News
A wealth of experience
7 Oct 2026
Ambitions that began in school, careers built while raising children, gruelling 20-hour shifts – this year’s leaders reveal how their backgrounds drove them to seek success.
The UK has always relied on forward-thinking entrepreneurs to create jobs and boost competitiveness on the world stage. Their ambition will be critical to the growth of the economy in the years ahead.
For many leaders, that ambition is to build something significant and sustain it in the long run. Others have overcome adversity and are fuelled by the desire to establish a better life.
This year’s leaders have certainly proven that a strong will to succeed is powering growth across their businesses.
Jake Waudby, founder of Selby-based traffic management firm Safer Roadworks Group, had a tough start in life. He lost his mother when he was 13, and his father wasn’t around. “My attendance was bad at school and I left in year 8,” he recalls.
His friend Mark, whose floor he was sleeping on for a time, recommended he join him in the traffic management business. Waudby worked night and day to launch Safer Roadworks in 2021, aged 25. He often found himself clocking up 20-hour days, and on occasion had to sleep in the office. He was persistent in the pursuit of new clients, and was up against bigger firms to secure projects such as handling traffic management systems on national highways.
“That’s how it started, I was scared – I’m still scared – of having nothing again.” Waudby now employs 400 staff and Safer Roadworks has 178 vehicles operating across Yorkshire, the northeast and northwest.
With success under his belt, Waudby is now spurred on by the need to create a safer environment for road users and workers: “We try to be better than everyone else. It doesn’t matter about contract value – we’re proud of delivering all jobs well and we treat everyone the same.”
For me, it's all about giving people safety, security and the chance to tackle big problems.”
Beth Worrall is CEO of Oxfordshire-based retail technology company VoCoVo. It may be known for its wireless headsets that are used in shops but her ambition is driven by the power of people more than by products.
“If you can understand people, if you can genuinely inspire them, motivate them and create the conditions where they can be at their best – without doing everything for them, because they have to want it themselves – you can pretty much do anything.”
These principles guide how she leads VoCoVo, which she joined in 2022 as interim chief financial officer. The team has grown from 70 people then to 210 today, with employees in the UK, Germany, China, the US and Denmark.
“When I left my previous company, I made a promise to myself,” she explains. “Above anything else, my next role had to be in a business where, unequivocally, the senior leadership believes people are your greatest asset. People are the bedrock of everything.”
For Tom Keegan, group chief executive of nuclear consultancy DBD International, his drive to succeed was formed at an early age, rooted in his upbringing in Liverpool. “I always wanted more stability than I had as a kid,” he says. “My parents splitting up was quite traumatic.”
Keegan remembers wealthier school friends asking if he was going skiing. “I’d think: ‘Skiing? I don’t even really know what that is.’ I always wanted my own children to feel comfortable in those environments – to feel like they belonged, no matter where in the world they ended up.”
Keegan has always been determined to provide for his children – this has also driven him to set aspirational targets for his business.
I don’t like people telling me that something can't be done.”
Danielle Corby’s ambition stems from the need to improve diversity in a very male-dominated industry. The founder and chief executive of vMobility – a mobility solutions provider with headquarters in Solihull – has three daughters and wants them to feel as though they have access to the same opportunities as anybody else.
I do think having a woman leading the business encourages female talent, just by virtue of the fact that they have somebody they can identify with.”
Corby sees strengths in members of her team where other leaders might not. “I know working mums are so good at managing their time – they are incredibly effective, efficient and committed.”
Her ambition is to double the company’s size in the next three to four years while striving to maintain an inclusive, entrepreneurial and open culture with her team.
“Diverse businesses are the best businesses and if you recognise talent irrespective of gender or ethnicity, you naturally build a business where everyone can thrive.”
Smells like team spirit
Theme park trips, volunteering and group lunches – CEO tips for keeping the family feel.
As a business grows, the hardest thing to scale can be the culture. A nurturing environment may be easy to foster in a small team, but gets harder to maintain as staff numbers rise.
Our Top 50 leaders this year say autonomy, trust and in-person gatherings are key to getting it right.
For the employee-owned environmental and design consultancy FPCR, there is no chief executive. Decisions are made jointly by a board of nine directors – often quickly, because there aren’t layers of management to go through. Senior director Dr. Suzanne Mansfield says this collaborative approach shapes the culture.
The Nottingham-based company also works hard to bring everyone together and recently organised a two-day excursion to Alton Towers Resort for everyone to take part in team-building activities.
Of course we want the business to continue growing and do well – but we also want people to enjoy working here.”
Supplement and wellness company Wild Nutrition takes a different approach – with 100 employees split between its Sussex head office and a nearby packaging warehouse, CEO Matt Hiscock organises a “Wild Walk” once a month. They also have “Wild Wednesdays”, when everyone is encouraged to eat together.
“We do two days of volunteering time each year, and we facilitate group activities where we do something in the community together. We genuinely like to spend time together,” he adds.
Hiscock uses the Insights Discovery system to profile the personality traits of the team. Everyone has a Lego block on their desk, with the colour showing their preferred communication style. “We understand each other nicely.”
Mick Howard, group CEO of Northumberland-based manufacturer William Hackett, says longevity is part of the firm’s culture. He’s invested heavily in people development, with 16 apprentices currently on staff. Since he joined in 2024, the share of women in this engineering business has risen from around 15 per cent to 28 per cent.
The company hosted Hackfest this summer – a festival-style event to showcase its products and staff to customers, partners and the local community.
There are people who’ve been here more than 45 years – three generations in some cases. As CEO, it’s my job to take care of them.”
