Neil Bruce Copp Profile
Neil Bruce Copp OBE has always been a man with a mission; his first great business achievement was the solo creation and launch in 1983 of Targus, a company that designed soft carrying cases for portable computers. By the time he sold the company in 1996 for £100 million Targus was established as a brand leader, employing 6,000 people with 14 offices around the globe. His company was awarded the Queen's Award for Export on two occasions.
Neil describes himself mainly as a 'serial investing entrepreneur' and definitely seems to have the Midas touch in all of his business dealings; for example, he provided the seed capital for YouGov, the leading internet polling company, which was floated on the stock market in June 2005. He was also the original investor in a printing and direct mailing company Formpro Mail Marketing (FMM). From his initial investment of £75,000 in a single person who was operating the company from his garage, FMM now employs over 300 people and has an annual turnover of £20 million.
The extent of his charitable work is a testament to Neil's passion for people. He assisted in raising over £2 million for his old school, Wellington School in Somerset to build a new junior school and also a state of the art indoor sports stadium which was opened by Princess Anne. Neil counts it among one of this greatest honours that the school elected to name the main sports hall The Neil Bruce Copp Hall.
Neil has a long history of involvement with children's charities, including support for his local children's hospice, The Shooting Star Hospice, Hampton Hill. The Fair Play campaign is being funded by the NBC Winner Foundation, a private family foundation established by Neil that gives six figures each year on application to worthy charities. Neil attributes his motivation to a wonderful and supportive family and his considerable energy is now entirely devoted to realising a successful conclusion to the Fair Play For Children's Hospices campaign.
Outside of his business dealings Neil is passionate about rugby, and is President of Barnes Rugby Football club - a club he used to captain. Over the past five years he has raised enough sponsorship to establish a clubhouse and vastly improve training, coaching, management and facilities. This has clearly paid off. The club has been promoted year on year and is now in London Division 1.
Neil is also an ambulist, a collector of fine gold and silver walking canes and boasts one of the finest collections. He is also a court assistant of the Worshipful Company of Carmen and a Freeman of the City of London. Having been educated at Wellington School, Somerset, he is now a governor of the school.