The Business Awards Presenter – Hilary Devey
The Thames Valley Business Magazine Awards 2012 will be hosted by entrepreneur, commentator, and award-winning businesswoman Hilary Devey
Bolton-born Dragon Hilary Devey not only created a business network through the launch of Pall-Ex that now commands revenues of £100 million, but revolutionised the pallet distribution industry in the UK.
Prior to the launch of Pall-Ex in 1996, it was difficult to transport small consignments of palletised freight quickly and cost-effectively across the UK. However, despite initially being unable to secure backing and having to sell her house and car to find the £112,000 needed to fund the operation, Devey implemented a business model that has now become the industry standard.
Today, Pall-Ex brings together dozens of independent regional hauliers within the Pall-Ex network. Its HQ and main hub – located near Coalville in Leicestershire – receives as many as 17,000 pallets of goods a day, filling up to 350 lorries which then transport the freight to regional depots throughout the country. From there, approximately 100 of Pall-Ex’s member hauliers share the delivery of goods to their final destination, including Asda supermarkets, making huge savings in duplication and transportation of pallets.
In 2011, to take advantage of its existing transportation experience, Pall-Ex launched a national courier and package delivery firm for the corporate market called Pronto Sameday Couriers. Pall-Ex is also currently expanding into Europe, with networks in Italy and the Iberian Peninsula already in place and launches planned for the Poland, Benelux, Germany and France over the next five years.
Hilary has had regular appearances on UK TV, and in 2008 appeared on Channel 4’s The Secret Millionaire programme, visiting the Falinge estate in Rochdale and donating more than £100,000 to a local hospice and community centre.
Hilary has recently utilised her media presence to support a number of campaigns to develop entrepreneurialism in the UK. As a keen campaigner for entrepreneurship in all of its forms, she became the new Dragon in the latest series of BBC 2’s hit show Dragons’ Den and as a consequence of her involvement in The Business Inspector and Dragon’s Den, she has invested in corporate events table centre pieces company Wow Table Art, Video specialists Shoot It Yourself and mattress makers Duvalay.
Hilary has been the recipient of a number of leading industry awards, including the 2007 Ernst & Young UK Entrepreneur Award and the NatWest Everywoman award in 2008, as well as being voted the Vitalise Businesswoman of the Year twice (in 2004 and 2008). In 2009, Hilary made history as the first ever woman to be presented with the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport’s most prestigious accolade, the Sir Robert Lawrence Award. In 2010, Hilary Devey was made an honorary Doctor of Laws at the University of Leicester.
Devey also campaigns tirelessly for various charities including The Princess Royal Trust for Carers, for whom she became a patron in 2007 and The Stroke Association. She launched the Penny-A-Pallet scheme, which sees a charitable contribution made for every Pall-Ex pallet processed and is also an ardent campaigner for the improvement of drug rehabilitation in the UK following her experiences with her son Mevlit, a recovering addict.
Hilary’s principal residence is Rangemore Hall in Staffordshire, and she has properties in London, Marrakesh, and Spain.
