Business First May-June 2017 Business First May 2017 | Page 36

NORTHERN IRELAND 40UNDER40 LIST 2017
Northern Ireland 40under40 List 2017
PETER ALLEN
long term unemployed. I returned to the
Recruitment industry in 2011 as a Manager
within Grafton, taking an operational role
within the technical teams. In 2014 I was
approached to help establish a new business
“Reactive Recruitment”. I’ve been lucky
enough to work with some of the finest
leaders in recruitment and now, as a
businessman, I continue to practise their
philosophies and I still learn new things all
the time that I try and pass on to my staff.
www.reactiverecruitment.com
@ReactiveRec
PETER ALLEN, Deloitte
Peter Allen joined Deloitte in 2010 to start
its corporate finance department in Belfast.
He has since recruited a team of 12 which he
expects to become the leading Corporate
Finance team in Northern Ireland.
Recognised as a leading restructuring
professional Peter has been responsible for
leading a number of the complex multi­bank
restructurings in Northern Ireland through
the economic downturn and handling a
number of high profile administrations,
including Mivan, Greenstar and Care Circle.
Peter has helped build Debt Advisory, M&A
and Forensics offerings for Deloitte and holds
a leadership role across audit, tax and
corporate finance in Northern Ireland, and a
risk role for Deloitte’s restructuring business
across the island of Ireland.
He is the Northern Ireland lead for
Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 programme
and a judge for its Best Managed Companies
Awards. Peter started his career at PwC,
spending 10 years working across Audit,
Corporate Finance and Insolvency in Belfast,
Edinburgh and London. www.deloitte.ie
PAUL ARMSTRONG
PAUL ARMSTRONG, Reactive
Recruitment
I started at the ground floor as a Trainee
Vacancy Controller within Grafton
Recruitment. I loved it, it was a real
meritocracy. Through hard work I progressed
from trainee to senior consultant, culminating
as a Snr Account Manager. In 2009 I took a
sabbatical from the industry and worked as a
Project Manager to help communities within
the Belfast Area Partnerships, creating &
delivering “back to work solutions” for the
34 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk
DECLAN BARRY
DECLAN BARRY, HMC Global
Declan has established himself as a
business development leader, having made a
significant impact on those organisations he
has been a part of in terms of sales, the
generation of new jobs and increased export
sales for Northern Ireland companies.
Specialising in assisting government and
economic development agencies, Declan has
10 years experience in assisting the attraction
of inward investment (FDI) and helping
companies to export into new markets
through coaching improvements in sales
processes.
Declan is also actively assisting local
councils in establishing and growing
sustainable entrepreneurship programmes,
based on private sector activity rather than
public sector hand­outs.
Moving forward, Declan’s aim is to focus on
the global presence of HMC Global’s business
by constructing a sales and marketing
platform and process which can influence
prospective customers internationally in a
quality way, whilst allowing the business to
grow, employ and train talented graduates
and sales professionals in Northern Ireland.
www.hmcglobal.co.uk
@declanjbarry
ANNA BAXTER, Ulster Bank
Anna is a Chartered Accountant having
trained with KPMG and now currently works
as the Regional Performance Manger in
Corporate & Commercial Banking, Ulster
Bank. Anna has experience working with a
diverse range of customers, collaborating
with others, implementing strategy and also
ANNA BAXTER
in leading a large team. Anna has been
promoted recently into her current role and
has been identified as future senior female
talent within the organisation shortly to
undertake an RBS female talent initiative to
assist her accelerate her career.
She has made a real difference to her team
embedding change, establishing new
structures whilst continuing to focus on team
engagement and motivation.
Anna has a positive attitude, driven and has
high energy.
www.ulsterbank.com
@annabaxter84
GARETH BOYD
GARETH BOYD, 2020 Architects
Director and co­owner of 2020 Architects,
Gareth’s hard work and determination has
been fundamental to the success of Ireland’s
fastest growing architects in Ireland. 2020 is
an award­winning practice and one of just
three Northern Ireland architect firms to
appear on Channel 4’s Grand Designs. Gareth
has advanced the profile of 2020 Architects,
placing emphasis on growing the 2020 brand
through his relentless dedication to social
media and growing follower numbers to over
50k ­ which is extremely significant and
uncustomary for a small, architectural
practice in Northern Ireland. Gareth's
creativity and dedication to the advancement
of architecture and new, innovative concepts
has enabled 2020 to secure Ireland's first
Architectural Virtual Reality suite. Gareth is
passionate about investing in his staff
through training and development initiatives
to enable them to confidently acquire skills to
reach their full potential.
www.2020architects.co.uk
@2020architects