Wayne Palmer is from southern England, born and raised in the Southampton area in a council house. His dad was a lorry driver and mum a school cook. He left school to start a traditional engineering craft apprenticeship, but continued with his education one day a week, and in the evening, right up until he was 28 and the birth of his son. By his own confession, it makes him a late starter.

Wayne completed his apprenticeship in production engineering, specialising in turning and milling, after which he moved into technical sales and installations before moving onto junior management roles.

He started his first business, Thinking Space, in 2003, at home in his parents’ dining room. This company now has international offices manufacturing in the northern and southern hemispheres and he has another three companies which he has built up, which fit nicely into the Thinking Space family. These companies represent leading brands from Europe and as well as their own brands. They see products being exported globally. Now a market leader in several sectors, 40% of the products are sold internationally.

A bad golfer and very average sailor, Wayne’s passion is working with young people and trying to show them what they can achieve with hard work and common sense. Wayne believes in the apprenticeship scheme, and on-the-job training as a real alternative to university.

He also puts his success down to teamwork and talking fantastic people into working with him.