Overseeing the rapid expansion of the UK’s leading strategic manufacturing outsourcing specialist has seen Tony Hague named as one of private equity firm LDC’s Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leaders for 2021.

The CEO of PP Control & Automation (PP C&A) impressed judges with the way he has taken the business from £3 million in 2001 to a projected £30 million revenue this year, supporting more than 20 of the world’s largest machine builders.

His company’s expertise touches all of our lives, whether that is in the supply of fresh milk, waterproofing mobile phones, the bagging of crisps or helping Formula One teams perform well in Monaco.

Investment in people and processes has been at the heart of Mr Hague’s approach and helped beat off the challenge of over 600 nominees in the programme, which is supported by The Times and celebrates the inspiring leaders behind the country’s most successful and fast-growing medium-size firms.

He said: “This is a tremendous honour, but one that has only been made possible thanks to everyone who works at PP Control & Automation.”

“The last twenty months have been some of the most challenging I have ever known in business and all 230 staff at PP C&A have gone above and beyond to make sure we have continued to supply our customers, including helping produce wiring harnesses for use by the Ventilator Challenge UK consortium.”

Mr Hague added: “We are now emerging from the pandemic in a really strong position to grow and have set our sights on increasing sales to £30 million by the end of this year and then a longer-term plan to move us towards annual revenues of £50 million.”

The featured LDC Top 50 hail from every corner of the country and operate across a diverse range of sectors. Collectively, they employ more than 9,500 people and contribute more than £1.2 billion to the UK economy.

LDC’s John Garner concluded: “The last 18 months have presented challenges that none of us could have foreseen, but despite everything, it’s fantastic to see that so many business leaders have achieved remarkable things. Through their resourcefulness and resilience, this year’s Top 50 Most Ambitious Leaders prove that the flame of ambition is hard to extinguish.

“Congratulations to Tony and all those featured, and we look forward to seeing their continued success, impact and contribution to the broader UK economy.”

You can find out more details on this year’s Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leaders programme here: bit.ly/2WMjNum