ANGLIA Ruskin University graduate David Hyett, who is enjoying a sparkling career in the telecommunications industry, is the recipient of this year’s Alumni Success in Business Award, sponsored by the Luminus Group.

The 33-year-old, who lives in Chelmsford, graduated from Anglia Ruskin in 2001 with a BA (Hons) Business Administration degree and went on to become managing director of the Excalibur Group Ltd, which offers IT and mobile solutions to businesses across the UK, before forming his own company, Foneshop.com .

David’s first role after leaving Anglia Ruskin was with MBO, a direct marketing agency. fter three years of unprecedented success for MBO, David was appointed marketing manager at MR Plastic in 2004, where he increased yearly sales by 25% and started their highly successful mail order website project.

It wasn’t long before David’s burgeoning reputation attracted the attention of telecommunications company Excalibur Group Ltd, and in 2005 David was installed as its new marketing manager. His promotion was swift, joining the board as marketing director after just two years at the company and then becoming managing director in 2009.

In the period that David worked there, Excalibur doubled its turnover and dramatically expanded its product range. Under David’s guidance, the company’s distribution business also flourished, increasing its turnover by 25%.

David’s strong links with Anglia Ruskin were instrumental in securing two Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) which gave Excalibur the expertise it needed to launch into new markets across Europe.

David has been keen to create opportunities for students and graduates through various business support programmes such as mentoring, internships and Low Carbon KEEP, and also contribute to the future success of Anglia Ruskin’s Lord Ashcroft International Business School by offering his expertise as a guest lecturer.

In October 2010 he sold his stake in Excalibur to form his own company, Foneshop.com Ltd. In the first year his turnover was �1.2million and he is on track to achieve a turnover of �2.5m this year.

Sue Jacobs, head of alumni relations at Anglia Ruskin, said: “David is an excellent role model for our students and is a worthy winner of the 2012 Alumni Success in Business Award. Constantly pushing himself to succeed within new business environments and challenges, David has a bight future of entrepreneurial success ahead of him.

“From his Business Administration degree at Anglia Ruskin, to managing a multi-national company with over �15m turnover and setting up his own business, David has brought exceptional skills, capabilities and dedication to both his studies and his career.”

: : INDEPENDENT private client investment manager Brewin Dolphin has welcomed Andrew Wheeler to its new Ipswich office as a divisional director and head of office.

Andrew has more than 20 years experience in the financial services sector and is a member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment.

He started his career with Natwest Markets in London and then moved to Gerrard Vivian Gray in Ipswich in 1995. Following a series of mergers and takeovers Andrew remained in a similar role before leaving Barclays Wealth in October this year. He is an investment manager for private clients, self invested pensions, trusts and charities.

“I am delighted to have joined Brewin Dolphin and once again to have teamed up with colleagues that I have worked with for a number of years,” he said.

“We believe that this will create a very powerful local team and everyone is very excited about the opportunity and challenges facing us.”

Robin Beer, Midlands regional director at Brewin Dolphin, said: “We are committed to growing our presence in East Anglia and this appointment is a big step in achieving our goals.”

Andrew joins Toby Sellers, Nicholas Barber and Matthew Shields in the new Ipswich office in Felaw Maltings.

Brewin Dolphin has more than 40 offices nationally and is one of the UK’s largest independent private client investment managers with more than �25billion worth of funds under management.

: : SANTANDER Corporate Banking is strengthening its support for businesses and extending its presence in East Anglia after moving to new, bigger offices in Cambridge.

The move to the new office in Vision Park, Histon, provides additional space to further grow the team as part of Santander’s aim to grow its presence across the UK and demonstrates Santander’s commitment to the region’s small and medium sized businesses following a steady drive to establish a local presence over the past two years.

A team of nine corporate and commercial relationship directors will be based at the new centre, Victory House, providing a bespoke relationship banking service to corporate and commercial customers with a turnover above �250,000. Customers will be offered a full range of banking services, including specialist finance such as supplier finance and invoice discounting, as well as dedicated sector expertise.

The team is led by Martyn Dawson, regional director for Anglia, and is made up of six relationship directors: Mark Hindley, Oliver Wright, Arun Jeyarajah, David Fish, Jon Everitt, and Wayne Rand, supported by a team of three relationship managers including the latest joiner, Celia Vince, who joined the team earlier this month. Martin Williams, relationship director for large businesses across the Anglia and Home Counties region, will also be based at the Cambridge office. The new centre will also provide customers with access to specialist product partners including experts in asset finance, invoice finance, treasury and deposits.

Martyn has been steadily building the business across the Anglia region over the past three years and now has three key Corporate Business Centres in the region – Cambridge (regional hub), Norwich and Chelmsford. In the year to the end of June, he grew lending to small and medium sized businesses by 88%, providing �97million of new loans to smaller firms across Anglia.

Martyn said: “This new centre demonstrates Santander’s commitment to Cambridge and the wider Anglia region. Locally, we have a high proportion of successful SMEs and we are delighted that we will now have greater capacity to grow our business and provide more dedicated support to our new and existing business customers in the region. We are focussed on growing our business lending and supporting the companies which make up the backbone of the local economy.”

The move is part of a wider �7m investment programme by Santander to open eight new Corporate Banking Centres across the UK in 2012, and relocate into larger premises in four key locations.

Marcelino Castrillo, head of SME at Santander, said: “At Santander we set ourselves apart as the bank that builds strong relationships with customers by taking the time to understand their needs to allow us to create solutions that help them achieve their ambitions.

“Santander is strongly committed to SME banking and we are actively growing our business to increase our coverage across the UK. We want to increase the number of people we have on the ground so we can better support the strong business communities in smaller towns and cities as well as in the key industrial hubs.”

: : HAIR and beauty salon, The Retreat Dedham, has expanded its beauty team with the appointment of Abigail Barnard, 21.

Abigail specialises in facials and massages and joins The Retreat from Moors Health and Beauty in Colchester where she was a beauty therapist.

Owner of The Retreat, Anita Dixon, said she was delighted to welcome Abigail on-board.

“We’ve recently returned from the US where we learnt how to use all the latest beauty products from Dermalogica. Thanks to Abigail joining the team we’ll be able to offer our clients a fuller range of beauty and massage services,” she said.

: : A FINANCIAL adviser covering Suffolk and Norfolk has scooped a national award.

Jeremy Brewer has been named Skipton Financial Services’s Quality Adviser of the Year for 2012, beating more than 120 colleagues from around the UK.

Jeremy, who lives at Great Plumstead with wife Sandie, has extensive experience of financial services having joined MIA back in 1975, prior to MIA being acquired by Skipton Financial Services in 2003.

His hobbies include theatre, walking, crime fiction books and supporting Everton Football Club. His claims to fame during his career include meeting The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh and Diana Princess of Wales, as well as attending receptions at both 10 Downing Street and The House of Lords.

Jeremey said he was “honoured” to have been chosen.

“I would like to thank my clients for continuing to trust me with their financial planning.

“There has been a lot of coverage in the media about companies discontinuing face-to-face financial advice from next year so I am delighted to say that Skipton Financial Services is committed to being around for a long time to come,” he said.

Andrew Barker, managing director of Skipton Financial Services, said: “Jeremy’s professionalism, dedication and drive to do the best for his clients make him a tremendous asset to the company.”