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December 19th 2012

David Atherton to be Keynote Speaker at E3 Business Awards 2013

The keynote speaker for the E3 Business Awards will be the successful entrepreneur and business angel, David Atherton.

The awards dinner will be held on Thursday 7th February 2013 at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton and, here, David will recount his experiences of building up a highly profitable business from scratch, armed with just a couple of thousand pounds in savings and what he describes as “good old-fashioned street trading common sense.”

His presentation will describe his entrepreneurial journey, which began in 1987 when he launched his first private enterprise, Dabs Press. The company started out as a publisher of computer books and later developed into Dabs Direct – an online retailer of a comprehensive range of ICT products. In 2006, having seen it achieve sales of nearly £200 million, David sold the award winning business to BT for over £30 million. He then used the proceeds to develop a number of new ventures including Atherton Clarke LLP, a small ’boutique’ private equity firm, which is one of his principal interests today.

Entitled “20:20 in Business” his keynote address therefore condenses twenty years of business experience into just twenty minutes and touches upon some of the principles, processes and characteristics that are essential for driving lasting commercial success.

“The E3 Business Awards are all about recognising the entrepreneurial spirit,” explains David, “and celebrating the impact that successful businesses have upon their communities and the wider regional economy. I’m therefore very glad to have been asked to speak at the event and to be able to share some of the experiences from my twenty-year journey. It’s a story of motivation, steep learning curves, complex planning and a good measure of common sense, and I hope that what I have to say will resonate with anyone who has ever pursued a business ambition.”

Open to businesses from all sections of the North West community, the E3 Business Awards focus on enterprise, education and employment – the three Es that are vital to the regeneration of the region’s economy. The awards are organised by 1 Events Media and for his part, 1EM director Mubarak Chati is clearly delighted that David has agreed to appear.

“David Atherton embodies much of what the E3 Business Awards are about,” he said. “He has shown energy and innovation, he has achieved great success and he has helped to create jobs and prosperity for a large number of employees and companies in the supply chain. But more than that, having sold his first company, he has retained a strong interest in growing and developing other businesses through his work as a business angel and a private equity specialist. He’s a true supporter of small businesses, he has a fascinating story to tell and I know that he’ll be very well received by our audience.”

More information about the E3 Business Awards, the 48 shortlisted nominees and the judging criteria for the various award categories can be found here.