Squire Is UK’s Business Ambassador

The competition run by professional services firm Ernst & Young has attracted entrants from 53 countries. Squire and husband Harold Panter have built ATG into an international venture worth £450 million ($685 million).

It has 59 theatres in the UK as well as The Lyric on New York’s Broadway.

The company is capable of producing as many as 39 shows per year. Squire, who last year became the first woman to win EY’s UK award, told The Sunday Times: “I sold my car to pay the wages in the early days.”

In 2009, Squire and Panter sold a majority stake in ATG to private equity house Exponent. Two years ago U.S. investor Providence bought control in a deal that gave ATG its $685 million valuation.