20 | Tees Business
Wilton Engineering boss Bill Scott was voted Teesside ' s Most Inspiring Businessperson by Tees Business readers .
INSPIRATIONAL ! Teesside ’ s leading businesspeople – by their fellow business leaders
For the second successive year , we asked local business leaders to vote for their Teesside counterparts who most inspire them . No fewer than 111 got a vote , but here are The Tees Region ’ s Most Inspiring Businesspeople .
10th ( New Entry into Top 10 ) Zoe LEWIS
Middlesbrough College
The first female principal and chief executive of Middlesbrough College for the past four years , Zoe Lewis has gained a reputation for driving forward the alignment of the college ’ s offering to the skills required by employers .
With a turnover of £ 36m , the college has invested £ 20m into The STEM Centre ( Science , Technology , Engineering and Maths ) plus an extension to MC6 – the purpose-built sixth form – that opened in 2014 .
9th ( 10th ) Sharon LANE Tees Components , North Skelton
Voted the Tees region ’ s top businesswoman for a second successive year , Sharon Lane is general manager of Tees Components , specialists in precision machine parts . A former apprentice with the firm , she is a qualified mechanical engineer who returned to the family company nearly a decade ago . Formed more than half a century ago , Tees Components now employ 70 staff , having grown in recent years through major investments in precision equipment , achieving growing export sales .
8th ( New Entry ) Barney ORD Fairfield Industries , Middlesbrough
One of the grand old men of Teesside industry , former apprentice Barney Ord stepped back from day-to-day involvement with Northern Machine Tools and its parent company , Fairfield Industries , only after reaching his 80th birthday . He continues to take an ongoing interest in both NMT and Fairfield , where he is the long-standing chairman , with an overview for four thriving Teesside businesses that between them employ 200 people .
BARNEY ’ S TOP 3 1 . Richard Barker , Barker & Stonehouse 2 . Steve Gibson , Bulkhaul & MFC 3 . Bill Scott , Wilton Engineering
7th ( 5th ) Alastair POWELL Cleveland Cable Company , Middlesbrough
This is perhaps as much as you ’ re ever likely to read about Teesside enigma Alastair Powell for he famously does not conduct interviews , nor does he seek publicity . Cleveland
Cable Company , the UK ’ s largest cable