Inviron's Managing Director, Garry Metcalfe, is celebrating after being been named as a winner in the prestigious Ernst & Young North & Midlands Regional Entrepreneur Of The Year 2009 Awards.

It was his entrepreneurship and business acumen that resulted in Mr Metcalfe leading a buy-out of the UK Facilities Management and Building Services activities from ABB at the end of 2003.  This became Inviron, which is unique in its market place as the largest employee-owned service providers of its kind in the UK.

Mr Metcalfe was praised by judges, who described him as an "unassuming MD who led the business buyout, but took less than 50% ownership, sharing the rest amongst all of the employees through shares and share options."

The judges also said that Mr Metcalfe has "in four years built a strong stable business with a net asset value of £10m. With less than 1% of total market there are big opportunities to grow and sustain the business."

Today, under Mr Metcalfe's leadership, Inviron has become established as a successful brand, which posted a pre-tax profit of £3m in 2007/08. In 2007, the company saw off competition from businesses 10 times its size to win the British Institute of Facilities Management Customer Service Award for its innovative customer care strategy, Inviron DNA.

Commenting on his win, Mr Metcalfe said: "I am very proud to accept this award on behalf of 1,200 employees of Inviron across the UK. Inviron is the company it is today because of the shared commitment and passion shown by every one of them. We have all worked tirelessly to ensure our customers receive the best service and will continue to do so."

One of Ernst & Young's senior partners, Ronnie Bowker, commented: "Garry has built a hugely successful business from scratch in a relatively short space of time and I am sure he will go on to achieve his goals and objectives of making Inviron the most respected service company in the UK. "

Mr Metcalfe will now go forward to a national final, held in October, where 53 top executives from across the UK will compete for the title Ernst & Young Overall UK Entrepreneur Of The Year. The winner will go to Monte Carlo in May 2010  representing the UK at Ernst & Young's World Entrepreneur Of The Year awards.