ENTREPENEUR John Griffin has been selected as this year’s London Kerry Person of the Year.
Mr Griffin, whose father hails from Glenbeigh, Co. Kerry, was chosen by committee in recognition of his life time achievements and support of the Irish at home and abroad.
“My father would have been so proud,” he said. “It’s a great honour that has tremendous meaning for me as this committee not only recognises who I am but what I have done.”
Mr Griffin, who founded mini-cab company Addison lee and sold it last year for £300million - is chair of Irish TV, which launched globally in May.
“I started from nothing,” he said. “I was in Ireland from the age of one to nine, I went to school every day with no shoes on. We moved to the UK and I failed my 11 plus. When it came to my GCSEs and A-Levels I went to Ireland on holiday and contracted TB. I spent 18 months of my life recovering from that and did not sit a single exam.”
He added: “We had no money growing up and I started my business with one car eventually developing it into a company with 4,000 vehicles.”
John, who received an Irish Post Business Award last year, was accepted into the inner sanctum of British tradition when he was recently awarded the freedom of London City.
But he is very much committed to his Kerry roots and has previous donated to the sports centre in Glenbeigh to facilitate an expansion of their grounds.
Mr Griffin is a dedicated supporter of Irish culture and is the main sponsor of the Return to Camden festival, which takes place this year from October 22-26.
John is also an ambassador for the introduction of fibre optic cabling to Ireland, which he believes will feature the country as an IT haven for the likes of Google and Yahoo, in turn supporting the recovery of the Irish economy.
Mr Griffin will be presented with his award at the Kerry Association’s annual dinner dance at the Crown Moran Hotel in Cricklewood on October 24 from last year’s winner, Shelagh O’Connor of Brosna.
