Karen Hanton
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Karen Hanton is a British entrepreneur who is the founder and Chairman of toptable, a restaurant booking enterprise in the United Kingdom.
Hanton is a native of northeast Scotland, but moved to London -- with no money -- soon after her Highers. She pursued a career in training and human resources, but at age 29 founded the IT staffing firm Mortimer Spinks. After selling the company, she bought and staffed a restaurant business in Fulham, which in 1998 inspired her to found toptable.[1] She currently owns just under half of the company's shares.[2] The company became profitable in 2006, after surviving years in the red, which Hanton attributes to the rise in consumer broadband accessibility.[3]
At the 2005 Institute of Business Advisers Annual Conference, Hanton presented closing remarks about the four principles of successful of business management to which she ascribes: "keep it simple, have clear objectives, don’t confuse reasons with excuses and be prepared to tweak your ideas."[4]
[edit] Awards
Karen has received significant public recognition including:[5][6][7]
- Financial Times/Moet Hennessy Extraordinary Achievers Award
- Named as one of today's top 30 entrepreneurs in New Business Magazine
- Named one of the top 100 most influential people in the first decade of the internet in an NOP/e-consultancy poll
[edit] References
- ^ Karen Hanton. E-consultancy.com (2006). Retrieved on February 27, 2007.
- ^ "A taste for the top", Telegraph.co.uk, 2007-06-07. Retrieved on February 27, 2007.
- ^ Jonathon Moules. "No reservations about the future", Financial Times, 2006-04-14. Retrieved on February 27, 2007.
- ^ Edwards, Trevor (2005-11-11). Future trends in business. People*Spark. Retrieved on February 27, 2007.
- ^ Company information. toptable. Retrieved on February 27, 2007.
- ^ Hanks, Abby (March 2004). What makes a successful entrepreneur?. AllBusiness. Retrieved on February 27, 2007.
- ^ Women In Business Seminars. Women In Business. Retrieved on February 27, 2007.
