Robert Stiff wins Entrepreneur of the Year Award

Surrey based entrepreneur Robert Stiff has won a prestigious business gong at this year’s Insider South East Dealmakers Awards, held at the Copthorne Effingham Park Hotel in Gatwick.

Stiff, 51, was named Entrepreneur of the Year and was praised for the £24 million sale of his healthcare recruitment firm, Team24 to outsourcing giants Capita in June 2011.

Team24, which has three offices in Banstead, was founded in 2005 by Stiff and quickly grew in to a business employing 80 staff with a turnover of more than £32 million. The company has 4,000 doctors and nurses registered for placement. Clients include the NHS, prisons, doctors’ surgeries and private practices. It also operates under a number of framework agreements, including the London Regional Nursing Framework (LRANF).

“It is always nice to win awards, “said Stiff. “But for me this is recognition not just for what I have achieved over the past few years, but recognition for all the hard working employees at Team24. They helped me to grow the business so that it became what it is today – a successful firm doing well in a difficult market climate.”

Stiff is a patron of The Princes Trust in the South East and has also been selected as a mentor for Entrepreneur First, a nationwide government backed scheme aimed at getting more graduates to launch start up businesses after University.