Who is Wayne?

It is a little unusual, I have two completely separate lives; I am a dressage rider and have represented Great Britain at the World Equestrian Games, European Championships and numerous international competitions. I am also, what is often called, a serial entrepreneur.

Live

Turnhout, Belgium.

Born

South Shields, England.

Family

Debra, my wife, son, Jay (born 1997) and daughter, Francesca (born 1998).

Education

BSc, ARCS in mathematical physics from Imperial College, London.

Drive

Porsche 911, BMW X5 and Ketterer horse box.

Favourite film

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Favourite foods

Mozzarella, tomatoes, pesto, virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar with ciabatta; sushi; pizza; caviar; oysters; escargots in garlic butter.

Favourite drink

Red wine, especially Bordeaux; milk; water; skinny vanilla latte.

Big picture or detail person

Isaiah Berlin said it best "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing..."  In that sense, I am a fox with hedgehog tendencies: I love the big picture mostly, but I really can get into detail when it appeals to me.

What is your business background?

When I graduated from Imperial, I joined IBM as a Systems Engineer.  I told myself that I would only do it for a year then go back to university and do a PhD in quantum gravity.  However, the training at IBM was outstanding.  They took me from being very academic to being commecial and I didn't want to go back.

I founded my first company in 1984 in (the then unkown field of) local area networking.  It grew from nothing to be Europe's 2nd largest networking and communications company with offices in 9 countries and revenues of over €500m.  We also had Europe's largest technical network training company.

Today, I chair two biotech companies both of which I hope will change people's lives: Cells4Life, Britain's largest stem cell storage company; and Stabilitech, a company that has stabilised vaccines at and above room temperature - no more fridges, think what that will do for the 3rd world.

What is your equestrian background?

I started riding when I was 10 years old.  I spent my pocket money at a local riding school and during the summer vacations I would muck out stables in return for lessons.  No one else in my family had ever even sat on a horse, let alone rode, so I have no idea where it came from.  I just always wanted to be with horses.

I started riding dressage  when I was 33.  There was a recession in Britain and my business went through a difficult period and I decided I wanted to go for a hack - I hadn't ridden for many years.  That hack led to riding once a week, then twice a week, then to buying a horse and then to several horses and then to almost full time riding. Dressage came when a teacher said it was a shame that I didn't start dressage earlier as I could have been a top rider - a challenge I could not resist.

Now, I spend most of my time training horses.  I love competing, but I enjoy training horses more.