopes Crisis can become more directly involved in this.
In 2019, Matt was awarded an MBE in the Queen's birthday honours list for services to tackling homelessness.
Matt has also worked for Action for Children, The National Autistic Society, and Shelter, having joined the organisations while he himself did not have anywhere permanent to live. At Shelter he developed a passion for campaigning and lead on the campaign for The Autism Act, the first ever disability-specific law in the UK.
James
Espey obe
2023 WINNER
James Espey OBE
James has been a top influencer throughout his career. Despite his success and his age (80 next May) he continues to give his time and resource every single day to help others and create real change and impact.
His influence in the corporate world has ranged from making Bailey’s Irish Cream and Malibu global blockbusters, to seeing $5.8 billion email security company Mimecast founded on his dining-room table. He established the world’s leading Scotch society (past speakers have include King Charles III when he was Prince of Wales) and he is now influencing business of the future by investing heavily in innovative sustainable companies.
James’s work has delivered over 10,000 new jobs and £10 billion of brand value to the UK economy over his career – from his days as a senior leader in the world’s biggest liquor companies to the present day as he mentors and finances start-ups.
His tireless work for mental health (a new departure in the past six years after he suffered severe depression) is having direct impact: James is the very reason we now have mandatory mental health education in all UK schools.
The breadth and depth of his influence is simply outstanding.
Mark
Fawcett
2023 WINNER
Mark Fawcett
Mark has been a huge influencer in the field of social mobility for two decades.
He opens up unprecedented opportunities for disadvantaged young people, is benefitting business, investing in UK plc and creating a more positive, skilled and talented workforce.
He genuinely revolutionised the way businesses support young people and education, which has resulted in an additional £200m being invested.
He has worked with 250 businesses, charities and government organisations, delivering real social impact at an unprecedented level and overwhelmingly focused on deprived areas.
His focus areas are: skills, jobs and opportunity; fairness, diversity and empowerment; health and wellbeing; environment and climate change; the arts.
Example programmes:
- With Hyundai (since 2022): £500,000 this year going into supporting and funding school trips
- With Sky (2019): more than doubled recruitment of BAME graduates within a year
- With Duracell (2018+): The Big Battery Hunt in primary schools has prevented 14.6 million batteries going into landfill – the target was to recycle 1 million
- With P&G (2017+): more than 1 million girls have received free sanitary products to stop ‘period poverty’ keeping them out of school
More than 18 million young people have benefited directly from his work.
Ben
Fogle
2023 WINNER
Ben Fogle
Ben is a broadcaster, author, motivational speaker, conservationist and adventurer. He has presented TV programmes on Channel 5, BBC, ITV, Sky, the Discovery channel, and the National Geographic channel.
Well known TV programmes he has hosted include including Crufts, One Man and his Dog, Countryfile, Country Tracks, Countrywise, Extreme Dreams with Ben Fogle, Animal Park and Wild in Africa.
He has presented many documentaries such as Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild where he followed the stories of people who live in the wild.
Ben rose to fame when he participated in the BBC reality show Castaway 2000, which followed a group of people who were marooned on the Scottish island of Taransay for a year starting from January 2000.
He is on the motivational speaker circuit and author of 10 books including travel book The Teatime Islands.
In his role as United Nations Patron of the Wilderness, he promotes the protection of the environment.
He is a keen sportsman and accomplishments include taking part in the 2005-2006 Atlantic Rowing Race and a six-day marathon across the Sahara, and climbing Mount Everest.
Ben gained a degree in Latin American studies at University of Portsmouth, and he also studied at the University of Costa Rica.
Ben
Francis
2023 WINNER
Ben Francis
Ben, founder and CEO of fitness apparel and manufacturer Gymshark, has an impressive and extensive list of entrepreneurial accolades.
In 2018, he was included in Forbes Magazine’s 30 Under 30 list, which was followed shortly after by an appointment to the Government's Business Council for Entrepreneurs. In 2020, he was also winner of the EY UK Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
Prior to launching Gymshark, Ben created and released two fitness based iPhone apps, both of which entered the top charts on the UK App Store. In 2012, whilst still at university, the idea behind Gymshark was born.
Originally starting out as dropshipping supplier of fitness supplements, Ben started designing and manufacturing Gymwear items from his parents’ garage in Bromsgrove, leaning on the sewing skills he had picked up from his grandmother.
Gymshark was among the first and most noteworthy brands to make use of marketing through partnerships with social media influencers. In 2019, the company was included in The Sunday Times Fast Track list of fast-growing private companies.
Less than 10 years after its inception, Gymshark has become one of the world’s leading fitness apparel brands, selling products in 131 countries across the globe. Following a deal with US-based private equity firm General Atlantic in 2020, Gymshark is estimated to be valued at over £1 billion.
Amika
George MBE
2023 WINNER
Amika George MBE
Amika is an activist who organised the successful Free Periods campaign that led to free sanitary products becoming available in schools.
With an Indian heritage and brought up in London, she began campaigning at just 17 years old and by June 2021, aged 21, while studying Indian colonial history at Cambridge, she received an MBE for services to education.
It was after reading a headline on the BBC website: ‘Girls Too Poor to Buy Sanitary Products Missing School’, that she started a petition to Westminster attracting more than 200,000 signatures and set up the not-for-profit Free Periods organisation in 2017.
In collaboration with the Red Box Project, a similar campaigning organisation, Amika led a legal campaign against the UK government, to meet its obligations to ensure equal access to education for all children.
She won a host of accolades for her Free Periods campaign including being named in Time’s Most Influential Teens of 2018 list, the Big Issue Top 100 Changemakers and Teen Vogue’s 21 under 21 list. Others include the Goalkeepers Campaigners award from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
In early 2022, Amika published her first book Make it Happen about how to get into politics from ground level.
Trevor
Gilbert obe
2023 WINNER
Trevor Gilbert OBE
Trevor, Chair of Trevor Gilbert & Associates, is a multi-awarding winning expert witness who has had a significant, long-lasting and far-reaching impact on the profession.
As an employment expert Trevor has ensured justice is served to claimants seeking compensation following an accident, clinical negligence or child abuse. He has been involved in some of the most significant cases in the personal injury field including the largest claim in British legal history pleaded at more than £230 million.
Working to high standards, Trevor and his team’s loss-of-earnings reports are regarded as ‘nonpareil’, consequently TGA has been recognised with a total of 7 national Personal Injury Awards, and Trevor as Expert Witness of the Year UK in 2021 and 2022 in the Lawyer International Legal 100 List.
Sir Andrew Ritchie KC has remarked; “Trevor Gilbert is an independent witness of the highest calibre, unmoveable when his opinion has been properly formed, persuadable when logic dictates, well researched and impressive.”
Solicitor, Paul Kitson, regards Trevor as the best expert he knows of in any discipline.
In 2016 Trevor was honoured with an OBE and also received the British Citizen’s Award for his work enabling over 1,700 people with disabilities into work.
professor Richard
Gilbertson
2023 WINNER
Professor Richard Gilbertson
Richard is a world-leading paediatric oncology clinician scientist and the research lead and co-chair of the joint delivery board for Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital.
He is also the chair of oncology at the Li Ka Shing Foundation, a healthcare charity, and head of the oncology department at the University of Cambridge; director of Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre; and senior group leader of Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute.
He is also the chair of oncology at the Li Ka Shing Foundation, a healthcare charity, and head of the oncology department at the University of Cambridge; director of Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre; and senior group leader of Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute.
Richard’s ground-breaking research is focused on understand the origins of cancer and, in particular, children's brain tumours. He has identified the origins of common and aggressive childhood brain tumours and many of the genetic alterations that drive these tumours. Findings from his research have changed the way conventional treatments are used, sparing children from unnecessary side effects, and led to clinical trials of new therapies.
In May 2022, Richard was recognised for his scientific excellence and elected as a fellow of the Royal Society.
Training as a paediatric oncologist in the UK, he became a member of the Royal College of Physicians in 1995. From 2000, he moved to the USA where he held senior scientific roles at research hospitals and in 2015, Richard returned to England to work in Cambridge.
Nadine
Hachach-Haram bem
2023 WINNER
Nadine Hachach-Haram BEM
Nadine has given new meaning to the phrase remote working. She is a surgeon and clinical entrepreneur with a passion for technology and innovation and a desire to make a difference in the world. She is a consultant plastic surgeon and the clinical lead for innovation at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. In 2016, she founded Proximie, an augmented reality platform that allows doctors to be virtually present into any operating room, anywhere in the world, to visually and practically interact in an operation from start to finish.
This game-changing platform means surgeons can provide a real-time virtual presence in assisting and instructing in an operation. It aims to provide safe, accessible and cost-effective surgery to every patient around the world. It has been dubbed the "future of surgery" by CNN, and has gone from strength to strength and won multiple awards.
Proximie revolutionises the delivery and education of healthcare by reducing the cost of delivery while providing improved quality to the patient. Her innovation could have as dramatic an impact on humanity as the discovery of antiseptic or the use of robotics in the operating theatre.
One mother whose child received cleft palate surgery in a Peruvian village, directed by a surgeon in California, said “this technology gave my daughter her smile.”
Habib
Hajallie
2023 WINNER
Habib Hajallie
Habib is an outstanding artist who creates stunning portraits of historically overlooked and omitted people through ballpoint pen pictures.
He seeks to empower often marginalised minorities by exploring identity through portraiture. In this way, he aims to be a catalyst for discussion about the differing values placed on certain demographics to counteract the all too often negative portrayal in the mainstream media.
Habib uses the simple ballpoint pen to celebrate authentic drawing almost as a counterpoint to the digital age.
His work contradicts some of the perceptions of West African history which are often at the root of the prejudice he has experienced himself.
Though born in Southeast London, Habib’s work is influenced by his Sierra Leonean and Lebanese heritage.
In September 2022, Habib was announced as one of the first cohorts of artists for 20/20 by the University of the Arts London Decolonising Arts Institute. 20/20 is a national commissioning and network project directly investing in the careers of a new generation of ethnically diverse artists. He will take up a residency at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester.
Habib has been elected as a member of the Royal Society of British Artists, and was Artist-in-Residence at Facebook.
Edel
Harris obe
2023 WINNER
Edel Harris OBE
Edel is the CEO of Mencap, the UK’s largest charity for supporting people with a learning disability, a post she took up in January 2020.
She was previously chief executive of Cornerstone from May 2008, one of Scotland's social care charities, where she introduced a new model of social care delivery.
She is also a board member of the Robertson Trust, an independent funder that supports organisations to alleviate poverty and trauma in Scotland.
Edel started her career as Metropolitan Police Officer but with a degree in Health and Social Care, her passion was healthcare and she moved to NHS Grampian, where she worked for eight years.
Edel previously served as the first female president of Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce. She was also a director of Opportunity North East (ONE) and a former chair of The Life Changes Trust and Scottish government's Social Investment Fund.
A devoted football fan, she is a former Director of the Aberdeen Football Club Community Trust.
For improving the lives of disabled people, she received an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2021. Other awards include the Scottish EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017 and the Institute of Directors NE Director of the Year in 2015.
Harri
Helvon-Hardy
2023 WINNER
Harri Helvon-Hardy
The multi-award winning Harri set up an enterprise in 2015 to provide a safety net for young people dropping out of the care system as soon as they reached adulthood in what is frequently referred to as “the cliff edge of care”.
After qualifying as a social worker, this social entrepreneur founded FABRIC, to provide safe homes for vulnerable young people in Wales. Since 2015 she has raised more than £1m to fund the social enterprise, based in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot. FABRIC provides loving homes with trauma informed support to care leavers, homeless young people or unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, helping them in their transition towards independent living.
To quote Professor Dylan Jones Evans of the National Start Up Awards "Harri Helvon-Hardy is a true force of nature in the social enterprise sector. She has created …an amazing venture that has had a profound effect on the lives of young people she has supported."
Harri and FABRIC have won many awards, including being listed in the NatWest/Pioneers Top 100 Social Enterprises in the UK 2022; Social Leader of the Year in the Welsh Woman’s Awards 2019; Wales Online’s 35 under 35 Business Women of the Year 2018; and Regional Start Up of the Year in the Wales Start Up Awards 2017.
Matthew
Hood obe
2023 WINNER
Matthew Hood OBE
Matthew is a co-founder and Principal of Oak National Academy, the national online classroom and teacher resource hub created during 2020.
The academy was established during the 2020 lockdown in the COVID-19 pandemic to keep children learning with online classes. It provides teachers with free lessons and resources for pupils aged from 4 to 16, and it offers a specialist curriculum for pupils who attend specialist schools.
Matthew originally trained to be an economics teacher through Teach First in 2007, teaching in Edmonton and Tottenham, London.
He went on to become a policy adviser at the Department of Education, then a regional director of Teach First. He is currently chair of governors at Bay Leadership Academy in Morecambe and a governor of Lancaster and Morecambe College.
In 2015, he founded the Institute for Teaching and following a merged in 2018, it became Ambition Institute, an education charity for tackling educational disadvantage through professional development for teachers.
He is a former trustee of The Brilliant Club, an independent government adviser on professional development, and stepped down in 2021.
Born in Morecambe, Lancashire, Matthew was honoured with an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2020 for services to education.
Katrina
Hutchinson-O’Neill
2023 WINNER
Katrina Hutchinson-O'Neill
Katrina is one of the Sunday Times LDC Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leaders of 2022 and a winner of the 2021 Great British Entrepreneur Awards.
She reinvented the embedded recruitment industry to create a hyper-scaling business set apart not only by its results for big-name clients, but also for the outstanding way it looks after its people.
In both her leadership in the Talent Acquisition sector and as a role-model employer she is a brilliant influencer.
Income has soared by 6,845% (yes!) since she founded Join Talent in 2019, from £275,000 to £19 million. With innovation and a high-quality ethos, she has set new standards for the industry.
Typical testimonial: “We are beyond impressed with the intelligence, pace and professionalism Join Talent brought to the project and delighted with the quality of the outcomes.” Deloitte
She founded Join Talent as a 100% remote company that is an amazing place to work, so people are not disadvantaged from taking up well-paid jobs because of where they live.
Employee wellbeing is a huge priority and she recently walked away from a £3m p.a. client because their behaviours were damaging staff mental health.
She also has a remarkable back-story, and if you’ve seen Derry Girls you have an idea of what her formative years were like!
Anne-Marie
Imafidon mbe
2023 WINNER
Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE
Anne-Marie has influenced countless young women across Europe to open their eyes to consider careers in the STEM sector. She is a British-Nigerian mathematician and entrepreneur who was one of the youngest people to receive a Computer Science Masters from Oxford University at just 20 years old.
Anne-Marie’s mission is to correct the glaring lack of equity in the technology sector for those in under-represented groups. She set up Stemettes in 2013, an award-winning social initiative which has helped tens of thousands of girls realize their STEM potential. Hundreds of Stemettes events have been held across Europe introducing teenagers to mentorship from professionals at top firms. Imafidon also co-founded Outbox Incubator, he world's first tech incubator providing all-round support to women aged 22 and under who have innovative business and technology ideas.
In 2022 she released her new book She’s in CTRL - a guidebook for women to take back tech.
In 2017, Anne-Marie was awarded an MBE and in 2020 was voted the most influential woman in tech in the UK by Computer Weekly.
She holds a clutch of honorary doctorates from universities across the UK; is a visiting professor at the University of Sunderland; sits on the Council of Research England, and is an Honorary Fellow at Keble College, Oxford.
Maro
Itoje
2023 WINNER
Maro Itoje
Maro is a fast rising star of rugby whose journey to the top has been meteoric, scooping many individual accolades while contributing hugely at club and international level.
As lock or as blindside flanker for Saracens, he has helped the team win four English Premiership titles.
‘The Pearl’ was called up to the England team by new coach (now old!) Eddie Jones in 2016 ahead of the Six Nations Championship and has contributed to the side winning three European Rugby Champion Cup titles and three Six Nations Championships, including a Grand Slam in 2016 when he was also named Man of the Match after England’s game against Wales.
He has also been selected for two British and Irish Lions tours and in the second tour was voted Lions Player of the Series by his peers. He was also European Player of the Year in 2016 and has been World Rugby Player of the Year nominee in 2016, 2017 and 2021.
Known as a world-class player renowned for his astounding physicality and defensive attributes, the 28 year-old has spoken of plans for his post-playing career on the ‘executive side’ of rugby. He also recently launched his own podcast on Spotify.
Lisa
Jardine-Wright obe
2023 WINNER
Lisa Jardine Wright OBE
Lisa is an outstanding physicist whose mission is to change the image of the subject. She has dedicated the last decade to supporting state school students to study physics. A state school pupil herself from the North West, she obtained her undergraduate degree, Masters and PhD in Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge.
During her PhD she became interested in outreach and public engagement, and organised a series of open days and public lectures. In 2014, she founded Isaac Physics, an online collection of past physics questions. It provides a comprehensive series of materials for state school pupils from the age of 11 to 18 to help them prepare for the transition from school to university. Lisa also designs innovative games and activities for school children.
She continues to make an impact by making physics accessible to a wider audience through writing for the Times Higher Educational Supplement and acting as astronomy consultant for BBC News magazine. She has also made a significant contribution as astronomy adviser for the £15 million redevelopment of the astronomy galleries and planetarium at the Royal Observatory Museum in Greenwich.
She was awarded the OBE for services to education in the 2022 Birthday Honours List.
Pearce
Jarrett
2023 WINNER
Pearce Jarrett
Pearce is a machine-learning engineer and founder and CEO of Gwaan, a motivational fitness app that uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
He launched the app in 2020 and it has since won a UKRI Young Innovators Award in 2020/2021, which offered him a grant, a mentor and a community of innovators to tap into.
Pearce spotted a gap in the market during lockdown in the 2020 pandemic when he realised that when doing workouts smartwatches only record heart rate and steps, and are unable to provide information on improvements in fitness. To get round the problem, he invented Gwaan, patois for ‘go on’, an AI-powered personal trainer. He believes that being dyslexic helped him think differently to come with up solutions.
After gaining a degree in economics, Pearce discovered he had a passion for machine learning and a desire to explore the boundaries of technology. He had always had interest in science but did not pursue it. Rather than formal training, he taught himself about machine learning online. He also gives motivational talks to children on how to become a scientist.
With an Afro-Caribbeans background, he was brought up in London and still lives there, where he runs Gwaan with his wife Laboni Paul.
Antony
Jenkins cbe
2023 WINNER
Antony Jenkins CBE
Antony is a financial technology expert and entrepreneur with a passion for advancing digital education and skills in the workforce.
He founded 10x Future Technologies, (now 10x Banking) with the aim of making banking 10x better for customers, banks and society. The company’s values are transformation, integrity and impact.
He was previously the Group CEO of Barclays for three years until July 2015. He is Group Chairman of Currencies Direct, a board member of Blockchain, the world’s leading software platform for digital assets, and Board Director for US mortgage lending giant Fannie Mae.
Antony is committed to driving the UK’s digital economy forward.
In 2016, Antony was appointed shadow chair and later chair of the Institute for Apprenticeships to support the government’s plan to create three million apprenticeships. During his tenure. the Institute has expanded into technical education, pioneering the design and delivery of the new T Level qualifications.
He was previously chairman and board member of Business in the Community, established by the then Prince of Wales to help businesses tackle some of the key issues facing society.
Antony was made a CBE in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to business in his role as chair of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education.
Sir Anish
Kapoor CBE
2023 WINNER
Sir Anish Mikhail Kapoor CBE
Sir Anish is a British-Indian sculptor and one of the most influential of his generation. His public sculptures are both adventures in form and feats of engineering such as the permanent artwork, ArcelorMittal Orbit in London's Olympic Park completed in 2012.
Sir Anish specializes in installation art and conceptual art and his works can be seen in capital cities across the globe and have featured in numerous major exhibitions.
He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2003 for services to the visual arts and named a knight bachelor in 2013.
He has received many distinctions and prizes, including the Premio Duemila Prize at the XLIV Venice Biennale in 1990, the Turner Prize in 1991, the Unilever Commission for the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern, the Padma Bhushan by the Indian government in 2012, an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Oxford in 2014 and the 2017 Genesis Prize for achievement as a Jewish person
His notable public sculptures include Cloud Gate (2006, also known as "The Bean") in Chicago's Millennium Park; Sky Mirror, exhibited at the Rockefeller Center in New York City in 2006 and Kensington Gardens in London in 2010; Temenos, at Middlehaven, Middlesbrough; and Leviathan, at the Grand Palais in Paris in 2011.
Kamlesh
Khunti cbe
2023 WINNER
Professor Kamlesh Khunti CBE
Kamlesh has made a significant improvement to the lives of people living with type 2 diabetes, and to the health of people from ethnic minorities.
He has been responsible for major advances in the management of both type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, having published more than 1,000 academic papers which help to build an evidence base to improve clinical practice.
As co-Director of the Leicester Diabetes Clinic (LDC), he has established an international centre of excellence in diabetes research in the city. The Centre now has more than 170 people carrying out studies designed to improve the lives of people with diabetes and is recognised across the world for its leading research, education and innovation.
Kamlesh played a major role in improving the health of ethnic minority communities and was one of the first to spot the disproportional impact of COVID-19 on people from those minorities. He led a body of research throughout the pandemic, becoming a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), and Chair of the SAGE Ethnic Sub-panel. Quite an achievement for a boy who grew up in a crowded council house in Leicester and was told he would not make anything of himself.
He was awarded the CBE in the 2022 New Year’s Honours List.
Robert
Kilgour
2023 WINNER
Robert Kilgour
Robert is a prolific Scottish serial entrepreneur, investor, property developer and philanthropist.
After leaving Stirling University, he sold jeans at a market during the weekend then bought a small hotel in New Town, Edinburgh.
His next venture was care homes and home care with a business called Four Seasons Health Care, which he sold in 1999.
After Four Seasons, Robert co-founded CamVista Ltd, a webcam business. In 2004, he co-founded NW Security Group Ltd and care home business Renaissance Care (Scotland) Ltd.
He was chair of the Fife Macmillan Appeal between 1993 to 1995, and in December 2009, he opened the Macmillan Cancer Information & Support Centre at the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh.
Robert was chair and a founding shareholder of Kingdom FM Radio in Fife, which was sold in 2019.
He is currently a non-executive director of mergers and acquisition business Morphose Ltd; software developer Storii Global Inc; insurance brokers Borland; and online care staff marketplace My Care Staff Ltd.
On the political front, in 2006 Robert founded the Scottish online political think-tank, Think Scotland and SBUK (www.scottish-business.uk).
He is a member of the Confederation of British Industry and Association of Project Managers, and a fellow of the Institute of Directors and the Chartered Management Institute.
Iain
Macritchie
2023 WINNER
Dr Iain Macritchie
Iain is pioneering a new approach to education and attainment for disadvantaged children. His mentoring and talent-development programme – MCR Pathways – has proved its life-changing ability to support pupils to achieve better qualifications and to help more young people into further education and employment. It is a programme he has funded and worked on voluntarily for more than 15 years. It now supports over 4,000 young people each week.
In addition, he has generated significant economic benefit to the UK through his exceptional performance as an entrepreneur. In his first role out of university, he turned a small industrial label-printing company into a multi-national corporation that was sold for £27m.
Thereafter he established an executive management and investment business – MCR Holdings – and he has led the transformation of 18 organisations and advised more than 100 others. He has secured around 8,000 sustainable jobs and returned over £700m to investors.
Sarah
Maple
2023 WINNER
Sarah Maple
Sarah is an award-winning visual artist, photographer and performer.
She rose to fame after winning the ‘4 New Sensations’ award in 2007 for emerging artists run by Channel 4 and the Saatchi Gallery. Following the win, her work including paintings, tongue-in-cheek photography and film has been exhibited in prestigious galleries worldwide including Tate Britain, The New Art Exchange, Nottingham, and Tallinn Art Hall.
With a Muslim mother and a British father, her art reflects her mixed background and explores the notions of identity, race, religion and culture. Controversial, tongue-in-cheek and humous, she is regarded as being one of the UK’s most thought-provoking artists. In one of her pictures called Haram, she paints herself in a hijab holding a piglet, which caused some controversary.
She also tackles feminism in her art and it is designed to be a protest. Her painting God is a feminist is one of her most well-known statement pictures.
Her first book You Could Have Done This was published in 2015 and her video art sitcom The Sarah Maple Show’was shortlisted for the Aesthetica Art prize 2022.
She studied a foundation course in art at the University of the Creative Arts in 2003 and has a BA of Fine Art with honours from Kingston University in 2007.
Vishal
Marria
2023 WINNER
Vishal Marria
Vishal is a globally recognised leader in solving clients’ financial crime and surveillance challenges. He is the CEO and co-founder of Quantexa, an analytics startup which has swiftly grown to over 500 employees globally and is one of the UK’s fastest growing tech companies. In 2018 he won Developing Entrepreneur at The Enterprise Awards 2018.
Quantexa leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to help businesses uncover hidden risk, discover new customer opportunities and help financial services businesses meet their compliance requirements. Vishal founded the company because he understood the growing demand for companies to adopt AI to combat fraud, according to a study by risk decisioning software developer Provenir.
As companies amass more data, understanding what can be done with all that information and how it can be correctly analysed is still a challenge for some. The result can be poor data quality or inaccurate data foundations, which are untrustworthy for strategic and operational decision making. As Vishal has said:
“To really crack down on fraud and financial crime requires an understanding of the wider context around entities. This is why I wanted to create a platform that provided context around the vast swathes of data that organisations were generating, and to give it meaning so that bad actors were easier to identify.”
Julie
Maxton CBE
2023 WINNER
Julie Maxton CBE
Julie is a barrister, legal scholar and academic administrator.
Born in Scotland, she gained a BA in law from University College, London and after training to be a barrister, she was called to the bar at Middle Temple in 1978. It was at University of Canterbury, that she lectured at the School of Law and completed a Master of Law degree.
On marrying, Julie moved to New Zealand and became senior lecturer at Auckland University and was promoted to associate professor. She completed her Doctor of Philosophy degree at University of Auckland in 1991. In 1993, she was appointed as a Professor of Law and in 2002, she became Dean of the Faculty of Law, a position she held for five years.
On returning to the UK, Julie became the first woman to become Registrar of the University of Oxford and a Fellow of University College, Oxford.
From 2011, she has been executive director of the Royal Society, a learned society and the UK’s national academy of sciences.
In 2014, Julie was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award by her alma mater, the University of Auckland. She was honoured with a Commander of the Order of the British Empire award (CBE) in 2017 for services to science, law and education.
