DALLAS — This year’s Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of the Year Award gala may have been held in Palm Springs, California, but a spotlight shone on the city of Dallas as Thomas Hartland-Mackie, president and CEO of City Electric Supply (CES), took the stage.
Hartland-Mackie was one of 11 business leaders to receive the prestigious Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) Entrepreneur Of the Year® 2019 Award at a black-tie ceremony held on Nov. 16. He earned the distinction in the Family Business category for CES, his family’s electric wholesale distributing company, located in the heart of downtown Dallas.
“I really don’t accept this honor for me, it is a family business,” Hartland-Mackie said during his acceptance speech. “I accept it for my personal family, my wife Nasiba, our kids, my grandfather who started this business with my grandmother in 1951 and the 8,000 families that work for us around the world. Without them, none of this is possible.”
CES was founded by Hartland-Mackie’s grandfather, Tom Mackie, in the United Kingdom, and the company expanded to the United States in 1983. Today, CES employs more than 3,000 people in 453 branches across the U.S. It is dedicated to providing personalized service and support for customers in the residential, commercial and industrial marketplace. While CES is a large company, it prides itself on keeping its founding principle of empowering people to make local business decisions by giving customers tailored services for all of their electric supply needs.
“Our business has always been and will always be a people-focused business. Customers can buy their products from any number of places, but they choose to give their business to us because of the strong relationships and exceptional service our branches pour into those partnerships,” Hartland-Mackie said.
Hartland-Mackie took over the North American business in 2008. His dedicated leadership and strong vision brought CES out of the financial crisis stronger than ever, and was behind the company’s biggest growth acceleration in the history of the organization.
His vision and entrepreneurial spirit sparked an evolution that has taken CES from a traditional business into the digital age, with the recent launch of an online shopping experience that’s now available nationwide, in addition to almost 30 new brick-and-mortar stores each year. A passionate and humble family man, Hartland-Mackie is respected by his team for his ambition, integrity, and humility. He always says his grandfather “invented the wheel” and that it is his job to “evolve that wheel, not reinvent it.” He accomplishes that by bringing global employees closer together than ever before, resulting in a culture that is second-to-none.
The 2019 Entrepreneur Of The Year U.S. Awards gala was held at the Strategic Growth Forum and was emceed by Seth Meyers, host of “Late Night with Seth Meyers”. For more than 30 years, The EY organization has recognized entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies and communities. The program takes place in 145 cities and more than 60 countries around the world.
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