BQ North East Issue 15 by We Are UMi

www.bq-magazine.co.uk

ISSUE FIFTEEN: AUTUMN 2011

into the unknown A German designer finds the region’s creative culture isn’t such a foreign field

the live debate Which is the better investment – product innovation or brand development?

steam pressure The licensed trade is suffering more than most, but one man’s glass is always full

on all cylinders A healthy ‘green’ order book is one company’s answer to the economy’s doom-merchants

bright eyes A self-confessed ‘bossy boots’ saw the signs, switched on the lights and took control

BUSINESS NEWS: COMMERCE: FASHION: INTERVIEWS: MOTORS: EVENTS

NORTH EAST EDITION

Business Quarter Magazine

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WELCOME

BUSINESS QUARTER: AUTUMN 11: ISSUE FIFTEEN If businesswomen seem to feature a little more in this issue of BQ that’s not through any political agenda but, rather, an incidental but important indication of how more and more women are in fact making their mark on North East business which, in turn, is all the better for it. North East business is all the better too for its export performance. Here we acclaim the remarkable Geoff Turnbull, Peterlee’s brilliant former apprentice now an outstanding manufacturer and multi-million order winner in the rich new scenario of green engineering. Some bright sparks flash and fly around, then vanish almost as quickly in North East business. Turnbull remains a paragon of innovation throughout, proving the value of manufacturing enterprise to our troubled economy. An engineer consummate, he wins massive contracts without a sales team as such, disproving a frequent seminarial theory that engineering-bred bosses get too involved on the shopfloor for the good of their marketing. Turnbull’s value to Britain has been recognised now by two prime ministers and there may be others yet! If selling overseas is one way of escaping a flat economy, another way is to look twice at how we sell things anywhere. Jackie Wade, whose motivational company Winning Business is much in demand, proposes an approach appropriate to the times. Also featured this quarter are Louise Richley, who’s gaining a reputation for turning business around, Bettina Nissen who has had the courage and talent to set up business in a country not her own, Laura Ann Kemp and her mother Gaye Shakeshaft, whose deft combination of e-business and value added have has proved prizeworthy, and Paula Breen of Coast and Country whose leisure activity may be something you’d least expect. What our region desperately need more of is able entrepreneurs. The Entrepreneurs’ Forum, approaching its 10th anniversary, is reshaping

to meet that need and bring on self-starters faster perhaps than if they relied wholly on their own intuition. Another commendable body, The Prince’s Trust, is also galvanising top executives to find potential young entrepreneurs in unexpected quarters. There are talking points also. While Local Enterprise Partnerships have yet to settle in they’ve already given grounds to ask whether change is needed. In this quarter’s Live Debate, however, the question has been whether branding or innovation is the key to progress. Funnily enough, it was also widely agreed that recruiting the right people is also critical to a company’s success. In a very convivial setting we invite you to meet on these pages Tony Brookes, customer’s friend in the beer trade. Cheers! Brian Nicholls, Editor

CONTACTS ROOM501 LTD Christopher March Managing Director e: chris@room501.co.uk George Cheung Director e: george@room501.co.uk Euan Underwood Director e: euan@room501.co.uk Bryan Hoare Director e: bryan@room501.co.uk Mark Anderson Director e: mark@room501.co.uk EDITORIAL Brian Nicholls Editor e: b.g.nicholls@btinternet.com Alastair Gilmour e: alastair.gilmour@hotmail.com DESIGN & PRODUCTION room501 e: studio@room501.co.uk PHOTOGRAPHY KG Photography e: info@kgphotography.co.uk NR Photography e: info@nrphotography.co.uk Chris Auld Photography e: chris@chrisauldphotography.com ADVERTISING If you wish to advertise with us please contact our sales team on 0191 537 5720, or email sales@room501.co.uk

room501 Publishing Ltd, 16 Pickersgill Court, Quay West Business Park, Sunderland SR5 2AQ www.room501.co.uk

THE LIFE AND SOUL OF BUSINESS

room501 was formed from a partnership of directors who, combined, have many years of experience in contract publishing, print, marketing, sales and advertising and distribution. We are a passionate, dedicated company that strives to help you to meet your overall business needs and requirements. All contents copyright © 2011 room501 Ltd. 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 information is correct at time of going to print, November 2011.

NORTH EAST EDITION

BQ Magazine is published quarterly by room501 Ltd.

BUSINESS QUARTER |AUTUMN 11

CONTE BUSINESS QUARTER: AUTUMN 11 INTO THE UNKNOWN

Features 24 BOSSY BOOTS Louise Richley not only recognises the signs, she buys them as a business

50 SIMPLY THRIVING Personalised chocolates are the ultimate reward – for two businesswomen

40 LOOK BEFORE YOU LEP

54 INTO THE UNKNOWN

The region’s new Enterprise Zones come under the microscope

Setting up a business in a foreign ﬁeld can be a creatively satisfying process

44 BQ LIVE DEBATE What’s the answer? Product innovation or brand development? Discuss, too

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ON ALL CYLINDERS

84 ON ALL CYLINDERS Green engineering is ﬁring for Geoff Turnbull’s export-driven company

84 22/10/2011 14:11

TENTS NORTH EAST EDITION

38 AS I SEE IT

BUSINESS LUNCH

Successful selling for small businesses

58 BUSINESS LUNCH Building up a Head of Steam has been easier through employee intitative

Regulars

64 WINE Take it as red... all right, white too

66 MOTORS Bentley’s Continental GT impresses, even on a football training ground drive

ON THE RECORD Making waves in Q4/11

10 NEWS Who’s doing what, when, where and why, here in the North East

32 COMMERCIAL PROPERTY The landmark developments building the region’s future landscape

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70 FASHION

WINE

Feel the quality of a £600 shirt

74 EQUIPMENT Is it a bird, is it a plane, or is it a car?

96 FRANK TOCK Gripping gossip from our backroom boy

98 EVENTS The best events this coming quarter

64 BUSINESS QUARTER | AUTUMN 11 22/10/2011 14:11

ON THE RECORD

AUTUMN 11

Hays is honoured, good news on exports continues to be heard, automotive jobs take a front seat, business growth returns but stagnation looms, and a call goes out for university awards next March. Gareth Oakley, regional director for Lloyds TSB Commercial in the North East and Cumbria, says: “Universities are a major source of the next generation of business talent. They can help the UK continue to prosper in a highly competitive world.”

>> Fewer buy-ups

Happy souls: Another contented young reader beneﬁts from one of the region’s innovative exports – the inspiration of Ameeca Ltd.

>> Region’s exports hit a record A record quarter for exports has been achieved in North East business. Driven largely as usual by Nissan and the chemicals and pharmaceutical sector, the region in three months to end-June sold more than £12.9bn of goods and services in 12 months – 21% up on a year ago. The average nationwide was 15%. David Coppock, UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) regional director, says global demand for North East products remains strong. “As we celebrate 25 years of Nissan in the North East, it is gratifying that automotives remain the strongest sector for overseas sales from here – showing 40% growth,” he said. New names are making a mark too, like Ameeca Ltd of Annfield Plain. Its award-winning digital audio system StoryPhones, launched in 2008, not only serves primary schools and nurseries across the UK but is also selling in Australia. It has distributors in Holland, Malta, Norway, Hong Kong, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates, too. Using wire-free headphones, the product enables content to be heard indoors and out. It has been developed by husband-and-wife team – and Ameeca founders – Simon and Eleanor Johnson. Eleanor got the idea working as an Early Years teacher when she realised audio equipment needed updating with MP3 files. The company has reached markets abroad with help from a VEM scheme that UKTI runs. VEM provides hands-on support for a month or so by sending in a suitably experienced “virtual export manager”. enquiries@ukti.rito.co.uk, twitter.com/UKTINorthEast

>> Spotlight on uni ﬁrms Lloyds Banking Group has launched a new awards programme to highlight the brightest small businesses emerging through the universities of England and Wales. The Lloyds TSB Enterprise Awards sees the bank

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joining forces with the National Consortium of University Entrepreneurs (NACUE) to scour more than 55,000 businesses being run by current or recent graduates. Nominations open in November 2011, and regional heats will lead up to a national final

Acquisitions of insolvent businesses in the North East have continued to fall in the first half of this year, the insolvency trade body R3 says. Research by Experian Corpfin suggests distressed deals now account for just one in 22 of all mergers and acquisitions, compared to one in six when activity peaked in 2009. Linda Farish, who chairs R3 in the North East says: “Bargains have been fewer and many investors are struggling to acquire credit to make a purchase.”

>> Yours socially... Ward Hadaway is a top 50 law firm in its use of social media. The firm, with offices in Newcastle, Leeds and Manchester, has come 47th in a list compiled by Flagship Consulting.

>> Outstanding agent John Hays has been honoured in the Travel Trade Gazette Awards for his outstanding contribution to the industry, brought about by his founding 30 years ago of Sunderland-based Hays Travel, the industry’s biggest independent.

>> Lifesaving website A worker lay in a coma for two months after falling from a ladder while refurbishing a shop on Teesside. Another suffered serious burns and an electric shock when a concrete pump he was >>

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ON THE RECORD operating touched overhead power lines in County Durham. And a pensioner shopping on Tyneside was injured when scaffolding collapsed about her during high winds in Newcastle. These figured prosecutions brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in the North East during the past few months – all highlighting where employers failed to take proper precautions. New web-based guidance is now available to help firms understand what they must do to comply with health and safety law without getting tied up in red tape and bureaucracy. The guidance is aimed at reducing workplace deaths and injuries in the North East, where seven people were killed last year. Visit Health and Safety Made Simple at: www.hse.gov.uk/simple-health-safety

>> Nissan ‘greatest of all time’ Nissan at Sunderland is the UK motor industry’s largest and most productive car plant of all time, according to research by automotive expert Professor Garel Rhys. Achievements of former car plant giants such as Dagenham, Longbridge and Cowley at Oxford are dwarfed by the Sunderland plant’s achievement. Nissan produced 423,000 cars in 2010 – the first time any UK car plant has made more than 400,000 cars in a year. Professor Rhys’ research, Superlatives in UK Car Production, attributes the feat to the Sunderland plant’s exceptional productivity – the result of efficient work practices and excellent industrial relations. Nissan’s ability to develop the products the market wants, even in challenging years, is also a driving factor.

AUTUMN 11

price pressures eased slightly, according to the Lloyds TSB North East Business Activity Index. Combined output of the region’s manufacturing and service sectors rose from 49.8 in August to 52.7 in September. Martyn Kendrick, area director for Lloyds TSB Commercial in the North East, said: “September’s was positive news, following August’s weak performance. Less positive was the slowdown in job creation to a one-and-ahalf year low. But if the improvement in market demand can be sustained (despite the various headwinds to growth) and input cost inflation continues to ease, jobs growth may improve in coming months.” The region now has the highest unemployment rate in the country, with one in nine employable people out of work. However, more than 20% of firms in the North East say their businesses have actually benefited from the recession – more than any other region across the UK. Just 8% of firms surveyed by Bibby Financial Services found trading conditions worse than a year ago. Only East Anglia and Yorkshire have a lower percentage of businesses noting deterioration over a year ago. Other findings: • One in five have applied for government funding in the last 12 months, through initiatives such as the Enterprise Finance Guarantee and Business Growth Fund • Some 38% want interest rates kept the same to maximise economic growth • Six in 10 report new enquiries and a return of lapsed customers (58%) Dave Golding at Bibby says: “It is encouraging that so many firms have maintained business performance over the past 12 months. But with 67% saying conditions are the same as a year ago, questions must be raised over the likelihood of stagnation.”

PMI Composite Output Index, SA (50 = no change)

>> North East ﬁrms challenged Growth in North East private sector output resumed at the end of Q3, following a slight contraction in August. Accelerated growth of new work supported the improvement, but job creation slowed further to a one-and-a-half year low and input

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65 60 55 50 45 40

All UK

North East England

35 30

Glad tidings: Gideon Jewel, seated, conﬁrms with Paul Watson, leader of Sunderland Council, Lear Corporation’s decision to create 300 jobs in the area

>> 300 more car jobs for the region More than 300 jobs are bound for Sunderland with the entry there of US-based Lear Corporation. Creator of the Lear jet aircraft, and one of the world’s leading automotive suppliers, Lear has picked Wearside for its multimillion pound investment, launching its first UK foam manufacturing facility for vehicle seating. Its initial client will be Nissan. The decision will add to its $12bn turnover. Eighteen months of negotiation went on before Gideon Jewel, the group’s president of seating operations for Europe and Africa, signed for premises at the city council’s Rainton Bridge Industrial Estate. The new factory should open by the end of this year and the jobs will arise in two phases over three years. Councillor Paul Watson, leader of Sunderland Council, says the decision, which also brings the number of new jobs announced for the city to 15,000 in a decade, underpins Sunderland’s economic masterplan by strengthening its automotive manufacturing sector. Lear already has a joint venture with Tachi-S of Japan dating from 2005 – Tacle Seating UK – which builds vehicle seats at Rainton Bridge. Trevor Mann, Nissan senior vice president for manufacturing in Europe, said: “We have worked with Tacle Seating since the launch of the Nissan Qashqai, one of the most successful British-built cars of all time.”

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

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Coming soon... A new centre for software businesses in Sunderland To find out more telephone 0191 305 1194

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NEWS

AUTUMN 11

Professionals’ new ball game, nights out just got better, a pair dance their way into business, defence contracts attack jobs market, a call centre academy has 280 graduates, and oysters are upgraded >> Channeling controversy

Into action: From the left, seen after the FA deal, Mick Baikie, national clubs’ services manager; Tony McPhillips, Muckle LLP; Jonathan Hall, director of football services; Sir Trevor Brooking, director of football development; Douglas Marshall, professional support lawyer, and John Devine, head of sport, Muckle LLP

>> Scores in the round – and oval Accountants and lawyers from the North East are into a new ball game – with commissions from Newcastle Falcons and the Football Association. RMT accountancy and advisory group has touched down with the Falcons, the region’s Premiership rugby club, appointed as auditor. In turn, it has become a corporate hospitality partner. With attendances at Kingston Park among the lowest in the league, the club is particularly keen to build its corporate hospitality which should please its auditors too. The Football Association (FA) has meanwhile appointed commercial law firm Muckle LLP to provide legal advice to its Charter Standard Clubs and Leagues. It now provides a helpline service for the 5,246 clubs and 146 leagues holding the FA Charter Standard of excellence. This is a best practice accreditation setting standards for coaching, administration and child protection at all clubs outside the Football and Premier Leagues. Muckle won the contract against rivals nationwide. It already advises the Premier League and also represents high profile clubs, players and managers. Last year it advised Champions Leaguewinning manager Rafa Benitez on his departure from Liverpool FC after five years in charge. • Muckle has also had a key role in creating one of the UK’s first and largest solar parks. Moor Solar, part of the Moor Group, plans a 2.8MW park on 20 acres of redundant farm land near Long Sutton, Lincolnshire. Muckle’s team beat a deadline on a government clean energy cash back.

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Berghaus is into a new global marketing campaign that will feature a commercial TV ad – a first for the North East outdoor brand. The news came as some viewers Twittered anger at the number of Berghaus coats appearing on the backs of BBC broadcasters on screen. Following 18 months’ development, the rebrand launch will appear for the first time in the UK this autumn, embracing – besides TV – print, outdoor and digital advertising. The BBC has meanwhile responded to criticism of the frequency with which some of its major presenters – including George Alagiah, Neil Oliver and Professor Brian Cox, as well as regional journalists – “advertise” through the frequency with which the Berghaus logo appears on their jackets as they are filmed. Berghaus and BBC deny any sponsorship or product placement. The Daily Telegraph says the BBC got 45% discount buying 169 Berghaus jackets over a year – £85 to £320 each – for staff to wear on assignment. Staff wishing to buy for personal use were allowed 45% discount.

>> PRT kicks off PRT, a Newcastle transport planning consultancy, has kicked off early for soccer’s 2022 World Cup. It is recruiting staff for its contract from hosts Qatar in the Arabian Gulf – to help prepare traffic infrastructure needed.

>> Steel makes its comeback There’s fire in the belly of Teesside’s steel industry once more, as furnaces are prepared for a resumption of production at Redcar on December 7 after a shutdown of 22 months. Thailand’s biggest steelmaker, SSI, is turning up the heat again after buying the mothballed plant. It is recruiting 1,000 workers – as >>

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NEWS

AUTUMN 11

many as lost their jobs, and 300 more than it expected initially. The former Corus plant closed after a long-term contract was abandoned. SSI is committing about £608m to the revival, including £320m for the site. The 3.5m tonnes of slab steel expected yearly will go to rolling mills in Thailand. Meanwhile, Tata Steel of India, the former Redcar owner still employing 1,000 workers elsewhere on Teesside, is getting £80m compensation from the international consortium of buyers that pulled out of the 10-year purchase deal in Redcar. Tata has also abandoned plans to cut 90 jobs at its Hartlepool pipe plant, announcing a £7m investment to raise production there instead. And Teesport is taking on 50 waterfront workers for materials handling needed as the Redcar plant returns to full production.

Ready for business: Ian Kinnery, Paul Higginbottom and Gemma Cooper launch Dynamic Financials

>> Business as it happens Business leaders Ian Kinnery and Paul Higginbottom have formed a company to help other North East firms boost performance through better understanding of their key data. Kinnery, a board member of local enterprise partnership Tees Valley Unlimited and regional chairman of the Institute of Directors, will work with Higginbottom through Dynamic Financials at Hawk House, Stockton. HIgginbottom is an associate of the Institute for Independent Business and has more than 20 years’ experience of high level financial and business leadership.

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They say that, unlike consultancies using historical data to report on a firm’s performance, Dynamic Financials monitors data as it is produced, allowing a tracking of finance in real time. Working with them as business development manager is Gemma Cooper, who for seven years was a Business Link adviser. Tel: 08449 671 341, www.gemma@dynamic-financials.com

“If this doesn’t change, the region and the country will be ill equipped to come out of recession, given an even faster ageing workforce than exists now,” he said. North East construction has suffered most of the business failures in its UK sector over the last five years, the Experian information services company estimates. It has counted 531 insolvencies between 2007 and this year.

>> Onyx gets an Indian shine

>> ‘Invest now’ warning Businesses want the Government to attract new investment into the UK’s infrastructure “to avoid lagging further behind other European nations”. A CBI survey shows 58% of businesses now rate UK infrastructure worse than in other EU countries. Only 26% think the UK a good place to invest in presently. Last year the UK was down to 33rd in the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report, below even Cyprus and Tunisia. Germany and France were in the top 10. Richard Threlfall, KPMG’s Northern based UK head of Infrastructure, building and construction, says attention must be paid to road, rail and local transport networks that link the region’s economic centres, and its ports and airports. The CBI wants transport changes and a return to capital investment now to pre-recession levels to get people back into work. Douglas Kell, North East director of the Civil Engineering Contractors Association, warns that lack of infrastructural work is preventing construction and civils firms from taking on apprentices since there is insufficient practical work for them to be mentored on.

Indian firm Ipca Laboratories has bought Onyx Research Chemicals Ltd, the holding company of Onyx Scientific, a North East solutions provider since 2000. A preferred supplier to several large pharma and biotech customers, it will still operate from Sunderland under the Onyx Scientific trade name. Onyx chief executive, Tony Flinn says: “Early development projects can be delivered from Onyx Scientific’s UK site with speed and flexibility while optimisation, scale-up and competitive manufacturing for late phase projects can be carried out by Ipca in India.”

>> Aesica links up Two new partnerships have been announced by North East pharmaceutical firm Aesica. Under chief executive Dr Robert Hardy, the firm has formed an alliance with US group Noramco to provide the UK market with an alternative source of controlled drugs – the manufacture of codeine phosphate from a patented poppy supplied by a Tasmanian >>

>> QUOTE OF THE QUARTER

I know I can afford to pay the full fare, but I use the train a lot and my Senior Citizen Railcard gives me a third off Duncan Bannatyne (estimated worth, £430m) quoted in Woman

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‘My God man, is that a Lady Tennant Stradivarius?’ Have you ever heard the phrase about someone ‘being on the fiddle’? Or how about being ‘sold a pup’? Both of these sayings stem from confidence tricks that are hundreds of years old. Despite originating in medieval times, the fundamentals behind them are still used today and examples can be seen in emails from Nigerian dictators needing to stash a few million of their ill-gotten gains in your ISA Super Saver account or pathetically poor phishing emails allegedly from your bank asking you to ‘verify your account details’ by phoning a UK call centre and telling them your account number and password. Somebody should tell the tricksters behind these fake emails that it may be more realistic if they asked you to phone a Bangladeshi call centre otherwise it’s a bit of a giveaway. The fiddle con involved two grifters working together and armed with the cheapest violin that money could buy. One would dress shabbily and enter a bar or restaurant, with said instrument, and order the most expensive meal on the menu. When presented with the bill he would make up a story about losing his wallet. He would then claim that he could borrow some money from a friend and return later to settle what he owed. The savvy restaurant owner, figuring the tramp needed his violin to earn a living busking, would agree, on condition that the violin was left as collateral. Sometime later, his smartly dressed accomplice would enter the establishment and sit at the bar for a drink. During the course of conversation with the Landlord he would notice the violin, exclaim that it was a very rare model and offer a substantial sum to buy it. An agreement would be made for him to return later with the required funds and off he would skip. When the tramp returns to settle his bill and reclaim his violin, the Landlord sees an opportunity to make a handsome profit. He offers to buy the violin from the tramp for a sum significantly greater than it is worth. The tramp barters a bit and then reluctantly agrees to sell his worthless piece of driftwood for a small fortune. The smug Landlord thinks he has outwitted everybody and waits for the smartly dressed man to return. And waits, and waits. The second con, the ‘Pig in a Poke’, originated in medieval markets. At his stall the trickster would have on display several big fat juicy pigs. Tempted by the boars the punter would pay a not insubstantial price in return for his choice of pig. Animals of the time were transported in sacks called pokes (which actually came from the French word ‘poque’ and was ultimately lengthened to ‘poquetts’ and then colloquially to ‘pockets’ to describe a small bag secured around the

waist) and the chosen animal would be wrestled into the poke for the victim to carry home. During this process, and with some practiced sleight of hand, the bag would be switched for one containing a stray cat. Once home, the hapless punter would ‘let the cat out of the bag’ and be duly crestfallen. Sometimes small dogs were used instead of cats and this is where the phrase ‘sold a pup’ comes from. The fundamentals behind these cons, and most others, is the ‘mark’ (grifter speak for the person about to be gently relieved of his wealth) not understanding the value of what he is getting, or what he has to give in return for it. The icing on the cake for these cons is to add a bit of officialdom to provide some gravitas. That is why those fake emails from the bank or the taxman can catch people out, especially the older generation who still think it was the ‘man from the gas board’ who knocked on the door and convinced them to change their tariff. ‘Such a nice man he was. He had a clipboard and everything. Told me I’d be better off with an online Direct Debit saver tariff or something’. ‘Yes, but you haven’t got the Internet Grandma, or a bank account. In fact you don’t have a gas supply.’ There is one other example that has recently reared its head and from an unlikely source. We all trust pension companies about as much as we trust banks these days but this mistrust is normally focused on insurance companies that provide private pensions and not on company pension schemes. Final salary company schemes, and in particular civil service schemes are renowned for their gold plating despite the Coalition’s plans to downgrade it to more of a chrome spray job. These final salary schemes are very valuable because all of the liability rests with the employer or taxpayer. The employee can sit back,make their fixed contributions and be guaranteed a certain percentage of their salary at the end. If there is not enough money in the pot when retirement comes to fund such a pension then the company or taxpayer must make up the shortfall. Hence the reason why most companies have shut their schemes and the Government is trying to water down the taxpayer’s commitment. Benefits from such schemes are normally given as an income and an additional tax-free lump sum. Recently however, some schemes have been offering the facility for an ‘enhanced lump sum’,in return for sacrificing some of the income. To a lot of people this can be an alluring offer, especially when it is referred to as an ‘enhanced’ lump sum. Enhanced means better right? Well, yes it

does,but by proxy that means that the income is worse. How much worse? Well that depends on the value of that which you must give up. Here comes the stray cat switch... Most final salary scheme pensions are index-linked, which means that they rise each year with inflation, and include a spouse’s pension as standard. If you were to purchase an annuity (private pension) with the same benefits it would cost a 65 year old about £28,900 to buy £1,000 of gross annual pension. Admittedly, the fact that the lump sum is tax-free whereas pension income is taxable gives it a certain advantage and for most people this is worth an additional 20%. However, even if you build that 20% in to the calculations, it is still invariably the case that the extra lump sum on offer is pitiful compared to the value of pension given up. So why is it offered? Well, just because you worked for the company for forty years doesn’t mean that the pension trustees are going to play fair with you. They want you off their books as quickly as possible and a lump sum payment looks significantly better on their balance sheet than a liability to pay an ongoing income for someone who could live to 120 in their worst, and your best, case scenario. Now to call it a con is perhaps a bit mischievous as for people who are higher rate taxpayers or have no spouse then taking the extra lump sum may well work out in their favour. It does however include all the ingredients that a good trickster would be proud of,such as a complicated presentation of the options and numbers, no comparative value for the income you are being asked to sacrifice,a tempting offer of an ‘enhanced’ lump sum and all this wrapped up in officialdom and preferably with a ‘please reply within 14 days’ just to add a bit of pressure. A Scottish Power doorknocker would be proud. So, in order to see whether you are getting a good deal, first work out how much gross pension income you are being asked to sacrifice and multiply that figure by 29 if you are age 65 (use 34 for age 60 and 39 for 55). This will give you a rough guide to the amount of lump sum they should be offering you; if it was a market value trade. Now, compare this figure with the so-called lump sum enhancement on offer to confirm whether it is a big fat juicy pig in that bag or a scrawny cat.

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sister company of Noramco. Aesica now also has a partnership with a Lancashire firm, Mitovie Pharma, through which Aesica will deliver clinical trial and commercial batch supply and formulation development services. Mitovie originally selected Aesica to develop a number of medicines in 2008. An Aesica development team to date has developed Glysmag (to treat low blood magnesium) Optidine (an operating theatre antiseptic), and Suptamid (for epilepsy). Now the team is working on a new formulation of a patent protected innovation in the field of anxiety, insomnia, sedation and epileptic seizures.

>> 25 years in credit Tyne and Wear Development Company is enjoying a rich crop of tributes as it celebrates its 25th anniversary. The company, noted particularly for its role in job creation and assistance to inward investors, has helped bring in major firms such as Tesco Bank, HM Plant, Marine Management Organisation, and various Nissan suppliers. It supported the relocation from London of one of Europe’s leading media monitoring firms, Ebiquity. It has also helped firms already in the area to grow on new locations, such as Cottam, the brush manufacturer which celebrated 150 years in business with a move from the shadow of Sunderland’s Stadium of Light to Monkton Park at Hebburn, as it pursues new markets abroad. Tim Knight, partner of property consultants Frank Knight, said: “The company fulfils a critical job creation role and provides a seamless conduit between public and private sector.” Tony Edwards, corporate finance director at accountants RSM Tenon, describes the company as “a thoroughly professional organisation that always delivers a professional service”.

>> Bridging the gap December 9, 2036 – that’s when Pyeroy next stands a chance of repainting Scotland’s Forth Rail Bridge which it previously

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>> Dancing into business Rachel Highfield, pictured left, and Laura Morgan have danced their way into business. The BA (hons) dance graduates of Teesside University have launched Full Swing, a professional dance and performing arts enterprise run from Middlesbrough. Rachel, 21, from Normanby, Middlesbrough, and Laura Morgan, 21, from Warrington, were in the first cohort of the university’s dance degree. Visit www.full-swing.co.uk

worked on from one year to the next. The Gateshead firm’s painters expect to end this year’s task over the Forth Estuary north of Edinburgh ahead of schedule on December 9. But this time 240,000 litres of a new heavy-duty paint has been applied in a £120m Network Rail refurbishment that has taken about 10 years. To permit the new treatment on the bridge’s three iconic diamond-shaped spans, engineers Balfour Beatty stripped the old paint from 53,000 tons of steel back to bare metal. Pyeroy’s managing director Hugh Pelham expects Pyeroy will bid as before when the job eventually comes up again. Meanwhile the industrial services specialist, which employs 1,000 workers around the UK, has a £120m order book to see it through the next five years, which includes painting the nation’s two new aircraft carriers and painting a bridge at Ouseburn in Newcastle. It presently has a £150,000 contract to paint and provide scaffolding in refurbishing a vessel that ferried passengers to the Titanic and her tragic maiden voyage from Cherbourg. The SS

Nomadic has been taken back to Harland & Wolff yard in Belfast 100 years on for a £2m restoration, with Pyeroy playing its part.

>> More by train Rail operator Grand Central, which runs trains between Sunderland and London, has made losses for a second year running but unlike most rail operators it receives no subsidy. However, it reports that passenger numbers continue to grow by 13% in a year.

>> Sumo weighs in A group of North East and Yorkshire bosses polled at a Grant Thornton funding event recently felt there has been a positive shift in funding available. But whereas 69% had this hunch, more than 80% expected no further improvement this year. One North East innovator who has benefited is Richard Baister. He has launched calorieburning soft drink Sumo helped by two

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funding rounds from Northstar Ventures in Newcastle. The drink’s natural ingredients raise the metabolic rate and help the body to burn more calories. Other successful fund applicants recently include:

• Manissa of Newcastle, a NEimporter. It is getting £300,000 investment from the Finance For Business North East Growth Fund managed by Fund Managers. It supplies raw materials, finished goods and components from overseas manufacturers.

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• An online marketplace for independent food and drink producers is to expand, driven by a £100,000 investment from Northstar Ventures. Newcastle-based LoveYourLarder.com, set up by foodie Tristan Watson, has 70 producers signed up.

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AUTUMN 11

>> Training in Pakistan A Durham firm is taking its training into Pakistan. Chief executive Alan Linden says DLC Worldwide at Meadowfield will tutor a Pakistani government advisory group, and also members of Lahore’s Chamber of Commerce towards qualifications in City and Guilds, OCN and other recognised qualifications. At home, DLC works with Ringtons, Greggs, Yodel, Kwik Fit and Rolls Royce.

>> Enterprise drive Business & Enterprise Group, currently slimming its workforce, has won a contract in a government initiative to kick-start the economy. The New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) Loan Service will be delivered by the Seaham body and its lead partner, GLE Group in Scotland, Wales and London, for the Department for Work and Pensions. B&E chief executive Alastair MacColl, says: “This contract expands our role in the regions and enables us to help more people get new businesses off the ground.” The allowance is available to those who have been claiming jobseekers’ allowance for six months or more. It will give access to business mentoring, financial support and help with capital start-up costs via 1,000 loans. To qualify, applicants must show their project is viable and has potential. Meanwhile, with the closure of Business Link under Government cuts, B&E – which had run Business Link since 2007 – may shed another 170 jobs. The group is now a national operator and expects more than half of its 328 staff will go; 135 job losses were signalled at the end of last year.

>> Into the City Moneygate financial services firm has spread its reach from South Tyneside into the City of London by acquiring IFA business Equus Independent Financial Management, its fourth acquisition in a year. The London firm’s £5m revenues may

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enable Moneygate to double its income under chief executive Lee Hartley. US investors backed the move. The firm, founded five years ago, raised more than £2.5m funding in 2009 and has now raised treble that, plus as it hungers to buy more than 25 firms over six years. Turnover is now £14m a year, driven by 36 staff and 120 financial advisers nationwide. London-based Committed Capital is behind its plan to get revenues up to £50m and investment under management up to £40bn by 2017.

>> New horizons Entrepreneur Roger McKechnie, a prime figure behind the success of Phileas Fogg snacks and The Samling Hotel in the Lake District, is standing down as a director of Consett-based Tanfield Foods. At 70, he will help his two sons and his daughter with their businesses. But he also has plans for a further venture.

He was encouraged to set up by his girlfriend Cathi Harrison, who started up her own financial paraplanning business. She was shortlisted for the Shell LiveWire Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. GreenGeo specialises in energy and bridge work. Green, from a long line of engineers on both sides of his family, says: “The business is built around productivity and efficiency.” www.greengeo.co.uk

>> Software start-up Two software specialists have launched a coding agency with 13 staff. Chief executive David Frame and managing director Andy Walton’s joint venture, Nine, plans to service a global client list from South Tyneside. Frame’s previous business was DEF Apps. Walton was with Adit North, North East Regional Portal, Codeworks, Digital City and, most recently, was a commercial director in private sector IT.

>> Help for SMEs The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW) has a new support service to help small companies and start-ups with business and financial advice towards growth. Clients will get an initial consultation free from an ICAEW chartered accountant in their area, with no future obligation. Tel: 01908 248 250.

>> Off on his own Adrian Green, a redundancy victim at Cleveland Bridge, has launched a business in Darlington – GreenGeo. Its constructionphase engineering services include surveying and 3D-modelling. Green, born in Canada and a resident of Bedfordshire before coming to the North East 11 years ago aged 15, worked with Cleveland Bridge on Stockton Infinity Footbridge, the Haymarket Hub in Newcastle, and the Glasgow M74 project. He has also tackled jobs in Carlisle, Ipswich and Poole – all within three years.

Del Greco: Talk of the town

>> Fancy a night out? NightOutGroup, launched as a home-based business eight years ago, claims now to provide the UK’s only mobile application bringing city partygoers into one major network. The Nightlife Bible, >>

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Sell to the World UK Trade and Investment supports businesses in the North East looking to grow internationally. We work hard to ensure local businesses achieve success in foreign markets, and continuously encourage top overseas companies to look to the UK when choosing global partners. Whether you’re expanding your current international trade or exporting for the first time, we can support your growing ambitions. We are currently running a series of events called Sell to the World, aiming to encourage local companies to embrace the idea of trading overseas. We intend to showcase the vast resources and support we can offer, in order to help you achieve success.

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To find out more about UKTI Sell to the World, or register your place at our next event, visit selltotheworld.co.uk or call the North East International Trade hotline on 0845 05 05 054

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as it is also called, uses a GPS system to track movements on nights out, telling club-goers on IPhone, Blackberry and Android of the best and busiest places to visit. It also carries an instant messaging service, discount offers and guest-list opportunities formed in partnership with more than 400 venues across the North East. Owner Del Greco, 26, is hiring more staff and moving the business into Gateshead International Business Centre. A former NHS employee, he credits Business Link for help given and hopes to expand nationally and internationally.

>> Goodbye to region Marion Bernard, formerly chief executive of venture capital firm Northstar in Newcastle, is now regional director for London and the South East in administering the Government’s £2.5bn Business Growth Fund.

>> Greggs again

Aframe advance: Aframe team leader Dan Glass, front left, and Councillor Henry Trueman, right, deputy leader of Sunderland Council with Aframe staff at Rainton Bridge

Greggs bakery group, with 1,526 stores around the country already, expects to open 80 new units during this financial year. It also closes unprofitable outlets.

>> Video breakthrough

>> Defence deals boost North East ﬁrms Defence contracts have put smiles on faces at North East companies. Work on part of the world’s most advanced fighter jet, the new F-35, is under way at Sunderland. Haskel Europe has a multi-million dollar contract to design and produce equipment for the aircraft Lockheed Martin is providing for UK and US forces. New jobs are being created, and work is guaranteed for 10 years at least under the contract with Northrop Grumman, part of the European and US consortium building the “stealth” fighter. Sunderland Council has helped upgrade a new clean room. At Durham Tees Valley Airport, aviation group Cobham Flight Inspection has a £10m deal to work on all the UK Ministry of Defence’s airfields across the globe from Afghanistan

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A company started two years ago has already attracted £2m of investment funds, major international client wins, and is now poised to expand across the US. Aframe, a Sunderland online collaborative video platform service that enables video to be shared and stored online, has been signed up by global broadcasting giant CPL Productions (formerly Celador), which produces Who Wants to be a Millionaire? It will also work with Videojuicer of Gateshead on an online version of Cash in Your Attic for national production company Leopard Films. David Peto, Aframe’s chief executive, says: “Through us anyone from a multimedia broadcaster to a one-man band now has access to all the tools they need without buying hardware.” Aframe, attracted to Wearside through Sunderland Council’s business investment team, employs 26 staff in Sunderland and London.

to The Falklands. The company has a four-year contract with two more one-year options that will involve the calibration of the navigation and landing aids. Cobham Flight Inspection employs around 50 staff in the North East base with 20 in Germany, and is the world’s largest commercial provider of both civil and military flight inspection services. The group is also one of the very few aviation services companies covering flight check

navigation aids for moving landing strips on military ships. Cobham relocated to the North East from Stansted in 1996.

>> Home gaming boom Trends towards more home entertainment during recession are believed to have helped North East computer games vendor Grainger Games to double its retail outlets from 31 to 65 in a year.

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COMPANY PROFILE

Santander offered the best terms and I was also impressed by the enthusiasm of the local team headed by Relationship Director David Leech.

saNtaNdeR coRpoRate BaNKiNG eNGiNeeRs sUccess iN tHe NoRtH east

ith the backing of Santander Corporate Banking, the new managing director of Quick Hydraulics is determined to maximise the potential of a business that could ultimately form part of a larger specialist engineering group in the North East. Employing 14 people in North Shields, Quick Hydraulics provides a range of hydraulic products and services. The company has been involved in various high profile projects, including designing and manufacturing the hydraulic power units that operate the gates on the Tees river barrage. Andrew Esson was already aware of the company when he heard about Peter Quick’s intention to sell the business established by his father in 1977, having previously worked for a customer of Quick Hydraulics. Esson also lives less than three miles from the company’s offices - an important factor for someone who was not only looking for a suitable opportunity but one that would enable him to remain in the region. “I had transformed a previously underperforming company but to move up in that organisation would have involved relocating overseas and I had enjoyed my time in the North East, so in early 2010 I began expanding my business network and making people aware of my interest in a new venture.” Esson received the prospectus for Quick Hydraulics in late 2010. By February 2011 he had submitted an indicative offer, and the deal was completed on 1 September. He believes his corporate background and change management track record made him an ideal candidate for taking the business forward. “Current turnover is £3 million and the business plan is based on achieving revenues of £5 million over five years, although my target is to exceed that figure.” He admits that he had limited dealings with banks in his previous role but he was familiar with

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david leech, relationship director, santander corporate Banking Santander Corporate Banking from the bank’s support for business development group NOF Energy, of which he is a director. “I engaged Tait Walker Corporate Finance to identify potential banking partners and presented my business plan to five, of which three submitted offers. Santander offered the best terms and I was also impressed by the enthusiasm of the local team headed by Relationship Director David Leech.”In addition to working capital, Santander Corporate Banking is providing day to day banking services to the company.

i engaged tait walKer corporate finance to identify potential banKing partners and presented my business plan to fiVe, of which three submitted offers

David Leech is the Relationship Director for Quick Hydraulics at Santander Corporate Banking With a key focus on business development, providing banking support to businesses in the North East has been a consistent feature of my career for over 25 years. During this time I have developed an extensive knowledge covering all aspects of corporate and commercial banking. I first met Andrew in May 2011 and it was my job to convince him that Santander Corporate Banking was the bank for his latest venture. I believe that Andrew chose us because of our ability to react quickly and the speed with which we were able to get the facility sanctioned. We achieved this through the close relationship we have with our credit partners and product specialists who are based locally and the regular dialogue we maintained with Andrew’s professional advisors, Tait Walker. At Santander we pride ourselves on building long term relationships with local businesses which can only be done by taking the time to truly understand how the business works, its aims and objectives and how we in turn can help them achieve their goals. If you would like to see what we can do for your business we’d be delighted to hear from you.

david leech 07809 493 281 david.leech@santander.co.uk www.santandercb.co.uk

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>> Where the money goes Investors’ flights of savings to security in an uncertain financial climate have made all but four of the UK’s 48 building societies profitable in the last year, says KPMG. Newcastle Building Society was one of the loss-makers. But it has stood out as Best Cash ISA Provider in the latest Moneyfacts Awards.

>> Chip off the old Rock Northern Rock has sold its Irish subsidiary, leaving it with only UK assets as it shapes up for a sale.

>> Jobs adjustment North East recruitment agency NRG should start regrowing profits this year after winning big contracts in the private sector, chief executive Lorna Moran says. New business is replacing the void created by the decline of the public sector.

>> Sammy gets the credit Sammy Wu has been hooked on Harry Potter films ever since the first one in 2001. Ten years later, his name is on the credits for the final one, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Wu is one of 17 graduates from Teesside University’s computing school to have worked on the film, which broke UK box office records by making £23m in its first weekend. Wu, 26, from Putney in London, now works for Framestore, one of Europe’s largest visual effects and computer animation studios.

>> Stadium’s new boss Stephen Phipson is the new chief executive of Hartlepool’s Stadium electronics group. He succeeds Nigel Rogers who has stepped down after 10 years. Phipson was previously president of Smiths Detection, part of the £2.7bn turnover Smiths Group.

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>> Spreading the safety net Technology group Onyx is now in a joint venture with office provider MWB that makes the high-tech North East company the UK’s biggest-capacity business in disaster recovery.

>> Ferries ﬂourish DFDS, the ferry travel provider preferred by consumer body Which? is bidding for a third record-breaking year in a row with its Newcastle-Amsterdam sailings.

>> Lawyers brave the heat Dickinson Dees, the North East’s biggest law firm, has edged its underlying profit up in face of a dip in turnover. Its latest annual fee income totalled £46m. Dickinson Dees, based in Newcastle, employs 650 staff across its five offices in the North East, Yorkshire and London. It is opening a Leeds office shortly and relocating its York staff there. It is one of only 23 law firms in the UK giving quality work experience to young people from less privileged backgrounds. • Gordon Brown Associates has marked its 30thbirthday with a name change and conversion to a limited liability partnership (LLP). It is now Gordon Brown Law Firm LLP, working from Newcastle and Chester le Street. • Watson Burton law firm has sealed a multi-million pound transatlantic deal acting for US-based Lansinoh Laboratories Inc, maker of maternal products, in its acquisition of HealthQuest of Edgware, Middlesex. • Teesside lawyers Endeavour Partnership has posted a 49% increase in profit and a 17% rise in revenues in their latest financial year. • For the fourth year running, Muckle LLP has won the Corporate Law Firm of the Year award at the North East Insider Dealmakers Awards. Craig Swinhoe, a partner in Muckle’s corporate finance team, was named Corporate Lawyer of the Year.

>> Assessment re-assessed An earlier provider of Investors in People (IiP) services in the region has

repositioned and become a training and assessment body in its own right. Assessment North-East in Sunderland has operated the IiP award across the North for 15 years, working with more than 3,000 organisations, including some in the Cayman Islands and Slovenia.

>> A better ﬁt Website trading introduced six years ago has helped raise turnover at Clinkard shoe group. The Stockton firm, originally a Middlesbrough shop in 1924, now has more than 35 outlets between Bristol and Fife.

Monumental enterprise: Shaun Wardingham, left, with Andrew Blower and Deborah Fletcher, property adviser for Tyne and Wear Development Company

>> Blaster Shaun Shaun Wardingham, one of only a few masons in the North East who sand blast picture designs, has gone into business with fellow monumental sculptor and friend Andrew Blower. Wardingham’s images created in granite feature in headstones. The pair also work with commercial clients and provide outsourcing support. Their Eden Memorials at Boldon Colliery has had support from Tyne and Wear Development Company.

>> Smelter talks Northumberland’s biggest employer Rio Tinto Alcan, employing 630 people at its coastal aluminium smelter and power station in Lynemouth, is up for sale, with one company interested in the power station but no interest has been expressed, apparently, for the smelter.

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North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust

dElivEriNg firST Aid TrAiNiNg To you loCAlly iN NEWCASTlE, MiddlESbrough & dArliNgToN. The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) has been conducting high quality, HSE approved, First Aid at Work training for more than 20 years. This experience and expertise underpins all our training course delivery. We already conduct training courses for some of the largest organisations in the North East. In addition to scheduled courses we are happy to come to your place of work and train between 6 and 12 people. We will be pleased to discuss your specific requirements with you.

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and Pensions, and employment minister Chris Grayling says none of the department jobs will go offshore.

>> Houghton lands a big one The Newcastle engineering firm Houghton International has secured one of its biggest ever single export orders – a near £125,000 deal with Sidelco of Venezuela, which wants its Hi Flex coil system.

Breaking out: Andrea Freeman, creator of Redana Studio, at work

>> Alison sets the fashion After seven years as design and development manager at Barbour, Alison Freeman has left the world-famous Tyneside fashion firm to sell her own label. She has launched her Redana Studio from Darlington. This specialises in hand-finished scarves.

>> Doorstep hellos Hundreds of men and women trained at a call centre academy in the region are finding jobs on their doorstep now – at Cobalt, the UK’s largest office park. The North East Contact Centre Academy in Cobalt Business Exchange (CBX) is guiding unemployed people to skills needed to join some of the region’s biggest firms. The academy is part of Sunderland College, and the six-week free course has enabled more than 280 students already to move into jobs, many with Cobalt companies already employing more than 10,000 staff in total. Alison Rudman, the trainer and assessor, says: “The qualification has been developed with the direct input of employers and is very practical.” Tel: 0191 511 6478, www.citysun.ac.uk/ adults/rise-to-the-new-challenge/ • Around 200 threatened call centre jobs have been reprieved at Cobalt. Hewlett Packard had said all but 175 of its jobs there might be switched to India. But the work is done on behalf of the Department of Work

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>> To another level Pickerings Lifts, the UK’s largest independent lift manufacturer, has undergone an internal restructure and rebrand. Privately-owned since its start in 1854, the Stockton firm is now in its fifth generation of family ownership and management. John Fothergill bought the company and became MD in 1891 and, 120 years later, his great, great grandson Donald Fothergill is chairman – having made long-term director Ian Bowers MD.

>> London boost

>> Nursery group grows

Waterstons, the Durham IT and business consultancy launched by husband-and-wife team Mike and Sally Waterston in 1998, has seen turnover rise more than 40% in a year after opening a London operation.

The Kids 1st nursery group which has opened a chain of eight nurseries in six years across the North East, has announced plans to open one at Low Fell, Gateshead, next February. It will have 108 places for children aged three months to five years, and is expected to employ 25 full time staff. Mark McArdle, managing director of the family business, says: “We have had an exceptional year this year and hope to continue that success with this latest development.” During the past six years Kids 1st has achieved seven outstanding Ofsted reports, three of them this year. Features of the nurseries include enclosed gardens, home-cooked food and fingerprint security systems.

>> Looking abroad Solid fuel vendor and transporter Hargreaves Services is putting £1m into gaining a foothold in the Asian market.

>> More mail follows Metromail, whose 250 staff printer of one million items of mail dropped through letterboxes daily, has invested £2m in new printing equipment for its £10m expansion in a new headquarters at Seaham.

>> Pearl of a payout The North East’s only oyster farm, Lindisfarne Oysters – run by husbandand-wife team Christopher and Helen Sutherland – has a £32,000 grant from the European Fisheries Fund to support an £80,000 upgrade in processing. The Belford firm operates near Holy Island.

>> Flying high Engineering firm Darchem, of Stillington near Darlington, has ended a lean period with a sequence of aerospace contract wins, enabling it to take on 100 staff.

We have had an exceptional year this year and hope to continue that success >> Round the corner Van leaser Northgate, now with 2,000 staff in the UK and 900 in Spain, reports steady improvement following a plunge into the red in 2009. It has cut its UK fleet by 4,700 to 56,500.

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Turn around Bright Eyes

‘Bossy’ Louise Richley is full of enthusiasm as she tells Brian Nicholls of the satisfaction to be had from turning a business around

Bright-eyed Louise Richley thought to be taken seriously in business she’d have to look and act serious. But looking serious doesn’t suit her as much as looking enthusiastic. Thankfully, she looks happy building on her reputation for turning firms around. At 33 she has bred a phoenix out of a high-tech business once broken-winged and gasping. With an earlier start-up already to her credit in the North East, she was invited by a firm specialising in restructures to consider a troubled firm at Hoddesden in Hertfordshire, a niche operation like her existing business serving estate agents. A self-confessed bossy boots (not apparent on this encounter) Richley is from Throckley in Newcastle. After early schooling at Walbottle, she attended Sacred Heart at Fenham then graduated in history from Newcastle University in 1999. “I knew I wanted my own business but hadn’t a clue how to get into it,” she says. “Dad was a teacher, Mum didn’t work. I’ve two sisters and a brother, all younger. So I’ve always been, like, bossy: ‘We’re going to do this, we’re going to do that, we’re going to organise this’, they’d hear me say. ”Parties in the garden, inviting the neighbours in and me saying, ‘Good afternoon everybody, we’re doing a show for you today.’” At university she ran the societies she joined. Between studies she worked for BT’s Gosforth call centre, and researched for Newcastle

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Council. She asked swimmers for opinions on the baths and walkers in Exhibition Park for suggestions on improving it. “I also worked with people helping recovering alcoholics, drug addicts in rehab,” she says. “Just taking notes and helping with admin, but it was fantastic.” When offered a career with business advisers Ernst & Young in Newcastle, she got cold feet, recognising she was a multi-tasker. She got a job instead with Home Movers at Sunderland Enterprise Park, working for Stephen Lovely. She intended to stay 12 months to experience full-time work, get a car and pay off student debt. Lovely suggested she study for an MBA. At 21, it was thought she might be too young and inexperienced, but after several interviews at Durham Business School and – she thinks – a check with tutors at Newcastle, the school accepted her. She tackled the MBA part-time over a couple of years, Fridays and Saturdays. “They say an MBA works most brilliantly when you can also draw on life experiences,” she says. “I was writing dissertations on running a stand in Exhibition Park when others were writing about their experiences with big companies.” But she got her MBA, regretting only that she wasn’t forced to focus on financial management, which inexperience had made her shy from. So later she decided: “Right, I’m going to study accountancy for CIMA.” To

date she has passed 10, perhaps 11 of the 15 levels. Only mounting business responsibilities and travelling have prevented further progress. Her maiden business, For Sale Sign Analysis Ltd, compiles and processes data for estate agents, based on findings of its team driving around streets, drives and avenues to count and study For Sale signs. Their results, dictated into recorders, are typed up at the office, studied for market share and other trends, town by town. Findings are sold to the agents, and to housebuilders, removal and mortgage companies – anyone for whom housemoving represents profit. Eccentric? Richley agrees: “But its website says on the tin what it does, and you understand it if you’re an estate agent.” The Hertfordshire firm she was invited to inspect, Icion Systems, had been started in 2002, a year after For Sale Sign Analysis, by a father and son supplying audio-visual solutions. The firm’s technical expertise surpassed its financial skills and one day the payroll couldn’t be met. Advised by North East business angel Jeremy Middleton and Stephen Lovely, Richley spent two weeks studying the proposition in 2009. Not only the accounts dismayed. She recalls: “The location was wrong – premises above a shop so engineers had to hump huge and heavy computer and screen equipment up two flights of stairs and poky offices where >>

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I was writing dissertations on running a stand in Exhibition Park when others were writing about their experiences with big companies

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ENTREPRENEUR

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The big picture Beyond Digital has stocked the Volvo showrooms with a massive eyearresting unit carrying two 42” interactive screens surrounded by samples of colours and trims available to the models. One screen’s content aims to spread Volvo appeal among a new generation of drivers. The other screen, a touch version, enables a salesperson to illustrate benefits such as the safety systems that stop a car automatically where life is endangered. Sometimes sales may teeter even then. Colour or some other preference may hold up the deal. Here, the car configurator becomes “the clincher”. With its HD quality, sellers can project changes the customers may prefer. They see exactly what can be done – and the price. Land Rover is promoting the new Evoke model – both on plasma and in electronic photo-frames on the sales desks where seated customers are fed titbits about finance offers, promotions and other incentives. “We’ve also just been doing all the Jaguar showrooms,” Richley adds. There will be further clients, for sure.

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I favour open-plan. There was great potential, but we realised there was no point in trying to pick things up. “We let it go bust and started instead Beyond Digital Systems. We took on the owners and some staff from the failed business and relocated eight miles to Harlow to create a new, more motivational ambience.” Icion had been cleverly into digital signage, projecting ads electronically by LCD and plasma screens. Its 42” screens in agents’ windows showed houses for sale in a way passers-by couldn’t ignore. The two companies looked a fit, and there was opportunity to move into car showrooms next. Icion’s owners were given a stake in Beyond Digital. Richley and Middleton, however, share financial control, with Lovely a non-executive chairman. Middleton also set up his own factoring company to secure the book debts, protected by subsequent orders. Within six months, the business was on a viable path, settling retained employees and sorting out contracts. “We love estate agents,” Richley says. “The new business had depended on them and my first business still depends on them, but resources required to focus wholly on them were beyond the margin we could make.” Volvo UK was the catalyst. It hesitated initially because Beyond Digital was young. Richley says: “I persuaded Volvo to agree a contract by using relationships and credit I have through For Sale Sign Analysis. We did a 2009-10 roll-out for all 120 Volvo showrooms in the UK.” Jaguar and Land Rover followed. Beyond Digital doesn’t manufacture but sources, custom-designs and assembles its equipment. Richley’s no techie, but revels in selling. When she and sales director Conrad Pope found themselves in a pitch against 10 or so competitors for Jaguar and Land Rover’s digital business last year they put on the big show – “full technicolour”, as she describes it. “We pulled up in our big van and brought in our impressive engineers and big equipment. We asked for entry to the presentation room half-an-hour before. We set up all this equipment and created an arena atmosphere so when people come in for the pitch they think, ’Wow’. We took a >>

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ENTREPRENEUR team of five or six. Next day we were in the top three. Then we were selected. Now we’ve just finished doing Land Rover showrooms across the UK, too.” Beyond Digital Systems, now run from Boldon and Harlow, also projects advertising and announcements in stations, and outside corporate buildings – waiting times in hospitals and surgeries, times or changes to lecture

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schedules in places of learning. It has equipped Yell.com’s six call centres and, for Bourne Leisure, its Butlins holiday parks. Messages in reception areas, visitors’ welcomes, digital schedules of meeting arrangements, health and safety reminders can all be provided – illustrated too. At the call centres, latest performance stats on call monitoring and queue detail are transmitted.

When the signboards read danger In case it all sounds a fairy tale with Louise Richley playing Princess Magic, it must be said she has also had to re-energise For Sale Sign Analysis, which had first indicated her capabilities to Jeremy Middleton. That was 10 years ago when she was presenting For Sale Sign Analysis before business investors. Co-founder of insurance and maintenance giant HomeServe and ex-Procter and Gamble, Middleton likes propositions in sales and marketing. Also, says Richley: “He knows I’m straightforward, tell it as it is and never hide behind the houses if things are bad. If things are good I’ll tell him too.“ In 2006-7 Sign Analysis was covering 100,000 signboarded addresses monthly in its surveys of England and Wales. Turnover was £2m with half-a-million profit. “Life was fantastic. But recession almost wiped us out. We had to shed so many people – 65 down to 20. “Northern Rock’s fate was a warning. Clients began phoning in left, right and centre to cancel business. The phone never stopped for about two weeks. Then eerie silence. I had a tele-marketing team going a week without a sale. Previously they’d made 15 or 20 grand a day in sales.” Sign Analysis had opened under Business Innovation Centre’s wing at Sunderland. Quick growth took it on to Evolve Business Centre at Houghton le Spring. “With the property collapse we slashed the whole thing – moved out,” she says. “We had a debtors’ book of about half-a-million to live off for a year.” At Bede Estate in Jarrow they found a tiny corner in a factory. She almost shivers as she recollects: “It was freezing cold... spiders... draughts coming through the windows. We taped up the windows to try to stop the wind blowing through the gaps. The staff had gone to that from Evolve with its comforts and conveniences. I tried painting a wall purple to make it look warm. It didn’t work.” Two years on, new offices – amid the attractive greenery of Boldon Business Park. With staffing now settled at 25 and estate business slightly recovered, break-even at least can be contemplated. Boldon houses mainly administration and accounts serving both companies. Sign Analysis is run wholly from there, whereas Beyond Digital has 17 staff also at Harlow engaged in sales, creative, IT and assembly. Covering both centres personally has become a strain with easyJet’s ending of flights between Newcastle and Stansted, and Richley prefers not to talk about the East Coast train service after one recent four-hour stand in high heels all the way back to Newcastle. “You couldn’t even walk in the aisles,” she recalls. “It was like a rush-hour Tube.” Richley, a true entrepreneur, is keen for fresh opportunities, and there have recently been talks with two companies regarding a sale of Beyond Digital that would no doubt fund further ventures. “I’m good at turn-around and would love to take on another failed company with potential,” she says. “If you get in and see the management is wrong and know what you must do to improve it and change the culture, and if you get those conditions right as we did here, it’s exhilarating. You may, sadly, lose some people who find change hard to accept. But the change will be for the better.”

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At Butlins, digital signposts help holidaymakers. Restaurant and bar posters have been digitally replaced. Result? Drinks promotions and meal deals show sales up 21% in some cases. Other recent clients include coffee houses. Now fast-food chains are on the radar. Sites include major highways, such as two giant screens overlooking the Hammersmith bypass and the newly-opened Westfield shopping centre, acclaimed as Europe’s largest, near London’s Olympics quarter. Richley says: “Our presentation routine seems to work. As long as I have the technical support I feel comfortable.” The firm showed half-a-million profit on £300,000 sales last year. Sales this year could be about £3m. “We’ve some really big deals in the offing,” she says. Volvo for example may equip its dealerships abroad now. Richley remains her family’s only entrepreneur. One sister is a policewoman; her other sister is raising a family. Her brother teaches Japanese in South Korea. She has even set up and runs a residents’ group on Newcastle Quayside where she lives. OK, she might be bossy, but George Stephenson was bossy too, and look where it got him! n

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COMPANY PROFILE

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Accelerating business ideas with high growth potential. That is the single-minded objective of Newcastle Science City’s business support team. We find out just how they do it.

tHe scieNce BeHiNd HiGH-GRowtH BUsiNess sUppoRt

POTENT combination of commercial knowledge and unique access to university expertise is making the business support team at Newcastle Science City the first port of call for businesses looking to exploit opportunities and develop ideas. The team has decades of combined business experience in organisations of between 1 and 100,000 people, across various sectors and on five continents. The common thread through all of this experience is in the development and launch of new products and services. This experience has led the team (through successes and failures) to develop an in-depth understanding of what it takes to get a new product to market. They’ve taken this experience and put it into a model for business development. By combining the model with public funding, they’re able to offer a route to commercial success for business ideas. Though this offers a very powerful acceleration tool, the team is aware that this route won’t suit everyone. It’s not aimed at so-called ‘lifestyle’ businesses. It’s not aimed at ‘me-too’ businesses or ideas that require years of development. The team looks for a number of key traits in a business idea and the individual or team developing the idea before agreeing to help take it forward, including: a clearly identiﬁed unmet customer need. The entrepreneur needs to understand their target customers better than anyone else, they must know their customers’ problems and what they aspire towards – this way they can be sure that the solutions they come up with have a ready market. an innovative way of meeting the customer

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simon green, newcastle science city

help entrepreneurs aVoid the worst pitfalls, to get their product to marKet QuicKly and maximise profits along the way need. This doesn’t have to be an amazingly complex innovation - in fact, it’s often better if it’s simple, low risk and uses current technology in a clever way. a solution with high growth potential that can reach many customers with little additional cost after initial development. a strong team of people motivated to take the business forward. The business support team can join this team to improve chances of success, to help entrepreneurs avoid the worst pitfalls, to get their product to market quickly and maximise profits along the way.

Already the team has helped create 23 companies and has worked with 70 regional SMEs on a high level, long-term basis to help them commercialise new insight-led ideas, innovate and grow. Business support programme manager Simon Green said: “Although it’s important to us to reach as many businesses as possible, we are more concerned about the quality of the service we provide and the level of impact we achieve. “We are a small, specialist and dedicated team. We are told time and time again that doing business with us is like working with the private sector – a real compliment in the business support arena and not surprising considering our commercial backgrounds.” the team is always keen to hear about new business ideas that they might be able to support. Meet them at one of the science of success events at newcastle city library (visit www.thescienceof.co.uk for details), call 0191 211 3015 or email simon.green@ newcastlesciencecity.com to ﬁnd out how they can help. Newcastle Science City is part financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), managed by the Department for Communities and Local Government, securing £2.3million of ERDF investment.

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COMPANY PROFILE

How Newcastle Science City helped me... e-Quality Learning Originally started as the training division of disability education supplier Invate, e-Quality Learning is an assistive technology training provider. The company had rapidly grown to become almost as large as its parent, leading management to contemplate a spin-out. With little knowledge of the legal and tax implications of such a move, they approached Newcastle Science City for assistance.

i heard about the business support team through a friend and i was really impressed by the support they were able to offer

Victoria Browning, 2Pure Products

2Pure Products With years of experience in the sector, Victoria Browning knew that her innovative odour control products had the potential to revolutionise a multi-million pound market, but she was also aware that she needed the right certifications in order to make her business, 2Pure Products, a success. She recognised that the right support was needed if she hoped to bring her ideas to market. Working with Newcastle Science City, Victoria and her team were able to source suitable laboratories that could verify the safety and effectiveness of the 2Pure Products range. In addition to business support and assistance with the patenting of the products, the team was also able to provide funding towards the accreditation process, which means that 2Pure’s products have now been fully approved and launched to target customers. “Newcastle Science City understood our sector and the support we needed through this complex process, as opposed to simply coming to us with funding,” said Victoria. “Our range is now well established with unit sales in the thousands, a figure which is growing every month as we launch products aimed at pet owners, care homes, healthcare providers and public transport operators. We’re also in talks with big-name retailers and suppliers, which simply wouldn’t be possible without the right accreditation.”

science city understood the support we needed through this complex process, as opposed to simply coming to us with funding

After an initial meeting with programme manager Simon Green, the e-Quality board selected RMT Accountants to work with them on the project. Simon and his colleagues were able to provide initial guidance and ongoing advice throughout the process, which was successfully completed in November 2010. Newcastle Science City was also able to offer financial support towards the cost of RMT’s services, thereby helping to ensure that both Invate and e-Quality have the most suitable business structures to facilitate future growth. “I heard about the business support team through a friend and I was really impressed by the support they were able to offer,” said Chris Quickfall, founder and managing director of e-Quality Learning. “Alongside RMT, Simon and his team helped us to make the right decisions on how to take the business forward. With its focus entirely on training, e-Quality Learning is on track to invoice out £250,000 this year and we’re forecasting £1 million in 2012.”

Chris Quickfall, e-Quality Learning

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COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

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Smartphone app for disabled drivers ﬁnds a new base, 1NG hits the dust, city’s hotel sector shows recession the door, a shopping centre gets a new face – and a face-lift – and building awards need entries >> Search is on for bonny buildings

Bruno Coppola: New challenge

>> Shopping’s new face Bruno Coppola, 48, is the new general manager of the multi-million pound revamped Cramlington shopping centre Manor Walks. Born in Wolverhampton, he previously managed Queen’s Square Sandwell Shopping Centre in West Bromwich, and latterly at Carphone Warehouse he managed a large area of the UK for the business division. He succeeds long-term manager Stuart Butler who retired in April. New presences at the centre include a Garra Rufa fish pedicure, where nibbling fish give customers foot treatment. The fish, also known as doctor fish, gently nibble the feet in warm water, removing any dead hard skin, and leaving shoppers’ tired feet feeling refreshed. Fish Spa UK’s service requires no appointments. Plans for the centre next year include a multiplex cinema and restaurants. The centre comprises 500 000sq ft with more than 100 high street outlets and independent boutiques that include Sainsbury’s, Boots, New Look and Dorothy Perkins. An adjoining retail park has Next, Halfords and Argos.

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A quest is on to choose the latest outstanding projects of the North East’s property and construction sectors. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is inviting entries for the 2012 RICS North East Renaissance Awards. Adam Serfontein, managing director of Hanro Group and one of the judges, says: “A shortlisting or a win can bring great recognition for individuals and companies, and can also help to raise the profile of our work in the region.” Free to enter and open to anyone, the competition’s entry forms can be had from the RICS regional office in Newcastle and on www.rics.org/northeast (closing date January 20). New among eight categories this year is one of Infrastructure. This replaces the sustainability category. When sustainability was introduced some years ago, it was exceptional for buildings to have sustainable principles in their design – now it is integral to all building projects. Winners will be announced next April at an awards dinner in the Civic Centre, Newcastle.

>> Spark ignites The local radio channel 107 Spark FM now broadcasts from the heart of Sunderland, relocated into a new Spark Hub in Market Square. It has three new studios and a newsroom – Studio 6 in the David Puttnam Media Centre at St Peter’s, and Spark TV’s third television studio and continuity suite.

>> New scheme for Mount Oswald New proposals are being submitted for the controversial development of Mount Oswald Golf Club in Durham. Meadowfieldbased Banks Group says it will focus primarily

on executive housing, with also a “significant” amount of student accommodation beside Van Mildert College. The student space would help establish more balanced communities in Durham city centre by freeing up for families, young professionals and other properties now serving as student housing. The new proposals also aim to alleviate concerns about increased traffic feared to arise under Banks’ original plans of 2009.

>> Supermarkets spread Plans for a £10m mixed use scheme replacing a former car showroom look likely to go ahead at North Hylton Road, Sunderland. Developer Verum Victum envisages an 18,000sq ft supermarket, 12 retail and two office units over the 50,000sq ft. About 200 jobs could arise there. The site – once Jennings Motor Group – has stood unused for some years. Asda is set to open new supermarkets at nearby Ryhope, as well as at Benwell, Wallsend and Hebburn on Tyneside, creating more than 150 new jobs. The programme includes a conversion of Netto stores taken over earlier. Asda has been accused of dithering and delaying, however, over a multi-million pound transformation planned for Ashington. Northumberland Council wants land where an earlier Asda supermarket stood at Lintonville to form part of an £8.9m development of new shopping, leisure and transport facilities near the town centre. An Asda spokesman said it is in talks with developers to bring forward a retail development there. Sainsbury’s is stepping up its presence in Newcastle with a convenience store on the redeveloped Jesmond Cinema site. The revamped building beside West >>

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COMMERCIAL PROPERTY Jesmond Metro station will also provide three floors of offices up to BREEAM standards. The landmark building owned by MK Partnership was pulled down last year and now the investment property company is working with Knight Frank and BNP Paribas on the new development. Alan Grant, general secretary of Jesmond Residents Association, says residents overwhelmingly approve, since another convenience store will give wider shopping choice, especially for locals without a car and the elderly. Sunil Mehra, director at MK Partnership, says at least 90% of the building to be replaced will be recycled for use in the replacement.

>> Sparkle in the centre There’s a new sparkle about The Cornmill Shopping Centre in Darlington with the opening there of a D&H Jewellery outlet, relocated from another part of town. The 30 year-old family business has six retail units throughout the North East.

>> Shake-up for city development The Tyneside developer 1NG is being wound up by its funding councils, Newcastle and Gateshead, ahead of the abolition of a third 1NG investor, One North East, and the full impact looming on public sector cuts. Instead, NewcastleGateshead Initiative, which has marketed and promoted the two neighbours over 10 years, will now also woo inward investors, deliver key projects, and secure economic growth for the area. Lord Charlie Falconer, who chaired 1NG, is heading a new Business Development Commission, drawn from the public and private sector, to strengthen links to inward investors and champion private sector growth. In three years, 1NG furthered a strategy for the urban core of Gateshead and Newcastle – the 1Plan. It led regeneration

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of Ouseburn Valley and Gateshead Quayside, but it was unable to advance ambitions for a national conference centre at Gateshead, although land has been bought for the purpose. It has also tried to advance the projected Science Central district of Newcastle, still lacking investment by science-based companies. The councils estimate that with the integration a saving of around £1.5m will follow over three years. Jim McIntyre, 1NG’s chief executive, is expected to return to the private sector. Gateshead Council will lead the next stage of developing Gateshead Quayside. And Newcastle Council and Newcastle University are bringing forward new proposals in pursuit of speeding commercial development in Science Central. They will continue to invest up to £500,000 yearly in Newcastle Science Company Ltd for three years, maintaining a commitment to build on the city’s scientific excellence in Ageing and Health, Sustainability, and Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine to attract and support science-based businesses in the city. Changes following a review will include plans to develop a science-based alliance of businesses involved in research and development, together with public sector and educational partners leading to a broader city of science. Paul Walker, chairman of Newcastle Science City, says: “While there will be changes, the future for science in our city is bright.” Newcastle Science City, partly financed by Europe, says it has created 23 companies now trading.

>> Creative hub opens A notable 1NG success was its transformation of the old Maynard’s toffee factory in Newcastle’s Ouseburn Valley. It is back in business, with a string of occupiers moving in following its conversion to a hub for creative industries. First in will be Newcastle-based Ambit Creatives, run by Neil Armstrong, whose

association with Ouseburn Valley goes back to 1987 when he set up Picture This Computer Graphics, Newcastle’s first digital company. This merged into Ambit New Media before forming Ambit Creatives in 2009. Eight businesses altogether have committed to moving there. The letting of 36% of its 1,600sq ft is 26% above target space set for the initial stage envisaged by Creative Space Management.

First appearance: The shape the new Barker and Stonehouse store will take

>> Furniture on the move Barker and Stonehouse, the family furniture store, is opening a new store in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire. It is relocating from its current site on the St James Retail Park there to a 35,000sq ft store at the entrance to the same retail park, formerly an Audi dealership. The £3m investment is expected to be open for business by next summer. The firm has stores also in Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Darlington, Metrocentre Gateshead, Hull, Leeds, Nottingham and, in addition, a web store.

>> Small business beneﬁts More office space for smaller businesses is being provided at Wynyard Park House on the 200-acre Wynyard Business Park at Billingham.

>> Ofﬁces ﬁt for purpose A newly-opened Yours Business Networks centre at Gateshead includes meeting spaces and conference facilities, an on-site fitness suite and café along with its office space. The mult-million pound hub in the former

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BT building on Delta Park Road, Metro Riverside, follows similar ventures in Kings Lynn and Nantwich. Property developer Morston Assets is behind it. Morston Assets, based at Holt, Norfolk, was established in 1991.

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

agency’s lease advisory, says: “These renewals show retailers wanting to stay put rather than relocate or close the branch.”

>> No more crispies A badly damaged and now closed Findus food factory at Longbenton on Tyneside – where crispy pancakes used to be made – is up for sale, price-tagged at around £2.5m. Fire ended operations there, sending Newcastle Productions into administration with a loss of 295 jobs. An official report by safety audit specialists Bureau Veritas said recently the blaze that caused £20m worth of damage could have been avoided with better safety measures. It is thought the eventual purchaser now may consider using the site for a rebuild. GVA is the agent handling the deal.

>> Retailers renew Bon Marche has taken a new five-year lease of 32a Market Square in Sunderland at a rental of £200,000pa. And Peter’s Bakers which occupies 32b Market Square has also signed a new five-year lease at a rental of £44,150pa. The terms were negotiated for owner Network Rail by Jones Lang LaSalle. Market Square is a key retail site that Sunderland Council is improving. Jonathan Dent, the

Widening appeal: Lofthouse and Partners directors Mario Jaconelli and Marc Weaver

>> Advancing services Sunderland-based chartered surveyors Lofthouse and Partners has opened an office in Belmont Business Park, Durham, to extend commercial estate services in Durham, Darlington, Bishop Auckland, Teesside, North Yorkshire and the North West. The firm was formed in 1985. Directors Mario Jaconelli and Marc Weaver joined in 1988 and 1996 respectively before buying the company outright from the original founder in 2006.

>> Casino for Teesside Rank Group is opening a Grosvenor G casino in Stockton, creating about 100 jobs. The casino is built on Chandler’s Wharf Retail Park.

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>> Hotels open with more to come More hotels are here or on the way for Newcastle, where room occupancy is 78% against a national average of 65%, according to Visit England. Budget host Sleeperz Hotels is opening its second UK hotel in the city in December. The 98-bedroom, six-storey hotel with 25 full-time staff is on the site of the Central Station’s former Parcel Works on Westgate Road. Room rates start at £60. The four-star Sandman Signature Hotel – replacing the 13-storey headquarters of Newcastle Breweries beside St James’ Park – has already opened. The 175-bedroom building is part of the Sandman Hotel Group, owned by a Canadian family who already run more than 40 hotels and resorts in their own country. This is their first UK venture. Shireen Rowley is the first director of business development there. Rowley, from Ponteland, has worked in four- and five-star hotels across the UK for more than 20 years. She led sales and marketing for Sodexo Prestige at St James’ Park and Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, and has also worked for Barcelo hotels, Holiday Inn and Macdonald Linden Hall Hotel in Northumberland. She first worked at the five-star Selfridge Thistle in London. Another hotel looks likely to be located at the Grade II-listed former Co-op department store in Newgate Street, Newcastle. The building has been sold for less than half its original asking price. The deal was sealed at £12m for conversion to hotel, retail and leisure uses. When put up for sale in 2007 a sum of >>

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COMMERCIAL PROPERTY £25m was hoped for. Pre-let agreement has been signed with the operator planning a 230-bedroom business. Across the river at Gateshead Quays, Tyneside’s new 203-bedroom Jurys Inn has opened. It has three conference rooms. Complementing the 274 bedroom Jury’s Inn opened at Newcastle in 2003, this one employs 80 local staff. David Malanaphy is cluster manager to both hotels. At Boldon, hotelier Mukesh Chawla expects to invest some £4m in rebuilding and expanding his Quality Hotel which was ravaged by fire last November. He has already spent £2m on repairs and refurbishment. His aim in re-opening the 80-bedroom hotel is to add £2m to a £10m turnover his Atlantis Group already gets from six hotels across the North of England.

Easing the strain: David Howell, North East BIC, left; Gary McFarlane, director at Assist-Mi, and Donna Surtees, North East BIC

>> All needs met A disabled entrepreneur who decided to launch in the North East with local businessman Neil Herron, has created a Smartphone App to ease driving and navigation for people with disabilities. Gary McFarlane, originally from London, decided to set up with Herron at the North East Business Innovation Centre in Sunderland, after meeting members of its business community and being impressed by Sunderland’s facilities and commitment to enterprise. Now McFarlane and his team have created Assist-Mi, providing users with up-to-date information on parking, finding Blue Badge parking spaces, refuelling and finding relevant businesses and services via a

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Smartphone App, which will also respond to requests for assistance, McFarlane says: “I am acutely aware of obstacles that often can stress drivers, with or without disabilities, and whether in a familiar city or not. We believe our app overcomes many of these issues.” The firm has secured funding from North East based Venture Capital Fund, Rivers Capital. David Howell, director of operations at the North East BIC, says: “The BIC welcomes all entrepreneurs. We’ve invested a lot of resource in assuring that all tenant and visitor needs are provided for.” www.assist-mi.com

>> Ofﬁces for Durham Choice of office space should widen in Durham shortly – at Framwellgate Moor and Belmont. Collaboration between chartered surveyor Bradley Hall and serviced office provider The Office Company is leading to a £300,000 refurbishment of Moor Chambers at Framwellgate Moor. This will result in suites to serve businesses, from sole trader to those employing up to 40 staff. Lynn Gate, managing director of The Office Company, says: “This site is designed to offer new and growing businesses flexible terms, and a relaxed working environment.” Meanwhile developer Mandale plans another 20,000sq ft of space at its Belmont business park. This will be the city’s first speculative build since the recession. The first phase of 60,000sq ft, which the Stockton developer put up in 2008, is fully let.

>> Hitachi target Newcastle architects Ryder has merged with a London firm to secure work on a 450,000sq ft development for Hitachi at Newton Aycliffe. A joint venture with the London practice established by Sir Terry Farrell will also explore opportunities in China. Ryders’ managing director Mark Thompson said the merger with Jeffery Associates Architecture will also bring work on the award-winning Tronic Subsea Excellence Centre at Ulverston, Cumbria. Ryder employs 80 staff at Newcastle, London, Liverpool and Glasgow.

>> Furniture pleases Cherie Blair has officially opened the new Herrington Gate Furniture factory at Rainton Bridge. She has long been a supporter and client of its bespoke items. The firm, which employs 18 staff, has been in business for almost 17 years. Mrs Blair describes it as “a great British success story with great British craftsmanship making beautiful furniture”. www.herringtongate.com

>> Town centre sale The biggest mall in Middlesbrough has changed hands. The 400,000sq ft Mall has been sold for over £80m, easing the vendor’s debts. The Mall Fund in London, which owned it for six years, has consigned it to F&C Reit Real Estate Investment Trust, also in London. Previously known as the Cleveland Centre, The Mall has among its tenants BHS, Boots, New Look, H&M and Top Shop.

>> New-look Consett

>> Yet more shops

A regeneration scheme for Consett has been approved by planners at Durham Council. The council will put £43m towards an academy and leisure centre there. Private investment from Tesco will bring about a 24-hour superstore on part of the former steelworks site. Consett Business Park will be extended. The project was envisaged three years ago.

Debenhams retail store is taking over the iconic Northern Echo building at Priestgate, Darlington, enabling it to become a 62,000sq ft anchor for an extension to Cornmill Shopping Centre. This clouds with uncertainty a projected retail scheme, Oval, less than half-a-mile away. The Northern Echo is relocating within the town.

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Family affairs: From the left: Chris and Malcolm Tindle of BTW, and Terry and Shaun Brannen of Brannen’s

>> Family affairs Two North Tyneside businesses are working together to extend a tradition of “keeping it in the family” into a second generation. Malcolm Tindle, partner at North Shields-based accountants Bell Tindle Williamson, and Terry Brannen, founder of property management business Brannen

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

& Partners LLP in Whitley Bay, have been friends for more than 45 years, and have worked together for the last two decades. Their sons, Chris Tindle and Shaun Brannen, have followed their fathers in their respective businesses, and are now stepping into their shoes to take the companies’ commercial relationship into a third decade.

>> Pre-build, pre-let Work has started on new retail at Northallerton. Based on the former Charlie Brown’s depot and carwash site, Lowesgate Yard is fully pre-let with Majestic Wine Warehouse and Pets at Home taking 5,300sq ft and 3,000sq ft respectively. Sanderson Weatherall’s in-house architecture and planning team is involved, as too is its retail agency department. Caddick Developments is

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working with the landowner, and Caddick Construction is doing the building, expected to be completed by next March.

>> Life science pays High exporting life sciences firm Immunodiagnostics Systems (IDS) is expanding its Boldon premises by 20,000sq ft and planning to increase its local workforce by half from 100 to 150 over the next year-and-a-half. It employs nearly 300 staff in total.

>> M&S moves on Marks & Spencer is closing its premises at Newgate Street, Bishop Auckland next spring after 81 years. It expects to re-open later on a new site. Town centre traders fear it will be at edge-of-town St Helen’s.

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AS I SEE IT

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S&S EQUALS SUCCESS Is the era of the smarmy sales rep ďŹ nally over? Does the current populist anti-sleeze and anti-corruption lobby require a more genuine and honest approach to how we do business and win customers? Jackie Wade reports

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Selling and sincerity â&#x20AC;&#x201C; two words you may not freely associate with each other, especially against the backdrop of the current economic and political landscape. For many, selling conjures up negative emotions, thoughts and fears both as a buyer

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AS I SEE IT

It behoves you to spread the word to the right people, in the right way, and ensure they get you and what you could do for them. Otherwise you’re doing them a disservice – not giving them the opportunity of choosing you

and should-be “seller”. We don’t like pushy, smarmy sales people trying to foist their products and services onto us, and we sure as heck wouldn’t want to be labelled as such ourselves. So how should small business owners, often the main or only sales person in the business, operate successfully in challenging, competitive marketplaces and get people to buy from them, without a compromise in integrity and values? The simple answer – Sincerely Selling! The word sincerity (meaning genuineness, honesty, unaffectedness), lies at the heart of great selling – truly getting to grips with your customers’ genuine needs and delivering relevant solutions which offer real value and benefit. Understanding and getting back to basics of what selling is all about, and creating distance from the dangerous sales stereotypes that have dragged the profession into disrepute will enable many business owners to adopt a can-do approach to selling. Instead of fearing the “S” word and burying heads in the sand waiting for business to walk through the door, get proactive and engage…with integrity and sincerity. The new world of Successful Selling for Small Business is all about a clear focus and commitment to building value-based relationships. Once you have complete clarity about the relevance and value of what you do for a certain audience, it behoves you to spread the word to the right people, in the right way, and ensure they get you and what you could do for them – otherwise you’re doing them a disservice and not giving them the opportunity of choosing you.

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If you are to sell with integrity and achieve results, the principle questions you must ask yourself are: 1. What is my core value; what do I bring to others through my product, service or me; how much better off are they through doing business with me; how amazing is this? 2. Who specifically has most to gain from this

About Jackie... Jackie Wade is managing director of her own company Winning Sales, set up in County Durham in 2004. Speaker, trainer, coach, author and change catalyst, she has more than 25 years’ experience in sales across diverse markets and sectors.She started selling when she was six - in her grandma’s corner shop – then ran market stalls around Dublin as a teenager. She then built her career in international sales and marketing. Wade works with a wide range of corporate clients. They include Newcastle United FC, The Saga Group, various professional services in the North East and many SMEs across the UK and Ireland. She also has links with organisations and universities noted for supporting entrepreneurs, start-ups and small business growth. Married with three children, she lives in County Durham. www.winningsales.co.uk

and by how much; can they afford me or find the means of affording me; where are they and how will I connect and get across clearly this ROI (return on investment)? Successful Selling is about taking a customercentric view on all you do. Forget the blood, sweat and tears you’ve poured into your product or business – the customer isn’t interested in this. He wants to know the real value from his perspective. Value in a selling context is all about what people take out, not what you put in. Think about the pain-gain equation – what problems or pain do you help a customer remove, or what benefits and gains do you add? Now, sum this up and if the pain removed and gain added is greater than the cost… kerching! You have a valuable proposition and now you must spread the word. This means getting proactive, not sitting back and waiting to be discovered. Once clear on your value, the critical bit is then to focus on who – your specific target audience. Selling to anyone and everyone regardless of need is a short-term and insincere approach that will only bring short-term rewards, as well as grief. The real crunch is to find the best customer fit for your product. The rest is easy – well... easier! I don’t underestimate the challenge of getting people to part with their cash in the current climate. However, once again, forget phoney sales techniques and focus on adding value to each unique sales situation and customer. Go back to good, old-fashioned basics and see yourself as a sales-assistant – helping your customer to buy well and hopefully buy from you. But don’t forget to ask. n

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INSIGHT

AUTUMN 11

Look before you LEP It’s early days still in the reign of Local Enterprise Partnerships but Brian Nicholls feels events already suggest some tweaking is needed

Troubled time: Sir Ian Wrigglesworth got caught up in a “civil war” Once it was the towns of Teesside that couldn’t pull together, hence the demise in 1974 of Teesside County Borough after only six years. Now it’s cities and towns of Tyne and Wear bearing claw marks. The Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) of both Teesside and the rest of the North East (ie, predominantly Tyne and Wear) have secured new Enterprise Zones giving advantageous investment incentives to new commercial and industrial development. But whereas Teesside’s five towns appeared united all along with their successful submission, the rest of the North East was riven by differences – even after their EZ submission to the

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Government succeeded. Division has bedevilled the North East LEP of public and private sector representatives ever since the Government knocked One North East and other regional development agencies off their perch. Delay in finding a common platform – in contrast to Teesside’s already happy marriage of council and business leaders – meant the North East LEP almost missed out when earlier awards were offered to companies of potential through the Government’s Regional Growth Fund. Sir Ian Wrigglesworth, deputy chairman of the Regional Growth Fund, has seen the differences between representatives of

Newcastle and Sunderland as almost “civil war”. At the Liberal Democrats’ annual conference in Birmingham he described the Northern LEP as having been a “considerable mess”. In the latest fallout among seven local authorities, one faction wanted EZ status for “core zones” of Newcastle and Gateshead on the eve of the twin councils axeing their 1NG body set up to do just this, while another preferred an A19 corridor, and a third wanted the Tyne’s banks financed for a new era of waterfront industry. The Government has finally approved a compromise – part of the A19 corridor suitable for ultra low-carbon developments beside Nissan at Washington, and the Tyne riverside taking in the Swan Hunter site, Neptune Yard and Port of Tyne’s north estate. Northumberland and Durham should benefit also, not least through supply chains. Diehard opposition to this outcome claims a £200m EZ offering up to 7,000 new jobs over a decade has been preferred to one potentially of almost £1bn of investment and four times more jobs. But the North East LEP in the end, under its first permanent chairman Paul Woolston of PwC, resounded like a tuning fork to the Government’s preference for a sector currently showing relatively more growth (manufacturing) and for further low carbon advances hereabouts. Nissan, producing its Leaf electric car from 2013, already has a battery plant coming up, while leading foreign manufacturers of wind turbines have been considering Tyneside for new operations but holding back to see what state incentives might be offered. A subsequent pullout by the US firm Clipper, despite its pole position, needn’t deter others. Woolston had divined a low-carbon proposal would sway government, and there were

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additional incentives for manufacturing. He told The Journal: “We felt with these added incentives we could really build on our existing assets in the low-carbon sector. The allowance now will not just be for purchase of assets but also possibly for renewable energy research at our universities. Having an EZ around this puts us on the global map in low-carbon economy. We couldn’t let that opportunity pass.” Already Harland and Wolff in Belfast builds giant wind towers and Siemens has committed to an £80m plant at Hull. As Iain Malcolm, leader of South Tyneside Council implied, the North East would miss out totally on wind industry without it in the submission. Newcastle and Gateshead Councils’ case for more retail and leisure on their patches, with something for Sunderland, was outvoted. Though detailed debate hasn’t been made public and the stances of most business members remain shrouded, Paul Walker, recently retired boss of international software group Sage – who was temporary chairman until Woolston’s permanent appointment – is understood to have earlier done much banging together of public sector heads. Walker himself believed benefits would have extended more widely in the LEP’s area with a previous template. He also reportedly approached the Treasury to thwart a less comprehensive A19 proposal by Sunderland and South Tyneside. Teesside’s pitch all along was more focused, stressing EZ should take forward existing strengths in petrochemicals, wind power and offshore industries. Neither Newcastle nor Gateshead’s council leaders were at the decisive North East meeting, but there had been three meetings previously, the outcome being settled after Woolston, his accountant’s brain ticking, sought and got assurances about the extra gains possible. Revenues from higher business rates that EZ status allows councils to keep over 25 years, giving maybe £200m investment additional, will support a phase two of benefit for Blyth – a national centre of research for wind power – and also Sunderland port and Hawthorn Prestige Business Park in Seaham, which had not figured in the North East’s submitted >>

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INSIGHT

The bold and the clever Bold and clever – that was the Government’s verdict in approving an EZ assembled by Tees Valley Unlimited (TVU) as the sub-region’s LEP. Now 12 sites across five boroughs will be nurtured to 2015 and beyond. Businesses setting up on Queen’s Meadow, South West Iron Masters, Kirkleatham and Belasis Hall Technology Park before March 2015 will gain from business rate discount worth up to £55,000 per business for five years. Planning steps will be simplified. Income allowed by the Government for these four sites will permit identical financial incentives at Oakesway, Northshore, Darlington Central Park and St Hilda’s. Four sites at Wilton and PD Ports/South Bank Wharf both in Redcar and Cleveland, Port Estates in Hartlepool and the New Energy and Tech Park in Billingham can apply to benefit from capital investments made by March 2015. Sir Ian Wrigglesworth says Teesside got its act together in a way he had not seen for 20 or 30 years – “really effective, really good policies, really good people, coherent and really getting on with it”.

Completing the team Teesside’s Local Enterprise Partnership, Tees Valley Unlimited, has appointed three new members in businessmen Ian Kinnery, David Robinson and David Soley. • Ian Kinnery has developed businesses on Teesside for over 35 years as owner, manager and independent adviser. • David Robinson is group chief executive at PD Ports. He secured the UK’s largest investment from Tesco to develop a 1.2m sq ft facility at Teesport and recorded, at 40%, the only growth in container volumes in 2010. • David Soley is an entrepreneur in oil, gas and brewing. He has executive roles with Tenergis (developing Teesside’s heavy crude oil upgrader), the Wilton Group in Port Clarence, Camerons Brewery in Hartlepool, ERS in Middlesbrough (managing offshore platform decommissioning) and Ramscove business information services in Darlington. Stephen Catchpole, TVU’s managing director says: “Response to our invitation for new board members was strong.” The board now comprises: Sandy Anderson (chairman), Paul Booth (president, Sabic UK), Cllr Bob Cook (leader, Stockton Council), Cllr Bill Dixon (leader, Darlington Council), Mayor Stuart Drummond (Hartlepool Council), Cllr George Dunning (leader, Redcar & Cleveland Council), Prof Graham Henderson (vice-chancellor, Teesside University), Alastair MacColl (chief executive, Business & Enterprise Group), Mayor Ray Mallon (Middlesbrough Council), Alison Thain (chief executive, Fabrick Housing Group), Ian Kinnery, David Robinson (group chief executive, PD Ports), and David Soley (executive chairman, Tenergis Ltd and Cameron’s Brewery etc). The North East LEP comprises: Paul Woolston (PwC senior partner) chairman, Dr Arnab Basu (chief executive, Kromek), Michael Bellamy (general manager, PII), Fiona Cruickshank (director, SCM Pharma), Andrew Hodgson (chief executive, SMD), David Land (operations director, Thyssenkrupp Tallent), Jeremy Middleton (Middleton Enterprises), Gill Southern (director, Washington Cryogenics), Paul Varley (managing director, Carillion Energy Services), Professor Chris Bink (vice-chancellor, Newcastle University), Angela O’Donohue (principal, Sunderland College), Linda Arkley (elected mayor, North Tyneside), Cllr Nick Forbes (leader, Newcastle Council), Cllr Simon Henig (leader, Durham Council), Cllr Mick Henry, leader, Gateshead Council), Cllr Iain Malcolm (leader, South Tyneside Council), Cllr Jeff Reid (leader, Northumberland Council), Cllr Paul Watson (leader, Sunderland Council).

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INSIGHT

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C e & a I

The way to improve

Unfolding success: Stephen Catchpole, managing director of Tees Valley Unlimited, with the map of the Enterprise Zone for Teesside proposal. So the final outcome carried support from leaders of Northumberland, North and South Tyneside, Sunderland and Durham Councils, the latter having, like Northumberland, backed an earlier A19 proposal believing their county economies would benefit more. But issues remain... n

England expects The Government expects new EZs, with their lower investment costs, faster broadband and relaxed planning rules to introduce 30,000 new jobs by 2015. However, even appropriating some green belt to provide Great Park has shown Newcastle before now that slacker planning controls doesn’t necessarily attract new businesses investment even if it does profit housebuilders. New EZ zones – besides the Humber Estuary – take in Cheshire, Essex, Cornwall, Gosport and Hereford. Other beneficiaries include Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Derby, Nottingham, the Black Country and the West of England – 28 in all. The two EZs in our region may find competition from these for whatever inward investment appears.

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Now Newcastle Council is urging the Government to speed a promise of new local government spending powers, called Tax Incremental Financing Powers (TIF), seen as a way to get some of what it didn’t in the EZ bid. TIFs, proposed by the Government last September, would help councils borrow to create Accelerated Development Zones (ADZx) – regeneration projects led by public-private partnerships. Repayments would be financed from higher business rates obtainable (in theory). Nick Forbes, leader of Newcastle Council, says it could hasten completion of priorities such as the Stephenson Quarter beside the Central Station, the fast-decaying East Pilgrim Street and stuttering Science Central. East Pilgrim Street was years ago supposed to become Newcastle’s leisure quarter till the council switched leisure to The Gate on the other side of town. Science Central, a knowledge quarter, is an aspiration shared with Newcastle University and One North East. But the latter’s investment powers have been seized, and private developers to date seem as enthusiastic about coming in as goldfish tipped in a tank of piranhas. Treasury would hope to gain from higher stamp value, rising property costs, and higher corporation tax revenues. It might (theoretically) have to pay out less in welfare and other benefits if, as in Newcastle’s submission, 2,000 jobs resulted within five years, rising to 12,000 over a loan’s 20-year term. TIFs have run in the US since 1952 but seem to be no panacea for the economies of US communities, post-recession. However, Newcastle under its previous Lib Dem leadership, did announce intention to borrow £30m, much of it to part-finance a four-star hotel behind the Central Station with the Tyneside developer Silverlink partnering. Note, no intention stated towards Great Park, the much vaunted high-tech suburb which, after 10 years, remains largely a housing estate. Forbes says the public sector’s key role includes laying infrastructure to spur commercial activity. He believes a TIFS loan could deliver an extra £140m to fund infrastructure, also attract £800m of private investment in Newcastle and Gateshead. Perhaps a Tyneside priority should be to link with Nexus and others to connect the city’s West End to the Metro, like other parts of the city. Nexus wants to extend its service into Elswick, Benwell, Scotswood and West Newcastle but needs support. Gateshead should also share the Nexus wish to bring the Metrocentre and Team Valley on line. It’s no secret South Tyneside now looks towards Sunderland, the region’s most populous city, rather than Newcastle. Iain Malcolm, leader of the South Tyneside authority, felt more had to be done to rebalance the economy away from any urban core or two – in spite of consultants’ suggestions claims that more jobs would result from Newcastle and Gateshead’s EZ proposal of retail and leisure. Malcolm says quality of jobs rather than numbers attracted his council. The carbon corridor proposals, it felt, would benefit local supply chains and encourage a retention of graduates. So the Government will now also support openly incentives built around electric cars and offshore turbines, especially since it maximises use of £260m worth of new infrastructure already in place. The final outcome is what One North East might have advocated with less public haggling had it been spared, since it was uttering the “low-carbon” mantra long before LEPs appeared. The Government, however, has bought from stalls more cheaply run. We’ve not been told how most business representatives on the North East LEP voted. It was said with the launch of LEPs, private sector would hold the balance of power. In the North East LEP, barely half of the 18 members are 100% private sector. At Teesside six out of 13 are. LEPs are quangos and, like quangos, are not directly elected by those they serve. The Government, which has pledged to axe quangos heavily, has replaced one in the North East with two now. They should at least be exemplary in procedure.

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Calling all pioneers, entrepreneurs, innovators & can-do people with a positive attitude. It’s your last chance to book Thursday 3rd November

Entrepreneurs’ Forum Autumn Business Conference Fortune favours the brave

Our exceptional keynote speakers and expert panel have already navigated paths to business success. This is your chance to learn from them and meet like-minded business people. The inspirational line-up includes: Tim Smit The inspirational co-founder of the Eden Project will discuss how he sowed the seeds of success. Nicola Mendelsohn Learn from Campaign Magazine’s Top UK Business Development Director chairman and partner of creative agency Karmarama.

Nick Jankel The ethical entrepreneur, broadcaster, writer and innovator will be sharing new thinking. David Pearl An expert on growth and transformation, David has worked with some of the best companies in the world, including Nokia, Saatchi & Saatchi and British Airways. Regional Panel Our expert panel session will comprise some of the region’s best known business pioneers, including John Hays, founder of Hays Travel, Duncan Young, founder and managing director of Sanderson Young, Keith Miller, chairman of Miller International, and Lisa Hart Shepherd, chief executive of Acritas. Andy Verity The conference will be hosted by Radio 5 Live’s business and finance correspondent, the inimitable Andy Verity.

Are you an effective decision maker? Prove it by booking your place. This conference is open to people involved in businesses of all sizes, and places are still available. So call the team on 0870 850 2233, email info@entrepreneursforum.net or visit www.entrepreneursforum.net

Venue: Hilton Hotel, Gateshead Time:

8.30am – 4.30pm

£125 (+VAT) for Forum members £150 (+VAT) for non-members Proud to be sponsored by:

Supported by

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in association with

Our knife-edge choice The issue: Which is the better investment for our region: product innovation or brand development? Jarrett Palmer: Piramal makes pharmaceutical drugs and healthcare products for different companies. The site I run, essentially the group’s biggest, has gone through huge change. It was a Pfiizer site originally, part of a big corporation. Now it’s a family-run company essentially, owned by Mr Piramal its chairman, with headquarters in Mumbai. The brand is Piramal. Nigel McMinn: I’m not one of the family owning Benfield but the first non-family managing director there. We’ve been around about 54 years, started by our current chairman’s father, John Squires Snr. We’ve 31 dealerships, in the North East, West Yorkshire and in the North West. (Benfield has since bought Audi dealer Colebrook & Burgess in the North East, increasing sales potentially by a third to £500m – Editor). We employ about 1,200, have a turnover of about £380m and are regarded as the largest private company in our business in the North East. Large turnover is easy when you’re selling units at £10,000 a pop. My chairman keeps reminding me he’d like to be largest by profit! Brand dynamics in our industry are interesting – we represent 11 global and international brands. So the dealer brand is somewhat subsumed. No matter how well known we are locally, how much our market share – nearly 50% with brands we

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represent in Newcastle – nobody’s ever really aware or bothered about the dealer brand. We consider ourselves agents of those international brands. We hadn’t until this year tried too hard to work on our own brand. Now we work very hard on the substance of delivering good customer service. If that gains us a reputation, we are happy to live up to it. Mark Simpson: Nigel Wright Recruitment has been around about 23 years, with its head office in the North East. I’ve been with the organisation 11 years. We’ve transitioned from a regional recruitment to a pan-European business. The recruitment market is huge and fragmented. The UK is probably the second most competitive market in this after the US. We’re probably in the top 5% in the UK by fee income. When Nigel set up he wanted the business to be different and a lot of that difference has come through the people we’ve hired. We’re a relationship-based industry, so the quality of people you have directly affects the quality of those relationships and the service you offer. So I think our brand and service is the direct result of taking a different approach to the market with people we adopt and bring into the business. You have to keep finding good people as you grow, as we’ve had to do across Europe too. David Grailey: NCFE is an education organisation and a charity. In the UK we’re the fourth largest vocational awarding body. Our market place is very competitive. Number one is BTech, part of Pearson, the largest educational organisation on the planet. We’re not in a heavily branded market. The only

TAKING PART Mark Simpson, group executive director, Nigel Wright Recruitment, Newcastle Ian Scott-Bell, marketing director, Nigel Wright Recruitment, Newcastle Nigel McMinn, managing director, Benfield Motors Group, Newcastle David Heath, vice-president, global product and brand marketing, Berghaus, Sunderland Geoff Allison, managing director, Smith Electric Vehicles Europe Ltd, Washington Graeme Mason, corporate affairs director, Newcastle International Airport Owen McCabe, brand consultant, Happen, London Neil Stephenson, chief executive, Onyx Group, Stockton Hugh Rhodes, innovation director, Newcastle Science City David Grailey, chief executive, NCFE, Newcastle Jarrett Palmer, site leader, Piramal Healthcare, Morpeth Brian Nicholls, editor, BQ Magazine North East In the chair: Caroline Theobald, BQ Live Venue: Café 21, Newcastle. BQ is highly regarded as a leading independent commentator on business issues, many of which have a bearing on the current and future success of the region’s business economy. BQ Live is a series of informative debates designed to further contribute to the success and prosperity of our regional economy through the debate, discussion and feedback of a range of key business topics and issues.

other significant brand would be City and Guilds. Our brand lies in having significantly differentiated ourselves against the rest of the pack which is regulated and has a regulated mindset in delivering customer service. We were first to introduce exceptional customer service working on a profit chain model, and over 10 years we’ve had exceptional growth. We’re relatively small; 105 people with turnover of about £11.5m. We net about 20% of that in a marketplace about to suffer 25% reduction. That’s challenging, but our brand is seen as young, dynamic – not old and stuffy. We’ve done a lot of work on that so we’ve more than 80% brand awareness across the main colleges of England that form our customer base. About 80% of our work comes from colleges. We have to innovate. I must differentiate myself. It will become an

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DEBATE

Similar viewpoints: The BQ Live Debate asked the question and not only got some revealing answers but broad agreement on strategy even greater strategic capability as employers perhaps become less likely to invest in what they perceive as a cost – ie, training. As a charity we don’t receive any benefit. We’ve no large surpluses, but we have a greater commercial imperative to drive growth and success. And we’ve a great ethical and moral position because we are a charity. Hugh Rhodes: When I joined Science City at Christmas as innovation director I was asked if I could start 10 businesses this year. I found the challenge difficult to resist. I’d earlier run a technological innovation consultancy doing in a smaller way I try to do now. We’re running an incubation programme; I bring in entrepreneurs, sift ideas and talent and start there. So far five people have started nine businesses. I’m interested in driving good business practices to markets with demand. I don’t think innovation is some pearl of wisdom difficult to grasp. It’s what others use too. To me, success in this is the over-riding driver. If we can’t get that, the brand will be hollow anyway. Geoff Allison: Smith has a chequered career. I was asked to take over in 2009 amid turmoil. It has been interesting. Last January our American subsidiary offered to buy Smith Electric Vehicles from Tanfield Group – an asset and know-how purchase. So I now report to Kansas and have been involved for 18 months in fundraising. We’ve raised about $180m so far to develop the business – a success in that context. We’re into a market where electric vehicles are a hot topic and are being taken to

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What really annoys is when someone senior says it’s time to apply a bit of brand, as if it’s selectivity rather than strategy. In successful businesses brand sensitivity is there from the start the next level in development. We produce commercial electric vehicles. We identify and target fleets of at least 100 vehicles. There are tremendous opportunities in depot-based vehicles. As the UK market is difficult we’re going to see lots of development and opportunity in exporting. Over 12 months we’ve set up partnerships in Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany, Spain, France, and will probably do similar in Holland and Switzerland. I’m travelling most of the time. There’s such a drive on for funding and innovation in the US; they had the electric car sorted in 1996. But they were petrified to produce in volume because the large oil companies had a lot of influence. So they withdrew all the cars from the roads and crushed them. It cost millions. Now they’re in it for the long haul. Owen McCabe: My background at Happen is technology based. I’m a scientist by training with a Masters. I spent a couple of years in America as a technology consultant. I worked with Procter & Gamble. I’ve also had a number of roles including marketing director at Nestle

Rowntree. I’m well aware of away days where people come back with ideas you can’t make and you can’t sell. You wonder, ‘Did I pay for this?’ But the name Happen should tell you everything about our philosophy – making things happen. Strategy’s easy; implementation tends to be more difficult. However it does happen more often than not. We work with companies big and small. One of my recent projects was rugby league as a brand. Some consultancies work in a way you can’t enumerate what they do. We like to think we’re accountable. Unless a product goes to market and has success, you’ve not really innovated anything. Success is making innovation work profitably. Ian Scott-Bell: I joined Nigel Wright Recruitment six years ago. Our company then hadn’t decided how best to connect. I galvanise the brand in this region and beyond – in France, Scandinavia and the Benelux countries. My job is to keep the company ‘front of mind’ in these markets. Nigel Wright supports and backs brands and innovation. A number of great brands in the North East >>

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have helped Nigel Wright in its progress. There’s also intellectual property around recruitment. We regularly do something different to get a bit of profile. We have different programmes for the different services we provide. David Heath: Many people think Berghaus has German origins but it’s a North East brand started in 1966 when it was the LD Mountain Centre in Dean Street, Newcastle. In the last five or six years the Berghaus brand has been transformed by refreshing the offer and in making it a recognised global brand. Since 2007 we’ve opened in South Korea – a market in itself. We have 60 standalone stores with the Berghaus name there. We’ve opened recently in Japan, in China and are just opening in Russia. We’re re-opening in Scandinavia. There we’ve had to remodel – so far, successfully. Neil Stephenson: Onyx is sixth-biggest internet provider in the UK, started in 1996 on Teesside. Our annual marketing budget is £2m. We’ve built our service on brand, are developing it and feel we can get the edge over competition by using it. The business has gone from one site on Teesside to nine sites across the UK from scratch. We hadn’t great knowledge of the market but had a gut feeling of how we could make it work for us. Today Onyx enjoys vast organic growth and has also made seven acquisitions in a few years. None has gone wrong. They’ve all rebranded well. Our aim is to be effectively the Marks & Spencer brand for IT services. We may be more expensive but we assure quality. Our

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biggest customer is Sky TV. Our marketing messages help us to enter long-term relations with our customers. At the height of recession we still grew. This year our revenues are likely to grow by 20%, profits by 80%. We’ll do about £18m this year and will be nicely profitable. We’ll continue to market intensively. Others may spend more on it. But competitors have said to us, ‘Your marketing is better than ours’. In marketing we stress core benefits; we explain exactly what we do. Many firms don’t know their customers, don’t know their staff. That’s madness. I’m incredibly direct with my staff and they can be direct back. We tell our staff exactly what we’re going to do in the next quarter. If we’re making another acquisition the staff know what will happen. They’ll ask questions, which is what I like. Treat customers and staff particularly well and you get your returns. (Since this debate, Onyx has been acquired by Isis Equity Partners in a £42m deal aiming to grow Onyx. Isis paid £27m for the purchase, and has committed £15m more to fund strategic acquisitions. Stephenson has called it a bolstering, milestone deal – Editor.) Graeme Mason: Last year was Newcastle International Airport’s 75th anniversary. People don’t think of us as just bricks and mortar, just where they fly from. It’s interesting hearing others say they share their customers with their stronger brands. We’ve brands like Emirates, British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair. You might think with their global and European brands helping you to compete there will also be a tug of war as to whose customers are

whose. But we take responsibility for their experience in travelling through the airport. And if you add some of the other airlines – Eastern, Flybe and Thomas Cook and Thomson – many customers know which airline they’ve flown with. But plenty don’t. However, they all know where they flew from. So I think we have a brand, the whole region knows our strengths and weaknesses. And we have stakeholders who really care when we’re doing well or badly. All this gives us strong brand identity. We offer customer service, provide connectivity in getting airlines into the region. Our aim is to be your airport. Underpinning that is our goal to be the UK’s most welcoming airport. In the much tougher battle to win customers it’s our way of trying to make Newcastle Airport an airport of choice. We have a shopping area twice the size of those in similarly-sized airports. That’s innovation. We’ve got partnerships, as with Newcaslle College, which delivers people for the jobs and gives local communities the chance to share in what the airport’s doing. That’s all part of brand identity. Within a political agenda, we’ve made a marked contribution to consultations over proposals for high speed rail. We saw that as a potential threat, but turned the argument on its head, suggesting such a development should terminate at the airport. We’d then get more passengers coming through. Now it seems none of us is going to get it. McCabe: A lot of companies I deal with see the first order of business as being product based. What really annoys is when someone senior says it’s time to apply a bit of brand, as if it’s selectivity rather than strategy. In successful businesses brand sensitivity is there from the start. Heath: Innovation should be in a company’s DNA. When you go into new markets everything is about what sets you apart. It can take three days to walk round one international fair we take part in. I’ve never known such competition elsewhere. You have to stand out in all that. You need product and innovation but brand too. I think brand’s everything – in the consumer’s eyes too. McMinn: It’s easy to make the mistake of separating brand and innovation. Whether you call it your brand, or your purpose, your DNA,

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the essence is what your whole company is about, what it stands for. You must understand your company stands for something. Whether you choose to market that and call it a brand, or just let the reputation grow organically, it all has to start from a seed that grows into something that you do better than your competitors. McCabe: The quality of your showrooms, the way your staff are maybe not doing the hard sell – all those things are elements of how customers feel about you. It may influence them to buy one type of car rather than another. McMinn: Benfield was first in the industry to offer a 12-month guarantee with all used cars. Now it’s commonplace and with all the global brands you get 12 months used-car warranty. McCabe: People don’t buy a car simply because they like its shade of blue. It’s a much more emotional move than that, isn’t it? McMinn: Yes. In embarking on our campaign the company we worked with spent a lot of time asking, ‘What do you do differently?’ We realised we had something to market. McCabe: I’ve come to the conclusion we all love brands. The difference lies in whether you have a passive brand or an active brand. If an organisation has ambition it will have an ‘-est’ in its mission statement. It must have some superlative there, otherwise you lack brand ambition. You’re leaving the brand underpowered. Sadly a lot of marketing has become devalued. Sales and finances as times get hard are seen as being more revenue driven. Mason: Do you see targets as having to be realistic? We didn’t set out to be ‘the best airport in the world’. McCabe: Brand is the convincer, the product the confirmer. I love Berghaus’s promise that its product will satisfy. Palmer: In most industries Indian had been seen as low cost, low quality. We battled a long time with that, coming from Pfizer. Everyone knows Pfizer as a brand. How could we get our name known as Piramal? In the end we asked: ‘What differentiates us from everybody else?’ We’re not the cheapest, so we based our strategy on service. People will pay for good service. Grailey: We take the point about ‘-est’. We

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score heavily on service. We’ve topped ‘100’ lists twice for service. We do everything we can for people, and when we get good people into our business we do all we can to keep them. Allison: Building on brand for me was difficult at first. I’d been in operations. Only in the last 19 months have I got involved more in sales and marketing. I’d been into innovation needed to get product out the door – now I have to be more involved also in meeting customers, going abroad. Branding and innovation for us run parallel with developing the electric vehicle. We’re already seen as a market leader – from three-and-a-half tons to 12 tons. Economically we can make sense. We also have a reputation for reliability. We’re further developing our name for honesty, integrity, and our ability to do what we say we will. Somebody recently told us they wanted to buy 50 electric vehicles. I told them they don’t need 50. ‘You couldn’t cope,’ I explained. I educated them instead in a process to follow. Palmer: You may not get it right every time. The important thing is to make clear what you’re doing to put it right. (He was asked if a brand name should be revisited). Initially we placed a lot of importance on brand and name. Our chairman’s name works in India because he’s the fourth richest there. It took us some time to realise the name was not recognised here. Now it is starting to mean something. I think we’ll come back to it. Stephenson: It’s vital people joining your company adapt to your culture.

DEBATE

Rhodes: We must brand for the region’s future. The essence of backing an entrepreneur is to get the right person. I’ve spent a lot of time going through applications and finally got three who I believe will succeed, not necessarily with this particular business of theirs, though I’m very excited about them. But they’ll be successful individuals in whatever they turn to, ambassadors for our brand also, I hope. Social media has changed everything too. At start-up level doing something through social media is really exciting. McMinn: We really subscribe to it. It’s the first time marketing has become two-way instead of us just throwing messages at customers. Unless you recognise what used to be word of mouth is now in print digitally, and in the public domain and you need to embrace it, anything else you try instead is a waste of time. Those who fight shy of social media may regret in three or four years’ time. Mason: We use social media to reflect the personality of the airport, the welcoming approach. There was a fear within our organisation it would release an avalanche of complaints, but it’s been a fantastic experience. We’ve had compliments through thick and thin. Compliments have outnumbered the complaints 19 to one. Heath: People want to tell of their great experiences. Palmer: The internet opens the market but I don’t think social media would work for us. We’re associating with bigger players actually in the market place. >>

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It is all about the people

Allison: We don’t use Twitter and Facebook. Part of our innovation over 18 months has been aimed at bringing down the cost of an electric vehicle. The cost won’t come down unless you’re in charge of your own destiny within a supply chain. We’ve studied standard components we bought and now make them ourselves – that way you control your own destiny. We’ve also used a supply chain from all over the world. We’ve also developed systems whereby we control the intellectual property. Mason: Part of Newcastle College and part of a university are on our airport site with about 500 students there at any one time. They do aircraft engineering from diploma to degree level, cabin crew training, customer service. Through our partnership, Newcastle College secured a contract to provide all the Jet2.com cabin crew for the UK. They come to Newcastle now. In that sense we’ve become a centre of excellence and the people who come here become our airport ambassadors. Scott-Bell: Every situation is different. I think a lot of innovation goes on under the name of good business practice. Grailey: We’ve been looking at ways to be more customer focused. One is in innovation. Second is customer experience. Excellence depends more on satisfying what the customer wants. It’s about getting fans of the brand. Thirdly, core capability. Caroline Theobald pointed out from the chair: We started with branding and innovation, and from there opened a Pandora’s Box showing that good business is about all sorts of things. But what one thing would you most readily invest in to help your

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company to continue to grow? Mason: It’s got to be investment in people and delivery of continuous cultural change to keep up with times and expectations. Rhodes: A successful future economically will need innovation through entrepreneurial drive and growth. Stephenson: A money-printing machine – I’d use the end product to invest in sales and marketing! Simpson: Though we’re in recruitment we always need to find good people to help us grow. Recession shows that when you find good people you may need fewer people. It’s not just about getting good people but also about productivity you get from that, making you a less complex organisation as a result because you spend less time managing. Finding all the best people across Europe would be our magic wand. Allison: The training structure. We’re building a brand and developing an infrastructure. Skills are required for situations where, for example, things might threaten to go wrong. The energy youth brings may include a little chaos but that can be managed. McMinn: Better people, better premises, greater efforts to acquire additional brands, all towards persuading the customer to recommend us to others. Grailey: Getting the right people for the right time – people who deliver on the brand’s proposition. Heath: Most important to us is to create a stable business model we can take global. We can only do that with the right intellectual property. Scott-Bell: Investment in brand is me telling

Having followed the BQ live debate series I thought this topic was bold and innovative in terms of bringing focus to how our respective businesses survive and thrive. It is clear from the comments made that both product innovation and brand building is broadly required in equal measure for most businesses. What was more significant for me was the common theme amongst attendees that no matter how you frame it you need the right people to deliver both. In the service sector and with customer facing brands the brand experience is often delivered by individuals, clearly this is true for Nigel Wright, but also true for other successful north east businesses, such as Benfield Motors and Onyx. When a business is product led having the right people in product design and development is also key. This as we heard during the debate has caused companies to rethink how they acquire and retain this talent. Conversely not being able to find the right people can be a barrier to growth. Our role as a brand led international recruitment specialist is to continue to promote, inside and outside the region, the range of opportunities that exist within some truly great home grown brands and innovators. Mark Simpson, Group Executive Director Nigel Wright

others how good our people are, amplifying our qualities – a self-perpetuating cycle, really. Palmer: Building on the brand of service and taking it to the next level. None of the businesses we have heard from are competing on price. It’s about perceived value for money. And you actually get more money for what you are offering because customers are prepared to pay for it. McMinn: In our industry all the premium brands that are doing well rather than the volume brands. Those competing on price are struggling. n

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10/21/2011 11:46:02 AM 22/10/2011 14:13

INTERVIEWSTORY SUCCESS AUTUMN 11

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in association with

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50 22/10/2011 14:13

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SUCCESS STORY

SIMPLY THRIVING

Sometimes it’s the simple idea that becomes a winner. Brian Nicholls highlights the success of Laura Ann Kemp and her mother Gaye Shakeshaft They’ve always said behind every successful man there’s a woman. Behind two successful women there can also be two men. Laura Ann Kemp and her mother Gaye Shakeshaft have won a £50,000 award to take their simple but thriving three-year-old business ChocCards another stage on. Laura, 31, was on maternity leave as Teesside business development manager for a motor franchise when she decided she’d want to spend more time with her baby daughter. She wanted to occupy herself profitably but with less travel and shorter, less demanding hours. Around the same time Gaye, 60, was made redundant. The two set up and now run ChocCards from Otto Terrace in Sunderland. They buy in milk chocolate bars made to a Belgian recipe, and put them under individually designed wrappers with personalised photos and messages for businesses, weddings and other celebrations. Laura says: “It started as a bit of fun because we both love chocolate.” Their indulgence has paid off. They beat two

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challengers from Yorkshire to win the North East title in a Take One Small Step contest Barclays Bank has been running for small firms. They won most votes in a web and text poll. Their promotions have included personally delivering Take That bars to the band when they recently reunited at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland. Laura and Gaye can’t say if

superstars Robbie Williams, Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Jason Orange and Howard Donald ever voted for them, but their enterprise did win vital attention on Facebook and Twitter. Laura was presented with the cash award by former England goalkeeper Ray Clemence during an evening of celebration in London. “A nerve-wracking but brilliant night,” she recalls. >>

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SUCCESS STORY With part of their prize they have now commissioned Newcastle web designer Union Room (whose other clients include Parkdean Holiday Parks and the Sanderson Young property consultancy) to design a more advanced website than their present one. On it customers will be able to create their wrappers with the personalised photos and messages. They’re also looking for commercial premises that will enable them to hold an alcohol licence and introduce messaging on small bottles of wine. They’ve already been able to offer piecework to two mothers who, like Laura, wanted to fit round family commitments. It’s hoped with diversification further hirings may be possible. Laura says ChocCards gets expert advice from her husband and father, particularly through their arbiter’s role if she and Gaye want a third opinion, or a casting vote on some business issue is needed. Husband Martin manages a Santander bank branch in Sunderland. Father Phil Shakeshaft was until recently director of strategy at regional development agency One North East. Laura and Gaye have taken tips also from websites. One is Hershey’s, the US giant of chocolate manufacturing that invites surfers to help expand its 250 million customer base by offering ideas. The other was Moonpig.com which has been doing with digitally-created greeting cards what they felt could be done with chocolate wrappers. Over a decade or so this London firm grew into a £38m turnover business with three million customers buying 12 million greetings cards a year. It spread its products into mugs, T-shirts and bottles. It has now earned chairman Nick Jenkins a thick whack of cash for his 36% stake through a £120m takeover by Photobox, the £72m-turnover digital photo service in Oxfordshire whose directors – with Jenkins advising – expect to progress Moonpig even faster. Some might feel ChocCards and Moonpig to be value-added opportunism rather than creative, but that doesn’t diminish their achievement, nor their ingenuity. It also demonstrates how successful businesses can be built without high technology other than, perhaps, IT. n

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AUTUMN 11

A guide to perfecting the right business plan

Michael Burrow: Regional Director Business Banking, North

A detailed and strong business plan can be your strongest asset. It is a powerful document that essentially sums up your business. It can help you gauge how well your business is doing and provides a way to track your progress. Find out what forms the essence of a smart business plan below. Executive summary Many business plans are judged solely on this section as it is the sales pitch for your business. Summarise the key points of your plan, showing the highlights from each section and focusing on your competitive advantage, profit forecasts, and prospects for investors. Team and skills Here you can promote and demonstrate strengths and expertise. Identify the strengths of your management team and how you plan to tackle any weaknesses.

Products and services Outline what your business does and how you make money. Detail the type of business and what sector it is in, when you plan to start trading, what is your Unique Selling Point, how products will be developed, and any patents, trademarks or design rights you hold. Market Many businesses fail when strong products are not sufficiently marketed or correctly positioned to prospective customers. Demonstrate how you understand your market. Include market research and competitor analysis along with plans for how you would react to market changes. Selling Detail pricing, margins, promotion and positioning of your product, how you will reach your customers, and your chosen sales method. Operations Provide practical details about your location and premises, suppliers, production facilities, required equipment, management-information and IT systems. Finances You have a big idea but how do you intend to find the money. Your plan must demonstrate what capital you need and how you plan to repay any borrowings. In addition to this, you’ll need cashflow, profit and loss, and sales forecasts for the next three or five years. At NatWest we recognise that the economic downturn presents opportunities as well as obstacles. We are committed to supporting commercially viable business ideas, and by working in partnership can help you achieve the goals laid out in your business plan. We can offer our expertise to help you turn your business ambitions into a reality. to ﬁnd out more contact: Michael Burrow, regional director Business Banking, north email: Michael.Burrow@rbs.co.uk try our online business planner by visiting app.natwestplanner.co.uk

All information within this magazine is produced by Room 501. Please note that the views and information have not been endorsed, issued or approved by NatWest. Any views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of NatWest.

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BQ M

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As one of the UK’s leading investment managers with integrated financial planning, Brewin Dolphin has looked after clients in the North East since 1903. However, our presence in the region extends beyond financial expertise. We actively support local culture, business and sporting organisations. These partnerships mean we can invest for your enjoyment today as well as your future. You are welcome to join us at our exciting and informative events throughout the year – just call Phoebe on 0191 279 7568 to book your seat. To find out more about how we can help you, simply visit our offices at Time Central, Gallowgate, Newcastle or go to www.brewin.co.uk/newcastle

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ENTREPRENEUR

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INTO THE UNKNOWN Bettina Nissen couldn’t even pick out Newcastle on the map before she moved across the North Sea from Germany. But, she tells Brian Nicholls, she found it a city with many friends and contacts to help her set up a creative business Starting a business? Very brave... And in a foreign country? Wow! But that’s what Bettina Nissen has done enthusiastically, and Bettina Nissen Design is now almost two years old. She didn’t even know where Newcastle was on the map until her arrival five years ago with husband Jeffrey. She’s German, he American. They met as students in Denmark. Should the German go and live in America or the American come and live in Germany? “We tried England instead,” Bettina laughs, her engaging humour clicking in. Jeffrey, a glass artist, now stimulates creatively in the glass and ceramics department of Sunderland University. Bettina, 33, initially did various jobs to improve her English. “It was good to see how Newcastle is and what there might be to do here,” she recalls. “Even applying for jobs differs from country to country. British CVs differ entirely from German ones and things like that. You must learn new things from the outset.” In her own time she designed and planned projects, for she too had an education with potential. While Jeffrey had been a Fulbright scholar researching at university in Copenhagen, Bettina had been at the Danish Design School in the city, amid a five-year study for a combined degree at Burg Giebichenstein, the leafy University Of Art And Design at Halle in Germany. It’s a university empathetic towards small-scale production and hand craft tradition. In addition, in 2008 she fulfilled an internship in New York with the notable American Boym Partners, Constantin and Laurene Leon Boym, who later moved from their studio in New

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York, taking son Bobby and cat Ozzy to Doha overlooking the Arabian Gulf. Constantin is now director of graduate design studies at the Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar. Three months with them inspired Bettina. “Back in Europe, I thought, ‘I’ll try to work more on my own products,’” she recalls of her first experience in a contemporary design studio. It had been interesting to see how a well-known designer works and thinks. “I expected things to be a lot more straightforward and organised. But there were lots of maybes. I benefited also from an association with their name and it was also a confidence boost – not just getting the internship but the fact that the Boyms liked what I did. They’re very outgoing, but difficult to deal with sometimes. I’d been told they usually yell at interns, but they didn’t yell at me. So I guess I was doing good.” Last May, having opened her own business in

Newcastle, Bettina returned to New York exhibiting in her own right. There, her most profitable creation to date, Make a Wish rings, attracted a big online store, which now features her work also in catalogues entering homes across the US. Yet Bettina’s working life might so easily have been spent totting up incomes and outlays of business not her own. She’s from Flensburg, an elegant coastal town about the size of Darlington and just seven kilometres from the Danish border. It’s noted for Flens beer, mail-order sex firms, a nationwide data base of traffic violators, and association with Hans Christiansen, Art Nouveau’s founder. But Bettina’s parents held no aesthetic aspirations for her when she left school unsure what she might do. They work for an equivalent of Revenue and Customs. “They didn’t really believe in creativity as a way of making a living,” Bettina tells. “So I

School for exports Bettina’s most recent learning curve was at Herbert Loebl’s export academy, run by Newcastle University Business School. Dr Loebl, latest winner of the annual North East Lifetime Achiever award for his pioneering encouragement of entrepreneurs and exports in the North East, joined mentors, university staff, guest speakers and other leaders of business in counselling a select few individuals from young businesses towards successful trading abroad. “It gave me things to keep in mind for further along the line,” says Bettina. Like her bookkeeping days, then – something for the future. She also got good advice and funding for her recent New York visit. Dr Fiona Whitehurst, director of engagement at the business school, says: “Many businesses are cautious towards export opportunities. So with Dr Loebl, RTC North and UKTI we set up the academy to show how attainable export really is for North East businesses.”

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went to Berlin for two years to do an apprenticeship in book-keeping. I did this with my aunt – it was kind of a family thing. They were saying, like, ‘Why don’t you go and do this?’” She squeezed the three-year apprenticeship into two years to get it over with, while looking for something creative. She set her sights on the University of Art and Design in Halle. “I had to make a portfolio, which took time,” she says. “Application procedure was harsh. About 1,000 applicants went through two days of tests. After interview you might be one of 15 selected. “This meant a lot of work but I did it while finishing off my not-so-creative apprenticeship. I was delighted to be accepted. I do my own book-keeping now – and my husband’s. Then, though, I didn’t think it useful. I think my aunt was understanding... “I guess they all realised I might do something like this. I’d designed a lampshade and attended woodworking workshops – and a welding workshop one weekend. I think they knew mine would be a different calling.” Now benefits of her MA go into interiors,

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ENTREPRENEUR

furniture, home accessories and lighting design, working in felt, plastics and metal, and fusing – as she puts it – simple, functional forms with humour. Her items to date include – besides the wish rings – “shadow” coasters, Gills bowls, a rustic bench and, most striking of all many might agree, The Victorianiser, a bookcase-cum display unit whose design marries Scandinavian minimalism with British Victorian embellishment. In Newcastle she has homogenous company at the Mushroom Works arts factory in Ouseburn, where she shares an upstairs studio with Eva Bauer, another German artist. There they can break from creativity occasionally and watch through their upstairs window as workmen demolish Spillers’ 1930s riverside Mill where 500 people once worked. Separating a studio from their central Newcastle home has suited Jeffrey who, Bettina says, wouldn’t have been too happy about her designing in the spare bedroom or casting resin in the kitchen. Fortunately the North East, certainly when she arrived, provided lots of support and funding, enabling her to go beyond book-keeping. “There was a lot I needed to learn,” she

admits. “It took about three years to set up properly. Support and funding I got for writing a business plan and branding was invaluable. I got backing and advice from the likes of Business Link, and with about 20 other artists, designers and photographers did a course called GLEAM at Durham Business School, which included finance and marketing.” There are advantages and disadvantages to any business location, she suggests. “Newcastle’s major advantage over London is that the creative world is fairly small, very open and friendly. London’s very competitive. Here I find it really nice having conversations without wondering if someone will steal my ideas. It’s open-to-share here. People happily discuss an idea or share their own advice or knowledge, if you’re looking for a supplier or a manufacturer, for example.” Besides the occupants of a dozen studios at Mushroom Works, there’s a growing artists’ colony in the surrounding neighbourhood. Less plentiful is the number of manufacturers she can find willing to meet a designer’s specifications and standards. “Many are more industrial than creative – not overly keen to try something new,” >>

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ENTREPRENEUR

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London is very competitive. Here I ﬁnd it really nice having a conversation without wondering if someone will steal my ideas. It’s open-to-share here. People happily discuss an idea or share their own advice or knowledge.

she says from experience. “For my rings I have used a company in the Netherlands willing to do small objects. Many fabricators here say costs of small runs would be too high. Also, some don’t pay attention to detail and quality.“ To sell her goods Bettina largely takes the online highway, marketing on her own website and other online shops. She deals through some retailers and has exhibited to advantage in Milan, Berlin, New York, the North East and London, where she recently returned from another sales thrust. Trade fairs often lead to suitable new retailers. Online, however, looks her fastest way ahead, though she admits: “I don’t think online has reached its full potential for me yet. I don’t think I’ve enough products to give a really strong online presence. “I’m trying to develop a collection with more choice. There are quite a few online shops in giftware and home accessories, those kinds of markets. Online selling offers a better return than conventional retail. Commission taken is usually lower than on high street stores, where there may be a 100% or more mark-up plus VAT.” Being a sole trader not VAT registered can sometimes be difficult for start-ups. Bettina isn’t yet selling enough to justify VAT registration, whereas it could benefit her. “I’m paying VAT on what the fabricators

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produce for me then selling to retailers who put another batch of VAT on,” she says. “I’m losing out. Yet is it worthwhile to go through all of VAT’s hoops of admin and paperwork?” Memo to Chancellor Osborne: Please consider if the Government really does want more young entrepreneurs. While rings are most rewarding, Bettina is now increasing her home accessory range. “There were a lot of hiccups with the rings that I didn’t anticipate in terms of ring sizes. Also shipping – jewellery isn’t insured so it’s my risk, another learning curve!” She’ll consider commissions from firms or private clients, whether for internal design or personal pieces. She has a commission already for Joanna Feeley’s thriving Trend Bible, which tells the world from Newcastle what future

consumer inclinations may be in fashions, styles and colours. Her biggest frustration, apart from that scarcity of suitable fabricators, is customers – or rather, non-customers, who look but don’t understand about small batch items and think everything should be “made in China and just cost about £1”. Says Bettina: “At exhibitions and design events, there are always people like that. I guess that’s just not my market. But such comments are still frustrating.” Her greatest satisfaction? Happy customers, like the young man who bought a wish ring to surprise his girl friend during a trip to Paris. “He wrote and said she really liked it and it was perfect. That makes me happy,” says Bettina, glowing too. n

The art of marriage Bettina is the first of her family in a creative vocation. “I wouldn’t call myself an artist,” she says. “My husband’s an artist. So we have lots of arguments about designers. Artists and designers are at opposite ends of the spectrum. And arguing in marriage is always more interesting than agreeing all the time. Design’s about making functional objects. Art’s about the non-functional and aesthetically pleasing.“ Her sister Sabine, two years younger, works in market research and moved recently from Germany to Oxford, where her German boyfriend studies. “Who knows?” Bettina laughs. “Perhaps one day the whole family might be here.”

22/10/2011 14:13

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COMPANY PROFILE

Two prominent figures in the region’s legal sector have joined North East firm Hay & Kilner as it gears up for a period of expansion.

leGal HeaVyweiGHts JoiN eXpaNdiNG NoRtH east FiRm

WO prominent figures in the region’s legal sector have joined North East firm Hay & Kilner as it gears up for a period of expansion and prepares to break new ground in a number of markets. Richard Freeman-Wallace has been appointed as a partner at the Newcastle-headquartered firm’s commercial property division, bringing with him a prolific track record and a nationally renowned level of expertise. Also joining the firm as a partner is Alison Hall, an extremely experienced private capital expert who also serves as regional chair of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. The new recruits join the firm ahead of what promises to be a busy period of growth and development, with the business targeting a number of new and emerging markets in the coming months. Richard, who is one of the most experienced commercial property practitioners in the North East, until recently headed up the commercial property team at Newcastle firm Watson Burton. In a career spanning more than 30 years he has built up a national portfolio of clients and contacts and played an important role in several landmark deals involving heavyweight organisations such as national housebuilders, a property investment and development company that has one of the largest portfolios in the north of England. He has also worked extensively with a number of prominent, local and regional players in the property market. As well as bolstering Hay & Kilner’s ﬂourishing commercial property division, the newlyappointed partner is also aiming to use his profile and reputation to help grow the firm’s national presence.

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the new recruits Join the firm ahead of what promises to be a busy period of growth and deVelopment

She is also a leading legal expert in the region on agricultural property relief acting for a number of farmers and landed estates. She speaks annually at the national Farm Tax conference and regularly advises clients on agricultural property relief, succession plans and partnership agreements for farmers. Part of her new role will involve developing Hay & Kilner’s operations in the specialist market for countryside-related legal matters which affect farmers and land owners. “Hay & Kilner has an incredibly strong reputation in the region for valuing its clients and its personable approach to individuals, which I think really suits my clients and my area of expertise and is one of the factors which attracted me to the firm,” she said. Senior partner Martin Soloman added: “To have two practitioners of such a high calibre joining the firm not only shows our commitment to continually developing and diversifying our offering but also underlines the confidence we have in our long term future.”

“I’m delighted to have joined Hay & Kilner at such an exciting time in its history and I’m greatly looking forward to working with the firm’s well-respected commercial property team.” Having joined Hay & Kilner from Ward Hadaway, Alison Hall will now serve as a partner in the firm’s wealth management department. She comes into the role on the back of 15 years of advising clients on all aspects of private capital work including wills, estate planning, trusts and powers of attorney. Additionally, Alison advises many business clients in the area on succession and business property relief.

For more information on any of Hay & Kilner’s services, please visit: www.hay-kilner.co.uk or call 0191 232 8345

left to right: richard Freeman-Wallace, Martin soloman and alison Hall

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BUSINESS LUNCH

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STEAM DRIVEN PRESSURE

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BUSINESS LUNCH in association with

It’s said there are two pubs closing every day across Britain. And if that sounds bad enough, it’s actually down from last year’s high of seven over the same period. The licensed trade is a tough call at the best of times and more casualties are expected before the economy improves.

successful retail chain than allowing individual managers freedom to do as they wish? Tony Brookes is an entrepreneur with a social conscience, boundless energy and an exhaustive (and exhausting) “to do” list bursting with a million ideas. He says: “Having said all that, everything we

Running a chain of pubs isn’t easy these days but initiative and customer care make it that little bit easier, writes Alastair Gilmour

So, how do the survivors keep going and why are some pubs actually thriving and developing rather than curtailing their opening hours and offering customers less while charging them more? There is no prescription, but there’s something to be said for providing safe and comfortable environments while offering a choice of cask-conditioned ales served alongside a dash of enterprise, enthusiasm and innovation. But there’s more; there always is. “We look at the business from a customer’s point of view, exactly the opposite to the way that some of the big pub groups do,” says Tony Brookes, managing director of the Hexham-based Head of Steam group which operates four pubs in Newcastle – The Cluny, Tilley’s Bar, LYH and the eponymous Head of Steam – plus The Central in Gateshead, and one Head of Steam each in Durham, Huddersfield and Liverpool. We’re lunching not in one of Brookes’ city-centre pubs but in the Barrasford Arms, deep in the North Tyne Valley, one of Britain’s most idyllic locations. It is beautiful, easily accessible and colourful in every season, but similar rules apply to pub management everywhere. “We encourage our pub managers to run their business as if it were their own, to think outside the box,” says Brookes. “We want them to come to us with their ideas for promotions and development. We give them the opportunity and all the help they need – and it liberates them.” Surely though, there is more to running a

do at The Head of Steam group is my responsibility – the buck stops with me. In fact, I’ve got a framed dollar bill in my office which is a reminder of that – and somewhere in all of our pubs there’s also one.” This level of trust and teamwork has allowed The Cluny in Newcastle, for instance, to be named recently as one of the best pubs in Britain by The Observer Food Monthly magazine. The Central in Gateshead is in line for a Civic Trust award in recognition of its remarkable renaissance, following a decision by Gateshead Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund to grant the grade II-listed building £400,000 towards refurbishment. When Tony Brookes started off his first beer business in June 1980 – an off-license on Heaton Road in Newcastle called Legendary Yorkshire Heroes – many foreign beers had scarcity value stamped all over them. Duvel, Chimay and Budweiser Budvar, commonplace today, were virtually unheard of in the North East and he recalls loading a van with Fosters Lager and Castlemaine XXXX in a London dock. “They were really, really rare,” he says. Changed days indeed.

“Then we had 25 real ales on handpulls from microbreweries which we collected from all over the country. We ran a wholesale side in parallel with the retail business – one fed the other.” Whatever the business Brookes was going to be involved in was destined to be called Legendary Yorkshire Heroes. “It’s such a great name,” says the 64-year-old Yorkshireman, rather unsurprisingly. “Everyone from Yorkshire is by definition a hero, just some are legendary. “My profession was in transport planning. The thing I knew second-most about was beer. I saw the North East was lagging behind everybody else in real ale and microbrewing. “Legendary Yorkshire Heroes was a phenomenal success and we were quickly supplying beer festivals all over the country. If you’ve got your offer right it’s great to be at the front end of the market. We opened shops in Jesmond, Tynemouth, Fenham and Durham.” Being a transport economist helped Brookes in the beer business by making sure that pick-ups, drop-offs and supply and demand lines were co-ordinated. Saving time saves money and is also legendary Yorkshire logic. “Had we stuck with that I’d be a millionaire today,” he says, with no hint of regret. “People would come from Carlisle, Berwick and Middlesbrough and we sold them masses of beer in polypins and firkins. “We were the first to bring the Czech Pilsner Urquell and Budweiser Budvar to the region and even started wholesaling to the likes of Lewis Vintners who were massive at the time and the Sir John Fitzgerald group. “We supplied Fenwick and even sold whisky from wooden barrels – loads of it. Then, in the mid-Eighties, Margaret Thatcher was doing her best to crucify British business and we suffered the same as everybody else.” >>

My profession was in transport planning. The thing I knew second-most about was beer. I saw the North East was lagging behind everybody else in real ale

BUSINESS QUARTER |AUTUMN 11

BUSINESS LUNCH

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The idea was completely revolutionary at the time. We broke absolutely every industry mould. We were able to show there was a market for quality real ales One Brookes bright spark was the guest beer scheme which, again, is routine today but he is still astonished that he managed to persuade the likes of Vaux, Scottish & Newcastle and Camerons of Hartlepool to take another brewery’s beer in their managed houses. “The idea was completely revolutionary at the time,” he says. “We broke absolutely every industry mould. We were able to show there was a market for quality real ales. Can you imagine it? Scottish & Newcastle were shipping it down south in tankers from Edinburgh – straight past Newcastle and not stopping. “I started the Tap & Spile pub concept with Camerons in 1985 – persuading them to think differently by being both a brewer and a retailer – but they never exploited it in the way they could have. Later we sold the off-licences and bought 18 pubs from Scottish

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& Newcastle following the Beer Orders of the early 1990s that forced breweries to dispose of some of their estates.” The pubs were sold in blocks. Curiously, the Go Ahead bus company bought one lot and the company that has become Teesside-based Brulines also bought a tranche. “It was a big step for us; it was a right mixture,” says Brookes. “I shudder even now at the thought of some of them. But real ale was far too advanced for some places. Eventually we sold them to Century Inns. “I’ve always been a market developer, it’s all about being at the forefront and knowing what customers want and satisfying those needs.” The Head of Steam development came in 1994 when Brookes went to look at the space that is now The Centurion at Newcastle Central Station (now run by STR Enterprises).

“Within 30 seconds the whole concept tumbled into my head,” he says, “It was like a revelation. I knew then what I wanted to do, it was like walking into a film set, all that fabulous tilework.” The brainwave was to take underdeveloped spaces in railway stations and turn them into “real ale palaces” and entertainment venues. But what he hadn’t allowed for was railway privatisation. “They were more focused on getting trains running on tracks,” says Brookes. “I tried for two years to get a licence and spent a fortune on planning permission. Train operators weren’t used to negotiating with private companies.” The first Heads of Steam, however, were at Euston in London and at Huddersfield, a paean to Victorian magnificence. Scarborough was opened and quickly closed as it “didn’t feel right”. Liverpool Lime Street followed and operates well, but it soon became clear that the full railway station vision was slightly blurred and alternative outlets were sought. “You’ve got to follow your hunches and pull the market along,” he says. “The music at the Head of Steam and The Cluny, for >>

The pub is the hub Tony Brookes is particularly proud of the way that the development of The Central pub in Gateshead has helped regenerate the whole Hill Street-Half Moon Lane area of the town. Property development company Adderstone Group, run by entrepreneur Ian Baggett, was so confident in the pub’s proposed refurbishment that it released the adjacent dormant site it owned to create upmarket apartments and retail units. By the same token, Gateshead Council persuaded Network Rail to tidy up the railway arches on nearby Wellington Street and offer them to a mixed use of tenants. The whole area is now a desirable place to live, work and relax, proving that the pub is definitely the hub.

22/10/2011 14:14

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BUSINESS LUNCH example, is brilliant business and we’ve never been afraid to invest. We also support local artists in our pub galleries. Paul Harvey, founder member of The Stuckists, and Arthur Gills, the railway artist, are regulars. “I always find it difficult to define who our customers are, we attract such a broad

AUTUMN 11

spectrum, but it’s basically nice people who care about where they drink and eat and in what surroundings. Once you’ve got customers in the door, sell them something more and give them an experience to remember, then they’ll come back.” Then there are the initiatives which customers

Arms and extremely savoury Multi award-winning chef Tony Binks has transformed the handsome, honey-coloured 19th century Barrasford Arms, Barrasford, near Hexham in Northumberland – a former coaching inn – into one of the North East’s finest dining locations. The best in regional dishes are laced with French inspiration and the joie de vivre he is marinated in which he mastered from his mentor, the great Albert Roux. Fresh, locally sourced ingredients arrive daily in the kitchen for a deliberately concise, seasonallyevolving menu. Fresh visitors also arrive daily not only from across the region but from Southern Scotland, North Yorkshire and Cumbria and leave highly impressed by simply cooked, beautifullypresented dishes. Diners have been known to ask not too seriously which field the lamb came from – and are surprised when Binks unblinkingly points it out. Three distinctly-different dining rooms and impressively-attentive staff have contributed to the accolade Destination Restaurant of the Year – and its latest award, Northumbria’s County Dining Pub of the Year (Good Pub Guide 2012) – yet the traditional bar retains its long-standing status as a watering-hole for the local community. It is also a delightful attraction for visitors who can relax in “old shoe” comfort or keep tabs on hotly-contested vegetable shows, lively quoits tournaments and darts matches with a competitive edge. A huge fireplace, hand-pulled real ales (including the bright and hoppy Curlew’s Return from Allendale Brewery), a varied and creative wine list and a beer garden overlooking pastureland with wooded valleys beyond, add to the ambience and contribute to the pub’s inclusion in the Michelin Guide and The Good Beer Guide. Several well-appointed, en-suite bedrooms attract guests from all over the country, some to explore Hadrian’s Wall Country, while others completely unwind. Tony Binks welcomes us with the air of a man who has gone to work but found out it’s his day off. “It’s the first morning for eight months I haven’t had to do breakfasts,” he says. “Our rooms are very, very popular.” If Heaven had to be fitted into a Barrasford Arms bowl it would be the twice-baked cheddar cheese soufflé (£6.00). It is little short of divine; a concoction that should surely be accompanied by celestial music, and a starter that sets the pace for the rest of the lunch menu. “I always have it when I come here,” says Head of Steam managing director Tony Brookes, “but the potted rabbit and Chablis terrine (£5.75) is equally tempting.” He followed that with roast marinated rump of lamb, pickled red cabbage and braised Charlotte potatoes (£9.50). Was that an angelic choir floating from the rafters? And, the pub does even the most basic of things well – the grilled gammon, free range eggs and hand-cut chips (£9.50) were certainly on a par with some more exotic combination. Simplicity is an art form when flavours and textures are the raw materials. Two courses of amazing food are an unbelievable £11.50, with three courses not exactly putting a crack in a credit card at £14.50. The surroundings, relaxed atmosphere and those amazing flavours are simply sublime. Hallelujah. The Barrasford Arms, Barrasford, Hexham, Northumberland NE48 4AA. Telephone 01434 681237. E-mail: contact@barrasfordarms.co.uk or visit www.barrasfordarms.co.uk

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respond well to – charity events for the Pahar Trust in Nepal to fund a new school for the children in the village of Mayum in the Taplejung region; Change of Heart is where loose change is deposited (and matched) for the likes of Water Aid, Medicines Sans Frontier, The People’s Kitchen and Greenpeace. There’s also a Stuff the Supermarkets campaign to counter supermarket cut-price drink promotions. Running until early December 2011, this is designed to encourage customers to buy responsibly from Head of Steam pubs and in return they can save up for festive drinks to take home free by having a loyalty card stamped. “We’re always campaigning, it’s part of our ethos,” he says.

The pubs offer frequent in-house beer festivals, choice food, contemporary music and art exhibitions. “The pubs in the Head of Steam group are the sort of pubs I like to go into,” he says. “Our customers are multiples of me. “I’ve never done anything else in my life but worked my trollies off but I think my greatest achievement is having created work for about 2,000 people. And, I couldn’t have done anything like this without the support of my wife Carolyn; she’s been part of the decisionmaking process from the very beginning.” Building a Head of Steam means a lot of pressure, but it’s necessary for momentum. The Tony Brookes vision would appear to be on the right lines. n

22/10/2011 14:14

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22/10/2011 14:14

HYND ON WINE

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take it as red Alan Hynd, partner, Rowlands Chartered Accountants, puts his wine-sampling experience to the taste test finish, which was the main contrast with the white. Obviously my favourite of the two, it was very pleasant and very drinkable. I think it would go well with most meats but in particular a pasta with tomato and garlic. n Wines were kindly supplied by Fenwick, Newcastle. Tyrrell’s Old Winery Verdelho, Hunter Valley, Australia, £8.99 Tyrrell’s Old Winery Pinot Noir, South Eastern Australia, £8.99. Tel: 0191 232 5100. newcastle.enquiries@fenwick.co.uk

My appreciation of wine is based solely on the experience of drinking it regularly and I have no specific preference or expertise. I was therefore more than happy to take up the challenge of sampling two new world wines produced by Tyrrell’s, a family business of 150 years situated in the Brockenback range in New South Wales. The first was a white Verdelho from the “Old Winery range”. This was a young wine (obviously 2010). At first sight it was lemony in colour in the glass and had a crisp dry taste. The serving suggestion was to have it slightly chilled and my first impression was that it had been too chilled and therefore the wine

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became better and more distinctive as it warmed up. The second glass was much better than the first. It was an ideal and very drinkable wine for a nice warm evening as an aperitif or with seafood. The second wine was a Pinot Noir which is the red grape of Burgundy and is allegedly responsible for some of the world’s greatest wines – and obviously a contrast by being a red – however the entire characteristics of this wine were totally opposite. In the glass it was dark red in colour but very light in flavour, as expected, with lots of fruit aromas. The initial impression was fantastic, the flavours and aromas came out. This wine had a long-lasting

22/10/2011 14:14

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22/10/2011 14:14

MOTORING

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CONTINENTAL BRAKE FAST High proﬁle footballers normally clog Nick Holmes’ drive but he’s still mightily impressed by his test-drive Bentley, even though – by his own admission – he could never be mistaken for one of the stars

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When it comes to cars I confess I’m not the most technically minded, I don’t watch Top Gear, nor read the Sunday Times car supplement and when I hear my friends waxing lyrically about the launch of some new super car, I’m often left feeling that somewhere along the line I missed that particular lesson at school. That said, I have been remarkably and probably undeservedly blessed when it comes to executive car choice over my working life. In that sense, my qualifications for car testing are reasonably credible if only at the “lay person” rather the Clarkson end of things. At Rockliffe Hall earlier last summer we were proud to host the Bentley Drivers Club celebrating its 75th anniversary with a tour of Britain. For 24 hours our front lawn boasted more than 60 of the world’s rarest vintage Bentleys. The drivers and owners had travelled from all over the world with their vehicles

shipped from as far away as the US, Japan and Australia to join the 3,000-mile tour throughout the UK. Most of these vehicles dated back to the Thirties and were incredibly impressive. They clearly would have been the ultimate car of their day, so with that in mind I was looking

MOTORING

forward to seeing the 2011 model close up. The first thing you notice when you start the Bentley Continental GT is that it’s clearly a bit special. A muted but powerful roar from the 12-valve, six-litre engine forced a glance at the speedometer which tells me that this car can reach 200mph! The second thing you notice on setting off is that people actually do look at the car. Now I should disclose at the outset that Rockliffe Hall shares the same drive as Middlesbrough Football Club training ground, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that it might be a millionaire footballer at the wheel. Even with the tinted windows, I’m sorry to report that this wasn’t an illusion that could be sustained for very long. At £153,720, expectations should be high and it is a certainly stunning ride. Acceleration is so fast – at 0-60 in 4.4 seconds – that you’re almost loathe to put your foot all the way down to the floor because of the ensuing >>

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BUSINESS QUARTER |AUTUMN 11 22/10/2011 14:15

MOTORING

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What Bob says ...

G-force. But for all that raw power, what’s also noticeable is how quiet it inside the cockpit… sorry cabin, especially at cruising speed. It’s also incredibly comfortable with seats that adjust into almost any permutation. Managing Rockliffe since opening two years ago has kept us a tad busy, to say the least, especially as my wife Liz is also the spa director here. So this was too good an opportunity to get some brownie points and we set off over Croft Bridge towards the White Heifer at Scorton and seemed to arrive about 30 seconds later. There are some good corners around Croft – the road not the racetrack you understand – and that lovely straight stretch en route to Scorton gave me the opportunity to try out a variety of terrain. The online Bentley spiel states “state-of-the-art suspension, including Intelligent Continuous Damping Control, constantly monitors the car’s attitude and poise. Adjusting the suspension settings hundreds of times a second to deliver a supple ride at low speeds and increased control as your speed climbs”. I’m not entirely sure what that means, but it is smooth, smooth, smooth, whatever the road surface is like underneath. Probably not a first choice as a family car, it is sporty and the seating space in the back is somewhat limited, as you might expect. Reported fuel consumption ranges from 11.1

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I’m not entirely sure what it means but it’s smooth, smooth, smooth, whatever the road surface is like to 24.9 mpg and 17.1 combined, so its not going to get you a complimentary membership to the Green Party. However, the boot size is surprisingly good and accepted a set of golf clubs with ease. This is a stunning and beautiful car that rides like a dream and gets you noticed. Of course it’s eye-wateringly expensive but if you were preparing a wish-list of dream purchases, it should certainly be on it. n The Bentley Continental GT with the Mulliner driving specifications that Nick Holmes, managing director of Rockcliffe Hall test drove is priced at £153,720 and was provided by Bentley Newcastle, Sillverlink Park, Newcastle NE28 9ND Tel: 0844 371 1454. www.newcastle.bentleymotors.com

The Continental GT was launched in 2003 and quickly went on to become a sales phenomenon for Bentley. It was the first car to be launched the marque’s new owners VW. The car opened new markets for Bentley and it became a firm favorite of football players and wags, bit prior to the launch of the GT, Bentley’s were mainly driven by industry fat cats or members of the aristocracy. In 2005 Bentley launched the Flying Spur, the fastest four-door saloon in the world. In the same year it also launched the GTC, a convertible version of the GT. Each Bentley is hand-built and it takes an astonishing 150 hours to build a GT. The car has now been given a makeover – it now looks quite muscular and much more planted to the road. The designers have given the car sharper edges and LED lights to the front and rear. Bentley has used super-formed aluminum in the front wings and boot lid to achieve this great new look. Owners can now opt for the optional 21” alloy wheels that fill the wheel arches and help give the car its sporty look. Bentley has increased the cars power from 560bhp to 575bhp. Increasing the power helps get the car to 62mph in a blistering 4.4 secs and its top speed is now 198mph. The car has a six-speed gearbox and gear changes are 50% quicker than the previous model. Drivers will find the continuous damping system excellent, as it adjusts the suspension struts hundreds of times a second to deliver a supple ride. The GT feels more like a sports car rather than a four-seat grand tourer, achieving a great deal of pace with minimum effort.

t f

T i a i a

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Bob Arora is an independent car reviewer and also owns Sachins restaurant on Forth Banks, Newcastle. kulmeeta@hotmail.com

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take a test drive at

LeXus NewCAsTLe 22 Benton Road, Newcastle Ne7 7eG 0191 215 0404 www.lexus.co.uk/newcastle Model shown is RX Advance at £49,015 including optional metallic paint at £610. *The RX 450h is up to £8,879 cheaper to run based on fuel and B.I.K. tax over 3 years for company car owners, when compared to equivalent competitor models. For full details of how this saving has been calculated, please see the ‘See Your Savings’ tab on www.lexus.co.uk/savings. †Available on the Lexus RX Advance for orders between 23 September 2011 and 31 December 2011, registered and financed by 31 March 2012, through Lexus Financial Services on Lexus Connect Contract Hire at participating Lexus Centres. Business users only. Advertised rental based on a 3 year non-maintained contract at 10,000 miles per annum. Excess mileage charges may apply. Other finance offers are available but cannot be used in conjunction with this offer. Terms and conditions apply. Indemnities may be required. Finance subject to status to over 18s only. Lexus Centres are independent of Lexus Financial Services, Great Burgh, Burgh Heath, Epsom, Surrey KT18 5UZ. Subject to availability.

RX 450h fuel consumption figures (MY11): urban 43.5 mpg (6.5 l/100km), extra-urban 47.1 mpg (6.0 l/100km), combined 44.8 mpg (6.3 l/100km). CO2 emissions combined 145g/km. BQ_MAG iss 15.indb 69

22/10/2011 14:15

FASHION

AUTUMN 11

FEEL THE QUALITY

Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re worn by those who know that superb quality and

meticulous detail are all-important. Josh Sims gets into a Zilli shirt

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70 22/10/2011 14:15

AUTUMN 11

FASHION

“The shirt is still a key part of the male wardrobe because it is one of the most adaptable elements. With the same suit you can have many different looks via different shirts. “Certainly dress policies are changing the feel of the shirt – it’s softer, for example – but that has also given men more freedom to choose the kind of shirt they wear and the more interesting patterns they want to display. They don’t have to go for the standard plain blue or white, which no man really wants to spend much money on because it’s just not that exciting.” Laurent Negrin, sales director and head of the Italian shirt-making operation bought by the French luxury menswear brand Zilli two years ago and now back at capacity, sits back and surveys the clinical production line below – part old-fashioned hand-craft, part hi-tech, laser-guided machinery of the firm’s own invention. That Negrin should mention the readiness to spend is apposite; but that he should speak of his customer as though they perhaps have only a couple of suits is rather misleading. After all, the price of a bespoke Zilli shirt starts at around £600. Even one of its ready-to-wear shirts is upwards of £350. That’s right – just for a shirt. It is, admittedly, some shirt. Indeed, Zilli likes to think that it now makes one of the best shirts in the world, beloved of presidents, oil tycoons and Russian oligarchs; men who might well buy a Zilli shirt just because it is so expensive. A regard for the details >>

There is still a customer concerned with getting fewer, better products. They’re a minority. But gentlemen have always been a minority

BQ_MAG iss 15.indb 71

BUSINESS QUARTER |AUTUMN 11 22/10/2011 14:15

FASHION

AUTUMN 11

might not come into it. And details there are. Once you have selected from dozens of collar and cuff styles, and from over 450 fabrics, decided whether to have the buttons monogrammed, apply the quality benchmark of shirts and note, for example, how the striped or patterned cloth of each part of the shirt is meticulously matched. Or how each cuff is finished so that the edge ends on the lighter stripe of the fabric. Why? Any wear through abrasion is less likely to show that way. “And, as for losing a button,” says Negrin, “that is just not acceptable on a shirt of this price. I’ve experienced that after a couple of wears of shirts from others who claim to be among the best makers around. It doesn’t happen here.” Once a button is stitched on, the holding thread is wrapped with a coil of more thread that not only makes the button doubly secure, but raises it slightly from the shirt to make fastening less fiddly. The mother-of-pearl buttons, naturally, are what the Italians call “nuno volato” (without any cloud). Pure, flawless white, in other words. Still, a £350 shirt, let alone a £600 one, remains a tough call for all but the Forbes Top 100 – even one that, following the planned launch of a unique service, will see Zilli offering all of its bespoke customers a lifetime MoT for your purchase – send it back and they will replace worn collars or cuffs. Negrin argues that this is a consequence of the gradual devaluation of the shirtmaker’s skill. This has come as a result of shirts of average quality being overpriced (“when you see a white poplin designer shirt on sale for £250 and know that the fabric cost three euros a metre, well...” he says with a sigh). But it is also a consequence of devaluation of the perceived worth of a shirt following even Jermyn Street’s pursuit of volume over quality. “‘Three shirts for £100’-type deals have ruined the image of the shirt,” Negrin says, “though at least that has allowed the real shirtmakers, with traditional quality, to shine. Lots of brands have, of course, been bothered about margins. But by definition such deals mean you can’t be getting a great product. “Fortunately there is still a customer concerned with getting fewer, better products.

BUSINESS QUARTER | AUTUMN 11 BQ_MAG iss 15.indb 72

Admittedly, it is some shirt. Zilli likes to think it now makes one of the best shirts in the world, beloved of presidents, oil tycoons and Russian oligarchs They’re a minority. But then gentlemen have always been a minority. Do the changes to the industry make it harder to sell? Not really. It’s a different world. It’s comparing a Fiat with a Ferrari.” Negrin is confident in his boast. And the somewhat anal obsessiveness employed in producing a Zilli shirt is extensive – one unique, labour-intensive operation, for example, the thread attaches cuff to sleeve and is fed back into the cuff’s hem, hidden but left loose – the lack of tension in the thread means your cuffs won’t pucker when washed. Of course, you will no doubt want to avoid shrinkage of your bank-breaking shirt, should you dare to wash it at all. Zilli has considered that too – the fabric is laundered to remove shrinkage and, as though exhausted by the experience, is allowed to “rest” before it is hand-cut. Even some thread is washed for the same effect. Not that you can really see the thread – your shirt is crafted using minuscule stitches, between nine and 12 per centimetre, against an industry standard of just six.

“It’s a process of education for a man to understand what makes a truly good shirt these days,” says Negrin. “You need someone to draw your attention to the details, because details are what luxury is all about. That takes both the media to get that message across – because what any brand says is just a point of view – and personal experience. It really pays to spend some time with a couple of shirts and compare them. It’s amazing how even some shirtmakers with great reputations are making shirts that on close inspection are not always great.” Still unconvinced that several hundred pounds on a single shirt can ever be justified? Put it this way. One could argue that, if one had unlimited funds, one would have the pick of the world’s shirts. So consider the unnamed Russian businessman who contacted Zilli this spring requesting 50 of its bespoke shirts “as a trial”. Coolly, Negrin offered to make him one, to try that out first. This done, a few weeks later he called back. He would take the full 50. And another 350 please. n

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22/10/2011 14:15

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BQ_MAG iss 15.indb 73

22/10/2011 14:15

EQUIPMENT

AUTUMN 11

WING COMMANDER It has been a dream since mankind conquered the skies, but the technology to drive and ﬂy have now caught up, writes Josh Sims It is a nifty, fuel- and electrically-powered two-seater, offering green credentials and sportiness. But there is one compelling difference about the new concept from engineer-entrepreneurs Michael Moshier and Robert Bulaga. Their car flies. The Air Car combines advances in materials and electronics with duct-fan technology to offer the freedom of the skies with the same ease that the congestion of the roads is, to our frustration, increasingly experiencing. But nor is the new Air Car alone in reaching for the clouds. A number of companies are in advanced stages of developing a variety of vehicles which propose to offer a new era in personal flight that overcomes the objections that have hindered development for decades – they are easy to fly, affordable to buy (or at least on a par with a top-end prestige car), to run and to house, and with practical proportions. Australian company Hoverbike begins test flights this year. MyCopter, another project, has won EU funding. And Terrafugia,

BUSINESS QUARTER | AUTUMN 11 BQ_MAG iss 15.indb 74

whose Transition is pitched as a “roadable aircraft” (meaning you can also drive it), is set for take-off next year. “How much better would it be to have a vehicle that meant you could go out of your door, take off, land in a parking lot and do your shopping,” suggests Robert Bulaga, president of Trek Aerospace, whose oneperson Springtail vehicle is now also undergoing tests with a new Stanford University-developed stability control system that would allow it to be flown even hands-free. “Initially these kinds of machines will be more the flying equivalents of sports-cars or motorbikes, with their users putting up with certain discomforts for the convenience and fun they’d bring,” adds Beluga – discounting, that is, the already considerable inevitable interest from the cloak-and-dagger likes of DARPA, the US’s Department of Defence Research Agency. “But they would eventually be a game-changer for the world in terms of

mobility and the growing value of time. The movies have long promoted personal flight’s benefits, so many people have some dream of it. It’s surprising that it hasn’t happened yet. A truly personal craft could be available within a few years.” Certainly advances in technology – lighter engines, carbon-fibre construction and computer modelling – and the de-regulation of flight, such as the US’s introduction of a new “light sport” aircraft category, which requires half the training needed for a typical pilot’s license, have made its realisation more likely soon. Indeed, a NASA study predicts that 25% of the US population will have access to some kind of personal flying vehicle – an air taxi service, for example – within 10 years. It adds that increased road congestion – a product of ever-increasing quantities of haulage, such that the average driving speed in the US now is just 30mph and not much better in the UK – will only ensure it happens. “The challenge to more general aviation >>

22/10/2011 14:15

CO2 EMISSIONS

119 g/km BIK

13 %

COMBINED MPG

62.8

BMW 520d ED Saloon

THE NEW BMW 5 SERIES EFFICIENT DYNAMICS SALOON. THE FIRST SUB-120g/km BMW 5 SERIES.

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Pricing OTR*

Power output (hp)

0-62mph (seconds)

Combined fuel consumption (mpg)

P11d Value*

BIK tax rating 2011/12 (%)

CO2 emissions (g/km)

VED Band

20% Annual company car tax 2011/12

40% Annual company car tax 2011/12

Predicted Residual Value (%)

Wholelife Cost (ppm)

BMW 520d EfficientDynamics

£30,435

184

8.2

62.8

£30,380

13%

119

£790

£1,580

40.4%

62.86

Audi A6 TDI SE 177

£30,145

177

8.7

57.6

£30,090

18%

129

£1,083

£2,166

36.81%

64.77

Mercedes E220 CDI SE Blue Efficiency

£30,145

170

8.7

56.5

£30,090

19%

130

£1,143

£2,287

34.48%

67.28

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BMW EfficientDynamics reduces BMW emissions without compromising performance developments and is standard across the model range. †Subject to status.

BQ_MAG iss 15.indb 75

22/10/2011 14:15

EQUIPMENT

AUTUMN 11

Double take: Drive your personal aircraft out on the roads and take off into the wide blue yonder when the trafﬁc gets too much to bear

People have been thinking about personal air vehicles for decades. Now the barriers to becoming a pilot are lower than they have ever been has been not only the high-cost – be that the purchase price of an aircraft, the hanger rental or running costs, and the skills required to pilot a craft, but also practical issues – moving the aircraft around on the ground, dealing with bad weather,” says Richard Gersh, vice-president for business development at Terrafugia, which is also designing a flying Humvee for the US military. “But with prototypes like this, and the others in development, each tackling the problem with different solutions, access to flight is coming down all the time. People have been thinking about personal air vehicles for decades and that remains a long-term vision. Now the barriers to becoming a pilot are lower than they have ever been.” Providing that is, one has a head for heights.

BUSINESS QUARTER | AUTUMN 11 BQ_MAG iss 15.indb 76

In some cases, “personal” aircraft really are personal. Trek’s aforementioned Springtail vehicle is almost the kind more strapped on than stepped into; it suggests the Bell Rocketbelt jet-pack that seemed so exotically ahead of its time following its appearance in Thunderball. In fact, an early Springtail model made an appearance in the Agent Cody Banks movie. New Zealand company Martin Jetpack has also been testing a similar fan-based vehicle since 2008, theoretically able to transport its pilot (sans passengers, golf clubs or groceries) for 30 minutes at 60mph and at 8,000ft and is now in its final phase of development. Last year Time magazine named it “the most anticipated invention” following a $12m joint venture deal that plans to see an overseas factory built and making 500

Springtails a year by 2013. Is that too ambitious? Research by the various companies involved in shaping this new era of transport say the demand is there, much as it is for other trinkets, be they super-fast road-bikes or hand-built motor-boats. Some 100 people have already placed orders for the $200,000 Transition, while 460 orders have been taken for Icon Aircraft’s two-seater, folding wing flying boat. All that is really needed, as with many an engineering revolution, is money. Robert Moller has already spent $100m on developing his retro-futuristic, four-seater vertical take-off/landing M400 Skycar, picking up 50 lucrative patents as he has done so. As stylish as it is inventive, the Skycar is about as close to living like the Jetsons as transport will get in our lifetimes. “Unfortunately, personal flying vehicles just aren’t something the investment community understands just yet,” he says. “The fact is though that the technology is already there to make flight available to everyone, and the appeal of that hummingbird sense of freedom to use all this empty space above us is widespread. It’s going to happen.” n All images courtesy of Terrafugia, www.terrafugia.com

22/10/2011 14:15

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22/10/2011 14:16

AUTUMN 11

INTERVIEW

PICK OF THE CROP Small businesses in the North East now lead the rest of the country in the fightback to economic recovery, and top entrepreneurs of the region are scaling up their support. Brian Nicholls reports. If bankers have it right this time, small businesses in the North East are leading the rest of Britain in the nation’s battle for economic recovery. Confident this is so, top entrepreneurs of the region are intensifying their support for these new bravehearts. A “get up and go” flame already lit is firing the North East’s small businesses up to the top of the index in the annual Barclays Business Regional Impact Index. The index, started last year, says the North East is the region benefiting most from their SMEs and, crucially, the role they are playing in boosting recovery across the country. Thus the North East is three places up to first place, displacing London. “For the North East to be top of the tree like this is testament to the confidence people here have in the region’s economy,” says Nigel Mills. “It encourages us to think there has never been greater need or opportunity than now for an organisation like the Entrepreneurs Forum to share its expertise and encourage the pacesetting SMEs to grow even faster.” Mills himself is one of the region’s alreadyproven entrepreneurs and a board member of the Forum for whom mentoring features highly among its priorities as it encourages, develops and grows entrepreneurship in the region.

Further to this end, the Forum is “reenergising” while also relaxing its rules of membership as it nears its 10th birthday. It plans by these means to intensify its reach into the region, and its encouragement of self-start novitiates. Professor Robert Blackburn of the Small Business Research Centre at Kingston University, who developed the Index, says: “The North East’s top place could be down to its entrepreneurs having a long-standing propensity to innovate and export beyond their limited regional market – in contrast to those enjoying close proximity to larger metropolitan markets.” The study observes that North East SMEs are driven by a strong performance in investment, innovation, proportionate turnover and firms that were born global. The index, based on analysis following in-depth review of around

1,000 owner-managers, points out that the North East SMEs have committed, on average, 20% of their income to innovation – the highest of any region. “This commitment appears long-term,” the survey adds. “Clearly these firms are taking a longer-term view on their business and are investing heavily for the recovery. Innovation has been especially important for SMEs in manufacturing.” It says North East firms interviewed had cut their headcount by 1% on average, unlike a trend to jobs growth in other regions. In short, the index suggests, businesses in the North East are showing jobless growth in a drive to leanness and efficiency. But they expect considerable jobs growth next year – by up to 20%, as they anticipate markets to improve. The study ranks each region on 13 key indicators that include outlook on growth, >>

For the North East to be top of the tree like this is testament to the confidence that people here have in the region’s economy. It encourages us

BUSINESS QUARTER |AUTUMN 11

INTERVIEW

AUTUMN 11

job creation and expected profit. To flare enthusiasm locally, the Entrepreneurs Forum has prepared a list of 42 inspirational events for its current working year, and is enlarging its board from 11 to 14 members to be more “hands on” in Forum activities. This enlargement, among other things giving Teesside and Durham greater involvement, is also expected to widen the board’s skills base, intensify and generally diversify the Forum’s reach into the region. The organisation says it is systematically building on its programme of entrepreneurial culture and mentoring. The latter has always been a priority, with more experienced Forum members helping individuals and joint venturers early on in their business building. The knowledge and expertise to be drawn on has come from seasoned entrepreneurs such as Tom Maxfield, Sir Peter Vardy, Paul Walker and John Hays, as well as younger ascendants. Nigel Mills and Lorna Moran have outlined to BQ some of the Forum proposals, which include the 42 events promoting an entrepreneurial culture. Mills, who recently enhanced his personal fortune by selling many of his Mills stores to Tesco, continues to exercise his skills through Closewalk property company at Whitley Bay. Moran is chief executive of NRG recruitment group, also vice-chairman and a co-founder of the Forum. They say the bigger board will step up the pace at a time when membership, usually grown by word of mouth, stands now at 470, thanks to a recent spurt of applications. A total of 500 is the aim by Christmas. In addition, the Forum has a new and widely experienced executive director, Nicola Short. Formerly marketing head of the urban regeneration body 1NG and NewcastleGateshead marketing agency NGI, she also worked in marketing for Sage and Newcastle Building Society. Her appointment follows the departure of Carole Beverley, who was chief executive for eight years until going into IT as group marketing and communications director of Technology Services Group. Mills says: “The augmented board will be capable of leading the region’s entrepreneurial agenda. It will mark our first 10 years with fresh objectives and a sense of re-engagement that will further both the

BUSINESS QUARTER | AUTUMN 11 BQ_MAG iss 15.indb 80

Fresh face: Nicola Short, executive director

Big and getting bigger The Forum board prior to its enlargement being detailed comprised: Tom Maxfield (serial entrepreneur and investor) Lorna Moran (chief executive, NRG Group) Sir Peter Vardy (chairman, The Vardy Group) Nigel Mills (former group managing director of Mills Group) Paul Walker (former chief executive, Sage Group) Steven Bell (chief executive, Newman Scott) Keith Miller (chairman, Miller International) John Hays (managing director, Hays Travel) Paul Campbell (chief executive, The Amazing Group) Graeme Lowdon (chief executive, Nomad Digital) Julie Drummond (managing director, Drummond Central). Contact: www.entrepreneursforum.net or tel 0870 850 2233.

Forum’s development and its fellowship. “The extra members will reflect an analysis of industries in the North East and a good representation of them,” he adds. The bigger board, besides, will be reworking the Forum’s finances ahead of the imminent demise of regional development agency One North East, and the £300,000 support it previously gave the Forum yearly. Lorna Moran says: “One North East did a great job supporting the Forum in its embryonic years. Now the Forum has reached critical mass and is able to operate on its own. We’ve had the money and spent it wisely, and now we must be more entrepreneurial, which is what we want to be.” Revenue streams continue to flow from membership fees, five powerful corporate partners, sponsorship, and income from events. Support from within is good, Moran says, but stresses: “We have no commercial element, which is what makes us different. Nor have we plans to that end. Through our members and indeed non-members who value our aims and support us, we can be altruistic.” She points out that the Forum’s tooling up comes in readiness for a new wave of would-be entrepreneurs. “Statistically, entrepreneurship has been growing in this region for over a decade,” she says. “Now, coming out of a flat economy, there’s a new wave of entrepreneurial people who are being displaced from the public sector by redundancy under the Government’s spending cuts. The public sector in this region employs 25% of the workforce. If we can bring on entrepreneurship from there it will also be a generator for the other 75% of the region’s workforce.” A second survey circulating, this time by business advisors Deloitte, suggests growth also in the middle area of the region’s economy. It concludes that most of the North East’s entrepreneurs are growing their business at least as well as they forecast, with six out of 10 stating that revenue growth met or exceeded their expectations, and with widespread optimism that further growth would be seen in the next 12 months – some of it in double digits. The Barclays and Deloitte reports, together, offer some re-assurance, perhaps, in face >>

22/10/2011 14:16

BQ M

We’ve saved you a seat. Join us. INTERVIEW

Brewin Dolphin is proud to support Northumbria University Sport.

BQ_MAG iss 15.indb 81 2 BQ Magazine_205x260.indd

Row E, Seat 17, Northumbria University Sport.

AUTUMN 11

BUSINESS QUARTER |AUTUMN 11 22/10/2011 14:16 21/10/2011 16:17:24

INTERVIEW

AUTUMN 11

of The findings by business rescue and recovery specialist Begbies Traynor is that levels of business distress in the North East rose faster than anywhere else in the third quarter of this year – 19% up on the previous three months. Either way, Moran is prompted to point out: “A successful emergence from the present economy has got to be business-led. There isn’t anything else left any more. Business has to lead us back to better times.” She has concluded that while entrepreneurs elsewhere in the country, including London, have their organisations too, there’s nothing anywhere run quite like the Forum. Maybe the nearest is the Entrepreneurial Exchange in Scotland, with which the Forum enjoys close relations. The one thing that’s certain in Mills’ mind: “The Forum is needed to knit things together in the North East economy.” Self-employed people anywhere between Berwick and Teesside and across to Cumbria’s border may apply for membership of this organisation, already widely representative both of the geography and of the region’s mix of manufacturing and services. A unique feature is its layering of membership which reflects a combination of experience, turnover and the stage a company is at: Master level members have already built substantial businesses; many are serial entrepreneurs and among them are the Forum’s founders, of whom more than 30 have been involved for nine years. Full and associate level members pay a fee based on their firms’ turnovers for the same benefits; they’ve established businesses, are looking for growth and understand the value of learning from their peers. Then there’s a nurturing pool open to ambitious pre-revenue businesses, offering a connection with more experienced members and perspectives that will be invaluable as they develop and transform ideas into reality. A new honorary level of membership – “an ambassadorial role” – has been introduced and, to the Forum’s delight, multi-millionaire entrepreneur Graham Wylie has agreed to be first so designated. Finally, in a new membership policy, the Forum from next year is likely to let business leaders and senior management teams join, in addition to business owners. Spire Hospital at

BUSINESS QUARTER | AUTUMN 11 BQ_MAG iss 15.indb 82

Washington expects to provide the first members here. Mills says response was “fantastic” when three more volunteers were sought for the board. Moran says: “These are people with little spare time, and who get no financial recompense for their priceless input, indeed probably end up out of pocket. They pay their membership subscription like everyone else. They do the work because a lot of successful people

struggle to know how to give back and share their knowledge. The Forum gives the platform facilitates that.” Any thought that the Forum is a mutual benefit society can be dismissed, knowing that to date it has given to local charities (always its preference) £349,656. This has supported the likes of St Oswalds, Macmillan, Percy Hedley Foundation, Teenage Cancer Trust, Grace House and Maggies. n

Out of Eden and talking business The creator of the Eden project will plant seeds of innovation in minds of business owners who attend the Forum’s next big event, its annual autumn conference on November 3, timely themed Fortune Favours the Brave. Tim Smit’s award-winning Eden is an £80m eco-charity, tourist attraction and social enterprise whose world’s biggest conservatories have attracted more than four million visitors. A best-selling author also, he graduated in archaeology and anthropology at Durham University and worked as an archaeologist in the region for two years. Netherlands-born, he aspired to his project in 1995 after restoring the Lost Gardens of Heligan, both in Cornwall. Eden transformed a 160-year-old exhausted clay quarry near St Austell into an abundant garden with rainforest and Mediterranean biomes. It was one of Britain’s Landmark Millennium Projects. Forum chairman Tom Maxfield says: “Tim has achieved incredible success against all odds – combining vision, inspirational leadership, great marketing and brilliant planning to create a unique experience that’s the envy of the world.” The conference over all will focus on challenges all business heads may face, such as creating vision, empowering the team, communicating well, getting the culture right and, as a leader, making decisions. Taking part along with Smit are Nicola Mendelsohn (chairman and partner of creative agency Karmarama), Nick Jankel (ethical entrepreneur, broadcaster and writer), and David Pearl, an adviser on business performance whose dual aim is to “make businesses more inspired and more inspiring businesses”. Conference host is Andy Verity, a Radio 5 financial and business journalist. A regional panel there will comprise: John Hays, Keith Miller, Lisa Hart Shepherd (Acritas) and Graeme Lowdon. The conference is at the Hilton Hotel, Gateshead (9.30am-4.30pm) Other coming Forum events, the range of which is also claimed to be unique among entrepreneurial bodies, include further conferences, panel debates and dinners. Some dinners have only about 20 local entrepreneurs around a table to exchange views freely and in camera with entrepreneurs of national standing. Best practice forums will look at finance and human resource issues in growing companies. There are also site visits to members’ firms, the most recent coinciding with Cherie Blair’s official opening of the new Rainton Bridge factory of Herrington Gate Furniture, Michael Stephenson’s 17-year-old bespoke furniture firm. Events next year include: March 8: Achieve Women’s Conference, coinciding with International Women’s Day. “A great opportunity for women in business to imprint their own identity and gather with the like of Lorna Moran whose experience comes from 35 years of running her own business,” says Nigel Mills. May 17: Annual Business Conference, Gala Dinner and Awards. All this, then, is the table spread hopeful of attracting even more entrepreneurs capable of raising even higher the North East’s reputation. Says Mills: “You can’t judge the Forum unless you have been to one of its events.”

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COMPANY PROFILE

Latimer Hinks Solicitors ensure that their Clients focus on their future and the well being of their families and of their businesses.

looKiNG aFteR tHe FUtURe – Family aNd BUsiNess

ATIMER HINKS solicitors, one of Darlington and County Durham’s longest established law firms, is urging people in business to ensure their future is planned. A recent survey showed that more than 60 per cent of people do not have a will. However, it is not simply a case of ensuring that loved ones are catered for, as many business owners have no plan in place for their business in the event of their death. “Areas such as adequate insurance and provision for the future, with wills and “company wills,” should be at the forefront of business owners’ minds, because none of us knows what the future holds. Directors of private companies/partners in business will want to ensure that their families are well provided for and secure the value of the business interest on their death. A so-called “company will” is an agreement for the deceased’s family to receive cash with the surviving directors/ partners receiving the deceased’s share of the business, usually by way of the proceeds of a life policy. Key employees can also be insured.” said Anne Elliott, Partner at Latimer Hinks. Anne, and fellow Partners, Nick Poole and Andrew Way, have extensive experience of the issues business owners need to consider, with regards to succession planning and other related issues. Nick has been cited by Legal 500 for his work in the corporate and commercial field, and has been repeatedly listed in The Legal Experts publication. Anne is a member of the Agricultural Law Association (ALA), and is a recommended professional for the Tenant Farmers Assocition (TFA). She has also been cited in the prestigious Legal 500 publication for Personal Tax, Trusts and Probate, as well as Agriculture and Estates, while Chambers 2011 saw Anne commended for her advice on succession planning. She advises businessmen and company directors from all walks of life and leads the firm’s Wills, Probate, Estates

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Partners, nick Poole, anne elliot and andrew Way

an example of a so-called ‘company will’ is an agreement for the deceased’s family to receiVe cash with the surViVing directors/partners receiVing the deceased’s share of the business, usually by way of the proceeds of a life policy and Trusts Department with Andrew, both of whom are supported by a young, enthusiastic and growing team of eight private client lawyers all specialising in dedicated areas. Both Anne and Andrew are members of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), and of Solicitors for the Elderly (SFE). Andrew said: “We can advise on the best way to plan to secure the desired outcome and to minimise future tax liabilities. Wills need to be appropriate, relevant and tax efficient and need to protect family and employees. We develop short, medium and long term strategic plans which may be/may need to be implemented over a five/ten/ twenty year period. It is hugely satisfying to help formulate and formalise these plans and see them come to fruition.” Lack of a will, an out of date or an inappropriate will can all leave a legacy of heartache and turmoil with family and shareholders/partners in dispute – and disputes are enormously expensive and distracting particularly in hard economic times when money matters more than ever and businesses need to be run without distractions and uncertainty.

Nick said: “The future wellbeing or existence of your business may well depend on the legal and financial plans you have or, have not put in place. Taking the right advice at an early stage is a must.” Latimer Hinks, based in Darlington’s Priestgate, has a team of 50 people serving private and corporate clients. The firm’s range of expertise and services covers legal issues surrounding property (commercial, agricultural and residential), wills and lasting powers of attorney, trusts, probate, long-term care and tax planning, commercial law, alternative and renewable energy, disputes, business rescue and debt recovery and employment, and land-owning.

For more information about latimer Hinks’ services, visit www.latimerhinks.co.uk or call 01325 341500.

BUSINESS QUARTER | AUTUMN 11 22/10/2011 14:16

ENTREPRENEUR

AUTUMN 11

On all cylinders Don’t tell Geoff Turnbull you can’t grow a company in recession. He has a £50m contract that shows you can. And there’s plenty of scope for others, he tells Brian Nicholls

They whistle while they work on the shopfloor. Office smiles greet visitors too. Things must be good. We’re at headquarters of GT Group, an extraordinary North East family firm of manufacturers, whose “grasshopper” minded chairman Geoff Turnbull shuns norms of business cheerfully as he takes his organisation onward and upward in a global top five rating. Often this firm that sposors Peterlee’s brass band is slow to blow its own trumpet. Yet its worldwide customer base and versatility in manufacturing are both remarkable and enviable. Ex-apprentice Turnbull, 65, and just back at his desk from Russia, was a wise choice in prime minister David Cameron’s accompanying delegation from British business – 24 representatives from the likes of Rolls Royce, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, British Airways and the London Stock Exchange. Turnbull already had, after all, a £50m contract from Russia agreed earlier. And while GT’s turnover at £30m-plus looks modest in that line-up he can safely expect that figure to double within two-and-ahalf years. How many other firms, conglomerate or SME, feel that confident? Turnbull has now advised two prime ministers, John Major being first in 1991. Five reasons besides his expertise distinguish him: • GT exports up to 95% to 60 countries – with no sales staff • He operates five divisions on separate sites rather than centralise • He’s had not one industrial dispute in GT’s 30 years-plus existence • His customers include many multinationals • And Turnbull, even today, can praise his banks for their support. With that £50m deal already sealed, his

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An economy growing at 1% is no reason for British industry to be in recession. A lot isn’t. Partly it has been held back through lack of finance and banks not releasing cash

company didn’t expect immediate further gain from the Moscow trip. “We were supporting the prime minister’s bid to open foreign markets,” he explains. The PM had complex political issues to discuss separately. “We helped discuss with the Russians problems in general that industrialists meet in trying to do business with them. We want an easier path for others besides ourselves that wish to benefit from one of the world’s fastest growing economies.” The North East, a distinguished exporter, was indeed doubly represented. Present also was Richard Cotter, brand president of Berghaus, the Sunderland manufacturer of outdoor

clothing and equipment, which opened the first of 10 stores planned for Russia over the next decade in Moscow on September 25. Russian practices of payment differ from the West’s. Turnbull explains: “Their economy is based on their natural resources. When prices are right for their oil and gas you can negotiate quite lucrative terms. When those prices are low you must be very flexible in how you expect payment. Sometimes I’ve been paid months in advance, other times not for three months. We raised this. Getting in’s a problem too, then there may be difficulties over English and Russian law being different. “Russia for GT Group is a small market among about 60 countries we serve. But what we are doing there enhances our growth, so it’s significant.” GT’s great success currently is its low-carbon engineering – pro-environmental assemblies that burn off harmful hydrocarbons that otherwise would escape into the atmosphere from engines of heavy goods and off-road vehicles. This “green” breakthrough secured the six-year contract with Gaz Group, Russia’s biggest automotives manufacturer. At peak, 100,000 systems a year will be fitted onto Gaz Activ trucks, off-road vehicles, buses and other commercial vehicles. There being no pollutant regulations in Russia yet, the country can neither improve the air its people breathe, nor export vehicles to parts of Europe and America where such legislation does apply. “We have Euro 3, Euro 4 and Euro 5 with Euro 6 coming in 2012,” Turnbull explains. “These reduce emissions permitted. Our systems will go to a new state-of-the-art factory the Russian company is building, >>

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ENTREPRENEUR and there it’ll turn out engines conforming to European standards.” This will improve the atmosphere also of countries where the vehicles are sold. It will even reduce pollution in Russia that drifts into the Western Hemisphere. But GT, like others, has hurt in recession. “Turnover fell from £25m to £16m,” Turnbull admits. “But we’ve come back fantastically – 100% growth this year. Turnover’s now £30m plus and, over the next two-and-a-half years, will reach £60m. We’ve an order book of about £250m already for five to six years. We’re among the top in the West for making products for heavy goods emission systems.” Its other customers include Renault, Volvo, Scania, John Dear, Dentz, Cummins, Mack, GM, JCB, Alexander Dennis, Caterpillar, Nissan and Nissan Diesel, Mentor Wabco, and Volvo powertrains and construction equipment. Business with John Dear, the US manufacturer of advanced tractors and other off-road vehicles, is “massive” in the five-litre engine range. “Also,” says Turnbull, “every Scania vehicle in the world will not only have our engine brake fitted, but now also our engine emission systems where used. We’re also about to sign the world contract with Volvo.” Technology has been patented for engines of four to 16 litres and in conjunction with Caterpillar chassis it works for Ground Force, on vehicles perhaps 10 times bigger than anything rolling on British roads. “Our contracts with Ground Force cover manufacturing of their vehicles for Europe and the rest of the world outside the US,” says Turnbull. “So that too is massive.” Ron Nilson, Ground Force’s chief executive, says: “It was very easy to award the work to GT Group above other companies.” And from next year, all JCB diggers for export will carry GT emission systems. However, GT is also diversified. Who provided hydraulic mechanisms for the Millennium Bridge over the Tyne, structural and associated work on The Sage Gateshead, transit pipework on Sunderland’s Queen Alexandra Bridge, and contributed to Hong Kong’s Airport Bridge? Yes, GT. The company’s demo room – “Geoff’s cave” – displays hundreds of sample products.

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AUTUMN 11

Turnbull muses: “Some have been ideas which I’ve said, ‘right, that’s needed’. We’ve designed and made them but they’ve never gone to market. I mightn’t have had the money to take them there, or I’ve been so interested in the next product that I’ve never had the resources available. “Perhaps I haven’t been the world’s best businessman in that respect. I’ve got a grasshopper mind. My concentration lasts about 0.1 of a second – I was the same at school.“ Hence the diversity of products that do make it. One of Its smaller businesses, Alpha Process Controls, provides couplings and valves to transfer volatile liquids in offshore and petrochemical work – potential indeed, as demand for liquefied natural gas grows. Alpha’s customers include Exxon, Shell, BP, Air Products, Linde, Saudi Aramco, Air Liquide, Conoco-Phillips, Total, Proxaid, India Oil, Repsor, Calor and BOC. GT designed and developed the first system to feed liquid hydrogen safely into hydrogen cars on garage forecourts. Behind the prototype vehicles were Air Products, Shell, and GM. “They developed the cars but lacked a safe way to transfer liquid at -250°,” says Turnbull. “We found the answer. We were then asked to commission the product in Washington DC.” He then proudly produces a commemorative plaque. Take-off began in 1975. Shell wanted a breakaway coupling, a “weak link” in a hose system simulating a weak link in an electrical system. “Rather than risk another Bhopal disaster because of a disastrous leak, you must design safety into all systems of transfer,” Turnbull explains and amplifies... “LPG escaping in transfer would go into vapour 150 times the size and be catastrophic if ignited. You build on one product, then develop another and so on. Disaster comes not from one thing but numerous things going wrong within a system. BP’s recent disaster in the Mexican oilfields stemmed from many things going wrong. Preventative measures in the chain of events would have stopped it. That’s how you stop disasters happening.” Alpha was formed in 1976 when ICI wanted a coupling developed to transfer liquid benzene

safely. Orders for other couplings followed, also valves and pneumatic and hydraulic seals with metal bondings. When John Major asked Turnbull onto his advisory committee on business and the environment in 1991 he saw potentials for environmental manufacturing. He was on the team, he was told, because he made things happen. He worked alongside blue chip bosses then, too. “The lesson over three years,” he recalls, ”was that legislation would be needed on numerous issues to guard the environment – not just particle emissions and nitrous oxide from diesels, but many other areas, including vehicles powered by natural gas, biodiesel, liquid hydrogen – everything coming out now. I set out on a journey then knowing the road would be long. But it was something I wanted to research.” This word “research” crops up repeatedly. “R&D’s my passion,” he admits. “Every month we consider what can we can do next year and the year after. Every day we talk on the phone to designers and technicians of big companies, learning what they’re looking for. We say we’d like to work with them in overcoming that problem. We look for opportunities with products we think we can help. I now like to think we’re an environmental engineering company.” Things don’t happen overnight. They’re presently considering where renewables will be 10 years hence. They started on engine emissions 10 years ago and worked with Gaz for four years before its deal came up. “Success has come with lots of hard work, and lots of research and development,” Turnbull says. About 20 staff engage in R&D. Many have come up through the company; apprentices perhaps honed by further education and university graduates. Continuous improvement programmes run throughout the business. GT Project Engineering at Sunderland and Consett is a project specialist, fabricating for heavy automotive, subsea, marine and defence sectors. Dramatic growth is expected through manufacture of truck engines, chassis and bodies. Newton Aycliffe provides powder coating, wet paint, shot-blasting and other treatments. Peterlee (where the group recently >>

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ENTREPRENEUR

AUTUMN 11

I’ll do what’s best for the workforce Geoff Turnbull didn’t sit the 11-plus exam at school in Horden. An appendix operation intervened. But as a 15-year-old apprentice he pondered what businesses to start. He’d already worked for three years on travelling shops. His apprenticeship had him studying at college in Hartlepool, Darlington and elsewhere. He also did other odd jobs while learning about the manufacture of garage forecourt equipment. By 22 he was production manager of a graphite and carbon firm, Ralph Ciodan at Eaglescliffe. Then he moved to a small sub-contractor, King Engineering and Fabrications. He sold the family home at Hartlepool to unlock capital and build his stake in the firm, buying out his business partner in 1983. Several homes were later sold to fund growth. Sandra his wife understood. “Thankfully all these decisions proved positive,” he says. “My parents were great but always encouraged prudence. If they wanted something they saved for it, as people did then. But I was a bit of a livewire. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial edge, and there was never any doubt I’d run my own business.” His father had been a keen modelmaker and handyman when he wasn’t tending the ponies at Dawdon Colliery, inspiring Geoff both to make things and, now, breed racehorses. Working in Castrol’s design office he met Sandra, a trainee tracer, and they married at 19. Today they live at Elwick and have two sons and two daughters aged between 45 and 25. Their oldest son teaches economics and pure maths in the biggest English school at Phuket in Thailand. Their oldest daughter, an actress, now has a business educating schoolchildren in drama and dance. Their younger son is managing director of the Aycliffe plant and their younger daughter, Catherine, heads the company’s purchasing, holding an international degree in business studies with French as second language. “A very entrepreneurial girl with a tremendous future,” the chairman says. Forever a family business, then? “You can never predict a family company will remain so for many years to come,” Turnbull says. ”I wouldn’t like to predict it. Whatever happens to me, I want longevity, continuity and security for the workforce. I’ll do whatever I think best to provide that.” Geoff Turnbull is certain about one thing, however. “British manufacturing can be every bit as efficient as German and Japanese. But you must utilise the brains of everyone working for you, and maximise use of your floorspace. “UK management has been lacking for many years. I’m not saying we’re perfect – I’m looking for my management team to develop all the time. But it’s a matter of working with the people who work for you. That will bring success. And mind not to overstretch yourself.”

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switched from a 40,000sq ft factory on North West Industrial State to one of 50,000sq ft on neighbouring Whitehouse Business Park) has plastics, rubber and automotive divisions. There’s also a lighting division providing polymer and specialist exterior housings for street, car park and offshore lighting. Seals and moulding work ranges from food industry needs to housing for lighting, and customers here include Thorn, Philips, Hubbell Lighting Inc, Caterpillar, Bowes and Wilkins, and Thorlux Lighting. GT, under eight directors led by Turnbull, will remain disparate because, he maintains: “I’ve never believed in closing acquisitions. I believe in keeping the people you have gone in there to work with. So companies remain where they were when we acquired them. We may have expanded into another area with them, though. We’ve a fantastic workforce. I wouldn’t want to work anywhere else. Not one day’s industrial dispute in 30-odd years... I’ll support my workforce, come hell or high water, anywhere.” The only pullout was at Jarrow when foundries were closing everywhere. Now, though, the workforce could grow from 300 to 500. Opportunities look good already for platers, welders, technicians, machinists and designers. China is the only major country yet to be penetrated. “Soon we’ll look there, along with others we already do business with. If they open divisions there we can support with our design of emission systems. “Some others in business think in recession there’s no growth to be had. My philosophy is that there’s a marketplace somewhere.” He instances economies in the world growing at 8% per annum. “Us growing at 1% is no reason for British industry to be in recession. Partly it has been held back through lack of finance and banks not releasing cash.” However, GT’s relations with Barclays, HSBC and GE are superb, he says, appreciative also of support from Durham County Council and One North East. Part of a £10m investment from its own coffers will fund “green” research and development at Leeds University. “We’re very liquid. We’ve no problems in our growth plans,” Turnbull says. Good news, that, for the region. ■

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Everyone’s different. Fortunately so are we. At Grant Thornton, we’ve always gone about our business in a very different way. Delivering a bespoke service to all our clients is our primary concern and we won’t offer you or your clients an ‘off the shelf’ financial and tax solution. Far from it. Our advisers take the time to understand a client’s individual circumstances and aspirations. We believe it’s important to provide flexibility to meet our clients’ needs, to tailor our solutions accordingly and to dedicate the right people to the job in hand.

For further information on our services or to arrange an initial consultation, please contact: Joe McLean Partner T 0113 200 1506 E joe.mclean@uk.gt.com

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22/10/2011 16:21 14:20 21/10/2011

PRINCE’S TRUST

AUTUMN 11

Despite the high level of youth unemployment, the North East has high expectations of its young workforce, many of whom will start their own businesses under the guidance of the region’s best brains >> Young entrepreneurs get their chance Disturbingly, 21% of young people are jobless nationally. And, of those 991,000, some 45% have been like that for more than six months. But, encouragingly in the North East – where it’s probably 21%-plus, there’s an achievable drive to guide at least 4,000 into work or further education in a year – with perhaps 100 even becoming young entrepreneurs. Supporters of The Prince’s Trust – corporate and individual – know from experience young people given a chance seize it. So a new leadership group of the North East Trust has agreed to make major funding commitments. The group will be publicly launched on February 7 at the Aston Martin Workshop at Beamish with Charles Dunstone, chairman of The Trust and founder of The Carphone Warehouse, there. High demand for places is expected. The Leadership Group will fundraise for The Trust’s enterprise programme. They’ll get mentoring and support to join the next generation of North East entrepreneurs. At least 25 leading businesses and businessmen in the region look set to join the group at a cost of £5,000 a year – giving an annuity of £125,000 yearly to enable another 100 potential entrepreneurs to be brought on yearly. Group attendance is by invitation. But anyone feeling strongly they’d like to be part of this initiative should contact John Wall, chairman of The Prince’s Trust development committee regionally, or Nigel McMinn, managing director of Benfield Group, who has agreed to chair the initiative. The previous BQ issue highlighted Nigel and Benfield and their golf day for The Trust at Slaley Hall. Sporting stars there included Alan Shearer, and 36 teams from the business world competed. A gala black tie dinner for 240 followed. Altogether £25,000 was raised. Room501 Publishing Company, through

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managing director Chris March, is a founder member of the Leadership Group. John Wall will be pleased to talk to anyone who feels they would like to join the North East’s Leadership Group of The Prince’s Trust. Tel: 07802 917 615.

>> Million bid is on A Million Makers programme is under way in the North East, featuring seven teams of staff from leading businesses in the region. Northumbrian Water Group won the national title last year and is out for a double. But first they are up against local rivals, including Zodiac Training, Dickinson Dees law firm, Redcar Council, Hewlett Packard, Benfield Motors and Tesco Bank. Each team wants to raise more than £10,000 for the youth charity through mini-enterprises built on their acumen, creativity and negotiating skills. The side earning most contests the national final in London nest March, when up to 100 teams in all may have raised £1m-plus. A celebration evening when the regional winners will be feted is planned for February and The Trust invites interest from new corporate supporters. Contact: Chris Gray, tel 0753 8578598 or e mail chris. gray@princes-trust.org.uk

John Wall warns: “The many people who know and love John will soon hear more as the Just Giving e-mail hits their box!” There’s a major business dinner in the first quarter of 2012, a clay pigeon shoot at Lambton in May, and a Demolition Ball in autumn. Anyone wishing to help reduce the unacceptable level of unemployment among North East young people who deserve better has plenty of opportunity. The charity established by the Prince of Wales in 1976 has helped more than 600,000 young people across the UK.

>> Patrons set the pace Patrons are vital to The Trust’s work. They commit £100,000 each over four years. Typical of North Eastern generosity, four patrons have already made their commitment to the region. Two are corporate, two are individuals. John Wall says: “They know who they are and we respect their privacy.” They’ll enjoy a “big thank you” dinner shortly, hosted by broadcaster Kate Adie, who will also be guest speaker. Wall says: “We’ll also have a small number of special guests there who, we hope, will think deeply about joining us as patrons.” Out of every pound the charity raises, 84p goes directly towards the young people.

>> Trust us to rock

>> A time to shine

The Prince’s Trust is hosting a Rock Gala at the Royal Albert Hall on November 23. Tickets are still available (tel 0845 401 5045) to see a galaxy of stars led by Pete Townsend. The Trust’s development committee from the North East will be there. Then 2012 opens at a dizzy height of 22,841ft when John Holland (of food wholesaler JR Holland) will be in Argentina, climbing Acanagua, the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere, in aid of young people on Trust programmes.

Stars will shine for sure on November 14, when The Prince’s Trust celebrates success at The Sage in Gateshead. The Trust’s character-building enables young folk between 14 and 30, many previously vulnerable, to recover from disappointments and difficulties and find a career path. Celebrate Success is the annual awards ceremony for those outstanding in The Trust’s programmes. More detail from Chris Gray on 0191 49732101 or 0753 8578598.

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AUTUMN 11

COMPANY PROFILE

Teesside Knowledge Transfer is one of the best in the country

ENGINEERING A SUCCESSFUL PARTNERSHIP

ARA Zarei has joined Middlesbroughbased engineering company Stanley Vickers Ltd after helping to improve their manufacturing efficiency and production potential through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with Teesside University. The Teesside KTP was judged as ‘outstanding’ by a panel of independent assessors from the Technology Strategy Board - quite an accolade as only 5% of such partnerships between industry and academia get the top grade nationwide. Sara, who won a prestigious Business Leader of Tomorrow award last year, is now the company’s Knowledge partners (from l-r) Sara Zarei, operations and improvements engineer. She’s also Professor Farhad Nabhani, and David Ford completing a PhD looking at ways of applying Automatic Identification and Data Capture systems to small and medium sized engineering firms. (CNC) machines which we use to manufacture She joined the company as a KTP associate after screws up to eight metres long. The work improved graduating with distinction from Teesside’s MSc in reliability and helped to save the company £27,000 Computer-aided Engineering. a year,” said Sara. Stanley Vickers specialises in manufacturing and A continuous improvement group was then refurbishing single/twin extruder, injection and established by Sara involving key employees and blow moulding feed-screws and barrels used in the postgraduate students were invited in on plastic, rubber and food industries. placement to gain hands-on experience of the They turned to the University after struggling to real business world by helping to streamline keep up with demand because of manufacturing business practices. breakdowns and to help make better use of new One of Sara’s biggest projects was investigating technology. A two-year KTP was set up under the how a computerised Automatic Identification and joint supervision of Farhad Nabhani, the Data Capture (AIDC) system could remove University’s Professor of Biomechanics and bottlenecks, improve the site layout and find a Manufacturing, and Stanley Vickers’ Production more efficient way to transport and track parts Manager David Ford, with Sara managing the around the plant. project as a KTP associate. “The AIDC system will involve putting a small chip The KTP was a radical step for a company not used into all of the parts we make and then use to working with academics. So a mini project radio-frequency waves to trace in real-time how showed how the collaboration could have far through the manufacturing process the immediate benefits. different parts have progressed. We knew we “We upgraded the software and hardware of one of to improve production line practices so we Spark BQ mag band:Layout 1 21/12/10needed 09:55 Page 1 the company’s Computer Numerically Controlled also introduced a new enterprise resource

A spark of inspiration

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www.tees.ac.uk/spark

planning system to link stock control with scheduling. The old manual job route cards were replaced with a new fully computerised system. Everything is now being linked together thanks to help and support from Professor Nabhani.” Speaking for the company, David Ford said: “We’re delighted the KTP project has been awarded the top grade. The KTP encouraged us to adopt a more modern approach to introducing new technology and opened our minds to new ways of working. “We’ve seen vast improvements in the company’s processes and machinery through the KTP project and it has led to large financial savings and we’ve offered Sara a permanent post. “We’ve also taken on four new apprentices and are looking for another graduate. Since the KTP finished last year, production is up by 50%.” Sara added: “The KTP was a brilliant opportunity to gain vital industrial experience while working with the University and continuing with my studies. I would recommend KTPs to graduates in any field as the benefits achieved and the experiences gained have been incredible.” Professor Nabhani said: “We’re very pleased with the ‘outstanding’ result awarded for the KTP with Stanley Vickers Ltd. This project was particularly successful for all three stakeholders. Debbie Buckley-Golder, Head of Knowledge Exchange at the Technology Strategy Board, said: “The ‘Outstanding’ grade is a mark of real quality for Knowledge Transfer Partnerships. It’s clear to see that this project with Stanley Vickers has delivered substantial benefits for all partners and this accolade is amply deserved.”

For more information about working with Teesside University, email business@tees.ac.uk or call 01642 384068.

The University for BUSINESS

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IN ANOTHER LIFE

AUTUMN 11

Who’s for a fight? Paula Breen is chairman of Coast & Country, the registered social landlord with a rental housing stock of 10,308 in Redcar and Cleveland. She might, though, have been up for an Olympic gold medal in another life, she reflected as she went off at age 42 to represent England in the World Karate and Kickboxing Championship in Spain I didn’t take up karate till I was 29. I caught the martial art bug watching my son Ryan practising the sport and decided I would like to have a go myself. But various commitments intervened. I was no longer able to dedicate the necessary time to it. However, about four years ago, I felt it was a shame that I had let such a fulfilling hobby fall by the wayside. Karate is a fantastic sport which boosts fitness, improves posture, increases flexibility, sharpens the mind, aids concentration and helps reduce stress levels. So I decided to take it up again and returned to the Northern Freestyle Karate Association. As a result, my energy levels and sense of wellbeing and fitness greatly improved. I felt confident enough to start competing. You can probably imagine my joy – and amazement – when I won a karate competition at the first attempt. I became the champion in two veterans’ categories at this year’s British Open Championship. Since then, as a First Dan Black Belt, I have been training hard for the next challenge. Thanks to my wins, I have qualified for the England team at the World Karate and Kickboxing Championship (WKC). My success has made me ponder what I could have accomplished had I taken up karate much earlier. Perhaps I could have been a full-time instructor – or even a contender for an Olympic gold medal. But I am not the kind of person who dwells on the “what might have beens”, I am happy with my life, with what I have achieved in general, and I would not want to change what I do. But it is very satisfying to have become a British champion – even if it is in something that is only a hobby. n

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One woman’s war: Paula goes off to battle with the best wishes of Iain Sim, chief executive of Coast & Country

92 22/10/2011 14:20

AUTUMN 11

COMPANY PROFILE

INVESTMENT FUNDS IN GOOD HEALTH

EMEDA, a Teesside-based producer of medical device products for women, is one of more than 250 businesses across the North East to be reaping the benefits of investment funding to support its growth plans. The company, which is led by Jim Bradley, is just one of a growing number of businesses on Teesside to have been backed by Finance for Business North East (FBNE) funds as it looks to take its revolutionary Pelviva product to market. Managed by North East Finance, the FBNE portfolio of funds has invested more than £28 million in businesses since its launch early last year. Femeda has been supported by FBNE’s Accelerator Fund. The investment was part of a funding round which also attracted co-investment from Hotspur Capital Partners – a private business angel syndicate. Pelviva is a new product which Femeda has created to treat female urinary incontinence. Designed to be used like a tampon, Pelviva Pelpons are disposable, hygienic and simple to use. A patented pulse programme provides a 30 minute workout for the pelvic floor. Between 25% and 40% of women are affected by incontinence at some stage in their life and have generally relied on pads, pills or surgery as treatment. Femeda’s unique device effectively and conveniently allows women to treat the condition discreetly without visiting a clinician. Successful trials of Pelviva have already taken place in the UK which indicated 84% of women experienced an improvement in their condition and will form the basis of obtaining full regulatory approval before full scale manufacturing begins in 2012. Company chairman Jim Bradley who has spent a career working in the industry with major players such as P&G and Mars explained “This is a groundbreaking product and the technology is simply not available anywhere else.

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Alex Buchan, Investment Manager, Northstar Ventures, which manages the FBNE Accelerator Fund

ONE OF THE GREAT ADVANTAGES OF THE FUNDS IS THE FLEXIBILITY TO WORK ALONGSIDE A BROAD SPECTRUM OF INDUSTRIES, SO IT’S ENCOURAGING TO SEE A GOOD SPREAD OF INVESTMENTS BY BOTH SECTOR AND LOCATION “Existing non-surgical products only manage the symptoms of the condition and do not treat the causes as we do. For women affected by this condition, the solution give them a sense of ’getting their life back’ potentially improving both wellbeing and lifestyle. “We’re currently in the process of taking the product to manufacture using the investment funding. There’s already been interest from a number of global players and we’re tremendously excited by the commercial prospects as the market is huge.”

Femeda has contracted Sanmina SCI to manufacture the product and plans to begin sales on the internet next year. The company would then look at retail options the following year as it looks to break into an estimated $1 billion global market. Andrew Mitchell, chief executive at North East Finance, said: “The aim of the Finance for Business North East funds has always been to support dynamic companies with good commercial prospects. “Femeda is just one of many such companies in our portfolio and it is rewarding see the money being invested in such an innovative business. “One of the great advantages of the funds is the flexibility to work alongside a broad spectrum of industries, so it’s encouraging to see a good spread of investments by both sector and location.” The FBNE (formerly JEREMIE) Fund was launched in January 2010 with the backing of the European Regional Development Fund, the European Investment Bank and One North East. It will invest £125 million in developing business prospects across the North East from the Tees Valley to the Northumbrian borders by the end of 2014. Since its launch, the FBNE portfolio of funds has already backed more than 250 businesses – investing over £28 million and leveraging a further £28 million from private sector investors.

NORT H E AS T

FINANCE For more information on the Finance for Business North East Funds and who to contact if you are interested in funding, please visit www.northeastfinance.org

BUSINESS QUARTER | AUTUMN 11 22/10/2011 14:20

MEDIA BRIEFS

The Scrutator >> Meeting of the Minds

Something magic: Rockliffe Hall Hotel, the North East’s top large hotel in recent awards (Doxford Hall at Chathill is the smallest) is the location for a magical history tour Artists and industrialists worked more closely during the North East’s golden age of progress. Maybe Design Centre North will bring that all back. When Design Centre North is fully functioning at Gateshead will it bring our engineers and scientists closer to our artists and entrepreneurs? They weren’t always widely apart. Indeed, their social and working interaction two centuries ago contributed to the North East’s eminence in Europe, industrially and technically. Why not now, too? Today’s schism separating arts from industry may stem partly from an educational system that for too long segregated scholars clever with their minds from those clever with minds and hands. But that’s another argument. International acclaim this year forf Haydon Bridge’s apocalyptic artist John Martin remindsus he not only painted masterpieces of hellfire and damnation (a national exhibition of which recently joined some of his permanent work at Newcastle’s Laing Art Gallery), but that he also designed improvements to

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AUTUMN 11

London’s water supply, sewerage, docks and railways. On sewerage, he was 25 years ahead of his time. Conversely, Saltburn resort’s recent celebration of its creation 150 years ago, by the Darlington Quaker Henry Pease, also reminds us Pease was, as well as a businessman, a visionary in urban and horticultural planning. Two books explain lucidly the region’s early integration of the arts with science and engineering. That of Max Adams, a biographer also of Admiral Lord Collingwood, concentrates on Martin’s key role in a generation which, as he suggests, “stole the future”. The other, by the North East journalist Chris Lloyd, records the connection and feats of artists and engineers around Hurworth village, on the Durham-Yorkshire border where the five-star Rockliffe Hall Hotel now stands – voted best large hotel in this year’s North East England Tourism Awards. Adams tells how the creativity of Byron, Shelley, Turner and Bewick on one hand related to that on the other of Richard Arkwright, the Brunels, Sir Humphry Davy, Michael Faraday, Robert Owen and the railway pioneers William Hedley, Richard Trevithick, Timothy Hackworth and the Stephensons. Charles Babbage, who invented a mid-19th Century prototype of the computer, and John Buddle, the Tyneside engineer who innovated to reduce coalmining tragedies, also put their piece into a common pot of progress. Adams’s compelling recall is as thoughtprovoking as the frequency with which artists and engineers of that time excelled despite little formal education. Darlington was an amazing centre of innovation and progress, not only because of the world’s first passenger railway there, but also because of the Quaker influence on business, commerce and industry there. The Backhouse family laid foundations in Darlington and Sunderland for Barclays Bank. Sir Ernest Cassel was financier to King Edward VII. Henry of Tyneside’s famous Blacketts, rich from collieries, shipping and politics, was a resident of the area. Literary lions William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge stayed near Hurworth. Lewis Carroll lived at nearby Croft.

Darlington’s end of this remarkable epoch is told engrossingly and splendidly by Chris Lloyd, who is also deputy editor of The Northern Echo and a former North East Journalist of the Year. This compellingly illustrated record is an inspiration also of management at Rockcliffe Hall Hotel, who rightly believe the history behind the hotel and its surrounds should be widely known and enjoyed, especially by visitors to the region. Oh, and another reason why there was such an inspiring fusion towards engineering was an absence of concern about rights of intellectual property. Discuss... Max adams: the prometheans (Quercus £9.99 paperback) Chris lloyd: road to rockliffe (the northern echo £25 hardback)

>> Winning New Business: How to do your own PR workshop Is your business missing out on valuable media coverage because of fear of journalists and confusion over what they want? If so, help is at hand! This half-day Service Network workshop on 14th December 2011 will cover: • What makes a story and how to spot them in your daily business routine • How the media works and what to do when approached by reporters/ photographers • Top ten tips for writing press releases which always get used. This workshop will be full of vital information you won’t find in any marketing book or PR website. You will walk away with a simple toolkit of skills to enable you to get the best out of the media. The workshop is useful for any type of organisation, whatever size, if you don’t have a PR agency or in-house PR expertise to call upon. To book your place call Service Network on 0191 244 4031 or visit www.servicenetwork.co.uk. Free to Service Network members, £45+vat to non-members.

22/10/2011 14:20

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ISSUE FIFTEEN: AUTUMN 2011

into the unknown A German designer finds the region’screative culture isn’t such a foreign field

the live debate Which is the better investment – product innovation or brand development?

steam pressure The licensed trade is suffering more than most, but one man’s glass is always full

on all cylinders A healthy ‘green’ order book is one company’s answer to the economy’s doom-merchants www.bq-magazine.co.uk

ISSUE TEN: AUTUMN 2011

plant higher Electronic printing is ideal for companies in growth

credit where due A new breed of payment card shows great flexibility

scrubbed up well The soap company that’s awash with potential

bq live debate Is finance for start-ups and expansion yours for the asking or have the banks secured the loan shutters?

retail tales

www.bq-magazine.co.uk

ISSUE FIVE: AUTUMN 2011

a ticket to park

The journey from airport parking to self-storage

hart of the matter

How a dean’s vision in education and research on a world scale is adding value to enterprise

taking baby steps

Travel highchair success took even its inventor by surprise

bright eyes A self-confessed ‘bossy boots’ saw the signs, switched on the lights and took control

howie did it

The entrepreneur who developed an iconic Scottish brand on a handshake, but managed to keep his wellies on the ground BUSINESS NEWS: COMMERCE: FASHION: INTERVIEWS: MOTORS: EVENTS

Twenty five years in the cut and thrust of fashion

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BIT OF A CHAT

AUTUMN 11

>> Movies and shakers

with Frank Tock >> My oath, what an admission If even solicitors have now ceased to make adequate financial provision for their retirement why should humblebums like us concern ourselves about all the state and pensions industry bluster over our reluctance to invest for old age? Some 35% of lawyers recently surveyed admitted making inadequate financial provision for retirement. Also in the poll 35% – could it be the same 35%? – expected to release equity in their property to help fund retirement. However, 25% have no plans to retire – a growing sign of the times perhaps. Mark Tootill, national sales manager for Wesleyan for Lawyers the mutual financial services specialist that carried out the poll, says: “A majority of lawyers (57%) want to retire with an annual pension income of between £36,000 and £50,000. To guarantee £40,000 a year, a man would need to build up a pension pot of around £748,600 while a woman would need £801,286*. The survey across the UK showed that on average lawyers would like to retire at 62, although 21% say they’d like to retire before 60. Some 61% of lawyers save money monthly aside from pension contributions. The average put away is almost £600. Nearly a fifth save £1,000 or more a month, although 30% save less than £250 a month. Asked where they primarily keep their savings, 41% utilise ISAs, but 39% use bank and building society savings accounts, where their money could be falling in value. But more than 80% of lawyers believe their job is secure – lucky things. Anyway, they know our business. So now we know theirs.

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Change of programme at the £600,000 Arts Bank in Saltburn, opened last year by Teesside entrepreneur Bryan Goodall ahead of the resort’s jolly 150th birthday celebrations. You may recall we reported on his clever conversion of an elegant five-storey bank in last year’s January BQ. Well, nothing is for ever with entrepreneurs, and the ground floor cinema is now a cafe instead and one which, I’m told, has been doing well. However, the Arts Bank is still choc-a-bloc with local paintings that make a visit worthwhile. Bryan and his wife Jeannie meanwhile, I believe, have moved home from Middlesbrough to Barnard Castle. Saltburn and Barnard Castle – name two other places giving equal aesthetic satisfaction.

>> Care and the community Perhaps the only honourable outcome of the Southern Cross debacle is chief executive Jamie Buchan’s decision to leave the Darlington business – Britain’s biggest care homes group – without a £404,000 pay-off to which he was entitled. Would that many incompetent bosses in both the public and the private sectors behaved similarly after their performances are found wanting, instead of skulking out with a stuffed back pocket, sometimes even claiming ill-health. It’s more usually the shareholders and taxpayers who are sick. Labour leader Ed Miliband did right to draw attention at Labour’s conference to the dangers old folk face from commercialising of care homes. But I was baffled that he placed the blame at the present Government’s door. Wasn’t it the preceding one that did nothing to deter US venture capitalists Blackstone from moving in on Southern Cross with their milking pails? Consider instead Helen McArdle’s example in private care. True, she sold her first group of homes to London based Bondcare for £100m in 2004. But they were good homes, and she has set a further example to her peers over many years through her charitable endeavours

in the North East via the Community Foundation. She still works for the old – and now the young – of the region by helping to advance the McArdle family’s new venture set up in 2008, and run by her son Mark. This provides care for both the over-60s and the under fives, through a new crop of care homes and also Kids 1st Nurseries. This private venture gives about 1,000 people jobs. But it appeared at the Liverpool conference there were no political points to be scored from mentioning that.

>> Black – and blew it A new low in quality control was exposed across the world when England ran out for the first time in rugby’s World Cup in black strips, flattering to deceive that they might actually play as well as New Zealand, the real All Blacks. If reports are correct, and the colour decision was made under pressure from sponsors, clearly the tail wags the dog. And what does it say for manufacturing standards acceptable to England that hardly was the match under way than the numbers began to peel away from players’ backs? Were the strips not tested for durability?

>> Green belts tighten I’m no nimby despite an experience once of selfish neighbours circumventing planning rules to enhance the value of their house at the expense of mine. I am, however, a taxpayer aggrieved that planning costs, particularly for public inquiries, are often outrageous. Think Heathrow. Think the two-year battle before the Defence Ministry finally lost its fight to inflict infrastructure on Northumberland National Park. I sympathise in principal with the Government’s proposals now to simplify procedures. However, I’m suspicious that developers funding the Tory Party desperately want the reforms through when they have massive land banks already. I’m sceptical about Barratt’s determination to build on green belt near Middlesbrough when 3,000 locals object. The Government says there’ll be no green belt rape. Let’s see.

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AUTUMN 11

COMPANY PROFILE

Toasting the Transporter Bridge on its centenary local enterprise partnership, Tees Valley Unlimited identifies the icon’s heritage, strength and pioneering ambition as the ubiquitous inspiration to further grow and promote the potential within Tees Valley.

BUILDING ON STRUCTURAL SUCCESS

MERGING new partnerships continue to set solid foundations for delivery and indeed an agreement with the Environment Agency will provide a catalyst to drive future development and investment in the area while safeguarding its environment. The working protocol signed by TVU and the Environment Agency, follows a culmination of work between the two organisations to identify opportunities to work together to help create jobs, achieve economic ambitions and improve the environment. Initial work will focus on the Tees Valley Enterprise Zone - 12 sites across the region looking to generate in excess of 3,000 new jobs and create more than 160 new businesses by 2015. The new agreement between the partners aims to streamline processes for developers and investors to get quicker planning consent from the local authority and environmental permits from the Environment Agency. This will be done by jointly discussing development proposals much earlier in the process whilst also looking for environmental opportunities. TVU again leads the way as the first LEP to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with UK Trade and Investment (UKTI). In a clear nod to the underlying vision of driving forward Tees Valley’s economic growth, the MoU recognises Tees Valley Unlimited as the lead contact for co-ordinating inward investment across the sub region. Neil Kenley, TVU’s Director of Business Investment said; “Together, UKTI’s Inward Investment Service and TVU will look to ensure greater foreign direct investment by better utilising existing knowledge of local assets and capabilities. The partnership will further optimise the use of collective resources such as sector intelligence and market need to build upon the existing offer to location consultants

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Picture courtesy of The Evening Gazette

Teesside’s Transporter bridge celebrates its centenary and potential investors across the globe. “TVU has a proven track record in providing the introduction, detail and continued support to instil confidence and secure inward investment across Tees Valley and we believe this partnership will provide even further opportunities to do so.” Martin Phelan, Director of Investment, UK Trade and Investment added; “Operating under the ‘UK First’ model, our team will work with Tees Valley Unlimited to develop the best inward investment propositions and identify the projects for which Tees Valley presents a natural home. “This MoU will be a vital part of improving the experience for companies wishing to invest in the UK. It will harness valuable private sector skills whilst at the same time further strengthening the important link with local communities and business. “Foreign companies seeking to locate and grow their business in and from the UK will now have a clear point of entry to the government’s inward investment support.

“International businesses continue to choose the UK as the most attractive destination in Europe for their investment projects. The new ‘UK First’ model underlines our commitment to maintaining this position.” The MoU is one of a number of bespoke memorandums being developed across the country. With the foundations strong and the structures sound, it is hoped the national relationships will further transport Tees Valley to a bright and bold future.

Further information on Tees Valley Unlimited and its activities please visit www.teesvalleyunlimited-investment.co.uk

BUSINESS QUARTER |AUTUMN 11 22/10/2011 14:21

EVENTS

AUTUMN 11

BQ’s business events diary gives you lots of time to forward plan. If you wish to add your event to the list send it to b.g.nicholls@btinternet.com. The diary is updated daily online at www.nebusinessguide.co.uk

NOVEMBER

20 NSCA, Tax Breaks for Growing Business, Ramside Hall, Durham (1.30pm). Contact: marie.rice@icaew.com, tel 0191 300 0532

1 NSCA Tax Update, Ramside Hall, Durham (9.30am). Contact: marie.Rice@icaew.com, tel 0191 300 0532

21 What is Corporate Social Responsibility? Workshop, Grosvenor House, Front Street, Monkseaton (1.30pm). Contact: info@lighthouseknowledge.co.uk

2 NSCA Audit and Accounting Update, Ramside Hall, Durham (1.30pm). Contact: marie.rice@icaew.com, tel 0191 300 0532 2 Managing Talent, Service Network seminar, Copthorne Hotel, Newcastle (8.30am), Contact: tel 0191 244 4031. events@servuce-network.co.uk 2 Colleagues on Tap, co-working event, Newcastle Business Hub, Benton (9am). www.spaceontap.com

22 Brewin Dolphin Alternative Investments talk, Newcastle Lit & Phil (6pm). Contact: Emma Finlay, tel 0845 059 6326, emma.finlay@brewin.co.uk 23 ICAEW Northern Region/IoD North East, Director Development Breakfast Seminars: Role of the Finance Director, Ward Hadaway, Newcastle (7.30am). Contact: alison.tait@icaew.com, tel 0131 202 1252

2 Robson Laidler LLP’s Free Tax Surgery, Jesmond, Newcastle (12.30). Contact: Susan Bowen, tel 0191 282 8191. s.bowen@robson-laidler.co.uk

23 NSCA VAT Update, Ramside Hall, Durham (9.30am). Contact: marie.rice@icaew.com, tel 0191 300 0532. Also, Property Tax Issues (1.30pm) same venue, same contact

2 ICAEW Northern Region Retired Members’ Lunch, Northern Counties Club (12,30). Contact: Marie Rice, tel 0191 300 0532, marie.rice@icaew.com

29 CBI North East Council, venue tbc (9.30am). Contact: Carole Coulton, tel 0191 255 4410, carole.coulton@cbi.org.uk

3 NECC Tyne & Northumberland Annual Dinner, Newcastle Civic Centre (6.30pm). Contact: tel 0300 303 6322, www.necc.co.uk

24 Brewin Dolphin Invest for Income seminar, White Swan Alnwick (noon). Contact: Emma Finlay, tel 0845 059 6326, emma.finlay@brewin.co.uk

3 Annual autumn conference of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum with keynote speaker Tom Smit, creator of Cornwall’s Eden Project, at Hilton Hotel, Gateshead (9.30am-4.30pm). Contact: www.entrepreneursforum.net or tel 0870 850 2233.

28 Robson Laidler LLP’s Free Tax Surgery, Jesmond, Newcastle (12.30). Contact: Susan Bowen, tel 0191 282 8191. s.bowen@robson-laidler.co.uk

9 Fifth Business for Life Awards, St James’s Park, Newcastle. Contact: www.cbsl-uk.com

30 NSCA Tax Update for Accountants in Business, Ramside Hall, Durham (9.30am). Contact: marie.rice@icaew.com, tel 0191 300 0532

9 Jackson’s Law Firm, TUPE in Detail, Innovation House, Stockton (noon). Contact: Caroline Allen, tel 0844 855 4111, callen@jacksons-law.com

DECEMBER

10 The Art of Digital Marketing, CIM conference, The Sage, Gateshead. Contact: Karen, tel 0191 281 5777.

1 Colleagues on Tap, co-working event, MPH training and conference centre, Gateshead (0am). www.spaceontap.com.

10 NECC Let’s Do Lunch, Marshall Meadows Hotel, Berwick (11am). Contact: tel 0300 303 6322. events@necc.co.uk.

2 Review and Appraisal, workshop, Grosvenor House, Front Street, Monkseaton (1.30pm). Contact: info@lighthouseknowledge.co.uk

11 CECA (NE) Annual Dinner, Newcastle Marriott Hotel, Gosforth 11 Women into the Network Annual Awards and dinner, Hilton Gateshead (7pm). Contact: 0845 269 9862. awards@womenintothenetwork.co.uk 12 Bank of England Inflation Briefing, Newcastle University Business School (8am). NewcastleIRB@bankofengland.co.uk 15 Nepic Innovation Day, showcasing UK excellence and opportunity, Ramside Hall Durham (8.30am onwards). Contact: lynne.aungiers@nepic.co.uk tel 01642 442 560 17 FSB Green for Go Exhibition (sustainable businesses), Nissan Sports and Social Club, Washington (2pm), open entry, and FSB North East Region Annual Dinner, southtyneside.secretary@fsb.org.uk

8 Robson Laidler LLP’s Free Tax Surgery, Jesmond, Newcastle (12.30). Contact: Susan Bowen, tel 0191 282 8191. s.bowen@robson-laidler.co.uk 12 Robson Laidler LLP’s Free Tax Surgery, Jesmond, Newcastle (12.30). Contact: Susan Bowen, tel 0191 282 8191. s.bowen@robson-laidler.co.uk 13 ICAEW Northern Region Business Confidence and Economic Review, breakfast briefing, Jesmond Dene House Hotel (7.45am). Contact: Alison Tait, tel 0131 202 1252. Alison.tait@icaew.com 16 Health and Wellbeing Development Programme, Quayside Exchange, Sunderland (9.30am). Contact: Sarah Clarke, tel 0191 501 8587. sclarke@i-dg.co.uk.

17 Health and Wellbeing Development Programme, Quayside Exchange, Sunderland (9.30am). Contact: Sarah Clarke, tel 0191 501 8587. sclarke@i-dg.co.uk.

21 South Tyneside Manufacturing Forum, guest speakers, Bede’s World, Jarrow (noon). Contact: John Wood, tel 0191 427 2324. john.wood@st-mf.co.uk

18 Bank of England Inflation Briefing, Blackwell Grange Hotel, Darlington (8am). TeesValleyIRB@bankofengland.co.uk.

JANUARY 2012

15 NSCA Managing for New Managers, Jesmond Dene House Hotel, Newcastle (9.30am). Contact: alison.tait@icaew.com, tel 0131 202 1252

26 Brewin Dolphin, Lenhoff and the Markets seminar, Newcastle Business School (noon). Contact: Emma Finlay, tel 0845 059 6326, emma.finlay@brewin.co.uk

15 Brewin Dolphin investment strategy seminar, Investing in Challenging Times, Newcastle University Business School (noon). Contact: Emma Finlay, tel 0845 059 6326, emma.finlay@brewin.co.uk 15 Robson Laidler LLP’s Free Tax Surgery, Jesmond, Newcastle (12.30). Contact: Susan Bowen, tel 0191 282 8191. s.bowen@robson-laidler.co.uk 16 South Tyneside Manufacturing Forum, Guest Speakers, Bede’s World, Jarrow (noon). Contact: John Wood, tel 0191 427 2324. john.wood@st-mf.co.uk 17 North East Business Executive of the Year Awards, Newcastle Marriott Hotel, Gosforth. Contact: Lesley Hampson, tel 0191201 6435, lesley.hampson@ncjmedia.co.uk 17 Unlimited 2011, CCS company’s one day event, SMEs Meet Telecoms, networking with Vodafone, Nokia and Microsoft, Hilton Hotel Gateshead (9am). www.unlitd2011.co.uk

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please check with contacts beforehand that arrangements have not changed. events organisers are also asked to notify us at the above e-mail address of any changes or cancellations as soon as they are known.

KEY: acas: Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service, CiM: Chartered Institute

of Marketing, CeCa (ne): Civil Engineering Contractors Association (North-East), HMrC: Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, iCaeW: Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, iCe: Institution of Civil Engineers, neCC: North-East Chamber of Commerce, nSCa: Northern Society of Chartered Accountants, FSb: Federation of Small Business, tbc: to be confirmed.

22/10/2011 14:21

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