The programme was created by private equity investor LDC, part of Lloyds Banking Group, in partnership with The Times. Since 2018, it has celebrated the ambition and achievements of hundreds of exceptional entrepreneurs.
This year The LDC Top 50 attracted more than 620 nominations from across the UK, highlighting the depth of ambition among leaders building successful businesses in every region and sector. The leaders featured are driven by an appetite for growth that is helping to build stronger, more sustainable businesses and a more competitive UK economy. They are expanding internationally, developing new products and services, challenging established markets and investing in their people.
Together, their businesses generate £1.4bn in annual revenues and employ almost 8,500 people. Headquartered in 55 towns and cities, they demonstrate the contribution that medium-sized businesses make to their communities and the wider UK economy.
In 2013 PJ founded UK Connect – the UK’s foremost provider of advanced wireless connectivity solutions for a wealth of industries including construction, warehousing and logistics, and manufacturing. Today UK Connect is the connectivity cornerstone for some of Britain’s biggest housebuilders, manufacturers, and logistics companies. UK Connect delivers mission-critical connectivity in some of the UK’s most demanding environments.
This year PJ spearheaded the launch of UK Connect Defence – a UK-owned rapid capability integrator and technology manufacturer. The firm helps defence companies and other agencies turn operational requirements into deployable, supportable and trusted connectivity solutions at pace. UK Connect Defence transforms technology into field-ready capability.
PJ Farr, Executive Chairman of UK Connect and UK Connect Defence, said: “It is a real honour to sit alongside such fantastic fellow business leaders on this list. By far the most exciting thing about being an entrepreneur is building a team of talented professionals who are as ambitious as you are. And I am very fortunate to work with such great people across our two businesses. Without them, we would not have been able to achieve the sheer scale of rapid-growth we have been able to deliver over the past 13 years.”
John Garner, Managing Partner at LDC, added: “What stands out about this year’s LDC Top 50 is not only what these leaders have already achieved, but their determination to keep moving forward. Across the UK, they are finding new opportunities, investing in their people and building for the future. I congratulate every leader featured this year and wish them continued success.”
Read more about The LDC Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leaders for 2026 here: https://bit.ly/4rBJ845
Read PJ Farr’s official LDC Top 50 profile
UK Connect Defence is the Defence-facing business of UK Connect and a UK-owned rapid capability integrator and technology manufacturer. We help Defence and other agencies turn operational requirements into deployable, supportable and trusted connectivity solutions at pace. “Transforming Technology into field-ready Capability.”
For more than a decade, UK Connect has delivered connectivity to locations where traditional infrastructure is unavailable, delayed or impractical, supporting thousands of temporary and remote sites across the UK every year. That experience now underpins UK Connect Defence’s approach to supporting military, security and humanitarian organisations operating in challenging environments.
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