AN energy company boss who has delivered impressive yearon- year growth after leading a management buyout has been named Entrepreneur of the Year in national awards.

Gordon Banham, chief executive of County Durham firm Hargreaves Services, received the accolade in the Grant Thornton Quoted Company Awards.

Last year, the Esh Winningbased energy and mineral company announced a fourth straight year of 50 per cent growth, with an underlying profit before tax of £28.6m Mr Banham, who led a management buyout of the company in 2004, said: “I am, quite naturally, delighted to have won this award.

“In accepting it, though, I also want to pay tribute to the rest of the Hargreaves team.

“A company as large and diverse as ours doesn’t continue to succeed without a lot of hard work, carried out by a lot of talented people.”

The company also operates in the waste and transport sectors, and supplies coal to UK power stations.