Spence tops EY list

Resort developer John Spence, vocal mining identity David Flanagan and technology tycoon Zhenya Tsvetnenko may not have had much in common until now, but this week, all three were named among Ernst & Young’s top entrepreneurs in Australia.

Mr Spence took out the highest honour at the awards – which is in its tenth year – and was named Entrepreneur of the Year for his work in developing Karma Royal Group.

Two other Western Australians, Austal’s John Rothwell and Navitas’ Rod Jones, have previously won the national award.

Mr Spence said it was stepping out on a limb that had led to the success of Karma, which claims to have built some of the world’s most luxurious resorts in Asia.

“In 1993, we made a conscious decision to leave the safety of Europe and develop in Asia. We believed then – and we have been vindicated – that this part of the world was going to become the centre of the world in our industry,” Mr Spence said.

“As an entrepreneur you spend your whole life being on the other end, giving awards. It is very rare to get the reverse – so it’s nice to get the recognition.

“The award has shown that we are recognised as part of the business community; it has given us a certain amount of pride and respect.”

WA dominated the awards, of which there are seven categories, with Mr Spence – a university dropout and former rock band manager – winning the prestigious title ahead of 33 other national finalists.

He was among other well known entrepreneurs such asAtlas Iron’s Mr Flanagan (named the number one entrepreneur of a listed company) who is well regarded among the mining community for his vocal fight against the resource super profits tax.

“Atlas has been a success story for a few reasons,” Mr Flanagan said.

“We’ve made money because we have lots of optionality in our business that has allowed us to maximise upside. We have made acquisitions with minimal downside but plenty of potential upside. And then we have had a great team to go and execute projects.”

Mr Tsvetnenko was named young entrepreneur of the year, having developed a $30 million SMS Gateway business – a text subscription service delivering information such as weather and news to mobile phones.