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London, October 9, 2022: Forbes Family Group are excited to share that our Chairman, Dean Forbes, has won the Baobab Award: Business at the Best of Africa awards, held in London on Sunday 8th October. The award recognises Forbes’ leadership skills and success in business achievements and is Best of Africa’s most prestigious award which celebrates pioneering leaders and leadership in their industries.
The high-profile 10th year of the awards ceremony saw speeches by the likes of boxing legend Anthony Joshua and ITV News and Loose Women presenter Charlene White. Compered by comedian Eddie Kadi and actress Sophy Aiida. The awards brought together sporting greats and leaders from across business, entertainment and education alongside philanthropists to honour the amazing achievements of those from African and Caribbean heritage worldwide.
Forbes as a business leader transforms technology companies for employees and investors. He’s delivered over $2bn in exits and is one of very few CEOs in Europe to have delivered high value-growth consistently, across multiple transactions. Most recently and under Forbes’ leadership, Forterro changed hands in March 2022 for €1bn, joining Europe’s growing numbers of ‘Tech Unicorns.’ At Forterro, Forbes is the driving force behind a programme of acquisitions, organic growth and dynamic internal transformations. Dean is also a partner at Corten Capital, where he advises the firm on European technology acquisitions and is also a member of their deal review committee. He has agreed with Corten Capital that it will increase its support for founders and entrepreneurs from under-represented communities. Additionally, he is a board trustee of the London-based African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust.
Dean is also recognised by the awards for his philanthropic work. His foundation, Forbes Family Group (FFG) a not-for-profit organisation which provides investment, networking, mentoring and development support to young people and entrepreneurs from under-represented backgrounds. FFG has helped more than 1,170 young people move from difficult situations into education or into promising careers. It also donates meals, toiletries and baby clothes to parents in need and invests in a chain of not-for-profit pre-and after-school clubs which provides free childcare for parents facing financial hardship.
Davina Williamson, CEO of FFG quote;
“After a year of incredibly hard work both professionally, accomplishing another unicorn deal by selling Forterro to Partner’s Group for 1 Billion Euros, joining Corten Capital, and philanthropically through our initiatives, events and programs at FFG, we are delighted to see Dean recognised and celebrated by the Best of Africa Awards with this amazing honour.
Seeing the commitment, time and resource that Dean pours into his ever-flourishing career and the communities from which he has come from is truly inspiring and motivates the FFG team to continue to do even more good! Please join us in congratulating our Chairman on this receiving well deserved award. His desire to attain and share the level of excellence that we see him honoured for this evening is something that drives us all to want to same and his generosity in sharing his knowledge and wisdom and provide platforms for generations that follow to achieve their best is both admirable and inspirational. Well done and thank you Dean!”
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Partner – St James’s Place Wealth Manager
Charlie provides bespoke wealth management solutions aiming to achieve his clients’ individual goals. Clients benefit from his 20 years’ experience in the city assisting professionals & business owners through their careers and beyond. Building a relationship of trust is the foundation of his approach. His relationship with each client starts with listening, establishing values to be adhered to and from which he can build a bespoke strategy.
Outside of work, Charlie keeps fit going to the gym , playing golf and competing in Triathlon events. He relaxes by watching any live sport but will never miss an English International Rugby match.
Alexandre is a Principal in the Corten Capital investment team. Prior to joining Corten, Alexandre was a Vice President in the Technology, Financial and Business Services vertical at Bain Capital, one of the world’s largest private equity firms. During his time at Bain Capital, Alexandre focused on buyout investments across Europe, spanning multiple sectors including B2B software, business services, industrials and consumer retail. He also played a key role supporting several portfolio companies across growth, turnaround and M&A strategies as well as leading on various financing and capital markets transactions. Prior to this, Alexandre was a consultant with The Boston Consulting Group in London where he worked on a number of private equity due diligence projects as well transformation projects for companies in TMT and retail. Before that, he worked as a credit hybrids trader within J.P. Morgan’s Global Markets division.
David McQueen is passionate about developing leaders. A family man first, he is the husband of one, father of two and friend of many. He has founded and cofounded a number of businesses including Q Squared, Black Founders Hub and Evermoor and sits as a Non Exec on the advisory board of many companies offering support on leadership and financial competence.
In his work as an Executive Coach, Facilitator, Board Advisor and International Speaker, he has worked with corporates and non profit organisations worldwide to develop their senior leaders and managers. His clients include Facebook, Google, Shopify, Lloyds, HSBC, Mercedes Benz, Sky, BMW, Uber, Fidelity Investments, EY Foundation and Barnardo’s.
David is also an Angel Investor, Mentor, Host of the BRAVE Leader podcast, a three times TEDx speaker and is currently writing his first book on leadership and never works on a Saturday!
Timothy Armoo was the founder of Fanbytes, a company he started in university at 21 helping brands like Nike, Samsung, and Deliveroo engage with Gen Z through influencers. In 5 years, Timo grew the company to an award-winning team of 70 people leading campaigns like the Government’s messaging on covid in 2020. In May 2022, Timo Fanbytes was acquired by global digital agency Brainlabs in an 8-figure acquisition. His expertise in brand building and social media has seen him win many accolades including being Forbes 30u30 cover star, the social media person of the year by The Drum and most influential people in media by Evening Standard.
