Chris Yates was selected from a list of top 250 privately owned companies in the Surrey, Kent and Sussex regions.

Chris Yates, CEO at FFX (Folkestone Fixings) has picked up the prestigious award of ‘CEO of the Year’ from The Business Magazine.

Yates, who was selected from a list of top 250 privately owned companies in the Surrey, Kent and Sussex regions, said: "This award really reflects the efforts of the entire team at FFX to service trades persons throughout the UK. It’s been a pleasure to lead them to achieve so much.

"As leaders, we owe it to ourselves to help others because you don't always know what skills your business will need next. Our company has tripled in size over the last ten years and we have the same people in the same jobs but doing more, so we have invested in management development as well as training and coaching our people to be successful.

"I am also grateful to our customers. These highly skilled trades persons make an enormous contribution to the UK economy and we hope to continue providing them with the tools they need for years to come."