AN exemplary company founder has been named Scale-Up Entrepreneur of the Year for the North-East at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards.
Global Procurement Group specialises in energy management and procurement, developing technology that helps businesses cut costs, consumption and carbon.
It operates in Europe, America and Asia and its UK arm, Northern Gas and Power, is headquartered in Gateshead and has offices in Newcastle and Leeds.
The business is soon to take more than 30,000 square feet of space in a landmark, new Gateshead waterfront HQ – Riga
In 2020 it has launched a price comparison site, software and cloud-based services.
Founder and CEO Fokhrul Islam was awarded the Great British Entrepreneur Awards' top prize in a virtual ceremony, with a special address by Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
Mr Islam said: “I'm delighted to win this Scale-Up Entrepreneur category (North East) in such a prestigious awards.
"There's amazing entrepreneurial talent across the North-East and it's great to be recognised in this way.
"We know these are challenging times for everyone. As a community of entrepreneurs across the whole country we have to work together to support the UK economy, to continue to push ourselves and push boundaries.
"I'm grateful for everything my team does day-in, day-out, in the region - and nationally and internationally – making this business the success it is.”
In a video message to finalists, Mr Sunak said: “Entrepreneurs have shown they stay strong, even during a global pandemic. Coronavirus hasn’t stifled enterprise. Entrepreneurs are adapting to the crisis, as seen in this year’s entries. And that’s what we need to happen if we want our economy to bounce back.”
Now in its eighth year, the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, in partnership with Starling Bank, celebrates the hard work and stories of entrepreneurs in the UK.
Anne Boden, founder and CEO of awards sponsor Starling Bank, said: “We’re entrepreneurs and we have spirit. We’re very good at dealing with adversity. And Fokhrul is an example to us all, of entrepreneurs that are creative, innovative, and changing the world.”
In spring 2020, as Covid hit, Global Procurement Group was able to launch its new price-comparison site, BusinessEnergyQuotes.com, helping the UK micro and SME sector get quick quotes and source savings.
It also rolled out ClearVUE. Lite in 2020, its energy software-as-a-service platform, while ClearVUE. PRO – a powerful cloud-based monitoring and targeting software – will be released very soon with its energy monitoring hardware.
Also under the GPG global umbrella is Energies France, NGP Americas and ClearVUE Systems. GPG manages over 29TWhs of energy for tens of thousands of customers across the globe.
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