How will you remember 2024?
Politically, Labour won a landslide victory in the UK General Election while in America, Donald Trump beat his Democratic rival Kamala Harris in the US Presidential race.
Troubles in the Middle East have turned the region into a tinder box while the UK was shocked at the murder of three little girls in Southport and the riotous scenes on the streets that followed it.
BusinessCloud’s executive editor Chris Maguire has looked at some of the people who have made headlines in 2024 – for different reasons – and pays tribute to some of the people we said goodbye to.
Sir Howard Bernstein
‘Mr Manchester’ Sir Howard Bernstein died at the age of 71. More than 1,000 people packed into The Bridgewater Hall to attend his memorial service. Attendees were given a two-inch high Lego statue key ring – which summed him up perfectly.
Dressed in his beloved Manchester City FC kit, it had his initials ‘SHB’ on the back alongside the number 71 – in reference to the fact he started working in the town hall in 1971.
Victoria Price
It’s hard to think of anyone who had a more eventful year than Victoria Price. In terms of her career she joined global consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal to lead their private capital team in the UK. In her personal life she’s been building her relationship with Asda co-owner Mohsin Issa.
Lawyers Chris Scott and Jess Aldem with Victoria Price and Mohsin Issa after beating the Daily Mail
However, she made headlines after finding herself the subject of some horrible stories in the Daily Mail. They quickly realised they messed with the wrong person as she took on the Daily Mail’s mighty publisher Associated Newspapers – and won.
Martin Port
Serial entrepreneur Martin Port is not the man he was – but in a good way. Last December the founder of Leeds-based BigChange collapsed with a heart attack.
Martin Port has lost 6 stone in weight following his heart attack
He said he’s been given a ‘second chance of life’ and has lost six stone in weight. He’s also sold his majority share in BigChange and embarked on his new venture Build Concierge.
Marcie Incario
We said goodbye to some very special people in 2024 – including entrepreneur Marcie Incarico.
Marcie Incarico, who died in May
She was a board director of Mix Interiors and died in May after battling cancer. She’s much-missed.
John Roberts
John Roberts has had a busy year at Bolton-based electronics retailer AO. He started the year with the news the company had topped £1bn turnover and ended it by completing the acquisition of musicMagpie.
It’s been a tough year for musicMagpie’s co-founder Steve Oliver but he ended it by speaking about a ‘new era’ for the company.
Mahmud Kamani / Mike Ashley
The dispute between boohoo and its biggest shareholder Frasers Group descended to new levels of acrimony and vitriol. Open letters, accusations and counter accusations have dominated the headlines.
Boohoo Executive Chairman Kamani
In summary, Frasers Group want Mike Ashley installed as boohoo’s CEO and Mahmud Kamani out. All eyes will now be on a make-or-break shareholder meeting for December 20th. In other news one of Kamani’s sons – Umar – returned to PrettyLittleThing and spoke of making it ‘special again’.
Simon Williamson
Simon Williamson is an amazing man. His mother Rosemary has Parkinson’s disease and Simon resolved to complete a 366-day challenge to run every day in 2024 with a new person alongside him in aid of Parkinson’s UK.
‘Running Man’ Simon Williamson and Chris Maguire
I joined him on day 316 and he’ll complete his 366-day challenge on New Year’s Eve – crossing the finish line in Center Parcs. Well done.
Kate Rothwell
Kate Rothwell could be forgiven for wanting to forget 2024 as she battled breast cancer but the group head of tax at The Pebble Group has remained upbeat throughout and shared her story to help others. She recently rang the bell to signify the end of her invasive treatment for breast cancer.
Kate Rothwell rings the bell to signal the end of her treatment
“Please, please, please keep checking your bits and if there is anything unusual, go get checked out straight away,” she wrote in a typically positive post.
Matt Moulding
Love him or hate him, THG’s founder and CEO Matt Moulding could never be accused of being boring.
He finally announced details of Ingenuity’s demerger from THG to be a standalone private business. He also sold his Manchester tech campus at Manchester for £180m.
Ron Banks
In November I went to the funeral of World War Two veteran Ron Banks. He was 99 and made headlines after his family appealed for people to attend his funeral after less than 10 mourners were expected to go.
World War Two veteran Ron Banks
My daughter Megan and I were two of the strangers who responded to the appeal. Their stories may get forgotten with the passing of time but their contribution and bravery never should. Goodnight Ron.
Andy Nicol
Tech entrepreneur Andy Nicol went public with his fight against prostate cancer and attracted an overwhelming response on social media. He’s the founder and managing director of Manchester-based web and digital transformation agency Sputnik and underwent a prostatectomy, which is the surgical procedure to remove the prostate gland.
Andy Nicol in hospital after his operation
He came to BusinessCloud’s Christmas dinner and I’m pleased to say he’s on the mend.
Steven Bartlett
It’s been a pretty rotten year for Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett after a BBC investigation claimed guests on his Diary of a CEO podcast were making an average of 14 harmful health claims on each episode.
It came a few months after a couple of his adverts for nutrition products Huel and Zoe were banned by the Advertising Standards Authority for being misleading. His company, Flight Studio, has insisted the DOAC podcast is ‘an open-minded, long-form conversation’. 2025 is a big year for Bartlett.
Becky Barr
One of my most listened to songs on Spotify this year is ‘How Beautiful Life Can Be’ by The Lathums. The song was played at the funeral of BBC newsreader-turned-firefighter Beccy Barr, who lost her battle with cancer aged just 46.
A measure of Beccy’s popularity was that Beetham Hall Crematorium, near Lancaster, had to open up an adjoining field as an emergency car park to accommodate all the mourners. Beccy, who lived life to the full but insisted on ‘dying well’, planned every detail of the funeral, including the choice of songs. Life is beautiful – and cruel. I often think that Becky showed us how to live, which is why I’ve played ‘How Beautiful Life Can Be’ so many times.
Thomas Ryder
The London Stock Exchange is not a place for the faint-hearted but one of the shining lights has been Liverpool-based Applied Nutrition, which debuted on the LSE.
The company raised £157.5m and got a market cap of £350m. Congratulations to CEO Thomas Ryder, who founded the business in 2014.
Ibrahim Akram
For me – and many others – the saddest story of the year was the murder of three young girls in Southport – and the disgraceful riots that followed it. Out of the darkness came a ray of light called Ibrahim ‘Ibby’ Akram. He’s a team-mate of mine at White Coppice Cricket Club and is a Muslim. He’s a paramedic and was subjected to racial abuse following the Southport attack. How did he deal with it?
White Coppice CC and Whittle-le-Woods cricketer pay victims to the Southport attack
He organised a minute’s silence at the start of our game against Whittle-le-Woods CC, who also have a number of Muslim players. Ibby is only 22 but wanted to show his support – and those of the Muslim community – to the people of Southport. I wrote a LinkedIn blog about it here.
Neil Higson
Chartered surveyor Neil Higson is a lion-hearted hero. He was travelling down the M61 near Chorley and helped stop a man jumping off a motorway bridge. He’s twice been affected by suicide in his life so couldn’t drive on by when he saw a man standing on the wrong side of the motorway fence.
Hero Neil Higson
After parking his car he started talking to the man, who opened up about his struggles and explained how he wanted to end his life. The M61 came to a standstill as the drama unfolded overhead, which ended when the man came back from the brink and gave his unlikely rescuer a tearful hug.
Andy Thomas
North West dealmaker Andy Thomas opened up about his stage four cancer diagnosis. The 42-year-old is a partner at YFM Equity Partners and was first diagnosed with a rare type of cancer – known as olfactory neuroblastoma – in 2017.
He helped his colleagues raise £50k for The Christie Charity in Manchester. He’s been undergoing chemotherapy and will get the results of scans in the new year. I wish him well.
Emma Abbasi
Emma Abbasi is the woman who triggered UK’s innovation agency – Innovate UK – into a screeching U-turn. In May Innovate UK promised to give up £4m to ‘up to 50 women’ but then they tried to row back on that pledge by only handing out £2m to 25 female founders.
Emma Abbasi, Dearbump
Emma, who runs Liverpool-based FemTech Dearbump, called it out on LinkedIn and triggered a UK-wide movement which forced Innovate UK into a U-turn.