Gary Ashworth

Ashworth's wrote a book, Eat the Pudding First, released in October 2021. It considers aspects of starting, scaling and selling a business.

Ashworth has a strong interest in the arts, in particular theatre production. Between 1995 and 1998 he represented and managed jazz singer Rebecca Wheatley, producing her first album. He co-founded Third Stage Productions, involved with performances at the Edinburgh festival fringe and London's West End. Anonymous Society, a musical based on the works of Jacques Brel, won the Total Theatre Award in 1999 for best overall production, and transferred to the Lyric in the West End. Ashworth also co-produced Slava's Snowshow (London and national tour), My Name is Rachel Corrie, a political play based on the diaries and e-mails of American activist Rachel Corrie (London's Playhouse Theatre, March 2006), and Some Girls are Bigger than Others, based on the story of The Smiths. Ashworth is a board member of Assembly Theatre.

Founded in February 1982, Abacus Recruitment was floated on the London Stock Exchange in September 1995. This was sold to Carlisle Holdings in 1998; initial investors achieved a tenfold multiple on their investment. Ashworth exited Abacus in 1999, aged 39. Ashworth then extended his business portfolio into US real estate, setting up Rosebud Properties in Savannah, Georgia in 1999. He returned to the UK in 2001 when he took a joint stake in Lionheart Management with business partners Jim Mellon and Luke Johnson. Shortly after, in November 2001, he founded InterQuest Group Ltd. Ashworth is a Fellow and past President of the Institute of Employment Consultants.

Gary Peter Ashworth (born 23 April 1960) is a British entrepreneur, business coach and mentor. He has started or backed approximately 30 businesses spanning recruitment, healthcare and property, and often appears in the British press as a commentator on business and entrepreneurship. Alongside his business interests, he is a theatre producer.