UK Connect Chief named in LDC top 50 ambitious leaders

PJ Farr has been named in The LDC Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leaders for 2026, which recognises 50 business leaders from across the UK.

Farr is Executive Chairman of UK Connect and UK Connect Defence. He founded UK Connect in 2013, building the business around wireless connectivity services for sectors including construction, warehousing, logistics and manufacturing.

The recognition comes through a programme created by private equity investor LDC in partnership with The Times. This year's edition attracted more than 620 nominations from across the UK.

According to the organisers, the 50 featured leaders run businesses with combined annual revenues of GBP £1.4 billion and employ almost 8,500 people. Those companies are headquartered in 55 towns and cities, underlining the role of medium-sized businesses in local economies.

UK Connect has built its business by supplying connectivity to sites where fixed infrastructure is unavailable, delayed or impractical. It works with housebuilders, manufacturers and logistics groups that need communications links in temporary, remote or demanding operating conditions.

Earlier this year, Farr also led the launch of UK Connect Defence. The new business focuses on defence and other agencies that need deployable connectivity systems for use in operational environments.

UK Connect Defence describes itself as a UK-owned rapid capability integrator and technology manufacturer. Its work centres on turning operational requirements into connectivity systems that can be deployed and supported in the field.

The addition of a defence-focused operation marks a broader expansion of the group's activities beyond its established commercial markets. It also places Farr's latest move within a wider trend of British technology companies seeking a larger role in defence, security and resilience-related projects.

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Since its launch more than a decade ago, UK Connect has focused on temporary and remote connectivity across the UK. That experience now helps underpin its defence offering, which targets military, security and humanitarian users operating in difficult locations.

For LDC's programme, judges reviewed a broad field of nominees from different sectors and regions. The initiative has run since 2018 and highlights entrepreneurs behind medium-sized British businesses.

Farr said the award also reflected the contribution of staff across both businesses. "It is a real honour to sit alongside such fantastic fellow business leaders on this list. By far the most exciting thing about being an entrepreneur is building a team of talented professionals who are as ambitious as you are. And I am very fortunate to work with such great people across our two businesses. Without them, we would not have been able to achieve the sheer scale of rapid growth we have delivered over the past 13 years," Farr said.

John Garner, Managing Partner at LDC, pointed to the wider picture among this year's selected leaders. "What stands out about this year's LDC Top 50 is not only what these leaders have already achieved, but their determination to keep moving forward. Across the UK, they are finding new opportunities, investing in their people and building for the future. I congratulate every leader featured this year and wish them continued success," Garner said.

The programme's data suggests the selected businesses span a wide range of sectors, with leaders pursuing expansion through new products and services, overseas growth and investment in staff. Farr's inclusion places UK Connect among that group as it expands from its core connectivity business into the defence market.