Draft:Steve rigby

Steve Rigby

Steven Paul Rigby (born 6 December 1972) is a British Entrepreneur and the Co-Chief Executive Officer of the Rigby Group alongside his brother James Rigby. He is the son of Sir Peter Rigby, the founder of the group. .

Early life and education

Born in the West Midlands, Rigby attended Wylde Green College for Boys and left school at 16 to join his father's business.

Personal Life Rigby has three children and lives in Mayfair, London and The Cotswolds. He is Chair of the Rigby Foundation, which supports the local Midlands community and the Chair of the Development Board for Place2Be, the leading children's mental health charity.

Career

Rigby entered the family business in 1989, at age 16, when he joined SCC, a Digital Solutions and Services Provider and cornerstone business of the Rigby Group. In 1993, Rigby helped found the Byte Computer Superstore chain and was promoted to Managing Director in 1996. Rigby held this position until the company's sale to PC World in 1998. From 1998-2001, Rigby was appointed as CEO of the ETC distribution business and in November 2001, he was appointed Director at SCC UK. He founded Rigby & Rigby in 2006 and took a group management role, assuming responsibility for the group’s finances. In 2023, he formed the Rigby Group as it exists today, transitioning it from a technology-only business into six key divisions: Airports, Aviation, Finance, Hotel, Real Estate, and Technology. In 2017, Rigby’s company Rigby Group PLC purchased Bournemouth Airport from Manchester Airport Groups (MAG) with Rigby commenting that the deal would provide "job security for existing staff". Rigby was a Non-Executive Director at British International Helicopters from 2020 until 2022 when the company was acquired by Bristow Group In November 2024, he launched The Private Business Commission to address the UK’s growing inability to scale and retain private companies. In April 2024, Rigby publicly endorsed Family Business UK’s 2024 Manifesto, ‘Taking The Long Term View’ which details policies to unleash the potential of UK family businesses. Rigby stated, “I am delighted to whole heartedly support the manifesto in its support for UK private enterprise and the changes we believe are needed to boost our sector and the economy.” Currently, Rigby sits on the boards of SCC, Rigby Technology Investments, Regional & City Airports, Rigby Real Estate, Eden Hotel Collection, Nuvias Unified Communications, CloudClevr, Infinigate and Rigby Group Steve Rigby is regularly featured in The Times for comment pieces on UK and International Private Sector Businesses. . He was also featured in The Sunday Times Rich List 2024, ranked 104 alongside his brother, James Rigby and father, Sir Peter Rigby.

Awards

In 2021, Rigby was named an EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist.

In 2022, he was named Leader of the Year by three organisations: The International Business Awards, The UK Brilliance Awards , and The UK Business Awards