ANS boss Scott Fletcher awarded MBE

Reseller's chairman praised for services to business and the community in the North West

ANS Group's chairman Scott Fletcher has been awarded an MBE in the Queen's birthday honours for services to business and the community in the North West of England.

Fletcher founded the Manchester-based cloud firm in 1996 and has since grown its turnover past the £50m mark.

He has also invested in a number of other services and tech businesses which in total are valued in excess of £100m and employ about 400 staff across sites in Manchester, London and globally.

The Prince's Trust and local charities Caudwell Children, New East Manchester Enterprise and the Manchester Children's Hospital have all been beneficiaries of Fletcher's charitable donations.

Fletcher said he was "incredibly privileged" to receive the MBE and put his business success partly down to learning what not to do from previous employers which had gone bust.

"Both companies gave me great experience," he said. "I saw firsthand how not to run a business.

"When it comes to running a business, I always do things the traditional way – putting cashflow and profit before top-line growth. I always look for potential and profitable investment and I always find ways of getting involved with start-up companies."

ANS Group opened the doors to its academy training scheme last year, which welcomed 30 youngsters to a two-year apprenticeship with a view to being taken on full-time afterwards.

Fletcher said the decision was driven by his commitment to offer young people opportunities.

"This is an exciting time for young people in the UK," he said. "With a declining unemployment rate and the economy strengthening again, what better time is there for young people to make their dreams a reality?

"One of my biggest passions is youth employment and training. I see that the education system is well behind when it comes to teaching young people ICT."