Residence London, England Children Tiger and Electra Name Piers Linney Spouse Tara Bishop (m. 2003) TV shows Dragons' Den | Nationality British Website pierslinney.com Role Businessman Education University of Manchester | |
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Full Name Jonathan Piers Daniel Linney Born 15 February 1971 (age 53) ( 1971-02-15 ) Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England Occupation Businessman
television personality Known for Dragons' Den, The Secret Millionaire Similar People Kelly Hoppen, Deborah Meaden, Peter Jones, Duncan Bannatyne, Hilary Devey Profiles | ||
Piers linney talk about unlocking the potential of young people
Jonathan Piers Daniel Linney (born 15 February 1971 in Stoke-on-Trent) is an English businessman, who is the current Co-CEO of cloud-based IT business Outsourcery, best known for being a "dragon" on the BBC Two business series Dragons' Den from 2013 to 2015.
Contents
- Piers linney talk about unlocking the potential of young people
- Dragons den star piers linney says job success demands more than qualifications
- Early life
- Career
- Dragons Den
- Trustee
- Interests and personal life
- References
Linney also appeared on the Channel 4 series The Secret Millionaire in 2011, where he worked in Wolverhampton at a Young Offenders' institution.
Dragons den star piers linney says job success demands more than qualifications
Early life
With both Bajan (Barbados) and English heritage, Linney, the son of Derek and Norma Linney, grew up in Stoke-on-Trent before moving at the age of nine with his family to the small mill town Bacup in Lancashire, where he attended the local comprehensive school after failing his 11+. With aspirations of being his own boss even at the age of 13, Linney cut out his local newsagent by going direct to the wholesaler to start his own paper round, planting his entrepreneurial seed by building it up and then selling it off.
Career
Although Linney is usually described as an entrepreneur, he has a professional background in the City. After studying Accounting and Law at The University of Manchester, he qualified as a solicitor in the City with SJ Berwin. He left law to join the UK investment banking team at Barclays de Zoete Wedd, where he met Simon Newton in 1997, followed by time spent working at Credit Suisse, where he specialised in mergers and acquisitions and leveraged buyouts. Linney left banking in 2000 to start an internet business and has since been involved in a number of technology, media and telecommunications businesses as a founder, director, investor and adviser. After becoming the CEO of a corporate finance boutique, Linney became a partner in an alternative investment fund providing structured debt and equity financing to small cap public companies.
In 2007, Linney led, in alliance with his friend and business partner, Simon Newton, the buyout of Genesis Communications, a mobile voice and data reseller company. In 2009 Genesis acquired Thus Mobile from Cable&Wireless and rebranded as Outsourcery to focus on the cloud IT and communications opportunity. In 2012 the company was valued at £43 million and the mobile business was sold to create a pure-play cloud business, which was funded by the founders and private investors.
Outsourcery was floated on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in 2013 raising £13 million. The business is now regarded as one of Microsoft's leading Cloud Services Providers after it was selected as one of only five UK Cloud OS Network partners. Linney was a founding member of the Governance Board of the UK's Cloud Industry Forum and regularly appears in the media to discuss the benefits of cloud computing. In 2013, Linney was recognised in the JP Morgan sponsored Power List 2013 as one of the top 100 most influential black Britons.
Recently Linney has joined the Cabinet Office SME Panel advising on small and medium business issues. Linney has also established the not-for-profit organisation workinsight.org, a national digital platform that connects young people to local employers. The scheme aims to create better access to work valuable work place experience, and has received backing from Microsoft and Esther McVey, MP and Minister for Work and Pensions. Linney was named Entrepreneur Leader of the Year at the 2014 Black British Business Awards.
Dragons' Den
In 2013, Linney joined the panel on the BBC Two television series Dragons' Den, along with fellow new dragon Kelly Hoppen. They joined in the eleventh series. Linney also appeared as a dragon in the twelfth series of Dragons' Den which began airing on 20 July 2014. In January 2015, Linney announced that he would be departing the show at the end of series twelve, in order to focus on various other projects and work related to enterprise, diversity and inclusion, including his not-for-profit digital platform, workinsight.org.
Trustee
As an extension to his interest in business, Linney is a founding Trustee of the Powerlist Foundation which aims to identify and support tomorrow's leaders irrespective of their race, gender, faith or ethnicity. He is also a trustee of the innovation charity with a £300 million endowment, NESTA and he is also a trustee of Plotr.
Linney is involved with Virgin Unite and a range of other charities as a donor or patron. Linney is also in the process of establishing his own charity, workinsight.org, to provide equal opportunities for work place insights.
Interests and personal life
Linney married Tara Bishop in 2003: they have two children Tiger and Electra. Linney is a cycling and mountain-biking enthusiast.