We are delighted to announce that Peter Mountford, Chairman of Heropreneurs and also the Veterans’ Foundation, has been awarded Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the King’s New Year Honours List.
Peter was recognised for his voluntary services to armed forces personnel, including his work with the charity Heropreneurs.
Heropreneurs empower entrepreneurs from the extended military community to achieve their business ambitions and forge new careers after service.
Commenting on the award, Peter said: “There are over two million armed forces veterans in this country. The people who defend this country in the armed forces, and their dependents, deserve our greatest respect for their service to this country and it is our duty to help them wherever possible.
“Setting up their own business is a popular career choice for people leaving the armed forces, however it is fraught with risk. I’ve been very fortunate to have helped many set up their own successful businesses through Heropreneurs.
“I am indebted to the outstanding community of people that provide their time and skills to act as business mentors for Heropreneurs.”
Creating a new business is one of the top six career aspirations of people leaving the armed forces and Peter’s work has directly contributed to hundreds of ex-servicemen and women forging their next path.
Heropreneurs was founded in 2009 and directly supports the ambition of current and former service personnel, and their partners, through one-to-one mentoring and hands-on guidance given freely by some of the country’s most successful business leaders.
The charity receives grant support from the Veterans’ Foundation to achieve its aims.
Peter Mountford Bio:
Peter’s Great Great Grandfather, David Weinstein, left Poland for England with his wife and three children in the late 19th century. David died in poverty in a workhouse in Nottingham.
His son, (Peter’s Great Grandfather) Solomon Weinstein, whilst on his way to work in Birmingham in 1904, is reputed to have saved a child from being run over but in the process was run over by a tram and died leaving his widow destitute with 8 children. Solomon only had a farthing to his name.
Peter’s father, Maurice Goldstone, was born ten years later, at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, and he passed on to him the greatest respect for this country and the fact that it became home to his family. Having lived through the Second World War, Peter’s father convinced him of the importance of the UK’s armed forces in protecting this country and his family, highlighted by what is happening in Ukraine and the Middle East currently. Peter’s father died when Peter was 12. He was an entrepreneur in Birmingham and created a successful business during the Second World War making gas mask bags.
Peter was born in Birmingham in 1957 and was educated at King Edward’s Five Ways School Birmingham and King Edward’s School Sheffield. He discovered his entrepreneurial flair when working as a bingo hall caller in the 1970s when he started selling jewellery to winners.
When Peter’s mother and adopted father emigrated to America in 1977, Peter remained in Sheffield and trained as a Chartered Accountant with Barber Harrison & Platt, the largest independent firm of Chartered Accountants in Sheffield. This was a qualification which he found extremely challenging to obtain whilst at the same time he is extremely proud of achieving.
Shortly after qualifying he joined the London Office of Arthur Andersen & Co. in 1982, where he discovered that, despite the fact that he didn’t have a degree from a University, that he could stand shoulder to shoulder with far more highly qualified work colleagues.
Peter joined the Corporate Finance Department of Arthur Andersen and was then seconded to the Takeover Panel in 1989 for two years.
In 1992 he left Arthur Andersen and started up his own business as a financial entrepreneur. He was an early-stage investor and director in several successful companies including GW Pharmaceuticals plc, RWS Holdings PLC, and Learning Technologies Group plc.
In October 2020, Peter served on the Advisory Board to the Office of Veterans Affairs, part of the Cabinet Office.
Peter lives in rural Gloucestershire with his wife Diana, who is a garden designer, and together, they have two children.
