Anthony Charles Robinson (born 7 September 1952) is a business speaker, author and micro-enterprise campaigner.

Early life

Anthony Charles Robinson was born in 1952 in

North Ferriby North Ferriby is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Haltemprice area of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. History Humber Estuary "The archaeology of the intertidal wetlands of the Humber Estuary is of internatio ...

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

and attended

Beverley Grammar School Beverley Grammar School is an 11–16 boys’ Comprehensive school (England and Wales), comprehensive secondary school, secondary Academy (English school), academy school in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. A school may have been est ...

Beverley Beverley is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is located north-west of Hull city centre. At the 2021 census the built-up area of the town had a population of 30,930, and the smaller civil parish had ...

, from 1964 to 1971.

Career

Robinson founded Business Advisory Bureau (BAB) Limited, a company which specialises in helping large organisations in both private and public sectors engage with and supply

SME ''Sme'' (stylized as ''SME'') or ''Denník Sme'' () is one of the widely-read mainstream broadsheets in Slovakia. Its website is one of the most-visited internet portals in Slovakia. Ownership status In June 2016, the Antimonopoly Office appro ...

s, in January 1986. In 1998 Robinson co-founded the Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative (SFEDI) Group, which despite being independent is the government recognised UK Standards Setting Body for Business Support and Business Enterprise. The Group received £1.2 million of government funding in 2011 to help boost its Get Mentoring scheme. Since founding the Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative (SFEDI), Robinson has campaigned to make life better for small and business owners in the UK. Robinson's campaigning led him to co-found and develop the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurship (IOEE), an educational institute dedicated to recognising individuals who choose enterprise and entrepreneurship as a professional career. Robinson then co-founded #MicroBizMattersDay, an annual day of Recognition, Action and Learning for micro business owners, in 2001. Robinson and co-founder Tina Boden held the first #Microbizmatters on 8 January 2015, and continue the annual day on the 2nd Friday of each New Year. Since September 2004, Robinson has served as a non-executive director for Yorkshire Coast Enterprise (YCE) Limited – a non-profit organisation promoting enterprise in

Scarborough, North Yorkshire Scarborough () is a seaside town and civil parish in North Yorkshire District, the district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. With a population of 61,749, Scarborough is the largest town on the Yorkshire Coast and the No ...

and currently serves as chair of the organisation. Ahead of the 2015 UK general election, 'Real Business' featured Robinson as part of a five British entrepreneur and executive line-up focusing on the government's support of small companies and the improvements a new government could make. Robinson was also a Judge at the Great British Entrepreneurs Awards in 2018 and 2019 as well as in the simply Business £10,000 Business Boost Award 2020.

Author

Robinson, alongside Leonora Soculitherz, wrote and published ''Freedom from Bosses Forever: how to take control of your own destiny by going it alone,'' a satirical book in July 2014. According to

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, the book is held in three libraries. Robinson wrote The Happipreneur, which was published in August 2020 by FCM publishing, to help entrepreneurs control their own destiny through their own enterprise in order to make ends meet and live a happy and fulfilled life rather than use wealth creation as the prime motive.

Awards and honours

In 2001, Robinson was awarded an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the Queen's

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

List in recognition of his service to small firms and training.

Charity work and philanthropy

Since campaigning in 1998 to make life better for small and business owners in the UK. Robinson has also campaigned and raised funds for #PayIn30Days, an initiative designed to tackle late payment – one of the biggest issues facing the area's small and medium enterprises, and #ExcludedUK, a campaign to support 3 million business owners and self-employed individuals who have been excluded from UK Government COVID-19 income support since the global pandemic. Robinson also serves as Patron for the John Cracknell Youth Enterprise Bank, a charity which helps disadvantaged young people with the potential to become entrepreneurs with funding and access to mentors and has run three marathons in aid of

Macmillan Cancer Support Macmillan Cancer Support is one of the largest British charities and provides specialist health care, information and financial support to people affected by cancer. It also looks at the social, emotional and practical impact cancer can have, an ...

Bibliography

* ''The Happipreneur Why #MicroBizMatters?'' (2020, Chronos Publishing, ) * ''A Perfect Little Gift'' (2019, Chronos Publishing, ) * ''Loose Cannon'' (2017. Tony Robinson OBE, ) * ''@MicroBizMatters Start Up Guide'' (2016, CreateSpace, ) * ''Soculitherz on TV – 20 Feisty Enterprise Tips'' (2015, Tony Robinson OBE, ) * ''Freedom From Bosses Forever'' (2014 Tony Robinson OBE, ) * ''The Essential Guide to Earning a Living from Independent Consultancy'' (1996, BAB Publications, )

References

External links

Tony Robinson OBE Website

Freedom from Bosses Forever Website

MicroBizMattersDay Website

IOEE Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Tony Officers of the Order of the British Empire Living people 1952 births English businesspeople 20th-century English businesspeople 21st-century British businesspeople