Craig Smith, Group Managing Director of ICT Reverse and Mazuma Mobile, is among 50 entrepreneurs listed in the “Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leaders for 2024” out of 700 nominations from 39 towns and cities.
The competition was created by the investment firm LDC, part of Lloyds Banking Group. The Top 50 celebrates entrepreneurs “who have demonstrated remarkable ambitio”. It is now in its seventh year.
“I’m delighted and proud to be chosen by LDC for this award. It represents the hard work of both myself and my team over the past five years. We look forward to building on this and achieving our goal of becoming the UK’s leading IT and mobile take-back solution,” said Smith.
The criteria for selection include business leaders who are “creating jobs, promoting social equality, championing sustainability, expanding internationally, and integrating purpose into their business practices”.
ICT Reverse was founded Smith in 2001 and offers an asset management service including secure data erasure and recycling for PCs, smartphones, laptops, hard drives, and other IT equipment.
The company was originally known as ShP processing largely used phones. It rebranded as ICT in 2016 and in 2018 the company was acquired by Asian firm EcoRenew which also bought Mazuma. Smith set up ShP In the late 90s when he was working as an Orange sales executive and spotted that there was no mechanism in place to process redundant phones at the time of the upgrade
