Sharing his experience

Aug 27 2009 By Christopher Knox, The Journal

Students at Newcastle University are celebrating after receiving cash prizes as part of an awards scheme set up by prominent North East businessman Dr Tony Trapp. Christopher Knox caught up with the inspirational entrepreneur.

SINCE founding IHC Engineering Business in 1997, Dr Tony Trapp has gone on to become one of the most successful businessmen in the region, with the Northumberland company now growing on sales of more than £22m after a sale to a Dutch multinational.

But as well as having a keen business mind Dr Trapp also has academic leanings and has always been keen to pass on his experience to budding entrepreneurs and students alike.

It was his experience as a lecturer as well as his extraordinary success in business which helped him land the role of David Goldman Visiting Professor of Business Innovation at Newcastle University last November.

The title, which usually stays with the recipient for a year, honours the memory of the late David Goldman, founding chief executive and chairman of Newcastle software firm Sage Group and was created after his death to create a legacy and honour his commitment to the region and his support for the educational development of young people.

Former title holders include Fiona Cruickshank, former managing director of Prudhoe pharmaceuticals business The Specials Laboratory and now running SCM Pharma and Paul Callaghan, founder of Sunderland technology firm Leighton Group.

This year has already seen Dr Trapp hold a number of talks at Newcastle University in his new role, as well as inviting students to IHC’s plants in Middlesbrough and Wallsend.

But he considers the ABC Awards as by far his greatest contribution.

The awards are an extension of Newcastle University’s own Careers Service Enterprise Challenge, in which students were given the opportunity to present their business ideas to a judging panel, which included Dr Trapp, as well as Fiona Whitehurst, senior lecturer in Management at Newcastle University Business School and Mark Hatton, managing partner at the Newcastle office of Ernst and Young.