Global Growth Award
Nouredin Albanghazi
Nouredin Albanghazi is the Director of Combined Support Services, a Peterborough-based security and facilities support business. He has built the company around reliable, people-led services, creating opportunities for local people and supporting clients across the UK. Nouredin holds an MSc in International Business Management from ARU Peterborough and is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Lincoln, researching Public-Private Partnerships in National Security and Crisis Management. A committed advocate for responsible leadership, he is proud that Combined Support Services is accredited ISO 9001 UKAS, SafeContractor, SafePQQ, Constructionline Gold, and the Good Business Charter, is a Living Wage Employer, supports a diverse workforce and employing over 40 full-time employees.
His work has been recognised through a number of regional business awards. Combined Support Services was named the Gold Winner of Peterborough Business of the Year at the SME Cambridgeshire Business Awards 2026 and later received the Employer of the Year award at the Peterborough Community Business Awards 2026. At the same event, Mr. Albanghazi was personally named Entrepreneur of the Year. Nouredin is passionate about representing Peterborough’s ambition, talent, and growing business community.
Daniel Harris
Dan Harris is joint owner and General Manager of GCE Hire Fleet Ltd, a Peterborough-based construction equipment hire, sales and engineering business. He has helped grow the company through strong partnerships with customers, suppliers, and manufacturers, while exploring international trade opportunities and developing relationships across West African markets.
Dan is also focused on strengthening skills within the construction equipment industry. GCE currently employs two apprentices and works with local schools and colleges to promote engineering careers, practical training, and clearer pathways into the sector.
He is also driving GCE’s work on lower-emission construction machinery, collaborating with manufacturers, contractors, and policymakers to demonstrate the real-world potential of electric compact plant. As a director of Stamford AFC, Dan also supports local sport and community development, combining commercial ambition with a practical commitment to skills, sustainability, and long-term regional growth.
Eve Taylor DBE
Dame Eve Taylor DBE OBE is a distinguished beauty therapist, aromatherapy practitioner, educator and entrepreneur whose career has helped shape modern professional beauty care. After studying beauty care in London, she opened her first salon, Adam and Eve, in 1963 and established Eve Taylor Beauty Preparations Limited in 1968, now Eve Taylor (London) Limited with its HQ located in Peterborough. Dame Eve translated individual aromatic treatments into practical products, methods and education for working therapists. Her pre-blended oils and treatment systems helped make personalised aromatherapy more accessible and repeatable within vocational practice worldwide. She also contributed to teaching, examinations and industry development, and authored Face, Figure and Fashion in 1968. Her lasting achievement is the practical bridge that she created between aromatherapy, beauty treatment, professional education, product development and business. Awarded an OBE in 2008 and a DBE in 2024, she still remains an influential industry figure still pioneering many new ideas and products across the world.
Simon Thomas
Simon is the CEO of Paragraf, the company he founded in 2018. A diverse background in physics, engineering and materials science, with 20+ years in compound semiconductor materials, devices, and applications, across multiple technology disciplines led to the innovation of a novel manufacturing technique for graphene, and subsequently Paragraf.
The company is the first in the world to produce graphene electronics at scale, delivering next generation chips with higher performance and much lower power consumption than today’s alternatives. Paragraf’s products are already making impacts in the worlds of AI compute, Quantum, Space and Medical Diagnostics.
Having raised over $150m Simon has grown Paragraf into a UK headquartered global business with subsidiaries around the world. Simon is passionate about developing technologies that can solve today’s enduring challenges and beneficially affect society. He believes new materials hold the key to transformational products that will deliver a brighter, more sustainable future.
Martyn Willimer
Martyn Willimer is Sales Director at Rapidrop Global Ltd, bringing more than 34 years of sales leadership experience across the fenestration and fire sprinkler industries. Born and raised in Peterborough, Martyn began his career with IFI, where he spent 17 years developing his expertise through a range of Area Sales Manager and Regional Sales Manager roles. During this time, he built a strong reputation for customer relationship management, business development, and delivering sustainable growth.
For the past 17 years, Martyn has been a driving force within the fire sprinkler sector, progressing through positions including Regional Sales Manager, UK Sales Manager, and Sales Director since 2013. In his current role, he leads Rapidrop’s global sales team, working with customers, distributors and partners across international markets to support the company’s continued growth and strengthen its position as one of the world’s leading fire sprinkler solution providers.
Beyond his day-to-day responsibilities, Martyn actively contributes to the advancement of the fire protection industry through his involvement on the boards of both the European Fire Sprinkler Network (EFSN) and the International Fire Sprinkler Association (IFSA). These roles enable him to support industry collaboration, promote best practice and help shape the future of fire sprinkler protection worldwide.
Outside of work, Martyn is passionate about football, cycling, camping, and spending time outdoors with his wife and two children. He enjoys travelling, exploring new destinations across Europe and further afield, making the most of great food and drink along the way.