THE co-founder of one of Cornwall’s largest technology companies has received national
recognition for leadership. Toby Parkins, from technology partner, Headforwards has been named
One to Watch in The LDC Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leaders 2023.
Created by investment partner LDC – part of Lloyds Banking Group, and supported by The Times,
The LDC Top 50 champions UK business leaders pushing for growth and building successful
medium-sized businesses.
The leaders featured in The LDC Top 50 are growing their businesses at home and overseas, making
a positive contribution to society and driving progress against their sustainability goals. They hail
from every corner of the UK and span every sector of the economy. Together, they employ more
than 6,700 people and turn over more than £1.2bn.
Toby Parkins says: “In the last two years, Headforwards has doubled down on our ambitions for
growth, so it’s an honour to be recognised nationally for that. Our goal is to seek resilient growth.
We want to be a high achieving business so that we can support great jobs for people and
contribute to the development of our sector.”
Headforwards has been operating for 12 years and in the last 12 months added advisory and
consultancy into its service offering, partnering with Pete Reed, former CIO of AXA Health, to bring
industry depth and expertise.
Parkins adds: “The scope of IT, tech, data and digital has expanded to the extent that our clients
need a technology partner, not just a software partner. We now support clients with advisory,
consultancy and strategy, which builds on our DNA in software engineering excellence and helps
our clients more effectively navigate the future of their businesses.”
John Garner, Managing Partner at LDC, said: “We started The LDC Top 50 six years ago to champion
the remarkable success stories of medium-sized businesses, the unsung heroes of the British
economy. Since then, we’ve received more than 3,000 nominations and celebrated more than 500
business leaders through the programme, surpassing all our expectations. The stories behind this
year’s Ones to Watch really captured our attention and I’d like to congratulate them on their
achievements so far. We’ve no doubt that this is only the beginning for each and every one of
them!”
As a Top 50 leader, Toby will be showcased in a Times supplement this week, and joins his peers at
a national celebratory event in London.
You can find out more information on this year’s LDC Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leaders
programme here.
