BQ winter 2017

Sandy Lindsay’s Juice Academy trains digital apprentices

POLISHED PERFORMANCE Drew Goodall is beating homelessness by shining shoes

9

How a bad work experience placement started Jules Quinn on the road to building not one but two successful brands

£7.95

Winter 2017

The mighty Quinn

772514 172016

Winter 2017

FAST LANE Brooklands’ aviation and motor racing heritage is in safe hands with Allan Winn

Business Quarter Magazine

BUSINESS QUARTER

0 4

Celebrating and inspiring entrepreneurship

COLOURFUL CHARACTER

004

Digital Drive COUNTY DURHAM Fully funded business support, events and grant funding for eligible businesses across County Durham.

0191 389 8458

www.digitaldrivedurham.co.uk

Drive your business forward and do more with digital technology

BQ 1 BQ Advert.indd NE Cover ads.indd 1

14/12/2017 14/12/2017 14:57 15:00

WELCOME

“At this time of year, many entrepreneurs are thinking about giving something back to their communities.”

BQ is part of BE Group, the UK’s market leading business improvement specialists. www.be-group.co.uk

BQ, Spectrum 6, Spectrum Business Park, Seaham, SR7 7TT. www.bqlive.co.uk.

As a dedicated supporter of entrepreneurship, BQ is making a real and tangible contribution to local, regional and national economic growth across the UK. We are unique in what we aim to achieve as a media brand, a brand that has established a loyal audience of high growth SMEs as well as leading business influencers. They wholeheartedly believe in BQ’s focus on people – those individuals that are challenging the traditional ways of doing things. They are our entrepreneurs. BQ reaches entrepreneurs and senior business executives across Scotland, the North East and Cumbria, the North West, Yorkshire, the Midlands, Wales, London and the South, in-print, online and through branded events.

All contents copyright © 2017 BQ. All rights reserved. While every effort is made to ensure accuracy, no responsibility can be accepted for inaccuracies, howsoever caused. No liability can be accepted for illustrations, photographs, artwork or advertising materials while in transmission or with the publisher or their agents.

All content marked ‘Profile’, ‘Partner’ and ‘Special Report’ is paid for advertising.

All information is correct at time of going to print, December 2017.

WINTER 2017

The festive season is the ideal time to crack open a bottle of something special to celebrate the achievements of Great Britain’s entrepreneurs. And the winter issue of BQ magazine certainly has a distinctive celebratory feel to it.

Jules Quinn not only founded whole leaf specialist TeaShed but also launched Popaball, which adds bubbles from everything from wine to spirits. Inventor Kevin Jabou isn’t so much obsessed with sparkling wine, but more about how it’s served; he created Kaelo, the iceless ice bucket for keeping drinks at a constant temperature, and his story is a classic entrepreneur’s tale.

At this time of year, many entrepreneurs are thinking about giving something back to their communities. When his acting career stumbled, Drew Goodall ended up homeless but fought his way back by shining shoes; his social enterprise, Sunshine Shoeshine, now helps other people to do the same.

Tony Hilton has a similar heart-warming story; after serving time in prison, he developed Gone for Good, an app that connections charity shops to donations.

Meanwhile, Harsha Rathnayake is doing his bit for the environment through recycling company Junk Hunters.

Having grown up in what she describes as a tough housing estate, it’s not surprising that Sandy Lindsay is also giving something back through The Juice Academy, which trains digital apprentices. Nathan John also drew on his experiences with dyslexia to create Rewise Learning, which uses music for education.

Music isn’t the only aspect of creativity that’s entwined with entrepreneurship: while Alan van Kleef has made drums that have accompanied the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, Paul Weller and The Who, Sheila Fleet’s eponymous jewellery business has grown from its base in the Orkney Isles to serve customers around the world. Jess Hartwell’s firm, Skyeskyns, also has an island home, with its sheepskin rugs from the Isle of Skye winning a flock of fans.

The property sector is often over-looked, but dig beneath the surface and it’s brimming with entrepreneurship. Ex-footballer Andy Foote launched his own business to make property investment easier, while Ross Hooper-Nash is bringing virtual reality into the world of estate agency.

That kind of innovation goes hand-in-hand with entrepreneurialism, as Cathi Harrison demonstrates; she launched financial services company Para-Sols and sister outfit Apricity Compliance. Colm Watling, InnovateUK’s new regional manager for London and the South East of England, shares some thoughts on how other entrepreneurs can innovate.

It’s not all about new entrepreneurs and their companies though. Brooklands is one of the oldest names in aviation and motorsport, with Allan Winn explaining how he’s preparing the business for an exciting future, while Paul Ellis looks back over the growth of the Ecology Building Society.

Inspiring tales for cold nights in front of the fire.

Peter Ranscombe, editor

04

bqlive.co.uk

CONTENTS WINTER 2017 08

08

12 22 30 34

BUILT FOR SPEED

42

PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE

46

NUCLEAR FAMILY

Kevin Jabou has perfected an iceless ice bucket that is winning global attention

50

BUSINESS BEAT

SKYE’S NO LIMIT

68

Allan Winn is preserving Brooklands, the motor racing and aviation touchstone

BUBBLING AWAY Jules Quinn was prompted by a bad workplace experience to build a world-beating business

JUST CHILL

Visitors are flocking to Jess Hartwell’s tannery and sheepskin shop on Skye

POLISHED PERFORMANCE Drew Goodall was down on his luck but has gone on to build a shoeshine empire

74

Charity shops are benefitting from an app built by ex offender Tony Hilton

Atom bank attracts exceptional people to its exceptional business

Drummaker to the stars Alan van Kleef is on a roll

PLENTY OF JUICE Sandy Lindsay built a successful business and is now training apprentices

NO RUBBISH IDEA Collecting rubbish is the foundation of Harsha Rathnayake’s company

bqlive.co.uk

05

Celebrating and inspiring entrepreneurship 118

88

68

12

66

82

88 92 106 110

OUR MUTUAL FRIEND Paul Ellis, the longest-serving building society boss, tells us how his mutual survived and is looking to the future

AGAINST ALL ODDS Cathi Harrison grew up without money but has built a million-pound financial services company

AGENT PROVOCATEUR Ross Hooper-Nash has brought high-tech virtual reality to the traditional world of estate agency

114 118 122

PLANNING TO SUCCEED

UBS helps people negotiate the difficulties of handing on wealth to future generations

SOUND IDEA

Nathan John’s love of music inspired him to launch Reuse Learning to deliver education through tunes

INNOVATION NATION

Colm Watling explains how the UK’s talent for innovation can be harnessed

DOING THE FOOTEWORK Ex footballer Andy Foote makes it his business to take the stress out of buying property

TREASURE ISLAND Sheila Fleet’s Orkney workshop produces jewellery that captivates customers all over the world

HIGH LIFE 55

The best in motoring, travel, equipment and drinks

CONTACTS SALES BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Helen Gowland

SENIOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Rachael Laschke

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Mike Moloney

helenG@bqlive.co.uk

rachael@bqlive.co.uk

mike@bqlive.co.uk

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Hellen Murray

ACCOUNT DIRECTOR Dave Townsley

FINANCE ASSISTANT Maria Winsper

dave@bqlive.co.uk

maria@bqlive.co.uk

hellen@bqlive.co.uk

DESIGN & PRODUCTION DESIGNER Stephen Ford

DESIGNER Craig Hopson

DESIGNER Oliver Hurcombe

stephen@bqlive.co.uk

craig@bqlive.co.uk

oliver@bqlive.co.uk

PRODUCTION MANAGER Steve Jessop

DISTRIBUTION ASSISTANT Sam Yard

steve@bqlive.co.uk

sam@bqlive.co.uk

MULTIMEDIA SENIOR DIGITAL JOURNALIST Suzy Jackson

DIGITAL JOURNALIST Ellen McGann

DIGITAL JOURNALIST Chris Middleton

suzy@bqlive.co.uk

ellen@bqlive.co.uk

chris@bqlive.co.uk

HEAD OF DIGITAL Leanne Miller

SENIOR DIGITAL JOURNALIST Bryce Wilcock

leanne@bqlive.co.uk

bryce@bqlive.co.uk

PHOTOGRAPHY John Paul

KG Photography

Nicky Rogerson

john@jp-photo.demon.co.uk

info@kgphotography.co.uk

info@kgphotography.co.uk

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS MIDLANDS & LONDON Steve Dyson

YORKSHIRE & SOUTH EAST Mike Hughes

SUB EDITOR Peter Jackson

steve.dysonmedia@gmail.com

mikehughes@bqlive.co.uk

p.jackson77@btinternet.com

NORTH WEST & WALES Maria McGeoghan

NORTH EAST & CUMBRIA Paul Robertson

maria.mcgeoghan@bqlive.co.uk

paul.robertson@bqlive.co.uk

GROUP COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR Bryan Hoare

EDITOR Peter Ranscombe

bryan@bqlive.co.uk

peter@ranscombe.co.uk

0191 389 8468 | bqlive.co.uk BQ LIVE

@BQLIVE

READ ONLINE BQ Magazine is available to read online at bqlive.co.uk for when you are on the move

B U L L E T I N

Sign up now for FREE at www.bqlive.co.uk/bq-bulletin to receive your NEW daily email update

08

bqlive.co.uk

Racing ambition Brooklands was the birthplace of British motor racing and played a key role in the development of supersonic air travel. Chief executive Allan Winn tells Mike Hughes what’s next for the iconic circuit.

C

ast your mind back to when you were a kid and your mum and dad took you to a museum one damp Saturday afternoon.

Not an exciting prospect, perhaps, but remember when you got inside and looked at the really big stuff? The planes hanging from the ceiling and those wonderful old racing cars setting world records were a wide-mouthed wonder to a young lad or lass.

That’s the feeling Allan Winn gets every day as he wanders around Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, the birthplace of British motorsport and aviation and the home of G-BBDG, the first Concorde to carry 100 passengers at Mach 2.

As chief executive with a board of trustees, he is leading a huge development of its remarkable site. The £8m “Brooklands Aircraft Factory and Race Track Revival Project” is restoring aspects of the original layout, moving the 77-year-old Bellman hangar off the racetrack’s finishing straight and turning it into the “Brooklands Aircraft Factory”.

That will change 70 years of history because, back on 1940, due to the need to increase aircraft production in the Second World War, the Bellman hangar was constructed across

the finishing straight, obscuring the iconic view where racing history was made.

Brooklands was the world’s first purposebuilt motor racing circuit when it opened in the early 1900s and took on its unique role as an historic home for both racing and aviation at almost the same time, with the site becoming a major centre for aircraft design, construction and flight testing, with more than 18,000 aircraft being first flown, manufactured or assembled there.

For Winn, protecting that legacy is his top priority as he seeks to shine a spotlight on the global impact this 30-acre site has had on sport and engineering.

“We must make sure we use that legacy for our future generations because, while we want to look after what we have got and try to keep it in the best possible condition, we have a real aversion to the traditional museum thing of ‘dead things in sheds’,” he says.

“Rather, we want to bring them to life and live up to our philosophy of using and running anything that is in a safe enough condition, like our motorcars and motorbikes and letting people on board our planes. The restoration

project for the racetrack is so that it can be used rather than just sitting there as a piece of concrete – it is all about letting the people who come here get a feeling for the amazing things that have happened here over 110 years.”

It has become clear in recent years that interactivity will save many museums from themselves being put under dustsheets, labelled and filed away. The attachment to a place or a collection starts to really grow when a person can touch history and place their hands where the pioneers placed theirs and sit in their seats and feel the same emotions.

It’s evocative and potentially lucrative for the sector.

“It has not been a brilliant year for museums, but organisations like ours that have a very active philosophy are doing quite well while some of the Central London museums have had a drop-off for all sorts of reasons. We are very proud of the fact that, while we have been in the middle of a massive development on large parts of our site, we are sitting only about 1% below last year’s numbers, which means that people will still come out to experience something different in the place

bqlive.co.uk

09

10

bqlive.co.uk

“

“We don’t benefit from any local, national or European funding so are forever looking at the pressing priorities of things like the infrastructure and how we can pay for them.”

where it actually happened.

“But we are aware of the huge number of challenges, with some of the buildings we have here being well beyond their projected lifespan and I don’t imagine Hugh Locke King [the local landowner who spent his personal fortune building the track] in his wildest dreams would have thought we might still be using his original concrete.

“If we were using buildings that had been constructed for use as a museum, it would be an enormously easier task to run it. But we don’t benefit from any local, national or European funding so are forever looking at the pressing priorities of things like the infrastructure and how we can pay for them through revenues from admissions, fundraising and our trading operations like retail and

catering, as well as some case-by-case submissions for grants.

“We are lucky enough to have 10,000 cardcarrying members who have been absolutely marvellous, both through straightforward fundraising and other activities, which are putting money straight back into the museum,” he says proudly. “Ignoring one-off donations, their subscriptions and gift aid and the activities they organise are worth more than £400,000 to us, and we must not forget the remarkable skills we have available to keep our exhibits in such good condition.

“We are using the experience of the people who still know how to do these things to train our volunteers because the skills are disappearing very fast and we need to keep them alive and find out how they can be

translated into modern machining. This is important, because the aerospace industry is worth about £24bn a year to the UK economy and there is nowhere where an ordinary member of the public without any security clearance can go and watch airplanes being built.

“Equally, the motorsport industry is worth about £6bn a year and again it is quite difficult to get into the secret halls of the McLarens of this world to see what they are doing for next year’s Formula One car. We have to work with modern industries and try to make sure that what we are doing is relevant to the modern world because we have more accessible stuff here that can help young people get involved so they can work for these companies.”

For Winn personally, his time at Brooklands

bqlive.co.uk

has been a huge part of what he is and will continue to be well after he leaves his post next year and hands over to Tamalie Newbery, currently the executive director of the Association of Independent Museums. He will still walk among the exhibits and look at them with the same reverence and awe.

“I have been terribly lucky,” he says. “I come from an engineering background with my school holidays being spent behind a workbench with my father who was a bicycle importer.

“I spent the first part of my career as a technical journalist, wandering round other peoples’ factories and being exposed to the engineering and commercial aspects of a business. I got involved at Brooklands on the voluntary side and was then extraordinarily

“

lucky that when I needed a change in career the trustees needed a new director and I got this most amazing job that has kept me enthralled – but has cost me quite a lot of my hair.

“I get enormous satisfaction from helping hold the place together at the same time as driving it forwards and as I travel into work down the hill each morning I see the finishing straight, the reconstructed 12-metre scoreboard and Concorde’s tail over the top of the buildings and I sometimes have to pinch myself and think how did I get to all this from a little town in New Zealand.”

Brooklands’ also has a key economic role to play in the wider region and it is no coincidence that the Formula One community has been so deeply embedded in the area ever

since the 1940s and 1950s, since so much of the expertise was based here for the likes of McLaren, Brabham and Tyrrell to build on.

This is a very British place, packed with heritage and heroism and tales of what we were capable of when the challenges of time, physics and engineering seemed insurmountable. Perhaps we have lost some of that now as technology does so much for us and solutions are found so much more quickly.

The biggest debt we owe Brooklands – and a driving force for Winn and his team – may be that it is a reminder of the raw skills, energy and bravado that were once the backbone of so many sectors and which now lie dormant in so many potential desk-bound entrepreneurs who would be well advised to touch the past to be able to see the future. n

“It has not been a brilliant year for museums, but organisations like ours that have a very active philosophy are doing quite well. “

11

12

bqlive.co.uk

Something’s brewing Entrepreneur Jules Quinn has turned two ideas into big business and she explains to Paul Robertson how it all started after a bad experience on a work placement.

I

started on tea, but it wasn’t strong enough, so I moved on to alcohol,” jokes Jules Quinn as she reflects on the remarkable growth of her businesses. Having started TeaShed on leaving university in 2011, her idea to “pimp drinks” really came to fruition two years ago with the launch of Popaball, creating filled flavour bubbles to add a bit of bite and taste to all types of beverages – but primarily alcohol.

The success of the product has enabled Quinn to move into a 10,000sq ft building on Benfield business park in Newcastle with plans to take over an adjoining site. Worldwide orders are flooding in online and Popaball products are now stocked by the likes of Fenwick, Lakeland, Harvey Nichols and Selfridges, as well as independent outlets.

Turnover has grown fourfold over the past two years and is set to grow a further six times by the end of 2017, something for the soon-to-be 60-strong workforce to toast. It has been a remarkable journey for the 29 year old who moved to Newcastle from Leeds as a teenager and has never looked back.

While studying for a bachelor of arts degree with honours in fashion and marketing at Northumbria University, Quinn went on work experience at a fashion house in London and it proved to be the inspiration to unlock her entrepreneurial spirit.

“It all started as a rubbish work placement where I was always making tea for everyone in the office,” she says. “I didn’t even like tea at the time, but got into drinking it to drown my sorrows as I was so bored. But then one of the designers had a Chai tea and I just fell in love with it – it was so aromatic and I could drink so much of it.

“I had been sent to the supermarket to buy some more teabags and I noticed the selection of coffees was much wider than tea.

bqlive.co.uk

“

“It all started as a rubbish work placement where I was always making tea for everyone in the office.”

13

14

bqlive.co.uk

“

“I would never leave Newcastle – it is my home, a lovely city and lovely people to work with.”

I thought this is really cool – I had always wanted to start my own business and it was drinking that Chai tea and the visit to the supermarket that convinced me to start TeaShed.”

Quinn began researching how she could be different in the tea market, doing her final year project on what was to become her business and gifting is what she decided would make TeaShed stand out.

Sourcing the tea personally, predominantly from Sri Lanka, it is shipped into Newcastle, wrapped in silky pyramid bags, packaged and distributed – one brand but available in nine flavours.

“I entered a few business plan competitions and won some money, which allowed me to buy stock,” recalls Quinn. “I bought off the shelf packaging and printed labels, we started as a small craft business but when Fenwick became the first retailer to take it we were

able to grow pretty quickly.”

The recipe for success was followed in creating Popaball and, while it was a more complex business to get up and running, the effort has been rewarded.

“It took a long time to test the stability of the products to ensure they had at least a six-month shelf life, which is the least the retail market demands,” she says. “So, it was a long time getting that right with different machinery and processes but we had some money in the bank with the build-up of TeaShed to help us develop.

“Again, the early days were often at home working with the neighbours – who called themselves the Blue Peter club for pensioners – as they were always wrapping and sticking things together.”

The bubbles are manufactured in Taiwan and while bubble tea was obviously created, it is the wider drinks market that Quinn is eyeing

and already soaking up.

“Little juicer balls are used in cocktails and the spherification process was being used in some bars and food service outlets but not widely available. I created a retail version so people could use them at home and we get fantastic feedback. People just love it.”

Don’t just take her word for it – there are plenty of happy customers sharing their stories on the company’s Facebook and Instagram pages. Basically, you put the bubbles into a drink and suck them up with a straw provided with the kit and when you bite them the juice comes out adding texture and flavour to your drink.

I try one – without the alcohol – and it was a pleasant experience. It comes in flavours like lemon, peach, cherry, raspberry, blueberry and mango to name but a few. Another product launched earlier this year was “Shimmer” for prosecco – a raspberry-flavoured glitter that you sprinkle into your glass of bubbly.

“It turns it a pink, raspberry glittery colour,” says Quinn. “It is really pretty.”

As separate businesses now, Popaball accounts for more than 50% of the revenue

bqlive.co.uk

despite being the younger sister. Together, TeaShed and Popaball are manufacturing more than 20,000 units a day, seven days a week with demand meaning the figures need careful handling.

Just as well then that Quinn’s fiancé, Andrew, is the company’s finance director, while her supportive parents help out and sister Tanja manages the e-commerce side of the business.

Popaball plans to double production next year and continue to expand with new products and into new markets – Europe and Germany in particular is proving strong for customers while the products are finding traction in the United States and Canada.

Like many businesses, the outcome of Brexit negotiations may have an impact on Quinn’s plans, but she won’t let it get in the way.

“When the decision to leave the European Union was made, the pound was very weak

“

against the dollar and overnight it added significant costs to the business as we import so much – it seems to have recovered now and we will just have to deal with the outcome, whatever it is.

“I would never leave Newcastle – it is my home, a lovely city and lovely people to work with. We have a fantastic workforce, the business community is great and very supportive, it is a cool city centre, 20 minutes from the coast and 20 minutes from the countryside.

“My focus is on expanding and providing jobs. We have quite a few people whose previous employer went bust – I can see how heartbreaking it is when a business fails so to be able to provide security and jobs is amazing as well as scary.”

While there are no plans to leave the North East, Quinn is looking at whether she needs a

base overseas to support distribution or to do it through outsourcing, but stresses this would be additional to rather than in place of the Newcastle facility.

“To grow at the rate we are growing you need very good people who can learn and put new systems in place quickly and be flexible to adapt to dynamic change.

“I don’t want to lose the team spirit and don’t want to adopt a big company mentality – I haven’t changed, I am still the same person with the same values – and I want my businesses to be the same.”

Quinn is also proud to be an ambassador for Children North East, a charity dedicated to improving the lives of disadvantaged children in the region.

“I love spending my time supporting young people,” she says. “I work with a school that caters for children who don’t get on so well in

“The early days were often at home working with the neighbours – who called themselves the Blue Peter club for pensioners – as they were always wrapping and sticking things together.”

15

16

bqlive.co.uk

mainstream education – it is about supporting them, showing them if they work hard at school they can get a good job. I go and talk to them and bring some of them to come and work with us.”

It is this ethos that she is keen to bring to the TeaShed business on a wider scale. While sales are still healthy and will remain the focus, Quinn is keen to use her experience to give something back.

“TeaShed – was a fantastic starting point for me in learning about business,” she explains, “and because I have less time for that now I want to do something educational to help other people start a new business. It wouldn’t be for profit – it would be about TeaShed evolving as a business and training young people.

“When you start learning about business it might be something like a cupcake stand and you’re not really understanding it so to get into an existing business means you learn far more.

“I tried doing various things, like selling random stuff, but it takes so long – attracting

investment, basic start-up costs and so on – but the exciting thing is when you have something to work with and push it to the next level.

“The harder I worked in jobs nothing happened. Especially when you are young it takes a long time to progress.

“While you’re still young is a very good time to start a business, you don’t have the overheads such as rent, you can still live at home and not be embarrassed about it – with no mortgages or kids. As a student you are used to having no money and slumming it, used to late nights and getting out of bed not feeling worn out. I have met loads of people and every day something different is happening and I have achieved a lot.”

Quinn admits she has little time for anything other than business – “I tried surfing, it was OK but there were no waves” – the constant focus on generating new ideas and products is all the fun she needs for now.

“It might make me sound sad but I just love working,” she says.

Pimping drinks hot or cold, alcoholic or not, consumed at home remains the main focus, though progress is being made on expanding into restaurants and bars.

The company’s success is certainly being noticed. In 2016 Quinn was singled out as one of the top new names in European business with inclusion on the first Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list.

The prestigious publication has launched its list to highlight key movers and shakers in Europe, shortlisting 300 people from a list of thousands of nominees to feature in 10 sectors.

And this year she won the regional HSBC Forward Ladies Award for SME growth and was shortlisted for the NatWest national scale up award.

“When you get an award, it tells you people think you are doing well because no-one else ever tells you,” she says, “It is lovely, but it is particularly nice for the team. They are all very proud to be from the region and to be a big part of our success.”

I’ll drink to that. n

Profile

The legal lessons for business from 2017 Aziz Rahman, of award-winning solicitors Rahman Ravelli, looks at some of the business crime issues that have arisen in 2017 and explains what we can learn from them.

www.rahmanravelli.co.uk

It doesn’t always pay to look backwards instead of forwards. But a quick look at some of the major business crime issues of the past year may tell us a few things that we would do well to remember.

In my first BQ magazine column, I emphasised the importance of challenging or negotiating with the authorities if a company is under investigation. In my experience of the biggest global corruption cases, this helps secure the best possible outcome.

Two high-profile cases in 2017 proved this. RollsRoyce had been under investigation for years after compelling evidence came to light that it had used bribery to secure contracts around the world. At the same time, Tesco was probed over its overstating of profits in 2014 by £326m.

Both companies escaped prosecution in 2017.

Instead, the authorities granted them each a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA). DPAs are a new area of work that we are already involved in and expect to grow. Tesco and Rolls-Royce each gaining a DPA meant that they paid a fine and agreed to introduce changes to working practices – but did not face criminal charges. This was largely due to both companies’ willingness and ability to negotiate and cooperate with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) – something that any company should remember should it be investigated.

The SFO will make a decision next year on whether to charge any Rolls-Royce individuals, while three former Tesco directors have gone on trial; each charged with fraud and false accounting. This is a sharp reminder that individuals in a company that is investigated

“

must seek their own expert legal representation.

They will be treated as a separate entity to the company and will need to mount their own defence.

In a virtual re-run of the 2016 Panama Papers scandal, 2017 has seen the financial and tax affairs of 120,000 companies and individuals leaked in what have been called the Paradise Papers.

It has brought non-payment of tax back into the headlines although it remains to be seen if prosecutions will follow. What this scandal does, however, is emphasise that those in business and finance now have far fewer hiding places when it comes to their financial dealings. Whether it be through data leaks or closer scrutiny by the authorities, financial wrongdoing is far likelier to be uncovered now than it was only a decade ago.

This is clear from 2017, which saw many banks across the world accused of money laundering.

This year also saw the implementation of the Fourth Money Laundering Directive, which requires greater scrutiny of financial transactions across the EU. 2017 has also seen many countries announcing tougher scrutiny of those wanting to trade within their borders.

2017 has been a year, therefore, in which tighter regulation of business has continued at speed, with major bribery and corruption cases being brought against energy sector companies and massive fraud exposed in many business sectors as well as in the NHS and charities.

This is because business crime is increasingly being identified as a priority by the authorities.

And that is why it is important for everyone in business to do all they can in 2018 to stay on the right side of the law. n

“Business crime is increasingly being identified as a priority by the authorities.”

17

18

Partner

Investing together for growth Growth Capital Ventures is bringing new and exciting investment opportunities to a wider range of investors

Partner

FINTECH firm Growth Capital Ventures (GCV) has been leading its own quiet revolution in the North East of England, identifying and structuring investment opportunities that have the potential to deliver market-beating returns to investors alongside wider positive social and environmental benefits.

GCV has recently launched the G Ventures Investor Club, which is an exclusive group of high net worth individuals who will meet monthly and be briefed on new investment opportunities in which they can invest anything from £10,000 to £250,000, five or six times a year.

G Ventures is tight-knit group of like-minded individuals who are entrepreneurs in their own right and it will have regional bases. The first, which already has 12 members, was recently launched for the Tees Valley and the concept will be rolled out with similar groups for the wider North East, the North West, Yorkshire, Scotland and London.

“Our members are keen to back the next generation of entrepreneurs and are people who have made a success of their own businesses and have capital to invest. They are typically looking for high growth business opportunities in which they can maximise the upside and mitigate risk,’’ explains GCV cofounder Craig Peterson.

“Some are also looking for investments that capture their imaginations, and are keen to diversify and get involved in property related deals that target a minimum 1.5 times return on capital. This is alongside making investments into early stage and later stage businesses where they are looking for three to 10 times money return. The common theme is that the investment opportunities can demonstrate the potential to deliver better risk-adjusted returns than typical mainstream investment products; investments that can be seen will have a wider social impact.”

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) registered GCV is a heavily technology-focused financial services firm that has developed platforms to widen the pool of investors for high-growth small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and property-related projects. Enabling different groups and types of investors to come together to back these businesses, the opportunity arose to form an offline exclusive

“

“Our members are keen to back the next generation of entrepreneurs and are people who have made a success of their own businesses and have capital to invest.”

group of investors who are keen to invest in to deals.

Last year GCV received more than £1m in investment from Maven Capital Partners, in order to strengthen its team, develop new technology and to make growth-focused investing more accessible and rewarding.

“We are delighted with the backing we’ve received from Maven; they are one of the UK’s leading private equity firms and alternative asset managers. There’s a strong strategic fit and we are exploring opportunities where our investors can co-invest alongside Maven and other institutional investors into high growth businesses and property related projects,” explains Peterson.

Maven’s investment has allowed the GCV team to focus on identifying and structuring investment opportunities for its growing

investor base and develop the co-investor model further whilst expanding its geographical reach.

Peterson adds: “Our investor network is expanding both online and offline through the launch of G Ventures. We have introduced some interesting investment opportunities to our members over the past year. We identify opportunities that have the potential to deliver significant investment growth, precisely because they are helping to solve pressing long-term challenges. We then look to coinvest into these deals alongside institutional investors and other professional investors, including venture capital funds, private equity firms, angel networks, family offices and high net worth individuals through our G Ventures Investor Club.”

Earlier this year GCV worked with Atom

19

20

Partner

“

“We identify opportunities which have the potential to deliver significant investment growth, precisely because they are helping to solve pressing long-term challenges.”

Bank, one of the UK’s leading digital challenger banks, to close an investment round to support continued growth and expansion. This was the catalyst for launching G Ventures Investor Club.

Peterson points to Atom’s business model as one of the reasons for the positive interest from its investor network. “Our investors are drawn to disruptive businesses; those that can really make a positive difference. Atom is a perfect example of a business using technology to create and maintain a competitive advantage, challenging and changing the way

things are done in the banking sector.”

This was an investment opportunity that demonstrated there were high net worth individuals who wanted a personal relationship with GCV. It is to serve these investors that GCV has formed the G Ventures Investor Club.

The G Ventures network will introduce a panel of experts – such as lawyers, accountants and tax experts – from a range of disciplines to advise and support G Ventures members.

The key to the GCV’s investment model is that all the elements – G Ventures members,

GCV’s own experts, GrowthFunders and Maven – can work together, complementing each other, providing a range of funding sources. This widens the fundraising base for the businesses and projects seeking capital by giving smaller investors the comfort of knowing they are investing alongside experienced entrepreneurs, professional investors and institutions, creating that true co-investment model.

A prime example was the recent seed investment round for Intelligence Fusion (IF). An

Partner

early stage technology business, IF was setup in 2014 to provide a platform to manage risk and security issues by collecting, analysing and disseminating intelligence information.

GCV has supported the company for the past 18 months, structuring and completing an initial proof of concept round, all the way through to the current EIS-eligible seed round.

IF demonstrates how GCV incubates and nurtures companies with high growth potential.

The seed round exceeded its initial target of £400,000, overfunded by more than £85,000.

The company has already gained traction with early sales to key customers and has been well received by GCV’s co-investor network and G Ventures members.

Peterson says: “We are delighted IF overfunded. With funds from a combination of institutional, professional and online investors, the investment was anchored by members of the GCV investor network, which unlocked commitment from an institutional investor. We then partnered with one of the UK’s leading crowdfunding platforms – Crowdcube – to open this opportunity up their network.”

Michael McCabe, founder and chief executive of IF, says: “The support received from the team at GCV has been invaluable.

The team have been involved across many areas, helping to prepare the investment documents and arranging introductions to their investor network. The team have coordinated the online and offline campaigns and have been instrumental in helping this investment round exceed the initial target.

“I’m delighted we have raised capital from a diverse investor base. Having a combination of institutional money and investment from professional business angels together with online investors is a very powerful solution for us. I’m looking forward to continue working with the GCV team as we enter our next phase of growth”.

Co-investment is a core part of GCV’s investment and funding strategy moving forward, and the G Ventures Investor Club will play an important part of that model.

Financial returns are a key driver for G Ventures members when looking to invest in to a business or property project investment opportunity. Many of GCV’s business investment opportunities make use of tax efficient structures, such as the enterprise investment scheme (EIS). EIS offers a number

“

21

“We want to make sure our members enjoy the experience of co-investing into exciting businesses and property development projects.”

of benefits to investors, including income tax relief at 30% on the investment, no capital gains on profits and qualification for both business property relief and inheritance tax relief.

All the businesses and projects backed by GCV must have the potential for high growth.

However, while growth and an appealing financial return is a priority, it is not the only consideration – GCV also looks for investments that make a positive social impact.

Peterson says: “A lot of our G Venture members are business people in their own right. They’re high net-worth individuals that would like to invest into something a little bit more interesting. They would also like to invest in something that they can touch and feel, which links to the property side, particularly when it’s in an area they can relate to. If they can invest in deals that are local then that really appeals to them; they can see the impact it is having and they can see the returns it produces.”

With all of GCV’s projects, the investments are carefully handpicked and vetted to ensure their viability and that they meet the requirements of high growth potential and positive social impact.

Peterson says: “That’s a point of differentiation for us. We don’t work with lots of businesses. We hand pick them, as it’s about quality not quantity. At one end you have a bank which has raised almost £250m in equity and on the end of the scale you have Intelligence Fusion which is at the early stage of its journey, but has huge growth potential.”

G Ventures brings together investors looking to invest their capital and ambitious businesses and property related projects that need investment for growth. At the same time Growth it is bringing exciting Capital investment Ventures opportunities to a wider public who can take advantage of these with greater confidence thanks to coinvestment.

Jordan Dargue, head of investor relations, explains: “Our investor base is quite diverse.

We have our online investor members investing

between £1,000 and £10,000 into single deals, with our offline G Ventures investors investing between £10,000 and £250,000. Either way, they’re high net-worth individuals that would like to invest into something a little bit more interesting, but be offered a personalised service, tailored to suit our investors is extremely important. Whether our investors are online or offline we want to make sure our members enjoy the experience of coinvesting into exciting businesses and property development projects, opportunities which are high growth, whereby tax efficient investment models can be used or projects that deliver both strong returns and societal impact.

“Like Atom Bank, we’re based in the North East of England and, at the moment, the North East doesn’t have a strong and structured group of angel networks. Our North East-based members are keen to change that, so we’ve recently launched G Ventures, the first of our regionally focused offline investor networks.

Peterson adds “We’re working with institutional investors and angel networks who already have a strong presence in the UK, but there’s more we can do. We have a growing investor network and our members like the coinvestment approach. It a catalyst to increase the number of deals we do and will help to support more innovative businesses and property entrepreneurs. We are keen to build relationships with investors across the UK”. n

Growth Capital Ventures

Growth Funders Co-invest in deals with real purpose.

To find out more about investing into high growth businesses and projects, or to find out more about raising capital visit www.growthfunders.com or call 0330 102 5525.

G

22

bqlive.co.uk

Product designer Kevin Jabou spent nearly a decade perfecting the ‘iceless ice bucket’. The result is Kaelo, which is winning fans around the globe, as Peter Ranscombe reports.

I

t’s a situation that will be familiar to so many entrepreneurs: you’re out celebrating a big deal or a big sale or a successful takeover and you decide to splash out on a bottle of Champagne.

Your fizz duly arrives and, after the first round of glasses has been poured, the bottle is inserted into an ice bucket to keep it cool.

But then, when the time comes for the next glass, the bottle is already soaking with water from the ice bucket and it dribbles and dribbles and dribbles, across the table and your guests and your knees. A first world problem to be sure, but one that has annoyed generations of diners in high-end restaurants.

Kevin Jabou was one such diner. Going out for meals in his early twenties, he was frustrated by the old-fashioned approach to keeping wine cool.

While most of us would simply shrug our shoulders and move on, Jabou decided to do something about it. And, as a product designer, he had the skills to put his idea into practice too.

Having graduated with a degree in product design from the University of Sussex in Brighton, the idea of solving the ice bucket problem captured Jabou’s imagination. It was the start of a near decade-long journey, which has led to the creation of Kaelo, an “iceless ice bucket” that’s proving to be a hit not only with interior designers for private homes, but also in top restaurants, hotels and yachts.

And, like all the best inventions, it started in a garden shed. Or his Mum’s outhouse in East London to be precise.

“She had some very basic power tools, I borrowed some from a friend and I bought some more,” Jabou remembers. “I made my prototypes and did my tests and it became my inventor’s den.

COOL CUSTOMER

bqlive.co.uk

23

24

bqlive.co.uk

“I often joke that if anyone saw it then they must have thought I was up to something devious because the place was full or wires and chemicals and looked proper suspicious, like I was creating something dodgy.”

In the early days, Jabou funded the project out of his own pocket, taking a weird and wonderful array of part-time jobs to finance his endeavours. “I’ve literally done absolutely everything,” he laughs.

“From bar work to carpentry to labouring to becoming first aid trained so I could pick up evening jobs at night clubs. I could work from 10pm to 6am and then go and work on Kaelo.

“I started working at a deli and became a cheese specialist. I sold trainers. I did a lot of reception work as a temp. Catering. I tried my hand at pretty much everything that would pay me an hourly wage to get some money in.

“When I started working on Kaelo, I needed to shift my working hours. I needed to talk to manufacturers and potential clients and showrooms during working hours, so I had to start finding part-time jobs in the mornings or evenings to still make a living.”

The name, perhaps, was one of the easier steps. Pronounced “Kay-lo”, the moniker is a fusion of “Kaizen”, the Japanese method for continuous improvement, and “halo” after the circle of light at the top of the device’s chamber, in which the bottle of still or sparkling wine sits.

“

“The manufacturers have been using this technology for about 40 years to keep transplant organs cool during transportation.”

The technology itself was more complex to develop. Yet the “Kaizen” development technique was at the heart of the process.

“I tried a whole bunch of things to begin with, buying different things on eBay,” Jabou says. “I went to manufacturers and asked them to make me prototypes based on different shapes.

“I taught myself different techniques for how to weld and sand and shape metal. I was buying different grades of metal and it was literally a case of trial and error and error and error.

“In my Mum’s house today, you’ve literally got 100 different prototypes, with different finishes and materials and welding and gluing and epoxying. It was a super-iterative process.”

Jabou experimented with different techniques for keeping a bottle of wine cool, but quickly settled on an existing piece of technology that has been used in the military and medical industries. He adapted the components and was able to register a patent, demonstrating the novelty of his design.

“The easiest way to describe the Kaelo is that it sucks heat from its chamber really,

really quickly,” he explains. “The manufacturers have been using this technology for about 40 years to keep transplant organs cool during transportation and tiny versions to calibrate the infra-red sensors on helicopters.

“At first, the manufacturer was apprehensive because other people had approached them with the concept of using their technology to cool a bottle, but they’d turned them all away. When they saw Kaelo, they realised I’d reengineered the whole solution to a really high degree and that’s why they were happy to work with me.

“It uses electricity to take heat in one direction. It sucks heat away from the chamber to make the chamber really cold and disperses it at the bottom.”

The first prototypes were tested on the market in 2012, after which Jabou continued to refine his product. The next step was to get it ready for mass manufacturing.

“All the components in the Kaelo are bespoke,” he says. “They’ve never been made before and they’re hard to make.

“Some of the components have secondary

25

Photography shot on location at Crestron (UK)

bqlive.co.uk

or additional processes that take place after they’re manufactured. Those processes are like an art – sometimes it’s not as easy as following a recipe, depending on the shape of a part or the structure of a part, it can be trial and error.

“For each part, I was having to speak to lots of different manufacturers in the UK. It was unfeasible to even explore manufacturing overseas because I’d have to go and visit each manufacture and see how successful they were in achieving the finishes or the quality that I wanted and which were necessary for the Kaelo to work as it does.

“The polishing, for example, took me two years of meetings with manufacturers to find one that could work to the calibre that I wanted. They also polish parts for Rolls-Royce and Range Rover, so they are the crème-de-lacrème of polishing.

“To know what I wanted, I had to learn how to polish. I bought a grinding machine, took it to my Mum’s shed and set it up. I polished the top of the Kaelo to the standard that I wanted and that was what I took round all the manufacturers I visited.

“Some of these component manufacturers have been with us since we started making prototypes. These manufacturers normally get contracts worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, but then they’ve got this crazy guy coming in and asking for a piece of metal to be polished in a specific way.

“They took a real leap of faith to believe in what I was trying to do. It’s a beautiful thing to have those guys still on board because they’ve been part of the whole story and they’ve seen everything grow.”

Initially, Jabou raised investment from Gordon Stein, the chief financial officer at one of the companies for which he’d been temping as an administrator. Stein then invested a second time alongside one of his former business partners.

Kaelo raised £250,000 through their existing investors’ contacts and Jabou’s friends. A further fundraising round brought in £350,000, with other investors wanting to become involved.

“One of the interior designers who ordered a bespoke Kaelo got in touch with us and explained that his client, who was buying three Kaelos, wanted to invest in the company,” Jabou remembers. “He’s one of our major investors now.”

Despite raising significant amounts of money and winning the backing of professional investors, Jabou hasn’t forgotten that the journey began with funding from a little closer to home.

“To make those first Kaelo that we tested the market with, I had to raise about £4,000 to buy the parts,” he explains. “We did that through a Just Giving page and all my family and friends donated.

“Now, when we hold investors’ evenings,

they all get invited. We call them the ‘donators’ and they were the key instigators of getting Kaelo manufactured.”

Kaelo launched its first product – which is integrated into bars, countertops and other surfaces – at the end of 2016, with a freestanding version unveiled this September at a lunch held at the Michelin-starred Restaurant Story in Bermondsey, across the River Thames from where Kaelo’s ten staff are based at its office in Shoreditch; its manufacturing partner is located in Oxfordshire.

The free-standing model, which is only available through the company’s website with prices starting at £1,295, is the first product aimed directly at consumers, with the integrated version having been sold through interior designers and kitchen designers for homes, yachts and commercial premises. As well as black and white, the company has introduced a range of real wood finishes for the product and offers a full bespoke service.

Kaelo could soon be rubbing shoulders with celebrities too. Sebastien Besson – the chief executive of Armand de Brignac, the Champagne brand bought by rapper Jay Z in 2014 – has a free-standing Kaelo in his office at the Roc Nation offices in New York. If Jay Z is taken with the device then perhaps it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch for him to rewrite his wife Beyonce’s hit “Halo” to rhyme with “Kaelo”. n

26

Partner

5 ways your business can stay safe – and take off How to provide the right technology so your employees can safely work where, when and how they want to help you grow your business. email and instant messaging – as helping them to be more effective at their jobs.2 This may be why many employees take technology into their own hands: at least one in four seek out their own mobile and cloudbased apps. But when your employees use unsanctioned tools, it makes it nearly impossible to safeguard your business’s data.

Stay safe + Work well While companies recognise the value of keeping their employees engaged, it isn’t always achieved. A survey carried out by professional services firm JLL in 2017 found that only half of UK workers said their workspace environment allowed them to work “completely effectively”.1 One important way to keep employees engaged and productive, creating their best work, is with the right technology, and the right working culture to support that. Your employees are used to consumer technology that works without hiccups. If they have an issue, they just download a different app instead. But at work, they need to communicate and collaborate easily and seamlessly, all with

In this e-book, we’ll first of all show how important it is for you to know your data and information are secured. It’s only when you and your employees have this peace of mind that everyone will then have the freedom and confidence to tackle the problems people may be facing with their daily technology, to think big, and to work together to help your organisation achieve its ambitions. the same toolkit, whether they’re in the office or working remotely – and they need devices that are designed to maximise the benefits of their technology toolsets. Otherwise, they may face unsynced or inaccessible files, siloed data, or applications that don’t work as well on mobile devices. Technology woes like these don’t just frustrate employees. They impede their ability to collaborate, share opinions and ideas, and perform high-quality work. The result can be, for example, different people struggling with different versions of the same proposal, countless emails flying back and forth, and information that isn’t available at critical times.

In a 2017 Forrester report, when asked about the specific impact of 16 common collaboration tools, most workers surveyed cited only two –

“Only half of UK workers said their workspace environment allowed them to work “completely effectively.”

Partner

1.

Put your business on a solid base with always-on security If you’re looking to build a dynamic and successful business – a business with a future – it needs to have firm foundations. And the best base on which you can do this includes robust data and device security.

Data breaches and other security incidents can affect employee engagement and performance, taking time away from productive tasks and undermining employee confidence in your business if they lose important data, files, or even access to their devices. That’s especially true when dealing with lost and stolen mobile devices. This common problem can be either a momentary inconvenience or major setback, depending on your business’s mobile device location and remote-wipe options.

Small and medium businesses (SMBs) are particularly vulnerable. Indeed, 43% of cyber-attacks target companies in this group.4 Why? Because many SMBs tend to be less secure than larger enterprises, and also because automation makes it easier for criminals to attack them in volume.

STEPS TO TAKE Perform a business data-security audit This can be completed with a few common-sense questions. Where is your business data stored, and how is it backed up? How do employees currently share access to files and data? How can your business control access to sensitive data? And how does your business back up and otherwise secure data on employees’ mobile devices?

27

2.

Choose tools that bring employees together – no matter where they work Most employees understand the importance of working together: according to research by Forrester, 56% believe improved collaboration benefits their customers. And in a Dimensional Research survey of 300 SMB information technology professionals, 97% said that anytime, anywhere access to data and applications makes employees more effective.8 Social technologies can make a particular difference at work. Many organisations that use them see a distinct improvement in project collaboration, and users themselves agree that social technology improves collaboration across remote locations.

STEPS TO TAKE Assess your current technology How well do your business’s technology tools and devices help your employees create, connect, and collaborate with people inside and outside your company?

Can they share and collaborate on documents on any device without versioning issues? Are online meetings quick and easy to set up?

Get insights into your collaboration needs Ask your employees to discuss how they work together and which tools – whether you currently provide them or not – they like to use. Your goal should be to uncover features they consider important, but that your business isn’t delivering.

Consider your compliance obligations Depending on the industry that you work in you will need to be compliant to industry standards. In addition the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will come into force in May 2018. It’s the biggest shake-up in data protection legislation in over 20 years, and gives increased rights to EU-based individuals over the information you hold on them (whether your company is in the EU or not). Failure to respect those rights or to show due diligence in your data protection practices could result in substantial fines or affect your ability to do the right thing for your customers – which is why you need to be ready.

Allocate resources It may make sense to make someone responsible for meeting your GDPR obligations and data security in general. Many SMBs lack the time, budget and expertise to implement comprehensive security defences.

Look separately at device management Consider how many employees have devices holding business data; how those devices are updated for new security threats; and whether any special considerations (such as regulatory compliance issues) apply to your business. As you shop for new devices for employees, look for those designed with best-in-class security in mind, and that will work well with the productivity tools you select.

“97% said that anytime, anywhere access to data and applications makes employees more effective.”

28

Partner

3.

Take work/life balance seriously – and take steps to back up your commitment Achieving equilibrium between work and home commitments is hugely important for you and your employees today, especially given the diverse demographics of the modern workforce. Indeed, work/life balance is second only to compensation when people decide whether to seek new employment.

One key to addressing work/life balance issues is to give your workers control over their schedules and tasks, allowing them to work on the go and remotely, using the devices they prefer.

It’s something to which they’re accustomed and which they even expect.

Gartner reported in 2015 that employees use an average of three different devices throughout their daily routine. The study also found that a large majority of employees move routinely between devices just to complete a single task – and a recent online article published by CIO stated that 94% of millennials say collaboration is “critically important” to their work.

STEPS TO TAKE Set clear, consistent, and fairly applied policies It’s up to you how to set policies that reflect your company’s culture for flex time, remote work, and other scheduling options. What matters most to employees is that they know the rules and see them being applied fairly.

Provide a remote-work toolset Determine the types of technology you’ll need in order to make working remotely as effective as working in the office. This can include easily accessible document and data storage; collaboration tools, such as shared calendars and team sites; and a variety of communication tools, including email, an intranet, video conferencing, and instant messaging. Also consider devices, whether they’re ones you can supply or ones that employees use under a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy, to make sure they allow mobility without compromising security and that they perform seamlessly with the other work-related applications and tools you select.

A connected, synchronised ecosystem of apps, devices, and data can enable your team to gain access to whatever they need from anywhere in the world.

“A large majority of employees move routinely between devices just to complete a single task.”

4.

Choose solutions that promote simplicity and usability When selecting employee collaboration and remote-work tools, you have a choice. Should you rely on a collection of single-purpose applications, or seek out an integrated set of solutions from one vendor?

In many cases, the answer comes down to one key point. Choosing multiple apps from many different vendors does little to resolve common employee complaints about coordinating schedules, finding the right people or resources to do a job, working from the same version of a document, or simply enjoying the same seamless experience across devices.

Your success depends on your employees. They need to be enabled to dream big and do their best work. An integrated solution not only meets this need but offers better long-term value, leaving you to focus on business-critical tasks instead of dealing with multiple systems.

STEPS TO TAKE Take a methodical approach to choosing your tools Once you have your employees’ feedback on your current business technology, make a list of the capabilities and the business problems it needs to solve – rather than specific applications you need.

Seek out integrated, cloud-based solutions, and consider their benefits.

Conduct research into solutions that provide these capabilities, along with shared data and resources, so employees can enjoy a seamless experience without logging in and out of multiple apps or hunting down information in disconnected systems.

If you simplify your business processes you’ll increase employee productivity.

Easy-to-manage, holistic cloud-based company settings allow you to configure features and settings all in one place. This removes complexity, with single logins for all services and devices – making working from anywhere easier.

Partner

5.

29

Focus on quality of output – no matter where employees work

Why does integration matter?

Modern, cloud-based productivity tools have led to a radical shift in thinking about where and when people work. That’s hardly surprising, given that 88% of employees work from two or more locations during a typical week – and 21% work from three or more locations.

With just one company providing your productivity apps, you’ll have just one admin panel to manage security. With a cloud-based solution, security updates can be rolled out immediately without concern for testing patches and new software versions.

Yet it’s important to assess how your business technology performs when it’s literally on the move. Can your employees switch from laptop to tablet to smartphone while working on the same document, and have confidence they’re still seeing the latest version of their work? Can they be sure everyone on their work team will receive a critical document ahead of a key deadline? Can they work offline and know their emails, calendar, and documents will sync properly when they reconnect? Do they have access to devices that are designed well for the productivity tools on your shortlist? And can they – and you – be confident that whatever they use and wherever they are, the data they’re accessing and creating is secure?

STEPS TO TAKE Prioritise mobility Assess every business application in simple terms. Can its mobile experience match its desktop capabilities? Does that experience extend to every mobile device that matters to you and your employees? It makes sense to seek mobile devices that make the most of the capabilities of those business applications.

Offline matters just as much as online An application should be just as functional offline as it is online. Can employees still view emails, contacts, and calendars? Can they access and edit documents? When a device goes back online, does everything sync and update seamlessly – and when it does, can you and your users be sure it’s secure?

Comprehensive security

The right solution can help safeguard your company data across all devices – even employees’ personal devices.

Easier maintenance A centralised, cloud-based management approach makes it easier to keep devices up to date with the latest security updates and feature innovations, at a pace that is right for you. So you know it’s all in hand, while your employees know they’re always working with the latest, best-in-class tools.

Easier management As your business grows and adds more apps, this can lead to more problems. Routine management tasks, such as patches, updates, and answering user questions can quickly eat up time and resources. A simplified management system removes unnecessary complexity from the equation.

Flexible, scalable pricing With an integrated cloud solution, you have a single cost per user per month – and that cost easily scales up or down, depending on your staffing needs. No more worries about over-investing in on-premises technology that needs to be maintained, or juggling monthly invoices for multiple tools.

Does your business feel safe – so your people can think bold?

Running a successful small or medium business is a tough job.

That’s why it’s so important to uncover ways to simplify your business and support your employees through technology. That way freeing up time and budget to support growth and opportunity – safe in the knowledge that you’re building on a firm foundation of data and device security.

Find out more about Microsoft 365 at www.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/microsoft-365/

30

bqlive.co.uk

UNDER THE

SKIN

bqlive.co.uk

Jess Hartwell is part of the second generation of her family to run Skyeskyns, a tannery and five-star visitor attraction on the Isle of Skye that’s won a legion of fans for its famous sheepskins, as Peter Ranscombe reports.

F

ew entrepreneurs can have as pretty a view from their place of work as Jess Hartwell does on the Isle of Skye. Based at Loch Bay on the Waternish peninsula in the north-west of the island, Skyeskyns shares its beautiful surroundings with sheep in the fields, eagles in the sky and seals in the sea.

It’s an appropriately rural setting for a very traditional type of business. Skyeskyns is a tannery that turns British sheepskins into leather, creating woollen rugs that last for decades.

While it may be part of an ancient industry, the company has a very modern outlook.

Online sales are an increasingly-important part

of the business and it also has a strong social media presence, connecting it to a flock of fans around the world.

Even on a wet and windy Skye morning, there’s something beautiful about Waternish.

And a tour around the tannery marks a welcome escape from the elements.

As well as producing the sheepskins, the tannery is also a successful tourist attraction, with a five-star rating from VisitScotland.

Guests are taken into the tannery on the ground floor of the building and are shown the machinery and production process, before heading upstairs into the showroom for a chance to browse the range of sheepskins, from

31

32

bqlive.co.uk

“

“People didn’t think it would last beyond a year, but we’re still here, going strong 34 years later.”

natural white or Hebridean brown through to cappuccino colours or fleeces with spots.

Some of the more weird and wonderful extensions to the range include Icelandic, Merino and Norse skins, along with cow and reindeer hides from other producers.

Sheepskins can be stitched together into doubles, triples, quads and sets of eight to create larger rugs, while its other products include beanbags, cushions, keyrings and pouffes.

The business has come a long way since it was founded in 1983 by Lydia and Clive, Hartwell’s parents. “People locally thought it was a hair-brained idea,” laughs Hartwell.

“This was Skye in the 1980s, before the bridge, when nobody hung their washing outside on a Sunday. People didn’t think it would last beyond a year, but we’re still here, going strong 34 years later.

“Mum and Dad were lucky enough to have a croft here in Waternish in the 1980s and had a small flock of black-face sheep. But crofters at that stage were being encouraged to diversify because crofting wasn’t particularly sustainable and – considering our location out here in the sticks – some out-of-the-box thinking was required.

“At that stage, raw sheepskins on the island

as a by-product from the food industry were just being sent to landfill. Dad thought that was a huge waste and that the whole animal should be used. He had a good friend who was involved in the leather saddle business, who encouraged them to go down the tanning route.

“They set it up with their future in mind.

They worked away at that point off the island as teachers, but always planned on coming back to Skye ultimately, which they did in 1999.”

Both Hartwell’s parents were teachers at Rannoch, a private school in Perthshire, with Clive teaching English and later becoming deputy head, while Lydia taught French and history. “Tanning was a bit of an escape during the holidays – something completely different,” smiles Hartwell.

The family returned to Skye for holidays and the occasional weekend to keep an eye on the business, which was run by a small and dedicated staff on a day-to-day basis, including local man John Macleod, the company’s original tanner. Macleod and Clive trained together as tanners at the University of Northampton, while Hartwell’s older brother, Jean-Paul, was also involved in the business on Skye during its early days.

“I’m not sure my brothers and I had much

choice in getting involved in the family business,” laughs Hartwell. “We used to earn pocket money during the school holidays by tanning sheepskins with Mum and Dad. “It wasn’t really your average teenage occupation, but we loved it, it was good fun.

I became more involved after university and a spell working in London, before deciding to move back to Skye.

“Back then, we were attending a lot of exhibitions around the UK, which were a marketing exercise for the business. One evening over a bottle of wine and dinner in a hotel, Dad and I decided that setting up a proper exhibition programme would give me an opportunity to be more involved and a chance to stay on Skye, where it can be tricky for young people to find a way to be here.

“The landscape is incredible – once it gets under your skin, it’s hard to resist the pull. If you like the outdoors then it’s heaven. Between the Cuillin mountains and the dramatic coastline there are endless options for outdoor activities.”

Those same elements that created the dramatic landscape on Skye can also cause the odd problem for entrepreneurs trying to run businesses on the island. As Skye prepares for high winds, the company’s team is busy taking

bqlive.co.uk

“

“How do we keep young, skilled people here when there’s a lack of affordable housing? That’s an issue that faces all rural areas.”

down a yurt, a large tent that has housed a pop-up café next to the tannery during the summer.

“The weather is a fairly major challenge,” she admits. “There’s no other way to overcome that challenge than to be prepared.”

The “YURTea&coffee” experiment has been a success during its first season and has given tourists an extra reason to make the journey to Waternish and visit the tannery. There are already plans to erect the tent again next year and, if the café continues to be a success, then a more permanent structure will be considered.

“The brain drain is another challenge,” she adds. “We’ve been very lucky with our team, but staffing is an issue in rural areas.

“How do we keep young, skilled people here when there’s a lack of affordable housing?

That’s an issue that faces all rural areas.

“Skye is now a year-round destination – not everything closes down in October, as in the past. There are many more opportunities available.

“We’ve worked closely with Highlands & Islands Enterprise – formerly the Highlands & Islands Development Board when we set up – and it’s been a great support to us and helped

us to develop graduate placements within the business.

“In the past, new ideas and innovation weren’t welcomed by everyone. A sheepskin tannery and visitor attraction were unusual.

We’re not on the main road in Waternish, so overcoming that takes a lot of ongoing enthusiasm and dedication to the dream.”

Hartwell also points to logistics as an issue.

Despite the bridge opening in 1995 to link Skye to the mainland, businesses are still charged by logistic companies as if it’s an island.

Broadband is another challenge. Despite sheepskins being easy to post and the success of the business’s online shop, Hartwell admits that much of the Highlands still struggles with the slow speed of its internet connections.

Despite the issues created by being based on an island, the company has grown to employ 18 full and part-time members of staff and will turn over about £950,000 this year.

Hartwell is proud that Skyeskyns can now offer people jobs all year round.

Over the summer, a stooshie erupted between the BBC and Police Scotland.

The corporation originally reported that “Police Scotland are warning visitors without

reservations to stay away from the Isle of Skye as the island struggles to cope with a massive influx of tourists”, before the force took to Twitter to correct the story, saying: “We haven’t said anything like that at all – our timeline asks people to be prepared, park/drive sensibly and keep the place clean.”

Understandably, the rumpus angered many local tourism businesses. Skye’s population of 10,000 people swells to more than 60,000 during the summer months, highlighting the importance of visitors to the local economy.

“Skye can certainly manage the numbers,” says an adamant Hartwell. “Our infrastructure does need some work, but there are local groups addressing the issues and proposing some great ideas, such as park-and-ride schemes to take the pressure off local hotspots. Government investment is essential at this juncture to support these and help protect the environment that draws the visitor numbers in the first place.

“Skye has always been popular but the past couple of years have seen a massive increase after our landscapes have been featured in so many films and adverts.

“Skye can cope and will cope very well.” n

33

34

bqlive.co.uk

bqlive.co.uk

A SHINING SUCCESS Actor Drew Goodall ended up homeless after severe bouts of depression. But he picked himself up by shining shoes, building a social enterprise that changes lives on the streets of London, writes Steve Dyson.

A

cting had always been a passion for Drew Goodall, and he spent his entire education and early working years dedicated to getting on stage.

Born in Ipswich in 1974, he was trained in acting and went through the system to drama school, subsequently working as a full-time actor for 19 years. As well as starring in theatre, he played roles in high profile films like Snatch, and About a Boy. But then disaster struck.

“A bad West End review in the mid-1990s sent me into a downward spiral and I quit the stage, lost my home and ended up spending six months on the streets,” recalls Goodall, now aged 44. It took a lot of energy to pick himself up from the gutter, and he began right at the bottom of the pile by polishing commuters’ shoes.

“I got myself back into employment in 1996 after buying brushes, boot polish and charging workers £2 to have their shoes cleaned, and gradually began to rebuild my self-confidence. I started shoe shining to get some extra money, but it quickly became a way for me to rebuild my life.”

Although Goodall regained his self-worth, it dawned on him that a career in theatre was not going to work for him. He found himself shoeshining whenever the acting jobs were drying up and, after a few years, continuing it as a proper business just seemed the natural thing to do.

35

36

bqlive.co.uk

“

“The City of London, where most of our work happens, goes mainly off reputation, so it took a lot of time and patience to get the business off the ground. When you start out, it’s a struggle to convince potential clients you are a trustworthy and reliable company.”

He formally launched Sunshine Shoeshine in 2004 and, despite early challenges, soon saw it starting to grow.

“It’s just a great idea, done well,” he says. “The City of London, where most of our work happens, goes mainly off reputation, so it took a lot of time and patience to get the business off the ground. When you start out, it’s a struggle to convince potential clients you are a trustworthy and reliable company.

“It wasn’t until two years later that it turned into a social enterprise, with a mission statement to help those less fortunate. That’s when the business really started to grow organically, with no loans and low start-up costs. Since then it’s steadily grown into the largest shoeshine company in Europe, servicing companies of all sizes from Barclays to small 40-person boutiques – something for everyone.”

Goodall decided to become a social enterprise when he took on another former homeless person as a member of staff, to try to help him. When he told his clients about the new shoeshiner’s background they were intrigued, and loved the idea that their custom could assist.

That’s when Goodall thought: “Why not make this a thing and take all our staff this way? We received so many positive responses from customers after we became a social enterprise, and I knew from that moment it was the right direction to take.

The rest, as they say, is history.

“Shoe-shining has always been popular, as it’s a difficult service to obtain and both women’s and men’s grooming is a growing sector. When the charitable model was added, the public’s reactions were immensely positive and hugely supportive of the enterprise.”

Sunshine Shoeshine operates as a sole trading social enterprise, with Goodall at the helm. It has an impressive list of blue-chip, City-based clients, including several banks and financial institutions. The business operates with a simple pricing structure: the charge is £49 for an hour of shoe-shining, mainly in and around a business’ premises, most often a weekly visit with a minimum duration of 90 minutes.

“We do all shoe colours, for women and men, and can do approximately nine pairs in an hour,” explains Goodall.

The business currently brings in revenues of around £250,000

bqlive.co.uk

37

Shining shoes led Alan Walton to fulfil a lifetime dream.

a year and now employs eight full-time workers – called “Sunshiners”. They start out on £10 an hour and are given raises as a reward for loyalty. The business also takes an active role in their personal lives, helping them with accommodation, for example. And many of the Sunshiners have stayed with the business for quite a few years.

Goodall takes a salary for the day-to-day running of the business. He then pays his Sunshiners and makes a range of charitable donations – these alone totalled £11,000 last year to charities such as Marie Curie Cancer Care, RNIB, Oxfam and the British Heart Foundation. Any balance is then ploughed back into the business.

He reckons Sunshine Shoeshine has helped up to 40 vulnerable men and women back to work by shining shoes. Many of those helped had found themselves out of work after suffering mental health or social problems, and others were homeless or had come to the UK as asylum seekers.

“Recruitment is one of our biggest challenges,” says Goodall. “When it comes to staff they’re firstly screened by our charity partners and then by us, and we don’t take people with criminal records or addiction problems. Day to day managing of staff can be challenging, like when staff take a turn for the worse, which sadly does happen from time to time. Unfortunately, it’s the nature of the model. But once they get accustomed to the role it gets easier. Generally, recruitment is done on instinct.

“However, our status as a shoeshine social enterprise is completely unique to us, and this experience and our social conscience makes us

stand out. We are by some distance the most established shoeshine provider in the UK, as in the past our competition has turned over every couple of years. It’s this stability that our clients love, so they end up staying with us for huge periods of time.”

Goodall now plans to expand the business, at the same time raising the profile of the homeless sector. And he has some great tips for other fledgling entrepreneurs and would-be owners of social enterprises.

“When something works, keep doing it,” he says. “Be honest with yourself about what you want from your business and life, whether you want to grow into a multinational or if you want to be a social enterprise. Do you want to work every minute and become a millionaire or do you want to have time to devote to your personal life?”

Meanwhile, as he’s currently a single man with no children, Goodall now enjoys living and working from his houseboat home in Richmond.

“For me, working from a boat feels no different than if I had a ‘normal’ office on land, as I still have all the facilities and space that I need to work. It’s more a lifestyle choice, but the staff I’ve employed definitely consider it an unusual aspect of the business.”

And as he considers the world from his River Thames-based home, he adds: “London can be a tough town and anyone can have a run of bad luck. I know from personal experience how difficult it can be to get your life in order if the wheels fall off.

“I’m very proud of Sunshine Shoeshine and of all our incredible Sunshiners. It’s very rewarding to make a real difference to other people’s lives.” n

Alan Walton, aged 46, from Richmond, suffered with mental health issues and had left school with no qualifications, leading to a 15-year spell of unemployment. He also suffered with bad eyesight caused by extreme myopia and cataracts, but was able to pay for private eye surgery after saving his Sunshine wages.

“I was born practically blind with extreme myopia,” he explains. “I was put into care when I was three because of my parents’ inability to deal with my worsening eyesight.

Life was very hard for me as there was a very real possibility that I would go completely blind by the time I reached 10 years old.

“I was bullied relentlessly at school and throughout my life. This only stopped happening recently when I saved money from Sunshine to pay for medical treatment. I now function with almost perfect eyes.

“The act of cleaning shoes was initially tricky, but everyone was really patient and I picked it up. The real challenge for me as someone who’d had no interaction with everyday life was to integrate into working society, dealing with people.”

He said his proudest moment as a Shoeshiner came when he was promoted to office administrator: “I had long held the ambition to work with technology and the internet, this role was a real game changer for me. It fulfilled my life time dream.”

38

Partner

GETTING READY FOR LAUNCH Steve Dougan, head of graduate enterprise at Teesside University, explains how Teesside Launchpad was set up to provide support to entrepreneurs.

TWO years ago, Teesside Launchpad was set up to provide support to entrepreneurs, and budding entrepreneurs, who formed part of the Teesside University community. Steve Dougan, head of graduate enterprise at the University, explains that it was

designed to replace an older funded programme, and the idea was to deliver the best possible product to students. “The challenge given to me by the University was to start with a blank piece of paper: If Carlsberg did graduate enterprise programmes, what would it look

Partner

like?

“So what we did was reference all the best projects we could find around the world and around the UK, and use them to design a new scheme on campus with a brand students could recognise and be excited by. We also made a space on campus that entrepreneurial students and graduates would gravitate to, that would stimulate enterprise activity.

“That programme was branded Teesside Launchpad, and we’ve now converted an old Victorian school, right in the heart of the campus, into a really exciting space for entrepreneurship and business start-up,” he says.

“We allow a broad range of people to join Launchpad and use the facilities,” he says. “You could be a student or a graduate, predictably, but you could also be a business support specialist, a local entrepreneur, a retired business owner, or an ‘interesting person’ – someone who brings

“

Live It and Get Active

“We also made a space on campus that entrepreneurial students and graduates would gravitate to, that would stimulate enterprise activity.”

brains, experience, access to networks with them.”

So, it’s an open, inclusive programme that allows anyone to join who adds value.

Sense of community is important here. Dougan points out: “If you walk into the best start up incubators in the country, the first thing that strikes you is that they’re so much more than buildings; there is a sense of optimism and community.

And we build these spaces sometimes,” he adds, referring to the country in general, “on the assumption that we can fill them with that culture, but it’s the wrong way around.”

Many of the workshops that happen are based on a reciprocal exchange of value. “We run workshops on law, taxation, digital marketing – we’re not paying for that course to happen here, it’s a swap. We give the trainers access to great facilities for their paying clients, and the swap is that Launchpad members and businesses get to attend for free,” he says.

That adds value to the Launchpad, but also to the deliverer’s workshop, because alongside their corporate clients they get a mix of founders, graduates and students coming in.

“Lots of relationships start in that mix, where people go on to become part of someone’s business. Where a Launchpad business has met a customer, or a supplier, or a potential partner. And where else might they have met those people?

“Graduates often find it difficult to take advantage of traditional networking events, because they often lack the confidence to do that naturally. But doing that in Launchpad,

Gurmeet Singh and Matty Jenkinson set up their company, Live It and Get Active, after being inspired by a graduate internship arranged by the University with Tees Valley Sport.

The business offers a holistic approach to keeping healthy and, as well as the fitness sessions, Matty and Gurmeet work with catering staff to address nutritional needs.

The pair are rolling out their high-intensity interval training (HIIT) programmes for children and staff members, to schools and young people’s organisations across the Tees Valley.

Gurmeet, a food and nutrition graduate, and Matty, a sports studies graduate, both undertook a three-month work placement with Tees Valley Sport earlier in the year.

As part of their placement they helped deliver fitness training to primary school children and teachers, and saw the potential for a business which offered structured training and healthy eating advice to both pupils and staff members.

Jenkinson said: “We’re both passionate about fitness and saw that there was a gap for a company which provides highintensity training to school children.”

39

40

Partner

Circle Cloud

Circle Cloud was launched in 2014 from Teesside University’s startup incubator Launchpad, and has since gone on to work with a raft of clients and secured Microsoft recognised partner status.

Circle Cloud specialises in implementing, migrating and managing client’s IT infrastructures in Microsoft Azure and Office 365.

Microsoft approached Circle Cloud to become one of its managed cloud partners. The status means the team will host talks in Fusion Hive, the University-managed business innovation centre in Stockton, by cloud specialists, have the opportunity to attend Microsoft’s Tech Summit in Washington DC, and sit regular tests to ensure their cloud knowledge is up to date.

In the past year the firm – led by 26-year-old Tomas Roberton and 44-year-old Michael Povey – has increased turnover from £120,000 to £440,000.

Roberton, who met Povey when they both worked at Darlington based Northgate Vehicle Hire, explain: “This year has been our year of gaining traction on work completed in previous years.

“Part of our strategy this year was to bring more large companies into our portfolio.”

in their home, is more comfortable,” he adds.

Launchpad itself is a big co-working space, currently home to just more than twenty businesses. “We also have an ideas generation room; it has an Xbox One, virtual reality facilities, a ping-pong table… it’s a really cool space,” says Dougan, that is often used to encourage creative and free thinking in the community.

There are more than 20 businesses in the building in incubation, all in space that’s subsidised by the University.

“We also have workshop spaces for businesses who are making things – we have a furniture workshop, we have three-dimensional 3D printing, we have a prop design company making movie props… the diversity of businesses in here is as diverse as the campus itself.”

Of the founders in the space itself, Dougan explains that they’re all graduates, having a stab at entrepreneurialism for the first time.

“Ordinarily, they’d come in during their third year and spend some time in the co-working lab, and we can knock their ideas around, carry out some validation and customer testing activity, then when they graduate they can come bring their team here.”

And then, when they’re ready, they get to move “Upstairs”.

That’s a big deal.

“Upstairs” is a rite of passage. A graduation, to the Fishpond.

“To get to go ‘Upstairs’,” Dougan says, “your team has to be solid, you have a reasonably valid business model, and you’re not too many steps away from winning business and getting customers. It’s seen as a big thing because it triggers a lot of the additional support that Launchpad offers. It triggers mentoring, where we can bring in experts to come in and be their coaches.”

To get access to that next level of support, you have to earn it, Dougan says. “And even when you go make that move, you go into the Fishpond; a shared office space. It’s not new and shiny, it’s basic – the most basic office in the building. You’re upstairs, you’ve got your own space, it’s quieter, you have mentors coming in to help you – it’s time to earn your way out of the Fishpond.”

The next step is to get your own, freshly decorated, office – but that has to be earned. It’s Dougan’s team who monitor that; after establishing “what good looks like” for the Fishpond business, they measure their success to check they are continuing to swim in the right direction, so to speak.

“If that’s happening,” Dougan says, “and if mentors feed that back, we help them to move into their own space where they can stay for 6-12 months, before we fledge them out to

“

“The diversity of businesses in here is as diverse as the campus itself.”

Partner

“

“We’ve made a conscious effort to get the platform to reflect both the campus, and the regional economy, more than it did in the past”

other places.”

Continuing with the theme of diversity, the Launchpad team have worked hard to mix up the types of businesses that are working with them.

“There would have been a time where this building was mainly digital businesses. We still have those businesses, but we’ve made a conscious effort to get the platform to reflect both the campus, and the regional economy, more than it did in the past.”

And on top of that, there’s also financial support. “Every year we run Launchpad FUEL, our top tier programme that allows them to pitch for grant funding. Not a loan, a grant of between £2,000 and £19,000 per team, which comes from a Trust.”

The most recent round of FUEL saw £37,000 of funding distributed, predominantly to social enterprises, and with an active bias to female founders. “We actively sought them out to try to balance the platform a little more. That’s great for us, because we get a much more colourful space.”

And a £650,000 refurbishment project in 2018 will mean more workshop space is available to micro-manufacturing businesses, with facilities like sinks and industrial flooring.

“We’re finding more and more graduates wanting to use laser cutters, 3D printers; things that weren’t accessible 15 years ago, but that you can now put on a desk for under £1,000.”

So the entrepreneurial community being built at the Launchpad is continuing to thrive, and Steve is bullish about its future: “It has to be led by entrepreneurs; it’s an entrepreneurial community. Sharing their stories and lessons learned, in exchange for an exciting space, people who could become their suppliers or customers, and space on a campus that’s really going places.

“You can build buildings, but here, on the campus, you really get a feel that something special’s happening.” n

Contact: theforge@tees.ac.uk 01642 384068 www.tees.ac.uk/theforge

Kraken IM

Kraken IM was founded by Geoff Cornwell and Jordan Holland, before Cornwell’s brother Ian joined them.

Kraken has developed a software tool, Halcyon, which captures information throughout the project lifecycle to create a digital asset.

Halycon captures all the data from the teams working on the project by providing a collaboration platform, collecting not just the data that the teams produce but also the communications that the teams make.

This rich data environment allows them to create predictive models on project performance and risk as well as give an audit trail of all of the decisions that have been made along the way.

Since late 2016 the team has gone from strength to strength, from pitching to Prince Andrew, selection in the prestigious Thinking Digital Startup competition and DigitalDNA in Belfast, and international recognition as one of the top 500 most promising tech start-ups in 2017 for the Pioneers 500 festival in Vienna.

41

42

bqlive.co.uk

While serving a sentence for fraud, Tony Hilton used his time in prison to develop Gone for Good, an app that connects charity shops to donations, writes Maria McGeoghan

W

hen Tony Hilton went “on his holidays”, it was at “Her Majesty’s Pleasure”.

Jailed for six years for fraud and unwittingly renting houses that were being used for cannabis farms, Hilton served three years behind bars.

And the story of how he coped, learned, and came up with a cracking business idea while serving his time sounds like a cross between Porridge and the Shawshank Redemption.

With a combination of brains, charm and a determination that he wouldn’t waste this unexpected experience, he has emerged with a passion to give something back to society.

He is the co-founder of Gone for Good, an

app-based business that makes giving to charity shops easier than ever. The spark for the idea came while working in a charity warehouse while serving out his final year at Kirkham Open Prison.

He soon realised the whole process needed to be streamlined and the lightbulb flashed on. But back to where it all started – with the clanging of a cell door.

“I’ll never trust a barrister again,” says Hilton, 48, who hails from Worsley, just outside Manchester. “I spent money that wasn’t mine, which was wrong, the cannabis farms were just the nail in the coffin.

“I was in the process of paying the money

back and it took two years before coming to court. I was told that I might get two to three years and then when they said six I couldn’t believe it.

“I just had to brace myself and get on with it.

I split it in to year-long chunks and I knew the last year would be in an open prison. I was in prison for 1,096 nights.”

As a novice to prison life he had to learn quickly, and a lucky encounter when he was being booked in on his first day helped him considerably.

“This bloke came up to me and asked if I smoked – I didn’t,” says Hilton, who is upbeat and cheerful and clearly relishes telling his story.

bqlive.co.uk

“

“I was told that I might get two to three years and then when they said six I couldn’t believe it.”

“He said he would get ‘padded up’ with me – but I had no idea what that meant.”

It turned out his new cellmate was a non-smoker too and they soon became friends.

“He looked after me – which I needed. I remember one day that two other prisoners came into my cell and were after my chocolate. He told them to clear off as I was with him and I never had any trouble after that.”

Determined to use his time inside well, Hilton signed up for a prison vocational course and soon realised it was out of date. “With the support of G4S prison officers, I re-wrote the car mechanic course; we also wrote to a number of car companies resulting in nearly £100,000-worth of donated training materials” he says.

“I thought that the other prisoners deserved something a bit better. I used to help write a lot of stuff for other prisoners including form filling and tag requests. I got paid in Mars Bars. I got through quite a few Mars Bars over the years.”

For the last two years of his sentence, he was moved to an open prison and spent his time in a charity shop warehouse on an industrial estate. “Open prison is like a really crap holiday camp,” laughs Hilton.

“You could actually go out for work if you were back every night. The warehouse really opened my eyes to how charity shops worked, and I felt I could help them do it better.”

He started putting ideas together for Gone for Good, an app that anyone can use to take a picture of the items they want to give away, tell them a little about it, choose a charity to donate to and arrange either a pick up from the charity or the best shop to drop it off.

The charity knows exactly what it is getting and it reduces the chances of your donation being lost or stolen – most of all, it’s easy for the donor. The aim of Gone for Good is to re-channel 6% of the saleable clothing and other items that currently end up in landfill, helping charity shop income to double, which in turn helps important causes.

Gone for Good also wants to double the amount of stock for those who live below the poverty line and rely on charity

43

bqlive.co.uk

Photography shot on location at Fourteen Drops

44

shops for clothes, children’s toys, furniture and other items. It’s the sort of brilliant idea you think should have been dreamed up long ago.

When Hilton was released in June 2011, he set about turning the app into a reality with investors and a lot of help from Matt Haworth and Ed Cox of Reason Digital, a Manchester agency that specialises in working for social enterprises. He also convinced a friend and lawyer, Mark Charnock, to become the managing director of Gone for Good and give his time for free.

At the same time, another lucky break came from Aidan Minogue, local business owner and entrepreneur from Bury. Minogue was instrumental in helping Hilton get back on his feet by employing him to look at and research the viability of a charity-specific leasing company supplying cars and vans to the sector. In November 2016, Hilton and a team of investors formed Charity Fleetcare.

“I have been very fortunate, between my family, close friends and my business partners, my way back into normal life has been much easier than it is for most,” says Hilton.

Both Charity Fleetcare and Gone for Good

are now well and truly up and running. Gone for Good charges £1 for every transaction and has been downloaded more than 50,000 times.

Many of the major charities have already signed up, and more are getting involved every day.

As well as supplying fleets of cars and vans, Charity Fleetcare has also developed charityspecific software that helps third sector organisations reduce fuel costs, lower emissions and improve efficiencies.

“Gone for Good is a game changer for charities,” says Hilton. “We did a presentation to a group of charities about this and was nearly killed in the rush at the end when they all came up and wanted to know more. They had all been looking at apps and we’ve now done the work for them.

“I don’t think many people realise just how important charity shops are. If we didn’t have

“

great charities, I think this country would be on its backside.

“You just have to look at all the work going on with charities such as Cancer Research UK. Every day they are doing amazing things.”

The high street charity shop is still going strong and, for many people on low incomes, it is much more than somewhere to have a browse and buy a book. They are a vital resource for everything from children’s toys to furnishing a home.

“Furniture and warm clothes are big at the moment,” says Hilton. “Gone for Good just makes it as easy as possible to make sure the stuff you no longer want goes to the right place and not just to landfill.

“Charity shops are run by really loyal and committed people but the missing piece in the jigsaw is using technology to streamline the

“I don’t think many people realise just how important charity shops are. If we didn’t have great charities, I think this country would be on its backside.”

bqlive.co.uk

“

“Charity shops are run by really loyal and committed people but the missing piece in the jigsaw is using technology to streamline the whole process and make it easy. The income they bring in to their individual charities is vital.”

whole process and make it easy. The income they bring in to their individual charities is vital.”

But Hilton and his team aren’t stopping there.

In January, they are launching the trial of Gone for Good Couriers where donors will be able to book a van, initially in London, which can come and pick up unwanted quality items at a date and time to suit them, all arranged through the app.

The long-term goal is to get 100 low-carbon dioxide vehicles on the road, employing 200 drivers and assistants made up of ex-service staff, long-term unemployed and ex-offenders.

“These will be proper jobs, with proper salaries,” says Hilton. “With 100 vans, we could pick up stuff that would be worth £1m per week to the charity sector – then we have achieved

something that would be really cool.”

And his plans don’t even end there. He is busy working to set up a charity in 2018 called ‘Home For Good’ to help ex-offenders on their “through the gate journey”.

It aims to make life easier from the minute they leave prison and therefore helping reduce reoffending. “There is a need to help ex-offenders open bank accounts, get costeffective car and home insurance, help find accommodation and employment and we will deliver all of this by providing a simple to use smart phone app,” says Hilton.

Meanwhile, Gone for Good is already getting noticed and was recently named “Best Not For Profit” in the Big Chip Awards and nominated for “Best Use of Technology” and “Fundraising Technology Award” in the 2016 Charity

Times Awards.

For Hilton, it’s been a remarkable transformation from prisoner to charity supporter, enthusiast, mover, shaker and disruptor. “When I tell people about my background, over all they have been really supportive about it,” he says.

“It’s just about being open and honest. My family and friends now refer to my sentence as ‘being on my holidays’.

“I’m disappointed and angry at myself that I crossed the line and broke the law and I’m sad I hurt my family and friends closest to me, especially my daughter who was a teenager at the time. But I also know that I truly benefitted from the experience and it made me a better person on so many levels – and, joking apart, it really wasn’t a holiday at all.” n

45

46

Partner

A family photo of the Atom bank team; the Atom pull brings a unique mix of talent and experience, including global talent too!

A talent magnet Everything about Atom bank is exceptional.

Behind the banking app is a uniquely human team, constructed of industry experts from academia to law to the civil service, living on the doorstep of Atom’s County Durham office or three hundred miles away, new to the industry or with decades of valuable experience behind them.

Bringing together this team of diverse, talented individuals has been no mean feat… but how do you find the very best the world has to offer? And how do you persuade them to come and work for your challenger bank?

Simple. You build it. Build it out of eco-mud walls and no dress code, with apple fences in the car park, and stotties in the local shops, next to a nature reserve, with fresh ideas, tenacity and an open mind – and they will come, as BQ’s Suzy Jackson discovered.

bqlive.co.uk Partner

Right people, right reasons There are some great benefits to working at Atom bank – but the primary perk is definitely the job itself.

Atom is a bank full of hoodie-wearers but it’s not like your dad, trying to be cool and hip and ‘down with the kids’… This bank is substance over style; the style element of Atom bank is what you see presented in the app and in their products, and they polish the boots of that to perfection.

But their people. Their people are authentic in every way. No one changes into their work persona on entering the building; instead they come to work as themselves. Individuality and respect is key at Atom.

Sean Gilhome, resourcing manager at Atom bank, tells me that a strong team is a diverse team: “We’re about idea generation and doing things differently, to do this we need a diverse workforce, with different experiences and backgrounds to ensure we have well thought out suggestions,” he says.

“

“We’re trying to be at the forefront of technology but that doesn’t mean that we have a bunch of robots working for us”

“We’re trying to be at the forefront of technology but that doesn’t mean that we have a bunch of robots working for us,” adds Gareth Johnston, HR business partner. Individuality, creativity and personality are important; what they bring to a business is really valued here.

“Maximising the range of demographics of our people within the business will only enhance the scope of experience, skills and insight that we can draw upon. We’re also trying to disrupt the industry and we’re not going to do that by employing a bunch of stereotypical bankers!”

“Some of the roles we recruit for are pretty niche and sometimes that means we need to delve into talent pools that are a little further afield but we continue to invest our time into initiatives such as Women in Finance and the Tech Talent Charter to try and develop our own talent pools more locally.”

“Let’s not forget the people we’ve got within the business already, we place a massive emphasis on self-development, sponsoring people through professional qualifications and other development to ensure we can promote internally.”

A diverse team is the only true way to engage with, serve, and represent the diverse customer base Atom are building. Sean adds: “We look for individuals who are passionate about changing an industry, about creating something that we can all be proud of and making a difference.”

And in return, the package is good, with flexibility and long term rewards baked in. “This makes sure Atom has people who are here for the right reasons. This results in low attrition and a real family feel, an environment that encourages creativity, opinions and challenge,” he says. “This should reassure customers that everyone here at Atom wants to do a fantastic job for them, always putting customers first when making decisions and striving to make their lives better.”

47

The All About Me Fund Every year, the Atom team gets help to learn something new that’s not job-related, but that’ll develop them as well-rounded, happy, human beings. Highlights of 2017 included:

Scuba Diving Lessons Guitar Lessons Ballet Dancing Learning Chess Cake Decorating

48

Partner

Who works at a bank like this?

The Commuter

The Returner

Katy Ringsdore has been Atom’s head of PR for just more than two years. Her office is in Durham, and her house is in Bristol. Yes, that Bristol.

“It’s extremely exhausting,” she concedes. “I get the train to London on a Monday, work from London all day then get the train to Durham that evening. I work in Durham until Thursday then fly to Bristol on a Thursday evening - this flight is nearly ALWAYS delayed.”

391 miles on the rails and around 280 by air each week, but Katy

Vincent Golding made the move back to the North East from near Leeds in early 2017, bringing his daughter back to be raised closer to his family. Having settled into a career in the banking sector already, Atom’s location allowed him to stop trawling through job sites as their advert for operations trainer was too good to resist!

“We’re building a bank! How many people get to say that,” he asks. “And we’re having a good time doing it. What more could anyone want from their job?”

“

“

“It is an incredibly special place to work – I have never had a better job.”

shrugs it off. “I love Atom!” Her enthusiasm is contagious as she adds: “It is an incredibly special place to work - I have never had a better job.”

Living through the week in Durham, Katy has learned the local love of the word ‘champion’ and credits the people she shares her work life with as being ‘100%’ the reason she adores her job so much.

58:

Number of sessions delivered across two dedicated “learning weeks” in 2017

“We’re building a bank! How many people get to say that?”

His commute now is double what it was when he was based in Yorkshire, but it’s 100% worth it, he says… you could almost say it’s a ‘canny’ drive! “I’d stopped using that when I wasn’t living in the North East, but I’m so pleased it’s a regular part of my vocabulary.”

And after ten years in Yorkshire, he’s settling into his ‘fun, crazy and fast’ job at Atom by celebrating the fact that stottie cakes are available everywhere…

846*:

Fruit bowls distributed across the business.

An apple a day, and all that. *Figure correct at time of going to print!

Partner

The Commuter

The Returning student

Kate Horwath, Copy Manager, has a lengthy commute from the wilds of Yorkshire. Why would she travel hundreds of miles just to go to work? “Because it’s Atom!”, she exclaims. “Look, I realise it’s a cliché and people will think I’m only saying this because my boss might read it, but it’s absolutely, totally genuine.

“Atom cares from top to toe. From a smile and a chat with the Chairman and CEO, being human has trickled down the whole business. It’s a really unique place to work.”

George North, media specialist spent a year commuting from West Yorkshire before the pull of Newcastle became too strong for him, and he succumbed to the bright lights of the big city – again, having been here as a student at Northumbria University.

He’s halved his commute, but more importantly for him, he now car-shares with two colleagues; significantly important when, after falling in love with the Tyne Bridge on a visit, he now stares at ‘that bridge’ from a queue of stationary cars if he hits rush hour!

“

“

At Atom, you can have an idea in the shower in the morning and discuss it with the chief marketing officer by lunch.

Kate loves the humanity that she finds in her role. “At Atom, you can have an idea in the shower in the morning and discuss it with the chief marketing officer by lunch.

“I’m creating the personality for a bank, not many people can say they’ve done that!”

216:

Toilet rolls given away at company meetings. A useful prize for anyone!

“Atom encourages uniqueness and personality.”

“Throughout education and growing up,” he says, “you are taught about this tough and strict expectation of what ‘the big wide world’ is like. Atom is nothing like that. It encourages uniqueness and personality like nowhere I’ve ever seen, and I couldn’t imagine there being anywhere like it.”

Relishing life back in the Toon, George particularly likes his constant proximity to a Greggs sausage roll, and being able to use the phrase ‘howay, man!’ to express disdain to – well, anyone, really.

Too many to count: meltdowns due to milk shortages at head office.

Hey, nobody gets everything right.

49

50

bqlive.co.uk

G N I G N A B M U R D E TH Mike Hughes meets Alan van Kleef, a drum maker who is beating out a rhythm for entrepreneurs.

Y

ou might think the pun in this article’s headline deserves a short drum roll and a cymbal clash for its sharpness and hilarity. No? Well, if you did then Alan van Kleef is the man to provide it, as one of the country’s leading drum makers for musicians performing with the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Manic Street Preachers, Paul Weller and The Who. His snare drums are a symphony themselves, with Sheffield stainless steel for lugs, hoops and tension rods and with skeletons of bronze, magnesium, copper or even silver – that one will set you back a quid under £5,000 – and using oak and birch to produce the perfect sound for recording studio or football stadium. If you want an 18-carat solid gold drum, let van Kleef have £200,000 and he’ll deliver that as well, anywhere in the world.

This is a craftsman, working in Yorkshire with one of the region’s greatest assets to produce jawdropping products for eager superstars around the world. Not bad for someone who could have been a Boys’ Brigade bugler.

bqlive.co.uk

51

“

“I was on timpani, bass and snare drums – just basically anything I could get my hands on that involved percussion.”

He is a musician at heart, which is where VK Drums first started to form as a possible business, and the question that made all the difference came from one of the leaders of his local brigade, who asked if there was anyone who would play either snare drum or bugle to fill a gap in the band. “I tried the bugle but didn’t have any joy with that, it was the drums that seemed more interesting,” he says at his workroom in Catley Road, Sheffield.

“I got some lessons and ended up playing the cymbals in a marching band at the age of ten, with competitions all over the UK, which then spread into the school orchestra where I was on timpani, bass and snare drums – just basically anything I could get my hands on that involved percussion.

“There was no musical background in the family – no piano in the house or anything – my parents were in the catering trade, so I was brought up in restaurants. I just loved drums and would use my pocket money from washing up in the restaurant to buy bits and pieces and slowly assemble a kit week by week. That taught me how important cash flow was.

“Then, after seeing Top of the Pops and the drummer in the background whacking away, I was in covers bands around Weston-super-Mare and Swindon playing in the local pubs by the time I was 15. It had become a real passion.”

It is a sound piece of advice for any prospective entrepreneur to go with what you know best. If you love working with metal or wood, if you’re a cyclist with a design for a new brake system or a doctor who sees a way a medicine might be better administered – if you want to start your own business look at what drives you and that passion you already have will be a huge boost to your aspirations.

That’s where van Kleef was, loving drumming and playing live with drum and bass DJs at various events, then running his own recording studio in London. Wanting to plan a secure future with his new girlfriend, who was from Sheffield, the couple moved there and the power of steel renewed its grip on him.

“I remembered getting Meccano for Christmas once as a lad and used a couple of brackets from that to make a high-hat stand out of a cheap music stand, rather than have to save up and buy one for £100. I still couldn’t afford the two cymbals for it, so I use an old beer tray for the bottom one. It was a crude way of achieving what I wanted to achieve, but from there I developed this interest in the engineering side of things.

“I joined the Royal Navy as an aircraft mechanic, but I hated the discipline side of it, so when we moved to Sheffield there were plenty of metal fabricators and engineers and the hobby I now had started to grow and I wondered if I could make my own lugs as well as the shells, then my own badge… and then I had a company.

“I didn’t worry too much about it becoming my main business because I was just fascinated by it and it was more of a labour of love for me. I would often sit up to the early hours trying to find ways to make a certain piece for the next drum.”

Word was starting to get around that the bloke from the drum and bass sessions who used to have his own studio was now making something very special, and it was a push from Facebook that really got things moving. He created a page and put pictures on of the half-dozen drums he had made, joined a few forums and became friends with a number of drummers.

“Before I knew it, there was a small following and a few months later I booked an exhibition space at the London Drum Show, got some banners printed and made two impressive-looking kits and a few snares. I met a few other builders and sent a few

bqlive.co.uk

“

“One of the first famous names who came to me was Steve White, who worked for Paul Weller. From him it started to snowball.”

drums to magazines to be reviewed, which led to an eBay page and website.

“In the first year I only got orders for about half a dozen drums, but I was still only working from my one-car garage. I then started experimenting with some less-common materials, which created a bit of a buzz and one of the first famous names who came to me was Steve White, who worked for Paul Weller. From him it started to snowball.”

So, apart from the artistry and craftsmanship, what goes into a van Kleef drum? The aforementioned silver snare at £4,999 has a 14” by 4.5”, 1.5mm sterling silver shell, stainless steel lugs, hoops and “VKlaws”

gripping the rim. It comes with the lasermarked VK logo, hallmark, date and serial number, a foam-lined hard case and – nice touch this – a pair of white gloves.

Towards the other end of his extensive catalogue, for £699 you get a 14” by 5”, 13-ply Sapele and Birch shell, with those stainless-steel lugs and hoops.

“I don’t think I set out to create a particular sound with them,” he says. “That is something you first hear from the completed drum at the end, but I think it helps if you choose different materials and perhaps something a little thicker – many drums have thinner shells with a bead for reinforcement.

“I know that works because I’ve had 30 years of experience of drums and engineering. That means I am creating a drum that no-one else has done, so that will have a slightly different sound.

“Also, most hardware that drum-builders bolt on to the shell is chrome-plated steel that they all buy from the same place in Taiwan, or sometimes cast aluminium. I use solid stainless steel so that there is a different resonance that helps set me apart – and there’s no plating to do.

“If I have got all the parts and there is a completed shell, I can assemble a drum in a day or two, but if you are talking about rolling

53

54

bqlive.co.uk

the shell, hoops and tags, it can take between four and six weeks for all the processes to start from scratch.”

He prides himself in doing most of his work himself and takes a wary view of expanding the business too far.

“The problem I have seen is that you can end up growing too fast and then you have this machine to feed. Part of the appeal of my drums is that I make them by hand, so I don’t want to go down the road of having an extra two people producing twice as many drums, but they are just being bolted together with

“

me sat in an office.

“That loses the appeal of why I started to do it all, and I am 45 years old now, so I have a few years left in me yet to continue making them by hand, providing enough for my family and not being too greedy. With an eye on preserving the skills, maybe in a few years I will take on someone with a bit more experience who has a bit of background – and that same passion for drums.”

The orders keep on coming from customers who appreciate that ethos, with some drummers coming back and building a VK

drum kit piece by piece, or replacing earlier drums. The new business and old is split more or less 50-50 with van Kleef doing all the dealing himself, except in China or Japan where the complexities of the languages mean an intermediary is very useful.

Wherever in the world he travels and sells, hearing his drums being played is still the biggest thrill of all. But then that’s BQ entrepreneurs for you – inspired by their own possibilities and never happier than when someone else appreciates their high standards and spreads the word with the same passion. n

“Maybe in a few years I will take on someone with a bit more experience who has a bit of background – and that same passion for drums.”

HIGH LIFE WINTER 2017 MOTORING

TRAVEL

EQUIPMENT

DRINKS

56

HIGH LIFE

HIGH LIFE

David Brown Automotive combines the best of both worlds, producing cars that look old but drive like new, as Josh Sims reports.

D

avid Brown’s road from earth-moving machines to faster moving ones came via an experience in a Ferrari Daytona. “I was at a classic car rally and was really looking forward to driving this car – until I did,” says the man who took over his father’s heavy plant machinery business before launching a Harley Davidson dealership.

“It was like driving a truck, with no modern comforts. And then it broke down. It looked fantastic, but the technology was very dated. The fact is that many classic cars of the past are wonderful in terms of styling, but by today’s standards they’re mechanically awful.”

That conflict led Brown to launch his own company, Silverstone-based David Brown Automotive, to produce cars that are the best of both worlds: taking a donor vehicle and re-building it from the ground up – complete with modern interior, braking and engine systems – to produce a car that looks old but drives new. Brown’s first offering was his Aston Martin DB5/6like Speedback GT. But now, less expectedly, he’s done it with the Mini. And that’s the Mini from the first time around – 1969.

The appeal to some will be clear, as it is to Brown.

While he has no wish to forego the comforts and mechanical superiority of modern cars, he’s less impressed by their cookie-cutter styling. In contrast, the cars of yesteryear – and specifically the 1960s and early 1970s, he argues – came out of a “revolutionary period of freedom in design, which resulted in some of the most beautifully sculptural products, including cars”.

That’s an idea that, increasingly, is not lost on the wider car industry. Put white-walled tyres on it and Cary Grant in the passenger seat and if it was seen snaking its way along the French Riviera it would not

57

58

HIGH LIFE

have looked out of place half a century ago – yet the Fiat Spider 124 is a new car, built by robots in Japan, yet with lines borrowed from its Pininfarina-styled namesake launched in 1966.

The Spider follows a growing line of cars that have, over recent years, re-imagined a past classic – retro in mood but modern in engineering: from the Fiat 500 to the Dodge Challenger, BMW’s Mini and, before that – arguably the vehicle that started the trend – the homage that was Volkswagen’s Beetle concept.

That was the work of J Mays, the celebrated auto designer who spent much of his career at Ford. He also re-imagined the short-lived Thunderbird and the cultish Mustang for the company, updating the spirit of the original to provide a car of distinction that both helped

“

“I wouldn’t say it was laziness, more expediency on the part of car companies, but I reckon maybe just 5% of all the cars on the road now are really competent design”

remind the market of the maker’s historic import, but also gave a certain audience a welcome break from the box-on-four-wheels school of car design.

Marc Newson, the acclaimed product designer, car nut and designer of a concept vehicle for Ford, complains that he can look at most cars on the road today and tell you which computer programme was used to design it.

Does this desire to look back speak poorly of car design in the 21st century?

“I wouldn’t say it was laziness, more expediency on the part of car companies, but I reckon maybe just 5% of all the cars on the road now are really competent designs,” argues Mays. “Everything else is a mish-mash of copies.

“Car companies have to work very quickly now but while designs have to be true to the brands, it’s important they still differentiate themselves. Why? Because that’s how cars become meaningful to drivers. They have

HIGH LIFE

“

“When everybody else starts doing it, that’s when it’s time to get out.”

to have resonance – and resonance to more people than just the designer.”

Even a good idea can be overdone. “People started to typecast me as the [pioneering] designer of retro-futurist cars. But when everybody else starts doing it, that’s when it’s time to get out,” adds May. And he did. That advice, however, seems to have fallen on deaf ears. To re-issue a classic requires that a car-maker has a classic design to re-issue, of course: Land Rover, for example, has its new Defender on its way, while Ford has a fresh take on the legendary Bronco in the pipeline.

But if you don’t, well this year’s international car shows have not been without their roster of retro designs all the same: from Honda’s Urban EV concept, to the forthcoming Toyota Century. Given this century’s troubled times, the reassuringly familiar certainly sells: retro – a slightly damning adjective now – is cute, accessible, some might argue unchallenging, but certainly has personality.

It’s easy to see why re-issue or retro seems to make for smart business for the mass market. After all, the re-imagining of an iconic car, or nodding to some mythic past, is to build on something already part of the public consciousness – media interest is guaranteed, it plays to the zeitgeist’s demand for authenticity, and nods to what for many was the golden age of car design, before sales departments, safety regulations and even software made so many cars look much the same.

It’s happening in the motorbike world as well, from Royal Enfield’s “new” Bullet 500 to the Brough Superior and Ural sidecar: these are all, by some viewpoints, outmoded products, brought back to life less out of nostalgia – their customers are typically not old enough to remember the vehicles the first time around – so much as out of an appreciation for form.

Some people, it seems, will pay big money to express their appreciation too. Jaguar’s special operations workshop, for example, has launched a special edition of just six

examples of its Lightweight E-Type, a car that dates back to 1961. Sorry, each was pre-sold.

Eagle, a specialist car restorer, beat them to it. In 2014 – and akin to the David Brown Automotive operation – it launched its own version of the E-Type, taking a donor car and rebuilding it bolt by bolt from the ground up, but putting in modern advances in electrics, braking, cooling, corrosion protection and the like along the way. It’s yours for £400,000. For £150,000, you can have a similarly overhauled Jensen Interceptor from Jensen International Automotive; £100,000 buys you a David Brown Automotive Mini. Yes, six figures for a Mini.

Despite being an icon of Britain’s “swinging sixties”, it won’t come with a Union Flag. And yet, intriguingly, so many of the cars that have been deemed worthy of re-invention were, in their first incarnations, also symbols of national pride in their respective home countries.

Maybe what is driving the popularity of their modern makeovers is less petrol as a touch of patriotism. n

59

60

HIGH LIFE

HIGH LIFE

ICE, ICE ///////

B A B Y

///////

Josh Sims explores the wonderful world of ice wine – and finds out how these very rare drinks are now having an influence on the whisky industry too.

T

hink of wine and the sunnier climes of Southern France, California or Australia may spring to mind. The rather colder climes of the Niagara Peninsular, in Canada, probably won’t.

And yet this corner of the world – best known for its waterfalls – is one of the country’s premier wine-growing regions, with several dozen wineries. Indeed, it’s the world’s leading maker of ice wine: it makes close on 90% of global production.

If ice wine is not a drink you’re familiar with – even if you pride yourself on being a bit of a bon viveur – you are not alone.

“Ice wine is tricky and expensive to make, which is why most winemakers steer clear of it,” explains straight-talking Aussie Craig McDonald, the winemaker at Peller Estates, arguably maker of the best ice wines.

“It’s a luxury item – most of it is consumed by the domestic market, so not a lot gets exported, so it doesn’t have the name

that might be expected. It’s a real ‘no compromise’ product to make. And then we’re at the mercy of the weather to make it happen in the first place.”

Indeed, the harvesting of grapes for ice wine only happens each winter if the estate gets a sustained period of very cold weather – at least four days of minus eight degrees centigrade, but not, ideally, colder than minus 10. Then a team of hardy pickers dash to the vines – often at very short notice, and in very long johns – and enjoy endless working days with frozen fingers.

Why harvest in such brutal conditions? Because it’s then that the water content in each grape is effectively forced out to leave just the tiniest drop of what in the trade they call “nectar”.

The colder it is, the more water freezes as a percentage of sugar. It’s the resulting super-concentrate that is used to make ice wine.

61

62

HIGH LIFE

“

“sweetness is only one measure of a real ice wine – it’s that slow process of freezing on the vine that makes all the difference.”

Yes, ice wine is typically sweet, akin to dessert wine but not as cloying – in part thanks to spending between six and 10 months in French oak barrels. “It’s this that gives it an edge,” says McDonald. “It’s not just syrupy sweet.” There’s a greater range of flavours and, its fans say, applications – as suitable an accompaniment to savoury dishes, for example, as a table wine.

Not that ice wine goes as far. Only around one millilitre of liquid is achievable from around 10 grapes, which is why the same number of grapes that would give you a bottle of ice wine – you need around three kilograms worth – would give you something closer to seven

bottles of more conventional table wine. That goes some way to explaining why a small bottle of ice wine – 375ml – is likely to set you back upwards of £40.

Those with an appreciation for severe weather will also now understand why ice wine is a rarity: there are not many places on the planet that are hot enough in the summer to grow the grapes in the first place, but also cold enough come winter to make ice wine feasible. Thanks to cold fronts coming down from the Arctic, and hot ones rising from the Gulf of Mexico, Niagara has just that unusual micro-climate: “We’re dealing with two massive weather

systems here – and with a variability that keeps us on our toes,” notes McDonald. “The seasonal shifts here in Niagara are like nothing I’ve ever experienced.”

Demand for ice wine is on the up – such that Peller Estates has had to tackle the problem of Chinese counterfeits; most likely full of cheap dessert wine. There are other places, Peller Estates points out, that say they make ice wine – notably wineries in Austria and Germany – but some of these are produced artificially, by freezing the grapes mechanically, resulting in a less full-bodied, less intense, less aromatic version that your oenophile would identify as unmistakably “other”.

HIGH LIFE

“It just tastes sweet,” says McDonald. “But sweetness is only one measure of a real ice wine – it’s that slow process of freezing on the vine that makes all the difference.”

Indeed, ice wine – or at least “icewine”, as it’s been branded – has an appellation regulation that stipulates it must be frozen on the vine.

“And the icewine police are big on imposing rigid controls to allow you to have that icewine status,” McDonald adds.

Scotch whisky, of course, is similarly tightly controlled by the Scotch Whisky Association, which brooks no great deviation from its definitions before it will stop a brand from calling its product “Scotch”, widely perceived as essential for appealing to certain markets internationally. Yet it’s thanks to a new experimental whisky from Glenfiddich – in collaboration with Peller Estates – that ice wine might get the recognition it at last deserves.

Winter Storm, as the whisky has been called, is

made using the barrels ice wine is made in.

“And no, I’d never heard of ice wine either,” admits Brian Kinsman, Glenfiddich’s “malt master”, the man who designs the company’s whiskies. The two drinks aren’t blended – rather the oak becomes the medium for transferring flavours from the ice wine into the whisky.

“We went into the process fully accepting that it might not work at all,” adds Kinsman, and all the more so given that, since ice wine production is a small-scale business, Glenfiddich could only get hold of fewer than 100 barrels – for all production – which meant there was little room for trialling. “But, at the end of the two-year process, I think it has worked well.”

“And, for us as winemakers, the idea of using the ice wine process to make a whisky was an exciting one,” McDonald adds. “We just thought, ‘let’s try it, let’s see what the hell happens’.

“

“For us as winemakers, the idea of using the ice wine process to make a whisky was an exciting one.”

“There’s already been a real halo effect. But there’s more of a local acknowledgement that we have a world-class product with our ice wine coming on too.

“For a while, we’ve had a hard time putting it up on a pedestal – that’s just part of the Canadian psyche. But now we’re taking a more confident approach.” n

63

64

HIGH LIFE

Peter Ranscombe travels to Skye to visit the Three Chimneys, a restaurant-withrooms that’s been wowing guests for more than 30 years, both with and without its Michelin star.

Clean F

ew names conjure up images of fine dining like the “Three Chimneys”. Opened in 1985 by Eddie and Shirley Spear, the restaurant has become one of the most famous in Scotland, with diners making the journey to the Isle of Skye to sample fresh Scottish produce cooked to the very highest of standards.

Since the Skye Bridge opened in 1995, the island has become far more accessible to visitors. Many of the roads are now dual-track – in fact you’d be forgiven for thinking you were still driving along the West Coast of the mainland in places – and only the final stretch along Loch Dunvegan leading to Colbost is still single-track.

The Spears were quick to capitalise on the increase in tourists by opening The House Over-By in 1999, turning the Three Chimneys into a restaurant-with-rooms. Six of them to be precise, just across the car park from the old cottage with its white-washed stone walls and black slate roof tiles in which dinner is served.

Calling it picturesque just doesn’t do it justice. As the tide ebbs and flows in and out of the sea loch, the kelp

sweep fields reveal seals at play, while ducks, geese and waders call Colbost home at different times of year.

The Three Chimneys began winning awards not long after opening, being crowned “Scottish Restaurant of the Year” in 1990 and picking up a plethora of prizes on a regular basis ever since. Its trophy cabinet is now bursting at the seams, having scooped the “Editor’s Choice: UK Restaurant of the Year” title in the 2018 Good Food Guide.

Both the AA and VisitScotland rate the establishment as a five gold-star restaurant with rooms, with the AA also awarding it three rosettes for its cooking. Its breakfast and wine list have also won awards.

For many years, perhaps the only thing missing from the restaurant’s pantheon of prizes was a Michelin star. In 2014, head chef Michael Smith – who took over kitchen duties from Shirley in 2006 – won the eatery’s first star. He left just months later and the following year’s guide didn’t award the restaurant a star.

Yet Shirley was sanguine, saying at the time that the star had been “a complete surprise” and that she “completely”

respected the guide’s decision the following year. Instead, she threw her support behind Scott Davies, who took over from Smith as head chef.

And, having tasted his food, it’s easy to see why Shirley has so much confidence in Davies’ abilities. His dishes lived up to the hype that surrounds the restaurant.

An amuse-bouche of langoustine bisque with sour apple and rye crumbs was rich and had an almost vanilla-like creaminess. The combination of sweetness, sourness and toastiness worked extremely well.

Melt-in-the-mouth wood pigeon served alongside beetroot and caramelised onion followed as a starter. While the bird was superb, it was the palette of colours used on the plate that really caught the eye, from the green of kale through to the orange of carrot and the yellow of sweetcorn.

Game was the order of the day for the main course too; venison was paired with a creamy mushroom duxelle and ash-smoked celeriac, which echoed the earthiness of turnip. Again, pretty as a picture on the plate, but it was the taste that made the dish a real winner.

Pudding almost felt like a disappointment for once after such marvellous savoury courses.

There were no faults with the chocolate mousse encased within a chocolate shell and served with quenelles of sour salted caramel and sweet chocolate ice creams, but the dish simply didn’t sparkle to the same extent as the previous two.

A return trip is definitely in order to sample the set menu and its accompanying paired wines though. The eight-course “Skye, Land & Sea” tasting menu looked superb, with an impressive array of seven wines to match.

One of the most exciting elements of the wine list was to see such a wide selection of high-quality half bottles, ideal for diners on their own or couples looking to pair different wines with different courses themselves.

The 2016 Willi Bründlmayer Grüner Veltliner “Terrassen” from Austria bristled with aromas

of granny smith apples, apricots and faint flowers, leading into rounder apple, bruised pear and peachy notes on the palate to balance the fresh acidity – ideal for cutting through the richness of the langoustine bisque.

With two game dishes, syrah from the Northern Rhone was high on the agenda for the red, and the Domaine du Murinais Les Amandiers hit the spot. The nose of the wine from Crozes-Hermitage was full of developed notes of mushroom, manure, damp hedgerows, smoke, blackcurrant, blackberry and a twist of redcurrant, with rich and rounded vanilla enveloping the black plum, black cherry and blackcurrant flavours on the tongue.

As intriguing as the wine list was the selection of Scotch back in the lounge in The House Over-By. As well as local boy Talisker, the shelves were brimming with other whiskies, from Balvenie to Highland Park and back again.

The lounge also doubles-up as the breakfast room, with a stunning view over the sea loch.

If there’s room for a cooked breakfast after the previous night’s feast then it’s well-worth the effort.

The split-level bedroom – following the contours of the hillside – was extremely comfortable, with a massive bed and an evenmore generously proportioned en-suite. The home baking was, perhaps unsurprisingly given the quality of meal, simply awesome.

Not just an amazing place for a relaxing retreat from the world, The House Over-By could also make an interesting getaway for private meetings or for rewarding key business teams. Few places can rival Skye’s dramatic landscape – who wouldn’t be inspired in their business or personal lives by such a stunning location? n Rooms in The House Over-By start from £345 a night, including breakfast. Dinner in the Three Chimneys starts from £68 per person, while the tasting menu is £90 per person with the accompanying wine flights are £55 per person.

“

“Having tasted his food, his dishes lived up to the hype that surrounds the restaurant.”

66

HIGH LIFE

2013 San Gabriel Arcangelo Pavone

2015 Vittorini Marche Bianco Crocifisso

2013 Il Civettaio Poggio Al Commessario

Everyone deserves a

SECOND CHANCE E ntrepreneurs are naturally at home in the drinks industry. It’s a sector that’s full of creativity and innovation, giving ambitious individuals the chance to put their ideas to the test.

The latest enthusiast to join their ranks is Rob Seddon, who featured in BBC Two’s Second Chance Summer television series back in the spring. The programme chronicled the escapades of a group of Brits in Tuscany as they tried to turn an old farmhouse into a bed and

breakfast-cum-restaurant, while at the same time tending to its vineyards and olive groves.

I don’t normally watch “reality” TV, but the mixture of Tuscany’s beautiful landscape, Toby Jones’s gentle narration and the romance of making wine had me hooked. Seddon’s was the standout story for me – by the end of the series, he knew he wanted to work in the wine industry.

Now, he’s fulfilled that dream. His new company, Jackson & Seddon, is importing

Drinks writer Peter Ranscombe samples the first wines imported by Rob Seddon, the star of BBC Two’s Second Chance Summer television series. organic wines from small producers in Italy and selling them via a recently-launched wine club.

His “business partner” is Jackson, a five-yearold English springer spaniel, officially called “Sunraycourt Benedict the First”. The pair makes for an engaging combination and has won legions of fans on social media.

The wine club offers a series of boxes to help members explore the wines of Seddon’s beloved Italy. The “Discovery Box” (£50) features three organic wines produced in the centre of the country, and is followed by the “Journey Box” (£145 for three wines each month for three months), the “Explorer Box” (£275 for three wines each month for six months) and finally the “Odyssey Box” (£540 for an annual subscription).

The three bottles in the initial “Discovery Box” were very impressive. After smelling the lemon and grapefruit aromas on the nose, along with a twist of lemon sherbet, I was expecting the 2015 Vittorini Marche Bianco Crocifisso to be light-bodied, but it surprised me with its roundness, which came from its unusual combination of white pecorino grapes and red sangiovese.

Judging by his Instagram photos, Seddon shares my passion for steak and the 2013 Il Civettaio Poggio Al Commessario – a blend of 65% sangiovese, 20% cabernet sauvignon and 15% merlot – would make an ideal match to a juicy piece of beef. Wood smoke, damp earth, vanilla and a mix of red and black fruit on the nose graduate into crisper red cherry flavours on the palate.

My favourite from the trio was the 2013 San Gabriel Arcangelo Pavone, which balanced concentrated red cherry, vanilla and cinnamon flavours with enough fresh acidity and tannin to work with food, all wrapped up in a warming 15% alcohol by volume. Top-notch sangiovese.

The inspiration and motivation Seddon received on Second Chance Summer clearly led him to discover some first-rate wines in Italy.

Keep an eye on this entrepreneurial importer. n

bqlive.co.uk

Aquaphysical crowned BQ’s Emerging Entrepreneur Leila Francis Coleman’s Exeter-based business impressed the judging panel to win the overall prize at BQ’s National Entrepreneur Festival, powered by Atom bank.

Thirty five of the UK’s best up and coming entrepreneurs took to the stage to showcase their businesses and themselves at the steampunk-themed evening in Newcastle’s Boiler Shop, a newly-renovated building whose heritage is at the heart of the industrial revolution.

Seven were victorious, with London & the South’s Leila Francis Coleman of AquaPhysical eventually leading the finalists to become BQ’s Emerging Entrepreneur.

“It’s an amazing achievement to have won,” Leila says. “Listening to everyone’s pitches has shown there are so many people out there putting so much into their business – I feel so privileged to have won. I can’t believe it; I’m in shock!”

Those in attendance were also given the chance to cast their own vote, for the people’s choice award. Luggage tags left in a suitcase next to the steampunk living statue were counted up, revealing the charismatic Urfan Ghulfam of Queens Qulfi had won the hearts and minds of those in the room.

Clare Framrose, Atom bank’s head of propositions, was part of the judging panel for the awards. She spoke of her honour at being involved: “The overall quality of the nominations was incredibly high and all judges were in awe of the expertise, determination and entrepreneurial spirit evidenced in the submissions.

“I was inspired and excited by their stories – the integrity, knowledge, drive and bravery of so many of these individuals is truly admirable.”

BQ’s account director, David Townsley says: “This year’s crop of entrepreneurs were some of the most diverse, creative, and imaginative people we’ve encountered.

“The entrepreneurial spirit, across the whole of the UK, is growing stronger and stronger as people embrace their ability to take control of their own lives and become their own bosses.

“We’re very grateful to Atom bank for powering the event for a second year, along with all of the other sponsors and supporters who made this event truly unique and wonderfully exciting.” n

BQ NATIONAL

ENTREPRENEUR FESTIVAL POWERED BY

Award winners: BQ Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Yorkshire Benjamin Lawton of Custom Controllers.

BQ Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the North West Kate Badger of the Academy of Fun! BQ Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award for North East & Cumbria Andy Haddon of Earth Doctors Ltd.

BQ Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Scotland James McIlroy of Enterobiotix.

BQ Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Midlands Melissa Snover of the Magic Candy Factory.

BQ Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award for London & the South Leila Francis Coleman of AquaPhysical.

BQ Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Wales Sue Poole of C4EE, the Centre for Entrepreneurial Education.

Atom bank Rising Star Award James McIlroy of Enterobiotix.

People’s Choice Award Urfan Ghulfam of Queens Qulfi.

67

68

bqlive.co.uk

bqlive.co.uk

“

“Basically, the doctor said I had broken both my ankles and I walked home on them. ”

Tan erine dream

Growing up on what she calls one of the worst council estates in Telford, Sandy Lindsay founded her own communications consultancy and launched The Juice Academy, which trains digital apprentices, as Maria McGeoghan reports.

I

bloody love my job,” says Sandy Lindsay with a big grin. We’re in the boardroom at what she affectionately calls “Tangerine Towers” – the home of one UK’s top communications consultancies, which employs 60 people and works with some of the world’s biggest brands.

It’s in the heart of Manchester’s trendy Castlefield, where old meets new as smart office blocks and apartments look out over the canals and bridges that reflect the city’s past.

Lindsay, who was made a member of the order of the British empire (MBE) in 2015 for her services to business and young people, is founder and chair of Tangerine, which provides public relations (PR), marketing, digital and content expertise for national and international companies.

She also set up a multi award-winning apprentices’ scheme, The Juice Academy, to help plug the digital skills gap in the NorthWest of England, is chair of the Institute of Directors’ North-West skills group and a national ambassador for apprenticeships. A very busy lady, but she’s funny, down to earth

and keen to praise the people who have helped her along the road to success.

Tangerine has just celebrated its 15th birthday by announcing employee ownership so it’s the perfect time to look back at where it all began. And that start was set to a disco beat; a dancer for 20 years, Lindsay has realised that many of the skills she learned while leading her dance teams stood her in good stead for a life in business.

“I grew up on one of the worst council estates in Telford,” she explains. “I was very, very lucky because I had amazing parents.

“The older you get you realise how much of life is based on having good parents. They gave me really good values and a real belief in myself.

“I danced for 20-odd years competitively with teams across the country and we would come together at the weekends to compete.

It was a mixture of disco dancing and tumbling, acrobatics and gymnastics – which is why my body is completely screwed now.

“With hindsight, the way I ran the teams

is very much how I run things today. Bringing people with you, engaging people, teamwork, communications, leadership. When you felt fantastic, and you had a really good routine, you felt on top of the world and nothing could knock you down.”

But a series of repeated injuries put paid to her dancing career and she had to give it up.

“One day I was dancing and we had this new Greek routine.

“I went over and landed on my legs, whipped them out, and went ‘Oooohh!’. I walked home and got up the next morning and fell out of bed. Fell flat on my face.

“Basically, the doctor said I had broken both my ankles and I walked home on them.

He said If you don’t stop you will end up in a wheelchair. I thought right, stop. I was 22 at the time.”

A role working in administration for the British Amateur Gymnastics Association followed, and she then moved in to crisis management.

“I do love a crisis,” she admits. “Some people

69

70

bqlive.co.uk

run away from it but I always think there is an opportunity in a crisis. When you see all the phone lines lit up you know it’s going to be interesting.”

She then took on a senior role at a large PR agency, which eventually opened up the path to Tangerine.

“I never ever was going to start my own business,” Lindsay says. “That was not what we do in my family. We work for other people. We know our place.

“I was working with a very large PR firm, which had 10 offices and it was a brilliant place to work, and I was loving it.

“Then I started getting that Sunday evening stomach ache, ‘The Sunday Doom’. We had been bought by a venture capitalist and you probably know how that goes. It was a brilliant place and it was making a very, very good profit. But they bought it and changed it which I have never understood. They started doing things that I disagreed with.”

So, she sat down with her boss and talked herself out of a job.

“I was told at the time that the problem with me was that I had too strong a moral streak,” she remembers. “Back then, PR wasn’t what it is today at all. If I told people that I worked in PR

they would say ‘Oh you lie for a living’.

“I was offered redundancy, which I took. I was 35 or 36 and my friends and family said you can start your own business and I said ‘No, I don’t think I’ll be doing that thanks very much’.

“PR is a very small village in Manchester. I was offered two or three jobs immediately, managing director roles mainly, and I thought I might be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.

“Then I thought if I’ve got this hideous moral streak, maybe the only thing I can do is start my own business. I can prove to myself that it is possible to run a PR business that is both ethical and profitable.

“Those two aims are not mutually exclusive.

If you do great work for clients, and treat people properly the money naturally follows.”

Any why call it Tangerine? “Oh, I’ve always loved orange but that brand was taken.”

Now 15 years on, Lindsay has built up the business on those same principles and, as she predicted, success has followed with current revenues of £3.2m.

“It has flown by,” she says. “It feels like three or four years ago. I absolutely bloody love it.

“Some agencies are willing to say and do anything to win business but we are only willing

to say and do what’s true. Sometimes that can put you at a disadvantage.

“We were absolutely determined that we would never break that or we would end up just like everyone else. We will stick to our principles and even if that means we are not going to win some clients — they are not for us anyway.”

The biggest growth year for Tangerine was in 2012 when it won the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) national agency of the year award, the first agency outside London to take this prestigious prize.

“It went absolutely bonkers,” says Lindsay. “It was crazy. We were getting calls from national and international brands and it took us in to a completely different league.

“It had just been proved you don’t need to be in London. You can do brilliant work from anywhere in the country.”

This summer, Lindsay announced that Tangerine was going to be employee-owned and all the paperwork was finally signed off in mid-November.

“I always said I would do it,” she says.

“Tangerine is my baby. I don’t have kids. We never have wanted to sell. The people who have helped me along the way should benefit

bqlive.co.uk

from their work.

“So, if you work for us, you are a partner like in John Lewis and share in the profit, which we have always done. A lot of the things that employee-owned businesses do, we already did. So, it won’t feel that different. It’s real now.

I only own 26% from owning 86%.”

As part of the deal, Lindsay wrote a “Letter of wishes” for the staff, which includes: “Support and develop each other as individuals.

Doing work that makes us proud.”

And one of her proudest achievements is setting up her second baby, The Juice Academy, which guides up to 80 young people through a level-three apprenticeship in digital marketing every year.

“Role models are very, very important,” says Lindsay. “If you can’t see it, you can’t be it. We go into schools and talk to young people about the brilliant careers they can have as men or women.

Anybody can be anything but they can only do that if they have role models. We have always done job creation, internships, sandwich students and apprenticeships.

“I got in to this whole PR thing by accident.

Someone took a punt on me with no experience and I bloody love what I do.

“So, I think we should do the same thing.

When you are brainstorming Iceland you want someone who has actually shopped in Iceland – not Waitrose.

“They bring us this new energy. Some are uni grads and some are 18 years old. It annoys me when people say that they are too small to take an intern. We had our first intern when we were two people and she was amazing.

“You are never too small to start helping people out. I thought instead of just moaning about the skills gap let’s see if we can do anything about it.”

The Juice Academy was set up in 2012 and now employers and students are recruited every quarter and speed matched during a boot camp before setting off on an 18-month programme combining the classroom and the workplace.

“It’s great that 93% of our young people get kept on,” says Lindsay proudly. “Some of them have gone on to amazing jobs. People teach at the academy for free and it’s not for profit.

“You see the students going from wide eyed with terror at boot camp to 18 months later graduating in caps and gowns. It’s really rewarding.

“I think that the apprentice levy should be

a training and development levy that can be spent on any development.”

So, what advice would she give to people who are just setting out running their own business? “The best piece of advice is always employ the most expensive people you can afford”.

“More often than not, there is a reason why they are expensive. We don’t tend to penny pinch with people if we like someone. You get what you pay for in people more than anything else.

“Founding director Sarah Halton has been with me since a month in. I’m the gob basically.

They call me the head of prancing.

“If it wasn’t for Sarah, Tangerine would be the noisiest, smallest PR agency in Manchester.

She is the one who has made it work. While I’m the one out there making all the noise, she’s the people, she’s the detail, she’s the money.

“As the teams grew we employed Sam Gregory as MD of business-to-business five years ago and Mary Harding as MD of consumer. They are exceptional people.

Absolutely brilliant and much better at communications than I have ever been. We are the sum-total of everyone who has ever worked here over the years.” n

71

72

Profile

Together lends sixfigure sum to boost a property developer’s buy-to-let portfolio Daniel Owen-Parr, national development director at specialist lender Together.

For more information please call 0333 987 3172, or visit www.togethermoney.com

Specialist lender Together has provided a six-figure sum to breathe new life into a disused former police office block, as a development company expands its buy-to-let portfolio.

The finance company is providing a total of £806,000 to buy and part develop the 1960s-building. Property investors Paul Rothwell and Emma Thompson are set to embark on a major conversion project to turn the previously empty block into 32 self-contained one bedroom flats under permitted development rights – introduced to encourage the creation of housing from empty buildings.

Rothwell has built up an impressive £33m property portfolio in just 13 years, with his company Empire Property Concepts investing heavily in buying disused commercial buildings, renovating them, and letting the properties as rental homes.

For this latest venture, Together provided a £300,000 short-term loan for the purchase and another £506,000 towards the cost of developing the disused four-storey office block.

Daniel Owen-Parr, national development director at Together, says: “This just shows how popular buyto-let remains among forward-thinking property investors, despite changes to the sector.

“We were delighted to provide this loan and are pleased to be associated with such a successful property investment company. At a time when there is a severe shortage of housing across the UK, this redevelopment will provide more than 30 affordable rental units. It would be great to see others investing in similar projects.”

The disused building, which is located in the city centre, was previously used as offices for West Yorkshire Police before being purchased by Empire Property Concepts for redevelopment, which will also involve improvements to the outside of the building such as rendering and fitting new window panels.

Rothwell, Empire’s founder and managing director,

“

“We were delighted to provide this loan and are pleased to be associated with such a successful property investment company.”

says: “It’s a property which has been standing empty and we are looking to modernise it to transform it from quite an uninspiring building into a great place to live.

“We generally buy commercial buildings such as old offices and add value by refurbishing them and renting them out as self-contained flats, rather than converting existing residential properties. This latest project will go towards meeting the growing demand for housing and attract people into the city centre.”

Together works with a vast network of intermediaries, including brokers, accountants, solicitors, banks and financial advisers to deliver their clients the finance they need, and has provided funding for many major property developments across the country.

This latest deal was supported by law firm hlw Keeble Hawson. Partner Paul Goel says: “Having represented Paul Rothwell since 2010 and witnessed the sustained growth and success of Empire Property Concepts, we were delighted to apply our expertise to enable the development company to further expand its buy-to-let portfolio. It’s also been great to collaborate with Together to bring the planned conversion to fruition.”

Together, which is based in South Manchester, has been providing finance for 43 years and this year announced record lending for the 12 months to 30 June 2017, with a current loan book of more than £2.24bn. n

The loan for one project that provides funds for the next Our new refurbishment bridging product is ideal for investors who want to purchase a property, carry out light refurbishments* and then release their investment quickly to move onto the next project.

• Loans from £26,000 to £5,000,000 • LTV up to 75% • Flexible terms For more information visit togethermoney.com/auctionfinance

Any property used as security, including your home, may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on a mortgage or any other debt secured on it. * Light refurbishment includes the replacement or refurbishment of kitchens and bathrooms, rewriring, decorative attention or internal re-configuration. It does not include anything that requires planning permission or structural changes.

74

bqlive.co.uk

G N I K A M Entrepreneur and Sri Lankan immigrant Harsha Rathnayake worked three jobs to get his business off the ground, as Steve Dyson explains.

I

t was when he was offered an old tipper truck in lieu of his wages that Harsha Rathnayake realised there was money to be made from rubbish.

Born in Sri Lanka in 1983, he’d come to London 13 years ago to study automotive engineering at Kingston University, and then took a master’s degree in science and another in business administration at the University of Sunderland.

“I worked as a part-time driver for a waste removal company, regularly working 20 hours per week while studying for my degrees,” the 34-year-old recalls. “Rubbish collection was the only job I’d ever worked in England, so it felt right for me to continue once my studies were complete.

“But soon after this my boss decided to close the business and move to India. The only asset he had for the company was an old,

MONEY FROM

H S I B RUB

3.4-tonne Ford tipper truck, which was worth about £700. He offered me this truck instead of my last month’s wages, which I accepted, and from there Junk Hunters was born.”

That was back in August 2009 in North London, and one of Rathnayake’s first challenges was that English wasn’t his first language – he’d been brought up in a Sri Lanka village where no English was spoken. So, he learned English whenever he could in his spare time, teaching himself via online modules and YouTube videos.

When he began Junk Hunters he had no staff and so would handle all the calls, marketing, card payments and invoicing himself – as well as collecting the rubbish. But the biggest challenge he had was in overcoming the lack of any finance from banks or other lenders.

“Cashflow was a huge issue for me, as banks

didn’t want to lend me money because I didn’t have a credit history in the UK,” he says. “When the banks wouldn’t help me, I didn’t know where else to seek advice – I didn’t have any connections. I realised I only really had one other option: to do it myself.

“This meant I funded the business through my own personal savings, which at the time was only about £160, and by working two parttime jobs. I woke up at 4.30am every morning to go to my morning job – doing the paper rounds for a local newsagent – which started at 5.30am and ended around 7.30am.

“I would then return home to take my truck and get on with rubbish collections for my business from 8am. I would finish at 5.30pm, and make my way to a local Indian restaurant at 6pm where I spent my evenings as a delivery driver until midnight. I continuously worked like this for 19 hours per day including

bqlive.co.uk

75

76

bqlive.co.uk

the weekends for a year to overcome this challenge, which I successfully managed to do.”

What Rathnayake quickly realised was that there’s a lot of money to be made in other people’s rubbish, and he managed to generate a profit in his first year on a turnover of around £70,000. But doing this on an average of about four hours sleep a night was hard, lonely work.

“I had a few good friends to help me occasionally with loading the trucks, but I never had any financial support from friends or family. Generating a profit in my first year and finally being able to ditch my part-time jobs was a real breakthrough moment for me.

I could then afford to buy a second truck and employ two people. At this point I gave up my two other part-time jobs.”

Since that first year, Junk Hunters has bought new trucks year after year and today, after eight years, the company has steadily

grown into a business that employs 14 full-time staff and turns over around £1.8m a year.

It operates as a simple on-demand “twomen-and-a-van” rubbish collection service, offering shiny trucks, a friendly and uniformed team, two-hour guaranteed arrival windows, upfront pricing and even sweeping up afterwards. It’s a competitive market, but one where Rathnayake has found it relatively simple to stand-out.

“My main aim is to keep existing customers happy,” he says, “as this is much cheaper than trying for new ones. Our first-class service prioritises customer satisfaction, and our competitive pricing structure only charges for the amount of waste collected. Plus, we’re committed to protecting the environment, as we recycle more than 80% of all the waste we collect.”

Junk Hunters’ prices range from roughly £60 for a maximum weight of 100kg to £160 for a

maximum weight of 600kg. And Rathnayake now plans to steadily increase the company’s brand presence across the UK by offering two franchise business models. The first is as an “operator”, where the franchisee starts in a hands-on role with just one vehicle. The second is under a “management model”, which includes a range of tasks like sales and marketing, recruitment and training.

Junk Hunters will dispose of any rubbish that clients need removing. That mostly means old furniture, clothing, garden waste and large items of junk, but it also carries out removals from office and construction sites, which includes lots of old desks, computers and building waste. And occasionally, Junk Hunters’ teams will find the equivalent to a chunk of gold in the rubbish they’ve collected.

Rathnayake remembers one early discovery particularly well: “I once found a pair of first edition Charles Dickens novels in some rubbish

“

“My main aim is to keep existing customers happy as this is much cheaper than trying for new ones. ”

we collected. They had an online resale value of about £500.”

However, most of the rubbish it collects is disposed of, and the company uses privatelyowned waste transfer stations, which it always makes sure are licenced and registered with the Environment Agency. Although the main income is what people pay to have their junk collected, franchisees can re-sell a percentage of the goods they collect, providing additional revenues.

On average, Junk Hunters gets 90% of its revenue from what customers are paying, and another 10% by re-selling items like secondhand furniture and scrap metal. The company also donates a lot of goods to charity shops, which doesn’t make any money but provides a valuable service to the local community – improving its brand and its customer relationships.

Now married with two children and living in Stanmore, London, Rathnayake has plenty of advice for other start-up entrepreneurs: “Firstly, find the right business that suits your passion and lifestyle. Building a business is a

medium- to long-term activity – it is likely to need a lot of planning and very large personal sacrifices. In my experience, success only comes with really hard work.

“One of the hardest parts is taking that initial step. Don’t waste time waiting for the perfect business plan: start now, fail, learn and try again. Be clear about your motivations and be honest about your level of ambition.

“Money should never be your sole aspiration, and you should be realistic about how much time you can commit to any project. Look after your cash flow before you begin to think about profits. If you don’t have enough cash to pay your bills then you can’t continue to run your company, no matter how profitable your business is.”

Rathnayake also has good advice for other immigrants who fancy their chances at becoming UK-based entrepreneurs: “I do think that immigrants can bring more to the British economy, but there are several barriers for them when starting and running a successful business in the UK. The language can be one of them, and it’s difficult to obtain visas to come

to the UK as a business person if you’re from outside of the European economic area.

“Also, as an immigrant, banks are not willing to lend you the start-up money for a business as you do not have a credit history in the UK. This means you must think outside the box and work out the best way around these barriers. Aside from this, the UK is a great place to build your business.”

Despite describing such a difficult beginning, Rathnayake quickly shakes his head when asked if there’s anything he would do differently if he could start Junk Hunters again.

“No,” he declares. “I did everything I could at the time to make the most of very limited resources. Looking back at these things after eight years, I have nothing to regret. It has been hard but I didn’t waste any time, I am always glad of that.

“And I’ll always remember the value of accepting that old tipper truck instead of my wages – that was the start of great things in my life, the moment when I realised that real money can be made from what other people feel is rubbish.” n

78

Partner

The hidden value in innovation Harnessing research and development tax credits and investing in innovation could unlock significant opportunities for manufacturers, as specialists at Jumpstart point out.

THE increasing focus over the past few years on “innovation as a means to increased competitiveness” should be a strong force encouraging companies across the UK economy to invest their own resource, time and cash in innovation projects.

However, Sheffield City Region’s Quarterly Economic Review recently cited that, of the companies it surveyed within its area, 30% did not intend to invest in innovation projects at all over the next year.

So, with wide recognition that innovation, in

most cases, is translated into increased revenue from sales of new or improved products reduced operating costs through improved productivity better operating profits and more flexible and resilient businesses, why is it that companies are still hesitant to commit even more time and money into innovation projects?

If innovation is truly fundamental to success in today’s dynamic business environment, then all companies need to invest as much as practically possible into innovation projects.

Many companies are discouraged from investing in innovation as the benefits are not always clear or obvious at the outset of the project. In such a situation, companies are often reticent to commit resources as experience has often shown that the final bill for a project grows beyond initial projections.

Against uncertain or ambiguous benefits there doesn’t appear to be a compelling argument for giving time and money, both of which are limited luxuries for small and medium sized entreprises (SMEs).

Partner

As a result, innovative companies in the UK are selling themselves short, by failing to take advantage of the generous incentives available to support innovation activity, such as the research and development (R&D) tax relief scheme. If they did, they’d be able to gain benefits well beyond the improvements to their revenue and bottom line profits, and generate additional funding to boost future innovation spend.

One such company is Suffolk-based MD Controls, which has benefited from an extra £120,000 over the past six years that it has been able to reinvest in infrastructure.

Founded by engineer Martin Davies, MD Controls (MDC) has been providing turn-key engineering solutions for clients from its Bury St Edmunds headquarters since 2001. Growing to a team of 12, MDC has extensive experience of implementing fully-automated control systems for a range of industrial and agricultural environments including food services, shipping, storage and distribution.

Designing, manufacturing, installing and commissioning bespoke control systems, MDC continuously seeks new solutions for global clients. This means elements of projects can have unknown outcomes requiring R&D. In 2011, R&D tax credit specialist Jumpstart was recommended to MDC by an accountant

“

“I am confident we are maximising our claim value without risking over claiming.”

due to the risk-taking aspect of their business.

“Initially I was sceptical about our eligibility as I thought research and development meant men in white coats,” said Davies, “however Jumpstart’s technical analysts quickly dispelled this myth and I was amazed by the size of our first claim.”

Working with Jumpstart for more than six years, the Suffolk-based company has received a total claim value in excess of £120,000, contributing to their growth through reinvesting in infrastructure such as staff and ICT. Davies also says his knowledge of the scheme allows him to take on projects with a higher risk thanks to being able to off-set the potential claim value against losses.

He adds: “Working with Jumpstart has made the process of claiming R&D tax relief quick and simple, saving me time and resource. Plus, their expert knowledge of the system means I am confident we are maximising our claim value without risking over claiming.”

It is also worth remembering that the rewards for innovation don’t just come purely from projects focused on new product

development or product improvement projects. Engineering body EEF’s most recent Innovation Monitor, published in November, cited a three-fold increase in the number of process innovation projects undertaken by its members over the past seven years and added that 37% of companies surveyed believe process innovation is becoming more important than other forms of innovation.

Take Qualvis for example, a family-owned business based in Leicester that supplies companies such as Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and Tesco with quality packaging across a range of sectors – including cosmetics, multimedia, household and food. Qualvis has continued to reinvest in its facilities and processes over the years, helping it find innovative ways to stay at the forefront of design and printing in the UK. “We weren’t aware of the full scope of the R&D tax relief scheme until Jumpstart delved into our projects and had a look at what we were doing,” says Richard Pacey, creative design director at Qualvis. “We thought innovation meant your product had to be ‘groundbreaking’ in some way, but it turns out that our

79

xpect the EST RESULTS 80

Partner

r your business, me after time.

g the best people and processes in the ss and the experience gained from over successful claims means that we:

mise the demands on your time;

mise the complexity of the claim process;

mise the risk of under or over-claiming and ing an HMRC enquiry; and

mise the accuracy and value of your claim.

ng the best results, time after time.

ree R&D tax credit consultation and s of the potential returns you might pages of guidance to wade through and almost day-to-day operations were adding to the UK’s , contact the Jumpstart team: as many pitfalls to avoid, it can be tough to go knowledge economy.”

Despite thinking everything in the print industry was now standard practice, with w.jumpstartuk.co.uk Jumpstart’s help, Pacey and his team were able to evaluate the entire business to identify any inghand@jumpstartuk.co.uk technical developments that may be deemed as innovative and which fell under the banner 0 218 7226 of R&D. This collaborative approach has helped change Pacey’s perception of what R&D tax relief is and the amount of effort involved on his team’s part.

On the whole, manufacturing is a vital part of the UK economy, and with so many small and medium firms contributing throughout the supply chain, across a variety of industries, it’s vital that they receive as much financial support as possible.

The UK Government’s R&D tax relief scheme is one of the biggest funding sources for innovative UK companies, but with hundreds of

it alone.

Involving specialist advisors such as Jumpstart for your claim means that your claim process will be more efficient. You will benefit from the specialist’s tried and tested template and receive support from their team to guide you through any questions as you compile the claim.

With support from specialist advisors, you will be able to: demonstrate which of your activities qualify under the scheme; receive a funding stream for further research and development projects; and develop an understanding of how to make best use of the scheme as you progress.

Jumpstart is a leading R&D tax relief specialist, guiding companies through the complexities of submitting claims to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Its large team of technical analysts has specific scientific and technical backgrounds and years of industrial experience that have resulted in an extremely high success rate in securing R&D tax relief for its clients.

Since inception 10 years ago, it has realised almost £100m benefit for its clients. Right now, its submitting an average of 500 claims per year to HMRC. n For a free R&D tax credit consultation and analysis of the potential returns you might expect, contact the Jumpstart team on 0370 218 7751 or helpinghand@jumpstartuk.co.uk

Jumpstart your R&D tax credit claims

Web: www.jumpstartuk.co.uk Email: helpinghand@jumpstartuk.co.uk Tel: 0370 218 7751

bqlive.co.uk

Invest in YOUR BUSINESS

with R&D tax credits Looking for a cash injection to aid your expansion plans or ease your cashflow?

R&D tax credits can be a big earner for all kinds of companies, but with hundreds of pages of guidance to wade through and almost as many pitfalls to avoid, it can be tough to go it alone.

As the UK’s leading R&D tax credit specialists, with 10 years’ experience putting together thousands of successful R&D tax relief claims, we’d love to help you capitalise on this opportunity!

For a free R&D tax credit consultation and analysis of the potential returns you might expect, contact the Jumpstart team: www.jumpstartuk.co.uk helpinghand@jumpstartuk.co.uk 0370 218 7751

Jumpstart your R&D tax credit claims

81

82

bqlive.co.uk

People p unds before

Ecology chief executive Paul Ellis has been in his role for longer than any other building society boss. He tells Mike Hughes how he’s managed to stay at the top for 22 years as so much around him has changed.

P

aul Ellis laments the demise of some of the Ecology Building Society’s competitors.

As he was making a name for himself a quarter of a century ago, there was a round of demutualisation as new regulations meant that building societies could offer the same services as retail banks. Led by the Abbey National, some merged with existing banks or became independent banks in their own right.

Clear ground for the mutuals perhaps, but Ellis hasn’t lasted so long at the top in an atmosphere of ethics, sustainability and people-before-pounds without having that sort of DNA himself. He would rather take on the whole market to earn his slice of it than take the place of those who have fallen by the wayside. He’s one of the good guys.

“The sector contracted and we lost some famous names, which was unfortunate,” he says in a voice that I can’t imagine ever being raised – I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, just that it is difficult to picture.

“And we lost them permanently, in that they are no longer around as independent entities

after what, in many respects, was a very short-sighted move and didn’t serve the sector well, with short-term gains and instability. But now we see quite a resurgence with societies punching above their weight in terms of the sector’s volume.”

There was certainly a long and bumpy journey to that healthy atmosphere, but the Ecology – which only has 28 staff – stood by its principles of building a greener society by providing mortgages for projects that respected the environment and supported sustainable communities.

“When we started in 1981, there were around 250 societies; by the time we got to the early Nineties there were 80 or 90 and now we are down to 44,” explains Ellis. “A lot of that was down to consolidation, but then the financial crisis broke and we found that there was a flight to safety and we know from other organisations that lend as we do with a focus on sustainability that they benefited because people wanted to know more about how their money was going to be used, with customers

telling us they had been meaning to do something with their savings and investments for a while, but the crisis provided the jolt they needed.

“Remember, we were the last building society to be set up and some of our peers told us we wouldn’t last past Christmas, but we have had uninterrupted growth for the past 30 years. Is there a limited market for what we do?

We don’t know yet.”

In a way, you can understand the confidence of those peers. Here was the new kid on the block deliberately restricting its customer base rather than throwing open the doors to anyone with money to invest. Surely not enough people would be sufficiently interested to actually hand over their wallets?

But they had misread the strength of the mood in their own market. This was a time for principles and trust.

“We managed to stay very focussed on what we were doing and had confidence in our capabilities and in being able to define what we were about,” says Ellis. “There was a

bqlive.co.uk

83

84

bqlive.co.uk

paradox that we had limited our business and had continued to grow and the focus we had meant we kept away from certain types of business.

“We didn’t head down the self-certification route or start buying mortgage books just to boost our balance sheet because buying and selling customers just didn’t sit with our model.

So, when the liquidity crisis hit we were well out of it, which – for me – really proved in 2007 and 2008 the viability of our concept.

“Now we are much more accepted and the general lie of the land is pointing in our direction as millennials respond to the ideas of ethics and values.”

The fact that ethics and a role in protecting the planet are still not at the top of every lender’s list of priorities remains a bit of a mystery to him, but things are changing and a sense of urgency around the issue – rather than just a preference – is supporting the Ecology model and can only be good for all types of businesses.

“

“We are not here just to manage our balance sheet, but to change minds.”

“The Bank of England is really taking climate change seriously as a risk to the financial system, so it is time for all organisations to look at how these issues across their sectors will affect our futures and how they will respond with products and services. Some will take to it more readily than others, but a lot of these things are about seizing an opportunity in areas like renewable energy, which is being taken up by some countries quite enthusiastically and in some respects the UK is one of those that are a bit more laggardly, certainly at government level.

“There is a sense of dismay that in our view we are missing out on another opportunity to build our economy in the right direction.

We are not here just to manage our balance sheet, but to change minds and move our infrastructure to be more sustainable and forward-looking.

“That is a big thing to claim as a small organisation, but we have shown that you can stick to your mission, think differently and still prosper and I think social responsibility will play a bigger part in the future, as these ideas are

bqlive.co.uk

“

“We are proud of the lending we do that supports ecological building projects, but it extends well beyond that, to helping businesses and projects that promote sustainable communities and lifestyles.”

brought more into the mainstream.”

If all his hard work is to make a real difference, Ecology’s green requirements for the people it will support need to be more than just a handy label Yorkshire entrepreneurs can quickly adopt to help secure funding. They are a core way of thinking what a new business is all about, and Ellis and his team are eager to find more small businesses with a long-term commitment that might shift the balance one workshop or kitchen table at a time.

“We are proud of the lending we do that supports ecological building projects, but it extends well beyond that, to helping businesses and projects that promote sustainable communities and lifestyles,” he says. “We’re proud to support a wide range of organisations that help to build a greener society – such as organic and vegetarian restaurants, small businesses involved in reclamation, repair or sustainable technologies as well as office and workshop space for green businesses.

“That also includes lending that strengthens local economies and communities by maintaining services through community-

owned assets such as shops, pubs and post offices, and we also lend where land will be managed for low-impact including organic farming or smallholdings or by providing educational and leisure facilities that help promote the value of the natural environment.”

The idea of that kitchen-table business helping save the planet is a tricky one to grasp, but as one of thousands each year, the aim becomes a little more tangible. According to last year’s annual review, its strategy enabled Ecology to lend £30.7m for mortgages, hold savings of £163.1m, and make just short of £1m in profit.

“I have an affinity with the ideals of the society and, in some respects, it is more of a passion than a job where I just turn up and see what I can get out of it,” Ellis says. “I see interesting ideas being thrown up by interesting people all the time, and the challenge is for us to respond and see how we can support them, which means that we are learning all the time and when you see something moving forward you can keep that passion and make sure there is always an environment and social benefit to

what we do with our money.”

He takes his work home with him every night, having just completed a major energy project at his own home – a Sixties modernist property in north Leeds in need of an update and providing the perfect model of what can be achieved, with insulation and triple glazing making a huge difference.

“It has worked out really well and we are now just adding things like the right paint to protect the cladding and I am toying with some renewables on the roof…”

His passion for work and home is equal, because they both need the best environment to thrive and he is in a position to influence that on an enviable scale, whether it is as a chief executive making sure our money makes a difference, or as a Yorkshireman, establishing a five-acre woodland in Calderdale and becoming one of the Friends of Gledhow Valley Woods near his home, where he lists his duties as “Treasurer, otherwise mostly the drainage in the bottom field…”

In mud and boots or shirt and tie, he’s looking after us all. n

85

86

Profile

Flying high to Toronto, Stockholm and Dubai With new flights to Toronto and Stockholm unveiled, and the launch of a second daily service to Dubai, Birmingham Airport ended this year on a high. Steve Dyson reports.

Birmingham Airport will soon be operating three new transatlantic flights to North America.

The latest announcement is Primera Air’s direct flight to Toronto, the largest city in Canada, which starts in May 2018 – with fares starting from just £149 one-way including taxes.

This will complement flights to New York and Boston, also starting in spring 2018, which the Danish and Latvian-based budget airline announced earlier this year after United Airlines

axed its long-running New York route.

Primera’s hat-trick of new flights will run three times a week to Toronto, daily to New York Newark and four-times-a-week to Boston.

Tickets can be booked at www.primeraair.com.

Responding to the latest announcement, William Pearson, aviation director at Birmingham Airport, says: “It is welcome news that Primera Air is expanding its choice of popular transatlantic destinations from Birmingham by adding a route of Toronto.

“Having only announced two routes to Boston and New York in July of this year this shows the demand that Primera Air is seeing from the Midlands.

“Demand for travel to United States and Canadian destinations from the West Midlands is high and Primera Air is offering fantastic seat prices meaning it is likely Toronto will be very popular. We recommend passengers book ahead to avoid disappointment as we expect seats will sell quickly.”

Andri Ingolfsson, the president and chairman of Primera Air, says: “Yet again, we are very proud to announce our new direct routes from our European bases to Canada. Toronto will be a great addition to our earlier announced New York and Boston routes from Birmingham.

“With our brand new Airbus321NEOs airplanes, we are opening routes previously traditionally served only by wide-body aircrafts. The unmatched efficiency of these new-generation aircraft means we will be able to offer unprecedented prices to our passengers from the UK. “At the same time, we are very proud to be offering a low-fare but high-quality product and service concept, perfect both for leisure and business travellers.”

Profile

Emirates has launched its second daily A380 airliner’s service out of Birmingham, less than two years after its inaugural A380 flight from the city.

The introduction of the double-daily A380 service on 29 October was driven by huge demand from passengers in Birmingham. Since the first A380 service between Birmingham and Dubai launched back in March 2016, nearly 500,000 passengers have flown on the aircraft between the two cities.

Emirates started flying from Birmingham in December 2000 as a daily service to Dubai, then operated by a 278-seat Airbus A330. Since then, Emirates has carried more than 5.2 million passengers between Birmingham and Dubai.

Laurie Berryman, Emirates vice president in the UK, says: “The launch of the second daily A380 service shows our continued commitment to this important route.

“Thanks to its strategic position in the Midlands, the route allows both visitors and businesses to travel to Dubai and beyond from the heart of the UK. “Now in its seventeenth year, we have seen a pronounced growth in the popularity of

our Birmingham service and look forward to a bright future with our twice daily A380 service.”

William Pearson, aviation director at Birmingham Airport, says: “We are delighted that Emirates has launched a second A380 service from Birmingham to Dubai with this iconic aircraft. Emirates’ hub in Dubai offers connections to 154 destinations, over six continents, giving our region’s travellers global connectivity with an award-winning airline.

“Having this additional capacity on the lunchtime service to Dubai and onwards

ensures flexibility and choice for passengers and also shows the commitment that Emirates has in the Midlands region.”

Emirates’ flight EK39 departs from Dubai at 07:25hrs and arrives in Birmingham at 11:25hrs.

The outbound flight, EK40, departs from Birmingham at 13:30hrs and arrives in Dubai at 00:35hrs the following day.

Passengers travelling in Emirates’ business class can enjoy access to a dedicated lounge at Birmingham Airport as well as Emirates’ chauffeur-drive service to and from the airport within a 70-mile radius.

For more information about flights from Birmingham Airport, visit www.birminghamairport.co.uk

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is launching twice weekly flights from Birmingham Airport to Stockholm from the early spring.

The new SAS route – served by Boeing 737 120-seat airliners – will operate on Fridays and Sundays from 30 March 2018 Friday’s flights will arrive into Birmingham at 0800 and depart for Stockholm at 0840 and Sunday’s will arrive at 0935 and depart for Stockholm at 1015.

William Pearson, aviation director at Birmingham Airport, said: “SAS is a long standing airline at Birmingham Airport and it’s great to see an expansion of its services to include a new route of Stockholm, added to its existing route of Copenhagen.

“The Swedish capital of Stockholm stretches across fourteen islands meaning there is stunning scenery.

It also offers great nightlife and restaurants and local warmth and hospitality.”

Niko Ek, regional sales manager at Scandinavian Airlines, said: “We are glad to soon be starting our new route from Birmingham, where we have seen a growing demand from our passengers, both traveling for pleasure and business.”

Fares start from £82.00 one way including taxes and charges, and can be booked at www.flysas.co.uk.

87

88

bqlive.co.uk

Fun Finding

in finance

From growing up with no money to creating businesses all about money, Cathi Harrison tells Paul Robertson about starting from scratch to closing in on a million-pound dream.

A

s one of six children to a single mum, being brought up on a council estate in North East England was not the easiest start in life for Cathi Harrison, but it is a one that has shaped her determination and desire to succeed. In her hometown of Darlington. She now owns one financial services company, Para-Sols, employing 17 people, and has just launched a sister company, Apricity Compliance.

Add to that being mum to one-year-old Harrison, running a half marathon for the first time and organising her wedding in Crete to partner Rohan in October, 2017 has been something of a whirlwind for the 34-year-old.

She is justifiably proud to see Para-Sols successfully complete a brand refresh as it is about to enter its ninth year of trading, with the £1m target for turnover in 2019 set to be achieved at least 12 months early.

“My team and I provide paraplanning support to financial planners across the whole of the UK,” says Cathi. “We act as a business support unit, helping to fill in any gaps in their services to enable them to focus on the areas

they do best. This includes administration, research, report writing as well as consultancy services where we can help put in place systems and processes to enable firms to get the most out of their current resources.”

Getting the most out of resources is something at which Cathi can be considered an expert, all thanks to the hard but happy upbringing on Skerne Park council estate.

“I am often asked what is my earliest memory of money,” she recalls. “It is there was none. Because I had nothing growing up, I have always been motivated to change things for myself.”

At the age of 14, Cathi got a job in a restaurant washing pots and at another peeling garlic. Then at 16 she added a third job, working part-time at the Royal Mail as she became the first person in her family to go to college in the town to study business.

“I used the money made on jobs to put myself through driving lessons and to get a car – mum doesn’t drive so it was another thing I wanted to do to make a difference. I also saved

up for my first passport to go on holiday – doing things I was never able to do when I was younger.”

Having finished college, she went full-time at the Royal Mail but after a few months decided there was little prospect of career progression.

“I realised I wasn’t going anywhere and I didn’t know what career I wanted so I saw university as an opportunity to help me get that direction,” she says. “I applied to Teesside University to do English and I was accepted but a few weeks later I got a letter withdrawing the offer because they said I hadn’t done English at college.

“I wrote to the vice chancellor to complain, told him I was passionate about wanting to do it and that I would do well, so they let me do the course.”

The fact she achieved an upper-second class bachelor of arts degree with honours in English with business is testament to the fighting spirit within her. As she started considering her future, Cathi spotted a newspaper advert to become an administrator in financial services.

bqlive.co.uk

89

90

bqlive.co.uk

“

“We act as a business support unit, helping to fill in any gaps in their services to enable them to focus on the areas they do best.”

“It was a big area of life I knew nothing about,” she admits.

She set her sights on becoming a financial adviser but when she started doing paraplanning during her training she really enjoyed it and decided it was the career path she wanted to follow. She moved on to a specialised paraplanning role with a company in Harrogate but found the daily commute a grind so, after gaining a lot more experience, began sowing the seeds for her business.

“I started calling up firms in the North East and many said they would love a paraplanner but as we were in the middle of a recession [it was 2009] they couldn’t afford to take on anyone full time so that’s when I thought ‘what if they paid me for each project’? A couple of them said they would be interested so I left my job and went freelance,” she says.

Things didn’t start smoothly. Cathi raised £4,000 by selling her car, investing £1,000 in a small run-around, leaving the rest to cover her mortgage and bills for three months.

“At the end of three months I hadn’t earned anything – that was the point where my mum said just get a job,” recalls Harrison. “I asked the mortgage company for a couple of month’s holiday, took on some waitressing work, which I was terrible at, just to make ends meet but then I got my first client. It was for just £200, but it was a start and I thought if I keep going I will get a few more and it will build up.

“Within a few weeks my first client, Flora [still a client today], had recommended me to someone else and I did some cold calling, which is not really my skill – I don’t do sales. I had no materials, website or anything to demonstrate what I could do so it was so painful, but referral started taking on a life of its own – I never advertised or promoted the business, it was all word of mouth, which is lovely.”

Cathi got a grant of £300 to build a basic website and printed some self-made business cards from a machine in a shopping centre. “I went to an industry event and my former boss saw my embarrassing cards and said well done and good luck,” she laughs.

“I started thinking of a name and came up with ParaSols (Paraplanning Solutions). I drew a parasol, got a logo made, which went on emails and it started feeling more professional.”

bqlive.co.uk

She started off in the corner of her lounge on a computer – she didn’t have a spare room – before getting a small office in an old job centre with two desks and one phone, enough to persuade former work colleague Jo Campbell to join her in 2011.

Several moves later, the company recently took on 2,500sq ft offices in Lingfield Point Darlington. As part of the new office, Cathi has also installed a “pub” where they meet every Friday night or to celebrate special occasions, while three dogs mingle among the employees.

Rapid growth not only brought logistical challenges but getting experienced staff was proving equally as difficult. So, Cathi launched Para-Sols’ own graduate training programme, “The Grad Scheme”.

“The few paraplanners we had found in the past tended to know only the workings of one particular company but we work with 100 different companies,” says Cathi. “I spent so much time retraining staff I thought we would be better off teaching people from scratch.”

The scheme is now formalised after a successful trial and runs for two years with each employee becoming at least as qualified as a financial adviser, although they are encouraged to go to the next level. It all paved the way for

the next move to grow the business by creating a sister company, Apricity Compliance, an idea Cathi came up with while on maternity leave.

“Para-planning is nice to have as it frees up time for advisers to see more clients but it is not an essential, whereas compliance support is,” she says. “It is so heavily regulated.

“Financial services can be a very stale, dry industry, dominated by mostly middle-aged men. We want to change that image. We are a young, fun and friendly team. We believe we can create a new compliance service and bring the Para-Sols ethos to it, something our clients will want to use on a day-to-day basis.”

It means Cathi handing over operational responsibility of Para-Sols to her co-incidentally all-female team of Campbell, now head of paraplanning, head of marketing Natalie Bell and Kim Binks, head of client services, so she can lead a team of five on establishing Apricity Compliance. Early indications suggest there is a healthy demand for the new services on offer so yet more space for more staff could be required soon.

“At the beginning, I wanted to work for myself and never thought beyond that so when I did take on other people I found it very hard,” she says. “I have got over that hump and I

definitely run it as a business. Para-Sols was my baby and I was involved in every single aspect of it but when I had Harrison I realised I needed to hand over some of the responsibilities.”

“I did a leadership course recently and just because I love the fact it is changing and moving all the time doesn’t necessarily mean everyone does, so I have to be mindful of having regular Monday morning meetings to keep all the staff informed.”

Spare time is precious and dominated by family life with Rohan and Harrison, while every other second is spent building up the business.

“We talk about pensions all the time,” she jokes. “I did the Great North Run for the first time in two hours and 35 minutes. I couldn’t walk for two days afterwards. I didn’t too much training because we were too busy.

“We had 50 family and friends at our wedding in Crete then a little time to relax but the business takes up most of our time and energy – apart from Harrison of course.”

She has bought her mum a house and many of her wider family live close by, including on the council estate where she was brought up.

“I am proud of where I am from and I love coming to work every day – I couldn’t ask for anything more,” says Cathi. n

91

92

bqlive.co.uk

A VISION FOR PROPERTY

Ross Hooper-Nash is bringing virtual reality into the world of estate agents.

Maria McGeoghan feeds her interest in property by finding out more.

I

’ll admit I share the nation’s obsession with property and house prices. On a cold winter’s afternoon, there’s nothing better than a brew, a biscuit and an old episode of Escape to the Country or Grand Designs.

So, I was looking forward to spending a few hours in the company of Ross Hooper-Nash, a Cardiff estate agent who is using virtual reality to stand out from the crowd. And he didn’t disappoint.

We’re in one of his smart Jeffrey Ross offices in Pontcanna, Cardiff, which was recently named as one of the 20 hippest places to live in the UK. “Go, on then,” he says, pointing to a terrace house in a cul-de-sac just across the road.

“How much do you think that went for?”

With only Manchester prices to base my guess on, I go for a £350,000, which I think is expensive. “No,” he replies with glee. “We sold that for £500,000.”

And that’s the story of property in this part of Wales. High prices, hot competition and not enough homes on the market.

During his 10 years running his own business, Hooper-Nash – now 35 – has seen it all. We talk prices, online competition, trends in what buyers are after, the new “John Lewis culture” and the one thing that will put someone off making an offer on a house.

But back to where it all started. “I just love houses and that’s why I got into it,” he explains.

“I’m a nosy bugger with a passion for property. I thought I can do that. I’ve always sold since I was at school.

“I used to take in sweets and I started a tuck shop. Me and my brother had different sites at upper and middle school in Cowbridge. We were taking £400 a week 20 years ago. We were the best-dressed kids in school.

“We used to go to Makro and pay a fiver for a tin of lollies that could return us £40.

“There was a Welsh international at our school who was six-foot-four who came in one day and said he was going to sell sweets too. I told him he had to sell in the new block being built and he couldn’t sell Cadbury’s.

“It worked. He stuck to his patch and we

bqlive.co.uk

“

“I just love houses and that’s why I got into it. I’m a nosy bugger with a passion for property.”

93

94

bqlive.co.uk

became great friends. And then it all fell apart when the school brought in a vending machine.”

Hooper-Nash carried on selling when he studied for a sports science degree and then started work at an estate agency. He launched his own business right in the middle of the 2007 property crash and – through a combination of hard work, good service and trying to do things a little differently – he now has 23 staff and three offices in Cardiff.

“Cardiff has changed hugely since I started out,” he says. “I started the business in 2007 and the big crash was already here.

“I had a financial backer who decided to pull out because of the crash but I carried on anyway. Those good days when estate agents were earning lots of money I never even knew.

“We were known as Abode at the time but there were 58 different Abode estate agents by 2009 so we changed the name to Jeffrey Ross.

“I was an estate agent working on lettings

“

for a national at the time and I thought I can do this on my own. I had no children and one bedroom flat. Now we are in our 10th year.

“My father-in-law gave me some money and I went in to the back of an office in Pontcanna.

I looked after lettings and my partner Jeff looked after sales. Lettings were good, but nothing sold.”

The business is very much a family affair with Hooper-Nash’s mum, dad, wife and twin brother all working for the company. “I’m very fortunate that my family has joined me,” he says.

“My dad used to have his own successful business, but he sold it and my twin brother works with me. I twisted his arm. My dad runs all my accounts. He allows me to go out and do what I’m good at, which is selling houses and not be bogged down in paperwork.

“My dad does all our human resources and my mum works with us too. It’s quite an unusual set up but I’m very fortunate.

“You really do feel like you are in the room.

Technology really excites me.”

“Sales are up and down but lettings are pretty constant. We are one of the few agents left in Cardiff that is not owned by a bigger company. We get letters every month asking about acquiring us.

“We’ve got a good core lettings business.

The sales become the bunce on top.”

Jeffrey Ross was the first estate agency in the UK to use virtual reality (VR) tours of properties as standard on its website. Through a series of three-dimensional (3D) pictures, potential buyers can don VR goggles — they sell cardboard versions for £1 — and look around the house as if they are actually there.

The 3D photography also builds a “dolls house” version of the property where buyers can zoom in on any room. It looks fantastic and is a long way from the “fish eye” wide lenses that can distort the proportions of houses.

“You really do feel like you are in the room,” says Hooper-Nash. “Technology really excites me.

“Our engagement and sales have gone up since we launched VR. We had a buyer who said that she had virtually looked around a £2m house 11 times and she was ready to put in an offer.

bqlive.co.uk

“

“It’s the same service if you’ve got an ex-council house or a million-pound property. It’s still the biggest asset you ever deal with.”

“We had someone else living abroad who was using it because by the time he had told friends to come and view a house he liked it had gone. We’re getting less time wasters and less second viewings. It’s a very positive thing.”

Looking at the quality of the properties in the shop, it’s easy to come to the conclusion that Jeffery Ross houses are posh.

“You can’t be all things to all people,” says Hooper-Nash. “I think we are positioned in that part of the market, the upper middle area. We just position it well.

“It’s the same service if you’ve got an excouncil house or a million-pound property. It’s still the biggest asset you ever deal with.”

And what about the arrival of online estate agents to the market? “The online market is huge but there is always room for a good local agent,” he responds.

“People want to talk to someone who knows the area. Certain streets around here will

go for 30-40% more than ones across the road and it’s in the same postcode.

“It’s all about demand, proximity to the park and square footage. But if you are just looking online you don’t know anything about these houses.

“Areas like Pontcanna have changed.

Gentrification happened when the media types moved in, but they are now being forced out by the prices.

“More affluent people are coming to the area and it’s pricing others out of the market.

There’s definitely what I call a ‘John Lewis culture’. People who used to live in bigger houses outside the city are downsizing when the children grow up and leave and they want to be able to walk into the city and shop at John Lewis.

“We know where the demand is. There are 100 flats going in Trade Street. You wouldn’t walk down there at the moment but by 2019

it’s going to be the city centre, with hotels and bars.

“Our average fee is £2,500 and for that you get 23 staff who are experts in the area, virtual reality, professional photography, accompanied viewing and experts who can negotiate a good price.

“The average house price in the past three years has been £250,000 and the average rent is £650 a month. We’ve got 15 buyers for every house in some roads.”

In such a hot property market, a new trend is going to sealed bids to avoid constant outbidding. “We avoid gazumping by drawing a line in the sand saying we want best bids by a certain date,” Hooper-Nash explains.

“You have to create that excitement. It gets people through the door. It’s so price-sensitive and people are prepared to go way over the asking price so they don’t lose a bid. You’ve got to be brave to do that.”

Parking space is also less important and comes below close proximity to parks, cafes and the city centre. There’s also been a marked decrease in people buying a fixer-upper to develop themselves.

“A couple of years ago, people were paying more for a fixer-upper than one that was already done,” he says. “They were obsessed with having a project and spending far more than buying a perfect house to begin with.”

And what about telling vendors that they really need to tidy up before would-be buyers come poking around their homes? HooperNash laughs.

“Sometimes I tidy up for people. When my brother was selling his house, I cleaned his oven for him because I knew the people viewing it would open it and have a look. They did.

“We give people home staging advice. If a property hasn’t sold then we give them an honest critique and say this is why it hasn’t sold. It could be painting the front door, too much clutter or the smell of dog, which is really off-putting. If you are a dog owner then you don’t smell it. Home owners being present also put people off.”

So, what does the future hold for Jeffrey Ross, which has revenues of £1.4m and a 30% profit?

“We are not the biggest agency, but we are growing,” says Hooper-Nash. “Our pipeline is bigger than it has ever been and we handle about 1,000 transactions a year. We are doing good things and we are confident that next year we’ll be doing a lot more.” n

95

96

Special Report

NORTHERN POWERHOUSE

AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE CAMPAIGN 2018

The PD Ports Northern Powerhouse Export Awards and International Trade Campaign 2017-18 in association with HSBC gathers momentum.

The PD Ports Northern Powerhouse Export Awards 2018 in association with HSBC and organised by BQ are set to take place on the 22 February 2018 at Leeds Town Hall. The event brings together export businesses from across the North of England to recognise and celebrate their export achievements whilst also providing encouragement for more businesses to consider exporting as a realistic opportunity for growth.

Exporting remains central to the UK’s growth agenda and the campaign will recognise those exporters who have made the transition from great local companies to potentially world-class exporting businesses based in Northern England.

The awards, drawing entries from across North East England, Yorkshire and the North West are about highlighting those wealth creating companies that are selling their products,

services and expertise into scores of overseas markets.

Exporting continues to present the Northern Powerhouse with an opportunity to bring immediate and sustainable growth to its economy and with this in mind we need to encourage more Northern companies to consider trading overseas. Last year, the awards entrants represented almost £300m of export turnover from the North with strong representation across food and drink, manufacturing and healthcare and medical.

Bryan Hoare, group commercial director says: “We’ve been delighted with the level of entries so far and if you are reading this article knowing that you have company activity in export markets across the North I’d encourage you to enter the PD Ports Northern Powerhouse Export Awards 2018. Last year we had a great

mix of entrants with companies employing as little as four staff to those in their hundreds.

The structure of the awards categories means that it is a level playing field for all entrants and we get great satisfaction in uncovering some of the North’s newest export talent as we do recognising those more mature export businesses.”

The BQ digital series of “Around the World in 80 Trades” features also give a chance to Northern exporters to share stories about their export achievements throughout the campaign. Hoare continues: “We’d like to hear from any exporters across Northern England who has an interesting story to tell so we can use their experiences to inspire others to consider internationalising their business for the first time and to help we’ve extended the nomination deadline to 5 January 2018”. n

Nominations for the PD Ports Northern Powerhouse Export Awards 2018 in association with HSBC remain open and you can enter free online at www.bqlive.co.uk/northexportawards18 where you can also purchase tickets for the event.

Special Report

97

THE AWARDS MOST ENTREPRENEURIAL EXPORTER OF THE YEAR A company that has demonstrated entrepreneurial flair within their export strategy. This will be shown through an extraordinary approach to reaching new markets where creativity, innovation and tenacity has resulted in success.

Recognising outstanding achievements in export growth by a company in any industry with a turnover up to £2million. This success will be measured by growth in sales and market penetration together with the application of innovative market strategies to extend export potential.

SMALL EXPORTER OF THE YEAR Recognising outstanding achievements in export growth by a company in any industry with a turnover of £2-£15million. This success will be measured by growth in sales and market penetration together with the application of innovative market strategies to extend export potential.

Sponsored by

Recognising outstanding achievements by a company in any industry with a turnover greater than £15million. This success will be measured by growth in sales and market penetration together with the application of innovative market strategies to extend export potential.

EXPORT TEAM OF THE YEAR

Awarded to a company demonstrating impressive export growth in high growth markets (including China, Brazil, India, Russia, Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey).

This success will be measured by growth in sales and high growth market penetration together with the application of innovative market strategies to extend export potential.

Sponsored by

SCALE-UP EXPORTER OF THE YEAR

MICRO EXPORTER OF THE YEAR

LARGE EXPORTER OF THE YEAR

HIGH GROWTH MARKET EXPORTER OF THE YEAR

A company that has shown significant growth as a direct result of its export activity where exporting has played a fundamental role in the scaling of the business. It should be clear how exporting from the outset has allowed the business to scale both in terms of size, turnover and profitability. This would be demonstrated through a coherent business plan and strategy that places exporting at the heart of the business. The company must have achieved average annual growth in employees or turnover greater than 20 per cent per annum over a three year period, and with more than 10 employees at the beginning of the period.

EMERGING MARKETS EXPORTER OF THE YEAR Awarded to a company who can demonstrate impressive export growth across one or more emerging markets, including Bangladesh, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, Malaysia, Peru, Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Taiwan and Thailand. Success will be measured by growth in sales and market penetration together with the application of innovative market strategies to extend export potential.

Sponsored by

The export team of the year award will recognise a team who can demonstrate significant added value to their business through adopting innovative techniques, personnel development measures, and successful implementation of the company’s export sales strategy. It should be clear how the company has developed a team wide approach to exporting which may well extend beyond the company to distributors, agents and other third parties who will have contributed to export success.

E-COMMERCE EXPORTER OF THE YEAR A company that through e-commerce has increased brand awareness and recognition, expanded into new markets, increased sales and efficiency and improved customer service. The winner of this category must be able to demonstrate how they have used e-commerce and trading online to significantly enhance their export growth or potential for growth.

PD PORTS NORTHERN POWERHOUSE EXPORTER OF THE YEAR This award will be presented to a company that has made an outstanding contribution to the North’s export profile and success. Companies must have demonstrated how they have overcome their barriers when entering new markets. The winner of this award will be selected from the winners of the above award categories and announced on the evening of the awards.

THURSDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2018 Wine sponsor

Drinks reception sponsor

98

Special Report

International trade: opportunity knocking for UK small businesses The time is now for British business to be bold and consider exporting. HSBC’s head of business and corporate banking, global trade and receivables finance UK, Lee Baty, describes a market full of opportunity for small businesses.

When it comes to exporting, there is a perception of increased risk that can put businesses off, but the opportunities that exist and the support on hand to help you start your export journey should not be ignored.

Expanding your horizons beyond the domestic market gives you access to new consumers, can enhance your company’s profile and exposes you to new ideas that could help drive growth and innovation.

The UK is full of outstanding entrepreneurs, but among potential exporters there is sometimes a fear of the unknown and a lack of awareness of the opportunities that exist around the world.

Exporting is a big step for a business of any

size but my message is be brave and seize your opportunities. There is tremendous potential for growth beyond our borders and numerous examples of where UK companies have found success in international markets.

From a business exporting specialised mattresses to China to another providing engine parts for a fleet of locomotives on Sri Lankan Railways, we see examples every day of businesses seizing the demand for British goods and services It is, however, vital to do your research, on the internet, through government and the many other export promotion bodies. It is about identifying the right market where your goods or services are required, and targeting it.

If you can, visit your target markets. Make connections, speak to potential customers and understand the way the market works. Speak to those who have been successful there; seasoned exporters are often willing to share their experience both good and bad... Last year HSBC supported the Enterprise Nation Go Global campaign which saw small businesses visit cities such as Berlin, Amsterdam and New York to make new connections and open up their products to a whole new world of consumers.

A strong reputation It is clear that British companies have an excellent reputation for quality and innovation

Special Report

“

“We can offer our experience, gained over 150 years of helping businesses trade and providing access to our global network to exporters of all sizes.”

and we are world leaders in many sectors such as manufacturing and technology.

We should think of Great Britain not just as the home of many iconic brands but also as an iconic brand itself. We should be celebrating “Brand GB” and building upon the current upbeat mood amongst business communities to drive our export success.

Supply chains are being reconfigured, and advances in transport technology and infrastructure have the capacity to open new trade corridors. In the coming years, three billion people will join the consumer class across the world and most will be in the emerging markets. They will in turn drive demand for infrastructure and housing, services and education, retail goods and consumer brands. British companies have an excellent reputation across all these sectors.

The challenge is to build confidence among smaller companies to find and grasp these opportunities. Together with the UK Government we can provide small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) with the support, confidence and funding they require to be able to “think big”.

Making connections At HSBC, our priority in these changing times is to help our clients to understand the opportunities – and the challenges – of this increasingly complex world. We can offer our experience, gained over 150 years of helping businesses trade and providing access to our global network to exporters of all sizes.

We have expert trade teams in more than 50 countries around the world giving us access to more than 90% of all world trade and capital flows. Above all, though, we can help connect you with the suppliers and customers that can help you succeed internationally.

As with any business venture, exporting is not without risk but thorough preparation, a strong network, and the right support, can help you venture into international markets with confidence. n

For more information please visit www.business.hsbc.uk/ export or speak to your HSBC Relationship Manager

99

100

Special Report

Mastering the art of exporting Lesley Batchelor, director general of the Institute of Export (IOE), and Geoff Lippitt of PD Ports, explain how the right guidance can help businesses conquer overseas markets.

Having headed up the Institute of Export (IoE) for over a decade, there aren’t many business people as well placed as Lesley Batchelor to advise businesses on how to make the most of export opportunities.

And now, as we head into post-Brexit Britain, it has never been more important and more appetising for British businesses to expand overseas. The weakening pound has proven a boon for businesses and exports are soaring to record highs.

Whilst businesses must continue to focus on trading with key European countries such as Germany post-Brexit, the current problems with some eurozone economies continue to present major risks to UK businesses.

However, Batchelor believes forwardthinking businesses should be looking beyond the bloc towards the fast-growing BRIC economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China.

She tells BQ: “We can no longer look just to the European Union for our sales, which is something we have traditionally relied upon, we must now look further than that.

“Having said that, there has never been anything stopping us from doing it before.

Most people say it’s a lack of knowledge of

“

“Exporting is a big step and it is something businesses need to commit to.”

how to do it, but if you look on the internet, there are a plethora of organisations, such as the IOE, which can help businesses get export ready.

“We teach businesses the skills they need to export, the problem is that people don’t treat exporting as a skill, they treat it as something we should know how to do instinctively.

However, it is exactly like accountancy, the legal profession or even journalism, it needs to be taught.”

It is these skills that can help a business scale to the next level, or even on occasion, sink or swim. For the savvy businesses that manage to explore export opportunities and successfully penetrate new markets, it can make a huge difference.

“Exporting is a big step and it is something businesses need to commit to,” Batchelor adds, “once they do commit, we find that companies are 11% more likely to grow and have a sturdier product offering because they’re spending

more time thinking about how the product will be received in another market and they spend more time ensuring they get the product right.”

So, you might be wondering, how can professional training and advice stand you in better stead to begin exporting? Well, there are many issues that can arise when expanding overseas and the majority of companies that trade internationally will tell you it isn’t as straight forward as you might first think.

“The first thing is to learn everything you can about a market,” Batchelor says. “Whether you think there is a market or not, you need to understand what the implications of doing business in that market are.

“That means looking at the compliance and regulations side of things, which sometimes can change a market. The Economist previously told us to look at Brazil, however when you actually look into Brazil, you find there are a lot of internal barriers facing exporters but there is a lot of support to set up manufacturing

Special Report

facilities there. It’s those invisible barriers that people need to be aware of when they’re researching a market.

“The second step is to work out how you’re going to price your product or service and how you’re going to get paid. This is something you can learn very easily, it’s not a dark art at all, but you would be surprised how easy it is to get wrong.

“You must also recognise that it is a different type of contract you’re entering into when you begin trading internationally and everything takes three times longer. You must be patient.

“When working with businesses from overseas, you must also respect their culture. A great way to work around this is by translating your website into different languages and making sure you can communicate with people easily. Research shows people are four times more likely to buy something if it’s in their own language.”

PD Ports is one of the UK’s leading port operators and helps thousands of businesses across the UK expand into new markets every year by offering supply chain solution support, whether it’s distribution, logistics or even container handling.

Geoff Lippitt, business development director at PD Ports, echoed Batchelor’s advice: “Exporting is set to become even more important for SMEs and we need to ensure we recreate the skills to ensure businesses can export technically as well as practically.

“That’s why we’re committed to working with the combined authorities, the Department for International Trade and the IoE, to support their trade initiatives both regionally and nationally and to continue helping businesses export.”

Lippitt also agrees that exporters may now find themselves in an interesting position as they look beyond the bloc, adding: “Whilst we have to concentrate on balancing and maintaining the relationship with the new European bloc, there will also be new markets which will provide exciting opportunities for businesses.

“What has been typical historically is that when exporting, people have chosen Europe as a safe first step as it’s easier to do.

However, if the regime changes, you may have to go through the same processes whether you’re exporting to France or Fiji. Perhaps the opportunities lie further afield.”

“

“When working with businesses from overseas, you must also respect their culture.”

Batchelor sums it up perfectly when she says: “Like Einstein said, ‘first learn the rules of the game and then go out and play it better than everyone else’. If you go to HM Revenue and Customs with a query then you consult an accountant, if you go to court you consult a lawyer, but if you send millions of pounds of goods all over the world you don’t tend to do anything. We suggest people learn how to do it properly and become professional international traders which is what we help people do through our expertise, training and membership.” n

101

102

Special Report

Ready for take off Leeds Bradford Airport is undergoing somewhat of a renaissance under its new chief executive and industry veteran, David Laws. Bryce Wilcock reports.

Six months since taking the helm at Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA), David Laws, the airport’s new chief executive, couldn’t be happier with how life is going so far.

Not only has he helped the Yorkshire hub break its annual passenger record, with four million people passing through its doors this year, but he is also spearheading a transformative redevelopment of the airport.

Prior to joining LBA, Laws spent a decade as

chief executive of Newcastle Airport and has a whopping 39 years’ experience in the sector, working his way from trainee fireman all the way to the top.

Under his leadership, the North East airport secured a daily Emirates service connecting the region to the UAE and also landed direct services connecting Tyneside to New York, courtesy of United Airlines.

He told BQ: “After leaving Newcastle Airport

I worked as a consultant for a year and then, unexpectedly, I received a phone call from the then owners of Leeds Bradford to become their chief executive.

“I met the owners and had a long talk about LBA, I did as much research as I could, and then I came to the conclusion that the third largest city in England zneeded an airport to match its ambitions.

“In my opinion, LBA is the last real golden

Special Report

nugget when it comes to untapped airports in the UK. “Not only is Leeds the third largest city in the England, and the largest financial district outside of London, but we also have Bradford and Wakefield on our doorstep.

“The catchment area, and the opportunity to grow passenger numbers and introduce new routes here, is phenomenal.”

However, taking the helm at Leeds Bradford has also had its challenges. Not only has the airport changed owners since he joined, but Laws and his team have also had to deal with the unexpected collapse of Monarch Airlines.

“We’ve had a couple of little blips,” Laws continued, “we didn’t expect Monarch to go out of business, but the team here responded fantastically well and we had 75% of Monarchs flying covered within 36 hours.

“We’ve now covered the whole of the Monarch programme and Leeds is now on track to become one of the fastest growing airports in the UK.” He added: “When I took over here, the previous owners also informed me that they would be looking to sell the airport within three years and that it would probably be earlier, however I didn’t expect it to be done within three months.

“

“In my opinion, Leeds Bradford Airport is the last real golden nugget when it comes to untapped airports in the UK.”

“AMP, the company I’d worked for as a consultant after my time at Newcastle, were the company who took over the airport so luckily, I knew their track-record.

“They’ve operated in Melbourne for many years now, they’re launching in Tasmania and have owned 49% of NCL for five to six years, they’re a proven airport operator.

“Because they’ve been there and done it before, it makes decision making much easier to get over the line.”

Under Law’s leadership, Newcastle Airport also secured a series of top accolades, most notably for its punctuality, customer experience and security.

Now, Laws and his team are hoping to replicate their decade of dominance at LBA, and believe the future is bright for the Yorkshire hub.

“The one thing I was extremely proud of at Newcastle was that I brought in the slogan, ‘it’s

your airport’ and I want to replicate that here,” he added. “I want to fly the flag for the White Rose and give the people here an airport they can be proud of.

“We’ve already started drawing up plans to improve the infrastructure, landed new services such as the Flybe service to Dusseldorf, and are looking at expanding our three-times daily KLM service to Amsterdam.

“We’re proving to airlines that there’s real opportunity here at Leeds. I’m not going to deny that Manchester is a big machine, nobody’s trying to take Manchester on, but when you look at our catchment area and the affluence in Yorkshire, there’s no reason why we can’t grow and go onto better things.

“If you liken Manchester to Heathrow, then why can’t we be the Gatwick or Stansted? I’m excited, I have a team here who are excited, and we’re putting Leeds Bradford on the map for all of the right reasons.” n

103

104

Special Report

World’s largest moving structure fitted with UKEF-supported Flamgard Calidair equipment.

Helping UK business compete overseas UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK’s export credit agency and part of the Department for International Trade, is helping UK companies realise their exporting ambitions with UK Government-backed financial support.

Boosting sales overseas will be key to growth for UK businesses as they look to thrive in a global marketplace. Bank research shows that, on average, firms that start exporting grow by a third in just two years. Exporters can see levels of growth that might not be possible domestically, spread business risk, realise economies of scale not always achievable in their home market, increase revenues and profits, and extend the commercial lifespan of their products and services. Overseas markets also present attractive opportunities for revenue growth and diversification, leading to innovation.

But having the right finance and insurance in place can make you more competitive when

undertaking any business activity, and exporting is no different. That’s where we come in. UKEF is a government department with a mission to ensure no viable UK export fails for lack of finance or insurance. Over the past five years, we provided over £14 billion in support for UK exports to businesses across all sectors and all sizes.

We help companies selling overseas find the right finance and insurance, complementing what is available from the private market, to help them win contracts, fulfil them and guarantee payment – even in new or challenging markets. Companies we have supported include Darlington’s Chemian Technology, a developer and manufacturer of

ingredients for the pharmaceutical, chemical and cosmetic industries.

One of its most successful export products is Citrepel, a wholly natural active ingredient used in insect repellents. Following the outbreak of the Zika virus in a number of countries, international demand for this product grew significantly and created the challenge of finding the funding required to deliver.

When Chemian won a contract worth £500,000 with an Italian customer (equal to 25% of its annual revenue), it turned to its bank and UKEF to find a solution. With the support of a UKEF guarantee on a working capital loan, Chemian was able to access substantially higher levels of funding. This allowed Chemian to fulfil this significant export opportunity while maintaining resources for other overseas business activities We have also supported companies like Pontypool-based fire safety equipment manufacturer Flamgard Calidair. UKEF support enabled the company to fulfil a major business opportunity with the Chernobyl new safe confinement site. Under the terms of the contract, Flamgard would provide fire and shut-off dampers to the Chernobyl site, the world’s largest movable structure designed to facilitate monitoring and demolition of the previous containment building following the 1986 disaster.

To fulfil the contract, Flamgard had to provide its buyer with an advance payment bond – a common challenge for exporters in the sector. It was able to secure this through its bank, while a guarantee from UKEF meant there was no requirement for a deposit. This allowed the company to deliver on an international, multimillion pound contract and strengthen its presence in the global marketplace.

UKEF support can be transformative UK exporters of all sizes, like Chemian Technology and Flamgard Calidair, who export to markets all over the world. We help companies get the finance and support they need to realise their exporting ambitions; so, whether you’re looking to expand your export sales competing for a large overseas contract, UKEF is here to help.

Why not get in touch to find out more?

Find out more at www.gov.uk/uk-export-finance or email customer.service@ukexportfinance.gov.uk

Special bqlive.co.uk Report

105 105

EXPORTS: THE REWARDS FOR PLAYING SAFE Aziz Rahman, of award-winning business crime solicitors Rahman Ravelli, explains the value of taking precautions when looking to export.

Exports can be seen as a huge sign of success for a company. The fact that there is demand from other countries for what you are selling is a ringing endorsement of what you are doing and a valuable chance to boost your balance sheet.

So it is always worth looking to find markets abroad. But it is important that this is done in a way that in no way jeopardises your business. New markets can bring with them new situations: new business practices, different legal and taxation systems and certain expectations from trading partners or third parties.

It is important to identify these challenges and

£

£ £

£

“

“One issue where a little thought can go a long way is bribery.”

make sure that your business responds to them appropriately. Doing your homework – learning about the areas, the people and organisations you will be trading with – can bring huge benefits and ensure you stay on the right side of the law; both here and in any country where you are looking to do business.

One issue where a little thought can go a long way is bribery. Many countries are still

£

£

£

£

£

£

rife with bribery. Recent years have seen some of the world’s biggest names – Rolls-Royce, GlaxoSmithKline, Cadbury, JP Morgan and AstraZeneca, to name just a handful – paying a hefty price for being involved in it.

Companies looking to trade abroad must introduce measures to make sure they do not, knowingly or unknowingly, become involved in either the giving or receiving of bribes. If this seems alarmist or unnecessary, it is worth noting that the UK’s Bribery Act makes it possible to prosecute any company with a connection to the UK for bribery that was carried out on its behalf anywhere in the world. Penalties under the act include up to 10 years in prison and unlimited fines.

It is, therefore, worth taking a few careful steps to ensure you do not fall foul of the act. Carrying out research about the bribery risks in the country that you are planning to trade in can help avoid any pitfalls. Assessing your working practices and introducing measures that will ensure bribery is prevented, or at least identified, will also reduce the scope for problems.

Such activities need not take up lots of staff time. And if you, as a company, feel unsure about how to carry them out, seeking appropriate advice from business crime experts can make such activities simple and stress free.

Exporting can be hugely rewarding and exciting for a company. Taking a few precautions can ensure that it is also stress free. n

Aziz Rahman is the founder of Rahman Ravelli; a top-ranked business crime law firm in national and international legal guides.

106

bqlive.co.uk

Putting his best

forward A nightmare experience of buying a Spanish apartment prompted Andy Foote to launch his own business to make property investment easier. Steve Dyson reports.

B

ack in the early 2000s, ex-footballer and successful entrepreneur Andy Foote decided to spend some of his well-earned cash on an apartment in Spain.

But from the moment the Midlands businessman paid his £60,000 deposit, a nightmare began. No-one kept in touch with him, he received zero updates, and he found himself having to put his trust in people he didn’t know, to deliver a property he’d never seen.

Nearly two years later, he received a letter instructing him to deliver the remaining £140,000 or face the prospect of losing the property. “After paying that deposit I didn’t hear a dicky bird,” he recalls. “Until that letter came out of the blue to say: ‘Come to Spain with the balance or you’ve lost it’.”

Foote did indeed fly to Spain, paid his balance and received the keys to his longawaited apartment in the sun. And he loved the property. But he hated what had been a “shocking service experience”.

“I expected more after paying that £60,000 deposit,” Foote says. “But I hadn’t even seen

the property by the time I had to stump up the £140,000 final payment. Everyone said they’d stay in touch, but they didn’t. What was supposed to be a wonderful experience had become a nightmare. I had to go out to Spain on my own and more or less just had the keys thrown at me.”

Foote soon faced multiple challenges: furnishing his property, sorting out snags, getting someone to clean it, finding trusted people to look after it when he wasn’t there, and someone to manage lettings. “There was nothing,” he remembers. “Just me, the keys and an empty property that took me a year to get set up how I wanted.”

It was a frustrating experience, but one that made Foote realise there was space in the market for a company to provide what he had found missing. A 360-degree service that started with sales and provided everything from mortgages to furniture, from property management to rental, and ultimately – if needed – final exit from a property.

This was the basis of BMS Homes, a company he set up selling properties in Spain

and Cyprus, making as many as 2,000 sales a year between 2002 and 2010. His improved services worked, but the sector was hit by the financial crash in 2008 when “you couldn’t give properties away”, and BMS Homes stopped trading in 2010.

But after the crash, when the wheel came round again in the property investment market, Foote started a new property business, this time called Seven Invest, the service arm of a parent company called Seven Capital.

And since 2013 the company has boomed, selling an average of 1,000 units a year at an average price of £200,000 a time. The resulting turnover falls into the accounts of Seven Capital, but it’s Foote’s Seven Invest that provides the quality service that drives the sales.

“Seven Invest is based around my experience of knowing what clients need,” says Foote, now aged 54 and living with his wife Judy in Dorridge, Solihull. “The profile of our customers are males aged 40 to 60, with anything from £50,000 spare cash to invest – plus what they can afford on mortgage.

bqlive.co.uk

107

108

bqlive.co.uk

“ “We’re talking about busy guys, professional business owners, people who not only need a sales service for their property investment but also need someone they can trust with all the extra things they’re going to need. And they want someone who delivers, not just a promise that’s never fulfilled.

“That’s the thing with the property investment market. It’s saturated with agents, people with no control over the properties they’re selling. So, they can sell you the dream but you could then get let down by the builder.

But with Seven Invest, we control the whole thing because we only deal with the properties that Seven Capital have provided.”

Seven Invest is essentially a property distribution and service company owned 50:50

by Foote and his partner, Bal Sohal, a Midlands entrepreneur who owns and runs Seven Capital, which is the actual property developer. Seven Capital does three basic but important things: it buys the land, gets planning permission and builds with its own construction company,

“We insist on excelling in customer service, and that’s where our focus is. We can help with the mortgage, the management and even things like the furnishing.”

Colmore Tang. Then Seven Invest steps in to do everything else with the properties that are spread between Birmingham and the London commuter belt.

“My role is customer service,” says Foote.

“That’s marketing, selling and then looking after the customer during the two-year build period.

That’s crucial. The property investor has paid their £60,000 deposit, or whatever it happens to be, and that’s when their nightmare can start – is the builder cutting corners, all those natural concerns.

“That’s when we communicate with them all the way through, exceeding their expectations at the end when they finally get their property.

I’m talking about bi-monthly emails containing pictures of every stage, descriptions of what’s happening now and next, updates about all the little things.

“During that process, we still tell them we’re going to be serving their lawyer with a ten-day notice for the remaining 70% of the purchase price. But we don’t leave it until those ten days

beforehand. We tell them a year before, and we tell them not to worry because by that stage we’ll be in touch almost daily with what needs to happen next.

“We ask them: how do you want to find the property on the day you get the keys? Do you want it managed? Do you need someone to arrange the letting? How would you like it furnished? We understand everything about that. We have clients from all over the UK and world, and when they first buy they perhaps don’t see the value of the service.

“But we insist on excelling in customer service, and that’s where our focus is. We can help with the mortgage, the management and even things like the furnishing. Have you ever tried fitting one of those Ikea flat-pack furniture units? It can be a nightmare. But we not only arrange the fitting, we also negotiate deals with stores that can save them 50% on furnishing prices.

“And what we offer is unique. Whilst our competitors’ agents’ focus is on the sales profit,

bqlive.co.uk

109

From football dreams to personal tragedy

“

“We want our partners to earn money for the services they provide, and we want our clients to get great service.”

we’re providing our customers with the access to everything they need.”

Seven Invest employs a staff of around 80 to provide this service, based in offices in Birmingham, London, Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong. But the company outsources all the specialisms like law, furniture, mortgage, management and rental.

“We want our partners to earn money for the services they provide, and we want our clients to get great service,” Foote says.

“We have a panel of lawyers charging £500 for the legal aspects, which compares to anything from £1,000 to £2,000 charged by other companies. The lawyers are on our panel and if they’re no good they’re off that panel.

“Then we have a panel of lettings agents that works the same as the lawyers’ panel – lettings agents have to perform, and the percentage they charge is about half or what others charge.

And we provide everything from mortgage referrals to the furnishings.”

Seven Invest has pumped £2m in its delivery services, which continue after handover. It even has a new app containing all the manuals for the equipment in the property, making life even easier for the owners. And, for two years after the purchase, it provides a 24-hour dedicated “man with a van” on every development, sorting out every snag during a two-year warranty.

What started as a nightmare out in Spain all those years ago has now become a dream business – making life as a property investor easy for thousands of people who buy Seven Invest apartments. n

Andy Foote was born in Sheldon, Birmingham back in 1963, one of four children in a working-class family. He managed to get into a local grammar school but didn’t excel in the classroom – leaving without taking his O-levels and with a one-minute exit interview when his headmaster summed up his school life as a “waste of time”.

But he did shine at sport, playing twice for England rugby under-16s schoolboys. And his skills saw him become a professional footballer in a short-lived career when he turned out for Luton Town, Shrewsbury and Port Vale, abruptly ending at the age of 20.

“It broke my heart when I never made it as a player,” recalls Foote, “but I then wanted to own a wine bar, so I got a job at Banks brewery to learn about the business.”

Within five years, Foote was an area sales manager for Banks, but by now he was after more money and glamour, and went to work for BMW as a finance manager. After a further five years, he was offered his own dealership, and was soon winning every BMW competition for finance every year.

Foote realised he could add up, and so left in 1994 to launch his own motor finance business called BMS Finance, which he sold to Bank of Scotland for £8m in 2002. It was then, after his Spanish apartment experience, that he launched and ran BMS Homes from 2002 to 2010.

Despite his business success, tragedy struck Foote’s personal life when his son, Joseph, was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumour.

Years of treatment and setbacks followed, and on 31 August 2007, Joseph died, aged nine.

What struck Foote, his wife Judy and their daughter Nancie, now aged 22, was the level of uncertainty in the medical world about Joseph’s condition. The words “we don’t know” were the typical and recurring answer whenever they had asked if he would survive.

“Basically, brain tumours are the Cinderella of the cancer world, left way behind the likes of breast and prostate cancer where treatment and survival rates were constantly improving,” Foote explains. “So, we decided to set up a charity to raise money to find a cure.”

What started as the Joseph Foote Trust – which merged with Brain Tumour UK, and then merged again to form The Brain Tumour Charity – has raised tens of millions of pounds, becoming the biggest brain cancer charity in the world.

Remembering his son Joseph, Foote says: “What stood out about Joseph was his great sense of knowing what was right and wrong.

Every day we speak to families who are devastated by the news of brain cancer. That’s all we’ve needed to drive us on. There are 105,000 people living with brain tumours in the UK, and only 15% or 20% survive.

“The charity has raised more than £34m during its life. Our funding is helping to make advances in research and we now have a strategy to raise the survival rate over the next 20 years and, in the meantime, are looking to halve the harm of existing treatment. That focus keeps us going, and keeps Joseph alive in our memories.”

110

bqlive.co.uk

bqlive.co.uk

Jewel f the isles

From her base on Orkney, Sheila Fleet and her team produce individually-designed and hand-finished pieces of jewellery that have captured the hearts of customers around the globe, as Peter Ranscombe discovers.

C

hristmas always comes early for Sheila Fleet. Like so many entrepreneurs working in the manufacturing and retail sectors, Fleet and her team must start thinking about the festive period way back in the late summer and early autumn, even when the warm sun is still beating down on her workshop at Tankerness on Orkney.

Yet “workshop” doesn’t really do justice to the craftsmanship that goes on in Fleet’s headquarters.

Each of her designs originates and gets made on the premises and is hand-finished there, combining silver and enamel coloured with glass to create everything from brooches, earrings and necklaces through to rings, cufflinks and kilt pins.

It’s a treat to see Fleet in action as she leads the way through the workshop, passing on her design for a piece of jewellery for a German customer to a member of her team. Around her, craftsmen and women are busy beavering away at their wooden benches, their hand tools neatly lined up in rows,

working hard to meet the Christmas orders.

This is no soulless factory either. Even though it’s just a short drive from Kirkwall, Orkney’s main town, Tankerness is a rural community, with the workshop surrounded by fields and only a short walk away from the shoreline.

What’s perhaps most striking about Fleet’s jewellery is the way in which it captures the essence of the landscape of Orkney, an archipelago of around 70 islands lying 10 miles off the north coast of Scotland. Her designs incorporate the patterns created by waves on the sea, sand on the beach, colours in the rock; capturing each ripple, each curve, each colour.

Her home is strewn with pieces of rock, perched on tables and surfaces around the house. Like a magpie, she collects stones with colours or patterns that will inspire her designs, while friends and family also contribute to the collection.

She holds up an example from Yesnaby, a set of

111

112

bqlive.co.uk

sea cliffs on the west coast of the Mainland and her favourite place on Orkney to go collecting rocks. Fleet clearly feels a very strong connection to the land of her birth and it’s intriguing to see how the landscape has inspired her work.

Later, sitting at her dining table, she spreads a series of old photographs across the surface, some showing family portraits, other showing scenes from the family croft in the 1950s, including the “stooks”, sheaves of grain standing upright in fields, in the days before combine harvesters and baling machines could create the now-familiar cylindrical or rectangular hay stacks. Some of the photos are in frames and ready to be passed on to relatives or friends.

“You had to cut the stooks at just the right angle, so they would stand up properly,” Fleet remembers. Precision and an eye for detail emerged at an early age.

Creativity also clearly runs in the family. A large painting that hangs in her house is one of 500 watercolours created by her mother – who only took up the hobby when she was in her 80s.

Born in 1945 on South Ronaldsay, one of the islands connected to Orkney’s Mainland by the

“

Churchill barriers at the eastern end of Scapa Flow, Fleet left school at the age of 15 without any qualifications. Yet her talent for art and design was already evident.

Fleet joined Edinburgh College of Art in 1963 and spent two years on its general course, studying drawing, painting and sculpture. After joining a “lapidary” club – the cutting, polishing and engraving of gemstones – and creating her first piece of jewellery, she began specialising in jewellery and fashion design, gaining her diploma from the college in 1967.

She was then awarded a further year’s post-diploma professional training in jewellery, which came with industrial endorsement. A small bursary allowed her to study in London under Andrew Grima, one of the most famous jewellers of his day, who designed pieces for the Queen.

Gaining top marks in her post-diploma studies and a series of awards allowed Fleet to spread her wings even further, travelling extensively through Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. She joined Corocraft, the world’s largest costume jewellery company, in 1969 and won a series of prizes in British and European competitions, meeting and marrying

her husband, photographer and blacksmith Rick Fleet, along the way.

Fleet and her husband moved back to Orkney in 1977 and she began working with local jewellery company Ortak as its first professional designer and modelmaker. In 1993, she took the bold move of setting up her own business, building her first workshop in a converted chicken shed in her garden.

“We still use the shed,” Fleet laughs. “The members of staff who work in there have the best views from their windows because they can see down to the shore – they may have the oldest shed, but they have the best view.

“After 21 years in industry working for other people, the time seemed right to work for myself. My son was in his teens, so it felt like he was old enough for me to start my own business.

“My husband had been ill at the time, so it was a way of us working together. We were looking for a quality of life where we could work together as a family.

“It had been great to be in London and the south of England during the swinging years of the late 1960s and early 1970s. But the time was right to come home – Tankerness is beautiful

“After 21 years in industry working for other people, the time seemed right to work for myself.”

bqlive.co.uk

“

“Now we have to prove to our customers that we can work with Scottish gold as well, so we’re at a very exciting stage.”

because I love being by the sea and my husband loved aeroplanes and we’re only five minutes from the airport.”

Construction work began on the current workshop, showroom and offices in 1995, with the premises extended several times over the years to accommodate the growing business.

Now, an even more exciting expansion project is underway.

Next year, Fleet will open an exhibition space and café in an old church that sits next to her workshop. The sanctuary of the church has been sympathetically restored, with a mezzanine level creating extra space inside.

It’s been a long time in development; the company bought the building in 2007 and work was already underway back in 2014. But Fleet has been keen to renovate the church to the highest standard and the result will be well worth the wait.

The new visitors’ centre is expected to create around 12 jobs, swelling the headcount of the company from its current complement of around 80 staff, some 50 of whom are based on Orkney, with the others spread throughout the businesses’ shops in Kirkwall and Stockbridge in Edinburgh, and its concessions at Jenners department store in Edinburgh, House of Fraser

in Glasgow and Loch Lomond Shores.

The concession at Jenners opened in 1995 and expanded in 2000. Over the summer, Fleet’s company took the window displays in the store, advertising her jewellery to the thousands of visitors who flocked to the city for the 70th Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world’s largest arts festival.

Another development about which the designer is particularly excited is the chance to use Scottish gold for the first time. Permission was granted to extract gold from the Cononish mine near Tyndrum in 1996, with Chris Sangster founding Scotgold Resources to carry out the work in 2007.

Sangster was interviewed by Gillian Law in issue nine of BQ Scotland magazine back in the autumn of 2012 and last year the first Scottish gold was sold at auction in the form of 12 rounds or coins, with Fleet paying £2,517 for her share of the precious metal – round number six. Back in June, a second announcement from Scotgold revealed that a deal had been struck to sell more gold to two Scottish jewellers, one of which was Fleet’s company.

“Scottish gold is a rare commodity,” explains Fleet. “We’ve just created our first few pieces – it’s quite nerve-racking because we know we

can produce items in other metals, but now we have to prove to our customers that we can work with Scottish gold as well, so we’re at a very exciting stage. We have now made our first ten items in Scottish gold.

Fleet is not only a keen supporter of Scottish gold, but also of the wider “Made in Scotland” movement. “We need to do more to promote the provenance of our products,” she says.

Having run her own business for 25 years, Fleet still relishes the challenge of designing new pieces. “When I create a range, I’ll continue to develop themes from previous years,” she explains.

“But I’ll also take a chance and throw something new into the mix – and it’s often that new design that sells the best. You can’t put all your eggs in one basket, so it’s good to push the boundaries.”

One of the highlights of running her own business is the connection with the customers.

“We are there with them at some of the most important moments in their lives,” she explains.

“We have men getting in touch asking us to design engagement rings for their girlfriends.

It’s really special because we have to help keep it a secret for them.” n

113

114

Partner

Making a success of succession Sarah Allatt, head of wealth planning advisory at UBS Wealth Management, tells Bryce Wilcock how the company is helping wealthy families across the globe plan for the future.

TRANSFERRING wealth from one generation to the next can provide families with a real headache but it doesn’t have to be such an arduous task.

In a new report titled “What’s it all for?”, UBS highlights some of the real challenges and dilemmas faced by families when it comes to succession planning.

Through eight case studies, the report delves into scenarios ranging from what happens when

a husband and wife don’t agree to how to cope with complicated family structures and how to involve future generations in the planning process.

“The question of what wealth is fundamentally for has no single answer, and will be a deeply personal matter for most individuals,” the report points out. “Is wealth simply to be enjoyed by the people who have made it?

“Those with children and grandchildren will usually feel a sense of responsibility to their descendants. Setting them up in life though, without taking away their drive and incentives for success, is a complicated task.”

Sarah Allatt, head of wealth planning advisory at UBS Wealth Management, was one of the key contributors to the report. She said: “A lot of families are very comfortable with their own family set up but at some point, their family unit

Partner

expands to involve sons-in-law and daughtersin-law and that’s when things begin to get much more tricky.”

The first of the eight case studies features a husband and wife duo who had disagreed on the right thing to do with their wealth.

Husbands and wives often share the same values and attitudes in discussions about family wealth; however, this isn’t always the case. From time-to-time, they can have different views on the big questions around succession, such as how to handle their wealth or what to do with the family business.

“My wife has a clear view that our children should make their own way in the world, but I feel that they face very different pressures now compared to when we were in our 20s,” the husband said. The pair then sat down with an adviser from UBS and were able to structure a plan that suited both of their needs and desires.

Another pressing concern for many families is choosing how to distribute wealth and assets to multiple children. It can be quite straight forward when a family only has one child but how do you remain fair and please everyone when there is more than one?

This can throw up an even bigger challenge when a business is involved. Two of the children may want to get involved in the business and another might have no interest.

Then, which roles do they take up and how is the third compensated for missing out? If families misjudge the situation and get these decisions wrong, it can sow the seeds of lasting resentment, so it is understandable why it is a worry for many families.

The third case study featured in the report analyses a grandfather who had initially intended to divide his wealth 50-50 between his two children, however, as time went on, circumstances started to change, and three grandchildren came along. He also decided one of his children wasn’t financially responsible enough to be given half of the family fortune and wanted to change his will.

With this in mind, he changed his plan to a five-way split of the company shares between his two children and three grandchildren, who were already grown-up. Unfortunately, the grandfather died before his will was formally redrawn. Relationships in the family have since suffered badly, with lawyers now involved on all sides.

“With so much wealth now in the hands of baby boomers, situations can now be more complex and involve multiple generations,” the

“

“We see a lot of clients involved in philanthropic projects and that is where the next generation is very frequently first involved in the family money.”

report highlights. “We often think of wealth being transferred to people when they reach the age of 18 or 21. Because people are living longer, and earning for longer, much wealth now transitions to people who are already in their 30s, 40s or even 50s.

“Sometimes, wealthy couples only start taking these conversations seriously in their 60s.

By then, their children will be adults and have firm views of their own. It’s possible that there will also be grandchildren to consider and the temptation to skip a generation becomes much more real.”

Another factor to consider, which is high on the agenda of many people, is leaving money behind to charitable causes. Philanthropy plays a key role in wealth management and is also a topic close to the hearts of those at UBS. Whilst the majority of people are happy to use their wealth to help their children succeed in life and achieve their goals, many also want to use their wealth to achieve something else, for society or for those less fortunate.

UBS can help its clients identify and get involved in charitable causes through its dedicated philanthropy team, which

ensures that the company’s clients individual philanthropic goals are achieved.

Allatt adds: “We see a lot of clients involved in philanthropic projects and that is where the next generation is very frequently first involved in the family money.”

The fifth topic addressed in the report is one that is encountered by many and can be quite complicated for families when planning for the future. That is, when the next generation get married, what happens then?

The report says: “When it comes to wealth, family structures have always been complicated.

With people living longer, having multiple careers and sometimes multiple marriages, the issues can now be more tangled. There is no set formula for ‘blended families’, with children from more than one relationship. Each situation will be unique and will require a unique solution.”

If one thing is for sure, nothing dissipates wealth as quickly as divorce and remarriage and this is something the team at UBS is all too familiar with, having advised thousands of people on the issue.

Property and education is another common

115

116

Partner

“

“UBS has a lot of experience helping the next generation and it can start as early as the family feels is suitable.”

factor that arises. “How do I ensure my children have a roof over their head?” and “How do I ensure they get the best education?” are just two of the questions often asked by those worried about their children if anything were to happen to them.

House prices have sky rocketed over recent years and so have private school fees. It is now widely accepted that it is almost impossible for young people to get onto the housing ladder without support and most wealthy people will do all they can to prevent their children from struggling.

“Whenever and however parents try to help, they will usually want to do so in ways that don’t take away their children’s desire and ability to find their own path to success,” the report says. “Here the adviser can provide an external sounding board, helping clients map out their goals with clarity and precision before suggesting the right financial solutions for each situation.”

One of the most commonly forgotten factors highlighted is disclosure and discretion.

Many wealthy families may decide that complete transparency involving all the generations is the only sensible way to go about

it. Talking about the extent of personal wealth is, however, quite often difficult. Friends and colleagues may treat you differently if they think that you are “rich”, and there is often the worry of potential stigma for children at school.

UBS’s advisers often help prevent its clients from being affected by this by working closely with them to provide financial training and educating the younger generations about the value of money and the responsibilities that come with wealth.

As Allatt explains: “A client and their family wanting to talk about how to protect or enhance the lives of the next generation need to be armed with the information about what is possible and what is usual.

“UBS has a lot of experience helping the next generation and it can start as early as the family feels is suitable. We can have small individual savings accounts for children and young adults and give them the experience of investing.

“We also have a number of next generation plans where children can talk to other children in another situation, they can have group exercises and learn a little bit more about the world of investing, the world of banking and the world of wealth.”

The last of the topics covered in the report analyses death and taxes, which – as the common adage goes – are the two things in life that are certain for us all. Everyone wants to leave as much as they can to the people and causes they love, which is why the tax burden has always been a major talking point when dealing with estate planning, and for good reason.

The report by UBS certainly highlights some of the most pressing issues associated with succession planning and some of the best ways to address these concerns. However, as the report points out at the beginning, no two families are the same and every family will have different ideas on how best they would like their wealth dealt with. n

To find out more download a copy of the report please visit www.ubs.com/ wealthtransfer or contact Katherine Reay on 0191 211 1019. www.ubs.com/uk

UBS Wealth Management is a business division of UBS AG which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

How can I see the bigger picture?

By looking beyond the obvious.

Only then can we see the true value. Together we can establish strong, open and long-lasting relationships. With the expertise and resources of our truly integrated, global approach. We’re here to bring the bigger picture into focus.

For some of life’s questions, you’re not alone.

Together we can find an answer.

The value of investments can fall as well as rise.

You may not get back the amount originally invested.

www.ubs.com/wealthmanagement-uk

© UBS 2017. All rights reserved.

ab

118

bqlive.co.uk

to his ears Nathan John tells Maria McGeoghan how listening to rapper Tupac gave him the idea for Rewise Learning, which delivers education through music.

J

ust come and look at this view.” On a gloriously sunny day in Mumbles, it’s warm enough to sit outside, drink coffee, and admire the sweeping sands of Swansea Bay. Lots of people are strolling along the beach with their dogs and it feels more like the peak of the summer holidays than a one-off special November day. I’m here to meet entrepreneur Nathan John. To say he is proud to call this beautiful corner of the world his home is an understatement.

‘I love living here,” says John. “Just look at that beach. If I wasn’t so busy it’s the perfect day to go surfing.”

John is the brains behind Rewise Learning, which makes education easy by creating fun, award-winning courses and resources.

He’s a natural entrepreneur and his story of determination to succeed no matter what obstacles he found in his way is both inspiring

and a little bit exhausting. He’s packed more in to 33 years than many people attempt in a lifetime.

“Coming to Swansea changed my life for ever,” says John, whose love and belief in the power of music underlines everything he does.

“Every day I look out on this view and realise how lucky I am. “‘Believe in yourself’ is a message I stress to everyone I meet on our courses and when I go and talk in schools. That’s the spirit I’m trying to embed in everyone I come across.”

Born prematurely, John was the original “bag of sugar baby”, spending weeks on life support attached to tubes and monitors.

“I suppose you could say I’ve been a fighter from the start,” he offers. “I’ve still got one nostril smaller than the other because I was so premature but that’s the only clue.”

John was born and brought up in Nelson in

Caerphilly. “I never knew my dad but I had a really good stepdad.

“I know I’m jumping around here but, sometimes when you dream about things, strange things can happen. I always dreamed of being on Match of the Day. “I got involved in a project with young people to come up with an anthem for Swansea football club. It was called ‘The Swansea Way’. And we only ended up being on Match of the Day. They came to us to film it. I was delighted.

“I get ideas all the time. I think my brain works differently. I was just thinking this morning that you could develop an app to give you a recipe from everything you’ve got in the fridge or the cupboard. That would work, wouldn’t it?”

As with many entrepreneurs I’ve met over the years, school was a trial for John, who

bqlive.co.uk

119

120

bqlive.co.uk

“

“I remember revising Macbeth and really struggling to take it in, but I’d be listening to Tupac and realising that I could remember all the words.”

wasn’t diagnosed with dyslexia until he was 21. “I started to believe I was stupid at school, which was really run down and had started to come to the end of its life cycle,” he explains.

“I was bored and started to get into trouble. I was predicted to get Ds and Cs but I didn’t want to fail. I wanted to pass to prove everyone wrong.

“I started listening to hip hop and reggae, particularly Tupac and Bob Marley. A lot of their lyrics are about achieving their dream and having a positive outlook.

“The music really got to me. All their lyrics really seemed in tune with my situation. Tupac was intense and timeless. It was him against the world. Even a genius asks questions. No-one really knows everything.”

It was this love of rap that proved to be the spark for his future business. “I remember revising Macbeth and really struggling to take it in, but I’d be listening to Tupac and realising that I could remember all the words,” he explains.

“I thought if you could put GCSE revision to music then that would really work. I thought it was a good idea for a business, but I was too scared to tell anyone about my idea. I started thinking about running a business with a social

purpose, but I know that you have to put the work in.

“Everyone thought that I would probably end up working at the steel works.“ John’s first taste of running a business came when his mum gave him some sandwiches left over from her job at a catering company.

“Someone offered to buy one, so I charged them £2.50, sold them all and didn’t have any lunch,” he remembers.

“I then starting making them myself and was making £40 a week. The teachers were buying them as well. It built up my confidence.”

After sixth form, John started working at a data-entry company, but soon started looking at university, where his career took a new and unexpected turn. “I didn’t know anything about university, but I had a girlfriend who was going so I thought I would give it a go,” he says.

“I decided to go for economics and chose Swansea University, which just changed my life.”

John is now an ambassador for the university. “You’ll probably drive past some billboards with my face on when you go home,” he says with a laugh.

He found himself sharing a flat with his now best friend, Alexis, who also loved music and

they both enjoyed coming up with business ideas, which were scribbled on the back of beer mats. One of those ideas was to start publishing a magazine for students.

“A local nightclub said we could have a free night to raise funds to launch the magazine,” John recalls. “It would have been really easy to say no, because it took a lot of work and we didn’t really know what we were doing. It took us three days to design a flyer.

“I did the DJ set and kept making mistakes.

I was embarrassed at first, but mistakes don’t kill you. No-one was throwing stuff at me, so I thought what’s the worst that can happen?’

“A lot more people turned up than we thought. We wanted to earn £200 to launch the magazine but it was closer to thousands.

“When we saw how much we had made we said: ‘Screw the magazine, let’s do this instead.’

We started doing music nights and I learned how to be a professional DJ. “It taught us a lot about marketing and promotion. We did one the following Sunday and four people turned up.”

While studying for their degrees, John and Alexis staged around 1,000 club nights during their time at Swansea University.

“It was the perfect time,” John says. “We were booking the artists we were listening to.

We also did gigs in Bristol and London, and I was working five or six nights a week. We only lost money in one of those nights.”

His classmates tried to help him out by giving him notes on lectures he had missed but

bqlive.co.uk

“

“We have a producer and a songwriter and together we write a song. It can push past fear and push past barriers.”

his finals were looming. Then, four weeks before his final exams, John was diagnosed with dyslexia.

“I was really frustrated and disappointed,” he says. “I wondered how different my education could have been if I had been given support.

“But I wouldn’t change being dyslexic. It has given me that underdog spirit.”

When John graduated, he decided to get his learning-throughmusic idea off the ground and came up with Rewise as an umbrella brand with ambitions for lots of offshoots.

He found himself at a Prince’s Trust event in Cardiff, pitching for investment to a panel that included Gordon Brown. His story was soon picked up by the media.

“I turned up in my suit and realised I had to ask the PM a question. I asked him if he could help me roll out my idea to every school?”

A few minutes later he got a call from a friend who said I had been on Sky News.

“I don’t think I noticed that cameras were there. I ended up being on BBC Wales, the Times Educational Supplement, Spanish and Danish media and even doing an interview with RTE in Ireland in a cupboard in the middle of a gig.”

It was the perfect launch for LearnThruMusic and, since 2008, John has engaged with 30,000 teenagers on this and other Rewise courses.

“We teach them the soft skills by using music as a tool to learn and build confidence,” he explains. “We have a producer and a songwriter and together we write a song. It can push past fear and push past barriers.

“The support from The Prince’s Trust pushed me to try and live my dream. As well as financial backing and business guidance, getting involved with the trust enabled me to meet the right people, which was crucial in getting me to where I am today.”

Since establishing Rewise Learning, John has developed different strands of the business to support community initiatives, help people who struggle with reading, and increase engagement with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects. Subjects range from coding to skills in employability, entrepreneurship, literacy, GCSE revision, phonics and numeracy.

The Rewise brand is growing and now includes LearnThruTech, LearnThruWork, LearnThruEnterprise, LearnThruPhonics as well as the original LearnThruMusic.

John is also proud to be a founding director of Surfablility UK Community Interest Company, a surf school for young people with disabilities. He continues to promote the work of The Prince’s Trust, including delivering programmes in England and Wales.

With revenues of £500,000 and a staff of 10, John has ambitions to double those figures in three years. And his advice to anyone with that burning idea for a business?

“Just get on and do it. Don’t be afraid to fail. The hardest part of any business is making the decision to do it.” n

121

122

bqlive.co.uk

Helping entrepreneurs to join the

innovation

dots

Colm Watling, Innovate UK’s new regional manager for the South East and London, shows Mike Hughes how to navigate around a complex innovation landscape.

U

ntil quite recently, there was a big problem for UK entrepreneurs. They were being too innovative.

There were so many new businesses with ground-breaking ideas either formed in university spin-outs or at garage workbenches, being created and evolving at such high speed, that the support network was struggling to present a coherent mix of advice.

So, ten years ago, along came the UK Government’s Technology Strategy Board – know known as Innovate UK – which supports new businesses by advising, funding and connecting them. So far, it has committed more than £1.8bn, matched by a similar amount in partner and business funding, to help 8,000 organisations with projects estimated to add more than £16bn to the UK economy and create nearly 70,000 jobs.

Colm Watling has now been brought in to lead its work in London and the South East of England – and use the resources, reach and experience of the UK Government to help bring together the different groups offering help. “These hard-working groups across our

regions are all trying to do the right thing, but their sheer number can sometimes unwittingly cut across our bows and complicate things for our innovators,” Watling says.

“We are definitely not trying to constrain people, or prevent the local authorities or universities continuing their work, but just hoping to help by getting the message across that this is what the UK Government strategy is, work with us and do the constructive things you were doing already alongside us.”

That strategy – to make things as logical as possible for new businesses that may not be experienced at navigating their way to funding and advice – is that the first port of call should be the Growth Hubs, the public-private sector partnerships led by the local enterprise partnerships (LEPs).

“My first job on day one was to start getting around all the hubs at the six LEPs I work with and make sure their advisers were really, really clear about what Innovate UK was, why we existed and what we could do for them,” he explains. “There is certainly an educational and ambassadorial element to what I do, because

there had been a perception in some parts that we were remote and centralised, but that is changing now as we join the LEPs, the councils and the universities around the table and work with them.”

The reinvigorated message of clarity and collaboration means that Innovate UK is making a real impact on the entrepreneurial technology sector, with a sector-led approach to its programmes, as well as an enhanced role for its innovation networks and simplified funding to help with early testing of ideas, creation of products and services or to facilitate working with other organisations on collaborative projects.

Recent examples under the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund include: up to £66m to create national medicine and vaccine manufacturing centres; £15m for projects that support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to develop innovations in health and life sciences; and a share of up to £2m to research vehicle technology that accelerates the transition to zero emissions.

The funding is an obvious plus, but Watling

bqlive.co.uk

123

124

bqlive.co.uk

and his colleagues in regions around the country are also laying long-term foundations for an economy built around bold personal, regional and global enterprise – and recognising that each area has particular strengths around supply chain and support networks built for existing and already thriving sectors.

“

“Everyone has heard of the Northern Powerhouse, and the Midlands Engine, but there is no such equivalent in the South of England.”

“Speaking from my region, everyone has heard of the Northern Powerhouse, and the Midlands Engine, but there is no such equivalent in the South of England, although if you look at the businesses doing most of the innovation and creating the exports that are generating the tax base, they are disproportionately based inside the ‘golden triangle’ of Oxford, Cambridge and London.

“We want to encourage more innovation across the UK through more investment in research and development (R&D), and there is no doubt the South is doing very well and, while we do need to rebalance the economy, we must be careful not to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. There is a balanced and nuanced debate to be had, which needs the innovators here to pull together and be a more coherent voice.

“We also meet many businesses that are quite happy and are doing all the right things, and we support that completely, and say to them that when you are doing your next development – particularly in technologies like satellites and electric vehicles – think of us.”

Watling is an entrepreneur, ready to face some tricky terrain to get to his goals.

His experience in intellectual property at Loughborough and Nottingham Trent universities meant he would have been a valuable asset in any sector – so why choose Innovate UK? “Working with those universities meant I met all manner of fantastic inventors,” he explains. “They produce a world-leading amount of innovation, but we are still not very good at commercialising it, so I spent a

bqlive.co.uk

“

125

“We will make sure that we don’t just start writing businesses a cheque and walking away – we want to bring people together and build something for the future”

long time trying to get British innovations over the fence and out into the world, which was sometimes successful and often frustrating.

“Since I joined Innovate UK, I have learned two things I wish I had known earlier: invention is turning cash into ideas, and innovation is turning ideas into cash, which is where we can help. So, we are amalgamating research councils to form an organisation called ‘Research & Innovation UK’ and while there is still £4bn each year for university research – which we regard as very important – there will also be £2bn to help businesses to research and develop, which moves us towards a better R&D balance, which is the bit that really got me excited.

“We will make sure that we don’t just start writing businesses a cheque and walking away – we want to bring people together and build something for the future, which starts at schools with our science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) work and with the Prince’s Trust and goes right up to the boardrooms.”

Bringing the right people and organisations together can create a powerful union, and with Brexit uncertainty already here, this is no time to be presuming others will do the work for us.

Across the UK, we have to be strong enough to stand alone just in case we need to, and Watling’s is a voice of realistic positivity.

“Things change, and our businesses need to be alive to the fact that the world is not Europe and there are far-reaching opportunities for new technologies. It is just that, so far, it has been easier with the European structures to concentrate on the more easily-accessible markets for the past 40 years.

“We are not leaving Europe, just those certain structures, and we are still going to need to export, but we need to raise our game around the world and appreciate that we can achieve so much more by collaborating than we can on our own, bringing British ideas to foreign customers.

“Back in the UK, that means we can help create more and higher-skilled jobs and, so far, every organisation we have worked with has created an average of eight jobs – 70,000 across the UK in the past ten years. We think we are pretty good at that, but rather than make it a central promise of our application process we will give organisations what they need if we think their innovation fits the bill, and then we will track them over one, three or five years to

see what the benefits have been.

“We want long-term projects using assigned members of our team to work with them and guide them where necessary and build a relationship that works for both parties, and encourage serial applicants who will work with us on one occasion and then come back to us over and over again.”

During our interview, Watling cites the case study case of Cheetah Marine, which makes catamarans on the Isle of Wight. It had a potentially lucrative market with fishermen in the Philippines but the vessels, which are almost as wide as they are long, cost a lot to transport over.

Working with Innovate UK, the team at Cheetah had a brainwave and split the vessel into three main components – two hulls and the centre console – which meant it could be shipped over in a normal container and then bolted back together again in its new home.

That’s the power of collaboration that Watling and his colleagues can bring – a simple introduction turns to a developing relationship and an understanding of how each side operates, which can refresh strategies and idea creation and cast that exports net even wider. n

126

Profile

Put corporate finance at the heart of the business ownership lifecycle The focus is on business ownership - whether that’s someone starting out and needing to raise capital, to helping a business to grow by securing funding, through to positioning a business for sale.

Angus Allan, corporate finance partner at Clive Owen, can be contacted on 01325 349700 or at angus.allan@cliveowen.com

Helping entrepreneurs benefit from the fruits of their labours. Supporting a hard-working team to buy the business to which they’re dedicated.

Advising an owner on how to find funding to help their organisation flourish and grow… with such a positive role to play in the success of North East businesses it’s little wonder Angus Allan is so enthusiastic about his job.

“I am passionate about what I do. I love helping clients to achieve their goals, whilst supporting business success in the North East,” he says.

Angus is celebrating more than 15 years as corporate finance partner at Clive Owen, having led the fulltime introduction of the service to the firm in 2002.

A fully qualified accountant he trained and worked at KPMG for 14 years.

He saw an opportunity to build his own team and has since completed numerous transactions, many of which have been new clients to the firm, attracted by his expertise and client-centric approach.

Unsurprisingly, he has also won some awards along the way including, most recently, North East Deal of the Year and Corporate Finance Advisor of the Year in the Insider Deal Maker Awards.

Funding is fundamental to facilitating growth opportunities, explains Allan. ‘’We appraise each business before preparing a business plan, including financial projections.

Using our experience of investment structures and valuations, we can place a business with an appropriate funder and give the owner independent advice to allow them to make informed decisions.”

When dealing with disposals, his responsibility is to give clear, pragmatic, commercial advice to deliver the best deal for the client, often advising owners on what they need to do to maximise their sale price. Managing expectations and driving the process adeptly is also a large part of the role.

The past 18 months has seen a spike in disposals and

there are various factors driving this, explains Allan. ‘’There is pent-up demand following the recession; the tax system has been advantageous and Brexit concerns have added uncertainty resulting in some owners now seeking an opportunity to cash in.

Finally, the market in the UK is competitive for international buyers. Whereas the large corporates were paying down debt five years ago, they’re now cash-rich and looking for businesses that complement their current portfolio.”

Notable examples of this are the French conglomerate Suez Group, which snapped up Derwentside Environmental Testing Services, Vinci Industries’ acquisition of QSI Group and the sale of The Window Bureau to Cairngorm Capital.

As a proud Geordie, Allan is sensitive to local businesses being acquired by foreign buyers, which is why he is also keen to help the region’s aspiring entrepreneurs undertake management buyouts, drawing on his wide experience of the venture capital and banking sectors.

Acquiring another business can seem attractive but to mitigate risk, Allan and his team will assess a target’s strengths and weaknesses before making an approach to ensure suitability and fit.

Having helped the three directors of Inshore Fisheries at Hartlepool buy the business in 2012, he has just assisted in securing them funding from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund-FW Capital Debt Finance, managed by FW Capital, which will help the company to capitalise on growth opportunities. ‘’Basically, we put our clients at the heart of everything we do. We take time to understand their needs, temper their expectations using our external perspective and experience and then expedite the process of achieving their goals. We leverage our breadth of knowledge and expertise to drive the best outcome for the client. It’s a challenging role but thoroughly rewarding in the end,’’ he says. n

Save money by paying for only what you use. Get the benefits and security of an expert IT department without needing to hire people on minimum term contracts.

BQ NE Cover ads.indd 2

Our services are available around the clock whenever you need them. Our experts are on hand by phone and email to deliver the services and support that you need.

We employ expert IT consultants with a huge range of qualifications and knowledge.

Our people are the very best - and assured to be up to date with the latest technologies.

14/12/2017 15:01

BQ NE Cover ads.indd 3

14/12/2017 15:01