A man who was twice homeless as a teenager before becoming a multimillionaire entrepreneur has topped a list celebrating influential black Britons.
Dean Forbes, who, after failing to make it as a professional footballer, began his career in a call centre, is now the boss of several software companies.
He worked his way up from “abject poverty” on an estate in south-east London to become chief executive of Forterro, a Swedish software firm.
Forbes said topping the Powerlist 2025 was a “professional and career high”.
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He told the BBC that although he grew up in a single-parent family on a housing estate in Lewisham, his disabled mum always encouraged her children to be positive, and gave them hope.
He said he had a “whale of a time” growing up despite having little money, living in a local community which “looked after each other”.
His said his mum taught him and his two brothers to “raise our expectations”, “never to be victims” and not dwell on misfortunes.
He twice became homeless as a teenager, but said he and his family always saw these as temporary challenges to be overcome.
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He managed to get a place at Crystal Palace Academy, but it didn’t work out.
He points to that failure as a key moment in his eventual success, because it made him more determined.
“Thanks to that disappointment and rejection, it put me on this path which is beyond my wildest dreams,” he said.
He had been borrowing money to “keep up appearances” with friends like then-footballer Rio Ferdinand who were being “paid well”, but he was eventually left with an £88,000 debt pile.
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To start to clear that, he got a job in a Motorola call centre, and he quickly worked his way up.
He moved to a software firm called Primavera which he helped build up, and made his first millions after it was sold to Oracle: he had taken an equity stake.
Forbes moved from there to being chief executive of two software firms, KDS and CoreHR, each time taking equity stakes, and making millions more.
He also has an equity stake in Forterro, which he said was a firm which makes more than €300m (£250m) in revenue per year and earnings of €130m.
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Despite his wealth, he said he never wanted “to lose the value of a pound”.
He was able to buy his mum a home, and his children “have never had to deal with anything I had to deal with” in terms of poverty.
He now describes celebrities like Ferdinand and actor Idris Elba as close friends.
But he told the BBC his roots remained very important to him and he wanted to inspire and give opportunities to others who have not started out with advantages in life.
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Forbes and his wife Danielle set up the Forbes Family Group, a philanthropic organisation for people in underserved communities.
They are working to try to break the cycle of poverty and disadvantage, and give people positive role models.
“My experience has made me painfully aware that there is so much talent in these communities – you just need to open the door a crack” to give people a chance, he said.
Forbes said that as he was growing up the only black people he could see who were successful seemed to be in entertainment, sport, or “doing unsavoury things” in criminal gangs.
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He said he wanted to make success in business more “relatable” in part through mentoring and networking projects.
He has now been named number one on the Powerlist 2025, after being number two last year.
The annual Powerlist was first published in 2007, with its aim to provide role models for young black people, according to Powerful Media.
Forbes takes the place of British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful at the head of the list.
Whoever is the next president of the US, their urgent goal should be to regain control over US foreign policy (The Big Read, October 8).
As it stands, US foreign policy has been held hostage by the administration’s “ironclad commitment” doctrine towards Israel, which unfortunately means the de facto support of virtually any policy action the Israeli government takes, no matter what its nature (for example in relation to international law), and irrespective of the implications for how the US is perceived by the rest of the world, and irrespective of the implications for US involvement in a war clearly contrary to its own interests.
No country anywhere in the world should have such an “ironclad commitment” from the US government. No country anywhere should be able to do anything it feels appropriate for its own national interest and perpetually drag the US with it, no matter what the implications are for the US. I say that as a recently naturalised citizen of the US.
The current state of affairs is very damaging to the US, with implications both for American lives and for the legitimacy and effectiveness of the US as a world leader and guardian of the rules-based world order.
NATIONAL Graduate Week kicks off on Monday – and is the most popular time for employers to open applications for prestigious jobs for those fresh out of university.
With around 800,000 students leaving higher education annually, competition for top graduate roles is always fierce, but this year it is tougher than ever.
More than A MILLION applications were made for such jobs in the last 12 months — a record high — new figures from the Institute of Student Employers show.
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Employers get on average 140 applications per graduate job, 59 per cent up on the previous year.
The most sought-after roles, in digital and IT, attract 205 applications per vacancy, while the charity and public sectors are the least competitive with 74 and 85 applications per role respectively.
While some of the surge is due to hiring managers ditching the need for a minimum 2:1 degree, to make recruiting more inclusive, employment experts say soaring use of AI makes it faster for students to apply.
‘Opportunities growing’
ISE chief executive Stephen Isherwood said: “As AI makes it easier to apply for jobs, volumes are pushed up and quality goes down, creating more rejections.
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“While this marks a positive move from employers, encouraging applications from a broader pool of candidates, the downside is that it has amounted to millions of rejection messages to students in the last year.
“However, applicant volumes have always outstripped vacancy levels and overall opportunities are still growing despite the challenging economic environment.”
The average graduate salary is up two per cent on last year to £32,539, according to jobs platform Adzuna, while some schemes in law and finance can pay up to £60,000.
Here is our Sunemployment guide to the top six schemes to apply for.
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As one of the UK’s biggest employers of graduates, BAE SYSTEMS will hire 1,000 new starters.
Opening on November 21, there are 100 business and head office roles at BRITISH AIRWAYS including commercial, engineering, tech and analytics. See careers.ba.com/graduates-bps-and-interns.
AWE NUCLEAR SECURITY TECHNOLOGIES is seeking 124 graduates. Find out more at awe.co.uk/careers/early-careers
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DO US A FLAVOUR
LOOKING for a tasty new career? Food firms offer some of the most interesting roles and fastest career progression available anywhere.
PREMIER FOODS, which makes brands including Oxo and Mr Kipling, has up to 24 places available in marketing, sales, finance, procurement, IT and operations. HR Director David Wilkinson said: “It’s a great place to grow a career.”
Want to work on brands like Maltesers? MARS is hiring 30 grads across management, engineering, supply chain, procurement, finance and R&D. See bit.ly/4fbMzqK.
MDS trains managers for the food supply chain and there are 60 places. See mds-ltd.co.uk/.
How to beat the crowds
WITH a million applications for graduate roles, how can you make yours stand out from the rest?
Here STEPHEN ISHERWOOD, chief executive of the Institute of Student Employers, shares his expert advice . . .
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1. WORK IT: Treat your search for employment as a job in itself – spend more time on fewer applications, focusing on the positions you really want to land and are suited to.
2. SHOW THE REAL YOU: Relying too heavily on AI can lead to candidates coming across as less authentic to potential employers. Make sure your application genuinely reflects who you are and what you can do.
3. GAIN WORK SKILLS: The number of former interns landing jobs gets higher every year, but pretty much any work experience will boost your chance of success in the crowded jobs market.
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4. ADAPT TO NEW TECHNOLOGIES: Video chats and AI-led interviews are becoming more common, so be familiar with this approach – career services can help.
5. DON’T BE DISCOURAGED: Employers dealing with endless applications means there are more rejections. Avoid the trap of believing the jobs market is impossible.
Commitment to hiring graduates remains strong – the market isn’t shrinking and opportunities are still out there to be seized.
YOU’RE WORTH IT
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BEAUTY is big business – and top cosmetics company L’Oréal is searching for 23 graduates for its UK arm.
There are jobs available across commercial, supply chain, marketing and finance, based at the firm’s London HQ.
Emily Chiverton, HR Director L’Oréal UK & Ireland. Said: “We are looking for passionate people with ambition to build amazing careers at L’Oréal.
Our management trainee program is our talent accelerator to prepare the future of L’Oréal.
“It allows graduates to be trained and prepared for a future management role within the company by rotating between different disciplines for up to 18 months.”
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The chair of the world’s largest Spanish-language broadcaster Grupo Televisa stepped down on Thursday as the company faces a US investigation over activity related to Fifa football rights.
Televisa in August said it was being investigated by the US Department of Justice over its dealings with football’s governing body, Fifa, and that the outcome of the probe could have a material financial impact on the company.
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It said Emilio Azcárraga, 56, who first took the helm of Televisa in the 1990s and is one of Latin America’s most powerful business leaders, would step down with immediate effect.
Televisa, best known for producing telenovela soap operas, is the largest media company in Latin America and the biggest shareholder in US Spanish-language broadcaster Univision. In 2023 it paid $95mn to settle a shareholder lawsuit alleging it bribed Fifa officials to win rights to show World Cup matches.
Azcárraga, whose grandfather founded the company, was chief executive for two decades until 2017 and served as chair until Thursday. It was not clear whether he would return after the probe’s conclusion. The company said it was co-operating with the recently disclosed investigation.
Shares in Televisa have been falling since their peak in 2015 and hit an all-time low this year, as its cable and content businesses face greater competition.
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In its third-quarter results published on Thursday, it said revenues at its cable and satellite businesses fell 4 per cent and 13 per cent respectively. Overall revenue fell 6.4 per cent to 15.36bn pesos ($775mn).
Mexico’s media companies are grappling with the shift to digital streaming and tougher competition for ad revenues. Televisa’s largest competitor in the country, broadcast group TV Azteca, is also facing a lawsuit over alleged non-payment to some of its international creditors.
The 2021 deal to combine Televisa with US broadcaster Univision was aimed at grabbing market share among Latino audiences, particularly in the US, where its Vix streaming service aims to compete with giants such as Netflix.
After the deal, Televisa spun off several assets into a new company run by Azcárraga, including Mexico’s largest football team Club América and the iconic Azteca Stadium, which is being renovated ahead of the 2026 World Cup in North America.
2) SIZE MATTERS: Smaller pumpkins are great for decoration but are harder to carve.
Choose a bigger pumpkin as you will have more leeway to correct any mistakes.
3) TAKE YOUR TIME: Wait until a day or two before Halloween to carve yours, as pumpkins only last for three to five days afterwards, before they start to rot.
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Aim to carve from October 29.
4) COOL TOOLS: Use a pumpkin carving kit or improvise with a knife and ice cream scoop.
Cut out the lid at an angle so it will sit back on top then scoop out the inside.
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Supervise your kids at all times.
I’m a parenting expert & next week will be Halloween hell if you don’t make 5 changes now with your little one
5) SUPER STENCILS: Draw on your design with a pen and cut out.
Carving templates are a big help — download one for free at pumpkinlady.com.
6) DON’T USE A NAKED FLAME: A traditional candle can be a fire hazard and should never be left unattended. Instead, pop an LED tea light into your pumpkin.
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7) LITTLE GHOSTS AND GHOULS? Get tiny tots involved too.
They will love drawing faces on small pumpkins and squashes with felt-tip pens.
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Companies that import critical minerals into Britain for use by manufacturers will be able to obtain financing for the first time from UK Export Finance, Rachel Reeves will announce in the Budget on Wednesday.
The chancellor will say that the measure is needed to help Britain in the global race to secure materials such as lithium, graphite and cobalt that are key to making products ranging from phones to electric vehicles.
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The Treasury said this would be particularly beneficial for manufacturers in industries such as defence, aerospace and making batteries for electric vehicles. Carmakers Nissan and Jaguar Land Rover-owner Tata are building battery factories in the UK, which experts say is one important step towards growing a domestic critical minerals supply chain.
The goal of shifting energy systems away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy sources such as solar and wind will require a huge increase in the use of critical minerals.
The UK is part of a coalition of 14 nations and the European Commission called the “Minerals Security Partnership”, which is trying to increase international collaboration and co-financing for the sector.
The US and China have been embroiled in a trade war in which Washington has imposed export curbs on semiconductors and other advanced technologies, while Beijing has retaliated by restricting exports of some minerals.
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The tension has also spilled over into the EU, which this month said it would impose tariffs on imports of Chinese electric vehicles following months of ratcheting tensions between Brussels and Beijing.
Chinese companies control 90 per cent of the world’s processing capacity for rare earths and more than half the processing capacity for nickel, lithium and cobalt.
Jeff Townsend, founder of the Critical Minerals Association, said it was crucial that the UK develop a domestic critical minerals industry to secure long-term supply, a push that the government would need to support.
“There might be projects that don’t work [commercially without government support] but where the strategic value to having your own supply chain far outweighs that,” he said.
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“You’ve got to build everything all at once,” from mines to processing and refining and battery manufacturing, he said. “We’re in a global race.”
The government said the change would make it easier for UKEF, the UK’s export credit agency, to secure finance contracts for critical mineral suppliers in countries such as Australia with large mineral deposits.
“This addresses a gap in the UK’s existing financial support for manufacturers looking to secure these key minerals, who previously would not have been able to access government support in order to do so,” a spokesperson said.
They added that the decision strengthened “UKEF’s world-leading export finance support”, bringing the country in line with competitors.
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It comes on the back of the government’s launch of its modern industrial strategy, which will drive “long-term growth that is supportive of net zero, regional growth and economic resilience”, they said.
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