UK finalist 2021
Steve Rigby
Group CEO, Rigby Group
Selling his first business at the age of 24 was the beginning of Steve Rigby’s 30 year entrepreneurial journey.
Born into a successful business family, the last five years have seen Steve become group CEO and the engine behind the growth of the family-owned Rigby Group. The multinational conglomerate employs over 8,500 people across Europe and has revenues of more than £2.8 bn, with 6 key divisions: airports, aviation, finance, hotels, real estate and technology.
Coming from a family where your father has been one of his generation’s most respected business leaders has inspired me to succeed and develop, leading multiple complicated diverse businesses with a deep understanding of each industry.
Steve has been vital to the group’s mergers, acquisitions and build strategy, in particular, helping to spearhead the drive into technology, which now forms 85% of group revenues. The group has an exclusive wholesale agreement with Zoom, acting as their B2B provider across Western Europe.
Seeing some of the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic as opportunities for change, Steve tightened strategy, cost base and business purpose, setting the Rigby Group on a course to post record results in the financial year to March 2022.
