Tyneside and Northumberland Business Executive of the Year
Sponsored by Newcastle Business School at Northumbria University
Will Dracup, founder and chairman, Nonlinear Dynamics, and chairman, Biosignatures, Newcastle
WILL Dracup's Nonlinear Dynamics, now in its 20th year, gave the North East an early start in bio-informatics and contributed substantially to the region’s development of a health care and life sciences sector.
The firm provides cost-effective software tools for drug research and discovery, battles new diseases, building knowledge and melting into manageable proportions immense scientific data.
It claims to be a world-leading developer of analysis solutions in proteomics and biomarker discovery. Biomarkers measure progress of a disease or its effective treatment. Proteomics identifies and quantifies protein tissues, tracking how they change. Dracup sold his home in the South to raise capital and run a business from the North East, initially at his Tyneside home.
Today Nonlinear employs about 25 staff and exports more than 80% of its sales. Clients include all Top 20 global pharmaceutical firms. Dracup’s other company, Biosignatures, recently won its first commercial deal as it improves at testing stage the way cancer sufferers are diagnosed and treated. If Biosignatures lives up to potential, it could also have a notable impact on health care.
Dracup, a graduate of Manchester University, lives in Hexham.
RUNNERS-UP
Graeme Lowdon, co-founder and chief executive, Nomad Digital, Newcastle
Nomad Digital has developed technology and systems which provide wi-fi services on public transport.
Its pioneering work means that railway passengers using laptops on their journeys all over the world now get unbroken email and internet service, even going through tunnels and under bridges. Lowdon and Nigel Wallbridge, executive chairman, formed Nomad Digital early in 2002. It claims world market leadership in a number of activities. From 1984 Lowdon worked in the power industry and had postings to Singapore and Malaysia.
In 1996 he set up Industry On-line, which was sold four years later. He completed a stock market deal in 2002, when he also co-founded Nomad. This firm’s turnover tops £5.1m and it employs nearly 60 staff at offices in Newcastle, London, Dubai, Beijing and Calgary.
Lowdon himself was named Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 by the Entrepreneurs Forum. He holds an MBA from Newcastle University and a Masters in mechanical engineering from Sheffield University. Lowdon, 43, lives in Corbridge. A motor racing enthusiast, he sits on the board of a new Formula One Team as director of racing.
Chris Peacock, managing director, Peacocks Medical Group, Newcastle
Chris Peacock has made an impression only two years after becoming the fourth generation member of his family to lead Peacocks Medical Group. Based in Newcastle for 105 years, it was a cutlery and scalpel manufacturer until becoming a medical supplier for wounded troops of the First World War.
A former skydiving instructor in Florida, Peacock gave up this high life to join the now diversified business, despite getting no guarantee he would run it. He picked up a brush and started sweeping the storeroom.
Over 10 years since, he has worked his way up, and under his direction the turnover has risen from £7.2m to £10m. The surgical and medical equipment arm has been growing at a 43% rate, orthotics at 29%. He is now targeting a £20m turnover, and a recent recruitment drive has added 47 to the staff, which now totals 175.
The company is taking its products into China, where it has established a partnership, and is partnering Newcastle’s diabetic centre in the training of Chinese doctors. Peacock, 35, and his wife live at Ponteland, and are expecting their second child.
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