The head of a Walsall emergency repair firm was named the top entrepreneur in the South of England last week.

Richard Harpin, of Homeserve, was named the best of the 52 entrepreneurs representing the South of the country at the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards at the London Hilton Metropole last week.

The chief executive of the multimillion pound business specialising in emergency call out and insured repair solutions to householders and corporates was commended by the judging panel for his “focused strategy, enthusiasm and entrepreneurial drive”.

Homeserve was originally founded as a joint venture with South Staffordshire Water and has grown to become one of the UK’s top 200 listed businesses.

The firm has operations in Spain, France and the US, and is looking into expanding into Germany, Italy and the Benelux countries.

Ronnie Bowker, Ernst & Young’s senior partner in Birmingham said: “The calibre of this year’s Entrepreneur Of The Year award finalists was higher than ever, and it is really encouraging to see that the overall title went to a West Midlands’ entry.

“The region is a hot bed for business and continues to produce some of the UK’s top entrepreneurial talent.”

Continuing he added: “Richard’s success is a credit to his determination and drive to succeed. He has created a strong business, with excellent financial credentials, that continues to grow and expand. He is a very worthy award winner and I wish him the best of luck for the next stage of the awards programme.”

The South Region Entrepreneur Of The Year award winners were decided by an independent judging panel, which was chaired by Terry Burt of the 2e2 Group.

Mr Burt said: “Richard Harpin stood out because he has taken Homeserve Plc from concept to a leading FTSE listed business, in the space of just 15 years. He identified an opportunity in the market place, and created a business to fill the niche.”

Richard Harpin will now go through to the national finals, held in London on October 6 to compete with the other regional award recipients from across the UK.