Thames Valley & Solent: Basingstoke and Portsmouth companies win EY awards

Mark Smith from The Car Finance Company and Dilshad Hothi and Barinder Hothi from The Knowledge Academy have been named winners at EY’s London & South Entrepreneur of the Year awards.

The Car Finance Company, based in Portsmouth, provides car finance facilities to consumers and small businesses, and The Knowledge Academy, based in Bracknell, Berkshire, provides business and IT training to individuals and businesses.

The overall winner of London & South Entrepreneur of the Year was Richard Steeves, founder & CEO of Synergy Health based in Swindon, which processes more than 150 million reusable medical and surgical instruments a year, and makes daily deliveries of sterile reusable gowns, towels and set-up packs.

Winners were selected by an independent judging panel, chaired by JustGiving chairman Jonathan McKay, from a short-list of 35 businesses that collectively turnover £2.8 billion and employ over 32,000 people.

The eleven London & South winners, along with those from Scotland, the North, and Midlands region, will progress to the UK finals in October, where they will vie for the title EY UK Entrepreneur of the Year 2015 and a chance to represent their country at a global awards ceremony in Monte Carlo in 2016.

Now in its 17th year in the UK, EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year brings together dynamic business leaders of fast-growth companies who are creating growth, confidence at pace, and generating a positive impact in their markets at home and abroad.