ALASTAIR Waite, entrepreneur and business angel investor, has been named 2014 Director of the Year by The Institute of Directors North East.

Mr Waite, a former director of the Onyx Group, Middlesbrough, and now founder director of Altrelli Limited, Osmotherley, was presented with the award at the annual Business Leaders’ Dinner.

The award celebrates business leaders whose companies make a significant contribution to the region’s economic success.

The institute also highly commended Geoff Turnbull, chairman of the GT Group, Peterlee, and Geoff Thompson, chief executive officer of Utilitywise, South Shields.

Alastair Thomson, IoD North East chairman, said: “Alastair Waite has a strong entrepreneurial story to tell, has demonstrated his business acumen during three decades and he also has ambitions to build on the success he has achieved to date.”

Mr Waite is a qualified accountant with board level experience across many sectors including retail, engineering, research and development, semiconductors, biofuels and information technology.

He has raised almost every type of finance, opened overseas offices, bought and sold businesses, and completed management buyouts.

He is majority owner of Altec Engineering Limited in Durham which has a highly skilled workforce of more than 50 and helped build Bede Group from University spin-out to a business that floated.

Mr Waite is perhaps best known for leading the buy-out of Onyx Group in 2001 and leading its growth which resulted in its sale for £27m in 2011. He left his position as strategic development director in November to focus on developing his investment portfolio of about 24 businesses.

Keynote speakers at the dinner, at the Radisson Blue Hotel in Durham, were Steph Mc- Govern, BBC Breakfast business correspondent and Graeme Leach, IoD chief economist.