Hilary Devey

#31/100 in #100extraordinarywomen

“Never one to give up, I have successfully overcome every hurdle obstructing my way and am living proof that if you really set your mind to do something, you can achieve amazing results.” These are the words of the award winning Entrepreneur Hilary Devey CBE who is the inspirational Founder, CEO and Chairman of The Pall-Ex Group. An outstanding role model for entrepreneurs, she has driven her company to an international market-leading position which boasts an annual turnover of more than £100million.

Those who know about her, know her more as a TV personality. But before she became a TV personality, she overcame many a personal battles to reach a position that deserves a mention. Nobody could accuse former BBC Dragon and multi-millionaire freight entrepreneur Hilary Devey of having success handed to her on a plate. The Bolton native left school at 16 before taking on a range of jobs, including a short stint in the Woman's RAF. While working as a clerk at a freight delivery firm, she overheard one of the drivers complain that he would have to wait until morning to fill his lorry with enough cargo to justify driving to his destination. This inspired her to found freight distributing company Pall-Ex in 1996, which got drivers to pool their freight, making distribution quicker and easier. 

Hilary, born on 10 March 1957, grew up in Bolton, Lancashire and, as a seven-year-old child, witnessed the results of the bankruptcy of her father, who had owned a central heating company, when bailiffs removed furniture and household goods from the family home. Her father then earned a living managing pubs and hotels. “My father inspired me the most, because he lost everything, rebuilt from scratch, and still managed to provide for his family,” she said. “He'd originally grown a very large central heating company, where he employed some 300 people at its peak. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse – I can remember the bailiffs coming to the house and taking our possessions. Despite this, he was able to get into another business and provide a good living for us all. His mantra was always, 'One door closes and another one opens'. He was a born optimist.”

When she had the idea for Pall-Ex, she knew she would need capital to get it up and running. She needed £112,000 to get going. However, she was turned down by the bank, despite going to them with a business plan so accurate it traded pound for pound and pallet for pallet. She says that the bank manager was a bit of a misogynist. He patted her on the head and said she had no chance. He told her one in every three businesses fail. So she should just go home and look after the child. After being refused funding, she sold her house and car to finance the business, which ultimately netted Hilary her first million at the age of 40. Launched in 1996, Pall-Ex was the third palletised goods distribution network to be launched in the UK. It was based on the well-established hub and spoke express parcels distribution model - this form of pallet network was pioneered by Palletline in 1992. Today, despite having started from nothing, she has grown the company into an international network with a combined turnover of over £100m. Pall-Ex makes daily deliveries to every UK postcode as well as operating a scheduled daily service to 38 European countries with further current expansion planned across Europe. Both Hilary and her company have achieved an impressive array of firsts within the logistics sector.

Thrice-divorced, Hilary has one son. In 2011, Hilary was involved in a struggle to help her 24-year-old son, Mevlit Brewster-Ahmet overcome a seven-year drug addiction. She commented: "The hardest work I've ever done is pulling my son back from the grip of heroin." On 28 October 2012, Hilary spoke on BBC Radio 4 about her family sorrow. Her mother found out, only years after getting together with her father, that he already had a wife and four children. Years later, history repeated itself when Hilary, herself discovered that her ex-partner was also already married with five children.

In 2009, she made history as the first woman to win the prestigious Sir Robert Lawrence award for her contribution to the logistics and transport profession. In 2013, she was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her services to the transportation industry and to charity. Hilary was awarded the Vitalise Woman of the Year Award in 2008, and an Honorary Doctorate of Law by the University of Leicester in 2010 for her services to industry. Other UK domestic awards have included the Personality of the Year in the International Freight Weekly Awards for 2010. In July 2012, Hilary was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Business Administration by the University of Bolton for services to business. On 16 April 2014, Hilary was also awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Business Administration from the University of Wolverhampton. Hilary is an ambassador of the British Citizen Awards, a ceremony held bi-annually to reward everyday individuals and their contribution to society.

She has also had a varied TV career, going undercover on the Secret Millionaire where she donated more than £70,000 to the Back Door Music Project and the Syke Community Centre in Rochdale. In March 2010, she was the presenter of The Business Inspector for Channel 5, a four-part documentary series which saw her use her business acumen and expertise to help transform struggling small businesses into successful profitable companies. She appeared on two series of Dragons' Den following the departure of James Caan. In September 2012, she presented her final programme for BBC Two, a mini-series called Hilary Devey's Women at the Top, a joint Open University and BBC Two production. More recently, she gave young people a chance to win their dream job on The Intern, and appeared on Running the Shop, where she supervised staff taking over a business while their boss was away.

Nowadays, Hilary campaigns tirelessly for various charities including The Carers Trust for whom she became Vice President in 2012. In addition, she is Patron for The Stroke Association and Fresh Start – New Beginnings. 

Source: Google search and Wikipedia.