BQ WEST MIDLANDS issue 2 by We Are UMi

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ISSUE TWO: SUMMER 2013

extra miles Inside the Queen’s bank of choice the bullion boy Meet the young entrepreneur who struck gold ISSUE TWO: SUMMER 2013: WEST MIDLANDS EDITION

fashioning a niche Tailor’s tweets set a new trend carrying THE torch Keeping momentum going after the Games

success on tap The luxury bathroom designer with a steady flow of famous clients

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

WEST MIDLANDS EDITION

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BUSINESS QUARTER: SUMMER 13: issue TWO Get ready to join a huge debate on pages six and seven of this BQ, focusing on the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership’s ‘Strategy for Growth’. This strategy is crucial to the future prosperity of the West Midlands but, as you’ll read, not everyone thinks it’s very realistic. So BQ gives the plan a decent airing – and provides you with a link to download the full report for even more detail. We’ve done this so you can decide whether you agree with business analyst John Duckers’ damning assessment, which we’ve also published in full. From the LEP’s point of view, its strategy will help create 100,000 jobs, drive up GVA by £8.25bn and transform the region’s performance in skills and employment. But Duckers is aghast that all this is based on Lord Heseltine’s plan for Government to give LEPs the power to decide how billions of pounds in funding will be spent. The crux of his argument is that this devolvement of funding is nothing but a pipe-dream. It’s an interesting set of opposing views – the LEP perhaps too naively positive, Duckers maybe too cynically negative. Reality is probably somewhere in between. And maybe business leaders need to pick up the argument and consistently drive home the region’s needs to Government with real force. BQ would argue that the latter is desperately required if the ‘Strategy for Growth’ is ever to stand a chance of realisation. Once you’ve got your heads around that one, there are plenty of other top reads in BQ for you. We interview Miles Plumb, the regional boss of Coutts Bank, finding out how the

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close personal relationships they forge with businesses have helped during the recession. We take Ben Reid, the boss of the UK’s biggest Co-operative, out to lunch to discover how his traditional business has recovered from losses to reach a £1bn turnover this year. Two of the new secrets are childcare and energy – which are both very different market sectors for the Co-op. We reveal the latest local thinking on airport expansions, as Birmingham Airport continues to warn the Government not to overload the already congested London airspace. We also feature entrepreneurs producing everything from posh bathrooms to bespoke suits, and specialising in everything from giant signage to gold smelting. Yes, we’re talking toilets, fashion, the Olympics and scrap metal – nothing goes unnoticed in BQ! And don’t miss our interview with one of Britain’s original Italian restaurateurs. Carlo Distefano arrived in Britain from Sicily in the 1960s as a 17-year-old with £12 in his pocket. He’s now running a £50m global empire from his headquarters in Birmingham city centre. Divertanosi!

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WEST MIDLANDS EDITION

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BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

CONTE BUSINESS QUARTER: SUMMER 13 going the extra miles

Features 22 success on tap The luxury bathroom designer with a steady flow of rich and famous clients

28 the extra miles Miles Plumb on the evolution of the Queen’s bank of choice, Coutts

42 the bullion boy The remarkable rise of one of the region’s wealthiest thirty somethings

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

48 fashioning a niche

the bullion boy

The tailor who built success on the back of his Twitter following

72 after the games Keeping the momentum going after the torch flames stopped burning

76 perfect recipe The quality ingredients that built the San Carlo Group’s empire of restaurants

TENTS WEST MIDLANDS EDITION

38 commercial property

The deals shaping our skyline

fashioning a new niche

52 business lunch Ben Reid on his journey to the Midcounties Co-operative summit

Regulars

58 wine Deloitte’s Adam Smith takes on two southern big hitters

60 motors BQ uncovers the power and prudence of Jaguar’s latest Portfolio model

06 the big issues BQ asks whether Whitehall will ever devolve funding to the regions?

08 news Latest stories from across the region’s business community

20 as i see it Why we mustn’t lose sight of our links with the lucrative US market

64 equipment

48 finding the perfect recipe

A return to old ways leads to a voyage of discovery among luxury seafarers

68 fashion How high-end fashion and yachting are becoming increasingly intertwined

80 a bit of chat With BQ’s backroom boy Bill Borde

76 BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

THE BIG ISSUES

SUMMER 13

>> Will Whitehall ever devolve funding to the regions? After Lord Heseltine’s suggestions for national growth, ‘Greater Birmingham’ hopes its new strategy will attract huge grants from central government. But critics claim it’s based on a white elephant of funding created by Michael Heseltine. BQ publishes the positive plan, and the negative assessment, in full FOR... Billions of pounds and 100,000 jobs are the targets of a new plan for Greater Birmingham. The plan, to re-establish the Birmingham city region as the major driver of the UK economy outside London, has been launched by the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP). The Strategy for Growth was produced following a White Paper consultation that GBSLEP claimed saw more than 400 representations from businesses, local authorities, third sector organisations, universities and colleges. GBSLEP says the strategy will underpin economic activity up to 2020 and has set targets to increase private sector jobs by 100,000, drive up GVA by £8.25bn and transform performance in skills and employment. It says there are six ‘enablers’ which will be the focus for the LEP’s work: l Growing the number of successful businesses l Building sector strengths and opportunities l Stimulating innovation in products, services and businesses l Improving our skills talent pool l Improving physical and digital connectivity l Optimising physical, cultural and environmental assets. GBSLEP says the Strategy for Growth will be vital as it begins the process of preparing to bid for the Single Local Growth Fund due to be announced in the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review on June 26. Similar strategy documents must be produced by all local enterprise partnerships and, according to the government’s response to Lord Heseltine’s review of economic policy, will be key in deciding whether a local area gains access to ‘devolved single pot funding’. The exact size and scope of the pot is not due to be announced until the next spending round in late June, although the Treasury has hinted

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

that some elements of transport, housing and skills could be included. Steve Hollis, deputy chair of the GBSLEP, said: “The Strategy for Growth is a bold and ambitious bid to not only provide a step-change in our economic fortunes but contribute to the UK’s economic recovery. Ambitious targets have been set and all stakeholders will have to play their part in helping us achieve them. “While we are acutely aware of the challenges we face here in Greater Birmingham, it is important to remember we are on the cusp of a breakthrough in our economic fortunes. “This will be fuelled by investment that is both planned and in progress that is on a scale that we have never seen before in our city region, including investments in major infrastructure projects such as HS2 and New Street Station. Sir Albert Bore, leader of Birmingham City Council, added: “The GBSLEP will, rightly, be judged by our ability to deliver this ambitious strategy and for that we will need to develop and improve our delivery capacity. “For the first time, the strategy has focused on the city region and been developed by

local authorities, businesses, universities and other key stakeholders working together to explore ways in which we can all benefit from investment in economic growth.” The GBSLEP is a private-public sector partnership made up of businesses, education providers and Birmingham, Bromsgrove, Cannock Chase, East Staffordshire, Lichfield, Redditch, Solihull, Tamworth and Wyre Forest local authorities. A full copy of the Strategy for Growth can be downloaded from http://centreofenterprise. com/strategy-for-growth-delivering-growth/. AGAINST... But the funds needed for the new strategy are not coming, writes John Duckers. What a mess is being made of Birmingham’s economic future. Talk about a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow... For months I’ve been telling anyone who would listen that the chances of the Heseltine Plan happening are in the lap of the gods. According to my mole at the heart of Westminster: “The Hezza thing is not happening – there’s no money. It has all been kicked into the long grass of 2015/16.”

SUMMER 13

Now it’s just beginning to dawn on a few of our lack-lustre leaders that this could be the reality after Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, revealed his opposition to giving heaps of money to non-elected LEPs. Apparently, he questions their capacity to handle it. He prefers dealing with councils direct via city ‘deals’ – whatever their political persuasion. That has cut the ground from under Birmingham and Solihull LEP and its ‘vision’. And as it apparently takes at least three years to move any money around, because of prior spending commitments, it is all esoteric anyway. What will be the political climate post the 2015 General Election? All could be very different. And if you really could carve out Birmingham’s cash quota from overall Government department spending, why shouldn’t Liverpool, Leeds and everywhere else get one too? It would send Treasury ministers

THE BIG ISSUES

bonkers and go completely against current policy ensuring the centre remains in control of the purse strings. So, just where does all this leave the LEP’s grandiose plan to create another 100,000 jobs by 2020 – and how do they come up with these figures … pluck them out of thin air? The LEP’s so-called ‘Strategy for Growth’ is in effect just another shopping list, tomorrow’s fish and chip paper, a list which rattled on about growing the number of successful businesses, building sector strengths, stimulating innovation, improving skills… et al. All stuff that Advantage West Midlands, the scrapped regional development agency, had set out ten years ago. But this arrow in the heart of Birmingham and Solihull LEP, which had so fixed its petard to Heseltine’s campaign, might, I suspect, be a huge relief to Sir Albert Bore and Birmingham City Council’s ruling Labour group. Despite fine words of support, they

were never easy with the new Prime Minister of Birmingham, Tory toff Hezza, telling them how to run things. Naturally, there’s not going to be any official announcement that it’s all over; indeed Cameron and co are quite happy to see Hezza Quixote tilt at windmills for a while longer. “Let him have a play in the regions,” they might be saying. Nice dream, given money is power, for Birmingham to have had local decision-making restored. But if you look at all the centrist trends imposed by the Coalition – everything has to be bid for out of Whitehall – it is clear that localism was just another bag of sound bites. Never mind, Hezza, nice try… but you never really stood a chance. Which is why it is so important that we don’t deceive ourselves with what may simply prove to be false hopes. Birmingham deserves better. Read more from John Duckers at www. duckersanddiving.co.uk.

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NEWS

SUMMER 13

Banking on young professionals, full steam ahead for loco works, boat firm sinks, uni’s French fancy, India calling, and businesses keeping it in the family >> Law firm hits new high

l-r, Mark Leonard, David Roberts, Gary Blowers, overall winner Sean Sales, Daniella Genas, Kashif Mehboob and Jamie Partington

>> Banking on a bright future A major bank’s graduate recruiter has scooped the Birmingham Young Professional of the Year (BYPY) title for 2013. Sean Sales, aged 27, works at Deutsche Bank at Brindleyplace, where he’s helped hire dozens of new sales staff. The German bank’s Birmingham workforce has climbed from a mere 30 in 2006 to more than 1,300 today. Sean, already Deutsche Bank Birmingham’s employee of the year, also won the BYPY’s HR, recruitment and training category. Nicola Fleet-Milne, chairwoman of BYPY organisers Birmingham Future and managing director of FleetMilne Property, said: “We were impressed by Sean’s fresh approach to attracting new talent into the city, getting involved in initiatives and leading his peers with confidence.” Other winners included: Legal – Jamie Partington, corporate solicitor at law firm Higgs & Sons. Financial services – David Roberts, co-founder at payment app company Droplet. Communications – Gary Blowers, director of strategy at marketing agency VIVA Aspire. Entrepreneurs – Daniella Genas, chief executive of events company Aspire4U. Property and construction – Mark Leonard, project manager at Mace. Aspiring talent – University of Birmingham student Kashif Mehboob. ‘Inspiring Leader’ – Trevor Foster, director/co-shareholder at Nexus Professional Network.

>> Rail restoration on track A Birmingham firm has received a European grant to help it continue restoring historic steam locomotives for the UK rail network. Tyseley Locomotive Works received £100,000 from the European Regional Development Fund to help finance a new workshop costing £300,000. This will enable the firm, which restores, maintains and services steam and diesel locomotives and rolling stock, to meet growing demand for its services. It has also led to four new jobs, helping to secure the existing workforce of 29. Bob Meanley, managing

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

director and chief engineer, said: “This is one of the most marvellous benefits we have had for many years. It has made the difference between us having this facility or not.” The Vintage Trains arm of the business operates the Shakespeare Express service, which runs on Sundays between Birmingham and Stratford-upon-Avon during the summer months and is England’s only regular mainline steam train. Current restoration projects at the Tyseley works include Clun Castle, which was the last steam locomotive out of the old Snow Hill Station.

DBS Law has posted record income figures of £5.4m for the last financial year, a quarter of a million more than the previous year. DBS Law has been pursuing an aggressive growth strategy since 2008 under the leadership of managing director Rob Bhol, with income growing by 170% in five years. Bhol said: “These turnover figures represent a magnificent effort by all our fee earners and our support staff during a very dark period for the economy and for the legal services sector.”

>> Chance to show off The Birmingham Made Me Design Expo is being held from June 6 to 21 at Millennium Point, with an awards ceremony on the last day. The large, interactive exhibition showcases the best products, design and innovation produced in the city and across the Midlands. It will feature various free events, including THINK seminars and DO activities, with free access to Thinktank. More information and bookings at http://birmingham-made-me. org/the-awards/.

>> Happy Days ahead A design agency played a key role in a £3.7m investment by London private equity group ISIS in a children’s nursery group. Happy Days, which has 16 sites across Devon and Cornwall, has seen a four-fold rise in children placements and enquiries since seeking investment from ISIS, who then brought in Sutton Coldfield-based Zulu Creative. Zulu assessed Happy Days’ operation and identified areas to strengthen, including a new website and building a community around the brand.

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NEWS

SUMMER 13

>> Book gets to number one David Daly, creator of Gizapaw with Chip

>> Every dog has his day A Black Country inventor is enjoying global success with a new product that could prevent over one million dog bites ever year. David Daly, of Wombourne, put his former aerospace engineering skills to good use by coming up with a range of ‘behaviour sleeves’ for the canine market that are attached to a harness or a lead. Branded ‘Gizapaw’, the products use a colour coding system to indicate the temperament of a dog, with green being ‘safe’ and red indicating ‘caution’. The entrepreneur, who has been assisted by the Manufacturing Advisory Service, has already received orders from owners, training bodies and re-homing centres. He has also used exhibitions, such as Crufts, Interzoo and Winners in Amsterdam, to generate demand from clients in Australia, Canada, Europe and the US.

>> Retailers are appy to help Birmingham-based technology business Droplet marked its London launch in style by announcing it has sealed the backing of two major retailers. Chiltern Railways and Airparks were unveiled as the first national organisations to adopt the company’s mobile payment platform across its network of trains and airport parking locations. It is a major milestone for the ‘App’, which allows people to load money onto their phones and send payments for free. The deals build on a positive trial in Birmingham.

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

A West Midlands entrepreneur’s newlylaunched book reached the number one spot on Amazon’s bestseller chart. Lead Magnet, by Lichfield-based Charlie Hutton, reached number one on Amazon UK and Amazon USA in the sales and marketing sections, for both the paperback and Kindle. The 146-page book details Charlie’s claims on how to generate new business leads, win more customers and double profits.

>> Boat firm sinks The collapse of a Midland luxury yacht-maker has led to the loss of more than 230 jobs. Redundancy notices were given to 234 staff at Sealine International in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, after administrators from Baker Tilly Restructuring and Recovery were appointed. The administrator, which is trying to save another 70 jobs, said it was assisting the affected staff to make claims against the government redundancy fund. Sealine made a £4m pre-tax loss in 2011.

>> Uni’s French fancy The University of Wolverhampton has launched a new ‘associate campus’ in France as part of plans to develop international education and research. The campus will be a partnership between the university and the Chamber of Commerce for the Basque region of France and will see the development of joint courses and exchange opportunities for research and business projects. Wolverhampton University’s School of Technology has a longstanding relationship with a technology college in Bidart, and has delivered an MSc in Advanced Technology Management there since 2005. The new campus will build on this, developing new courses between another college in Bayonne and Wolverhampton’s Business School.

>> India calling The University of Birmingham hosted an event to highlight the opportunities of ‘doing business in India’. The event, organised with The Confederation of Indian Industry and UK Trade and Investment, included a panel of senior executives including the Consul General of India to Birmingham and representatives from leading Indian businesses such as Tata Motors. With the UK’s second largest Indian community, Birmingham has strong industrial and business links with the country. Professor Simon Collinson, Dean of Birmingham Business School, who hosted the panel discussion, said: “This was a wonderful opportunity to connect the leading edge research at Birmingham Business School with the practical challenges of doing business in India.”

>> Who said what? A new report focusing on leadership has been released by Birmingham Business School and management consulting firm One Point Three Limited. What The Business Leader Said to the MBA draws on research with business leaders from many backgrounds and industries who were asked about their experiences of building successful organisations and leading people. Professor Simon Collinson, dean of Birmingham Business School, said: “This report offers an unrivalled tool by giving leaders access to the advice, thoughts and lessons learnt from over 120 other leaders worldwide.” Lord Karan Bilimoria, chairman of the Cobra Beer Partnership, stated: “It’s a fantastically insightful report, which I have shared with the leadership of my joint venture partners, Molson Coors, as well as my fellow board members at Booker. There’s a lot we will gain from this.”

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NEWS

SUMMER 13

>> A family affair The search is on for the top family businesses across the Midlands. The 2013 Midlands Family Business Awards recognise and celebrate successful firms run by relatives. Becketts Farm, based near Wythall, Birmingham, was the headline winner in the 2012 awards. Director Holly Beckett said: “The awards are a wonderful initiative that celebrate and motivate such a wide range of businesses and their people.” Created and run by The Wilson Organisation, the not-for-profit awards are free to enter and raise money for charity. This year the awards are raising funds for The Outward Bound Trust, an outdoor educational charity for young people. Charlotte Perkins, managing director of The Wilson Organisation, said: “Family businesses generate over £1 trillion each year in UK revenues and provide more than nine million jobs in the UK. “The Midlands is home to an impressive and surprising number of these flourishing businesses and we will continue to highlight and recognise their amazing work and contribution.” Submissions for 2013 can be made until June 30. For more information on the categories, sponsors, independent judging panel and supporters, visit: www.familybusinessawards. co.uk. Established in 1914, The Wilson Organisation is a third-generation family business, providing insurance and financial advice to businesses and individuals across the Midlands.

>> Changing names The company responsible for Birmingham Science Park Aston’s flagship Faraday Wharf building and £35m Digital Plaza development zone has been restructured and renamed as Innovation Birmingham Ltd. The move, it is claimed, will enable the value of Faraday Wharf to be utilised to part-fund iCentrumTM, the first Digital Plaza building.

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

Innovation Birmingham Ltd encompasses the longstanding science park team and remains wholly owned by Birmingham City Council, which also has full ownership of the rest of the 14-acre park. In what is said will provide clarity, the park will be now promoted as two campuses going forwards; the Innovation Birmingham Campus and the Science & Technology Campus. The 44,000sq ft Faraday Wharf building, which contains 70 office suites for entrepreneurial technology businesses, is now over 95% occupied. To provide expansion space on the Innovation Birmingham Campus, before iCentrumTM – the first Digital Plaza building – is ready for occupation, plans are being developed for 2,000sq ft of contemporary pod offices on the car park.

>> No go for Aston Martin Aston Martin’s car-making is to stay at its Gaydon HQ in Warwickshire following the completion of a new deal with Italian private equity fund Investindustrial. The luxury car firm announced late last year that Investindustrial was to buy a 37.5% share for £150m, funding growth and new model development. Completion of the deal will mean significant investment in the next five years. Aston Martin said: “The investment underpins a significant new product development programme of more than half a billion pounds over the next five years.”

David Beswick, Adam Fisher, James Dixon, Tariq Sadiq, Clive Garner, Michael Vale, Jayne Willetts, Karen Moores, Mary Kaye, Abisola Latunji and Peter Wiseman

>> Winners Eversheds was named Law Firm of the Year (16 partners or more) at the Birmingham Law Society Legal Awards. In the Law Firm of the Year (five to 15 partners) and Law Firm of the Year (sole practitioner to four partners) categories there were awards for Sydney Mitchell and Jayne Willetts & Co Solicitors respectively. In the individual categories, Olwen Dutton of Bevan Brittan won Partner of the Year, while Clive Garner, partner at Irwin Mitchell Solicitors, won International Lawyer of the Year. James Dixon, a barrister at No5 Chambers, was awarded the title of Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year, with Adam Fisher of Wragge & Co winning Assistant/ Associate Solicitor of the Year, and Michael Vale of Sydney Mitchell picking up Chartered Legal Executive of the Year. Tariq Sadiq from St Philips Chambers won Barrister of the Year and Abisola Latunji of SGH Martineau LLP was named Trainee Solicitor of the Year. Peter Wiseman was awarded the Birmingham Law Society Lifetime Achievement award. The Legal Awards were held at The ICC in Birmingham, with more than 500 people from the legal and business community attending.

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NEWS

SUMMER 13

>> Giving something back Erica Bloom, Nicola Bowker, Sarah Townsend

Two hundred runners joined a Birmingham charity race in memory of the late Ronnie Bowker, regional managing partner of Ernst & Young. The 10km run, at Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham, organised by the Ronnie Bowker Foundation, raised funds for deserving causes across the West Midlands. Mr Bowker, who passed away late in 2010, was a well known figure in Birmingham, not only because of his Ernst & Young work but also because of his contribution to the community and arts in the city. Ernst & Young partner Mark Minihane, who organised the race for the Foundation, said: “The day was a great success and we plan to make it an annual event in the West Midlands calendar.” Ronnie’s daughter Nicola was one of the competitors in the race which was won by Ian Dempsey. Race prizes were sponsored by Aga Rangemaster. The Ronnie Bowker Foundation Fund has already raised over £65,000, making donations to local causes like the Birmingham-based Tru Street community dance group, and Miss Macaroon, a social enterprise providing inner city employment. • A donation has also been made to the new Marie Curie hospice in Solihull. Donations can be made at www.justgiving.com/rbbf

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

A monstrous amount of money was raised for charity when more than 200 commercial property professionals from across the West Midlands met at the launch of an exciting new event. Agents, architects, surveyors, developers, property consultants, construction companies and interior designers were among the guests at the first ever Monster Mash at the Metro Bar, Birmingham. The event was the brainchild of Tim Andrews, managing director of signs and graphics experts Hollywood Monster. Tim said: “It was great to see so many people together in a fun environment, talking business and donating to good causes. We raised around £3,000 for Cure Leukaemia for Kids and Help Harry Help Others, two causes that are close to my heart.” The evening also saw the unveiling of the 7-in-Seven marathon charity cycle ride from Zurich in Switzerland to Birmingham, which will take place in September. Cyclists taking part will travel through seven countries in seven days, covering 700 miles. The event, organised by Tim and BBC presenter Phil Upton, aims to raise £250,000 for Help Harry Help Others and Cure Leukaemia for Kids. Leading businessman and former Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Sir Bernard Zissman, put his famed public speaking skills to the test in a ‘debatathon’ that raised more than £16,000 for charity. Held at Birmingham’s Millennium Point in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care and Birmingham Jewish Community Centre – The Andrew Cohen Care Home, the non-stop, 12-hour debate saw Sir Bernard argue with highprofile speakers including Sir Albert Bore,

Aidan Burley MP, Adrian Goldberg and Professor David Tidmarsh. Debating 12 subjects including the legalisation of marijuana, the demise of high street retailing, the number of women on company boards and the continued retention of the monarchy, Sir Bernard’s debating skills saw him secure seven wins and one draw in the audience vote. Sir Bernard said: “This was an amazing day of almost 12 hours of continuous debate with challenging opponents, which left me speechless for some days after.” “I was deeply moved by the huge generosity of so many supporters who gave their time and money to help provide over £16,000 for two worthy causes.” The event also gained the support of various local donors and sponsors including Millennium Point, Thinktank, RewiredPR, PwC, Willmott Dixon, AbbeyQC, KPMG, McCann and Wragge and Co. Midlands Air Ambulance Charity is inviting businesses to have a ball with them at the end of June. The annual Recognition Awards and Charity Ball, celebrating the charity’s unsung heroes, takes place at Edgbaston Cricket Stadium, Birmingham on Saturday June 29. The black tie event will start with the arrival of one of the service’s famous red helicopters, before guests enjoy a drinks reception, four-course dinner, live entertainment, a fun casino, silent auction and raffle. Guests from the world of media, sport and entertainment will be in attendance and the charity will recognise some of the very special people and organisations, including the aircrew and paramedics, who have supported the charity.

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NEWS

SUMMER 13

>> Movers and shakers Two experienced solicitors from the nowdefunct Blakemores have been taken on by Birmingham-based DBS Law. Kristel Georgeou and Gursharan Bunger will boost DBS Law’s services with their skills and experience of property, wills and probate law. Kristel Georgeou joined Blakemores back in 2005 and won the Trainee Solicitor of the Year award from the Birmingham Law Society in 2007. She specialises in all aspects of residential property law. Gursharan Bunger qualified as a solicitor in 2002 and has specialised as a private client solicitor throughout her career, with expertise in areas including wills, estates, trust and tax planning. Blakemores was intervened by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority in March 2013. DBS Law managing director Rob Bhol said: “What happened at Blakemores was tragic for their clients and for their staff. However, we are very pleased to get these two very capable professionals on board with us.” Martin Allsopp, partner at Solihull law firm Allsopp & Co, has been appointed as the new president of the Birmingham Law Society. A practising solicitor for more than 35 years, Martin formed his firm in 1983 and specialises in commercial and domestic property issues, probate and estate administration. Martin, who becomes the 194th president of the organisation, said: “It is a great honour and privilege to be taking over the presidency of the largest local law society in the UK.” Eileen Schofield, of Schofield & Associates, becomes vice president. Birmingham’s oldest gentleman’s business club has made history by appointing Bart

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Dalton, principal at Taurus Wealth, as its first American president, and online marketing director Sarah Whitticase as its first-ever female committee member. The 153-year-old club has always had the reputation for being traditionally male-orientated, but this has changed in recent years with more female professionals and business women. Mrs Whitticase already hosts fortnightly business lunches and the bi-monthly ladies’ business lunches. Mr Dalton said: “I’m delighted and honoured to be the first American president at St Paul’s.” For more information call 0121 236 1950 or visit www.stpaulsclub.co.uk. Professor Dame Julia King, vice-chancellor of Aston University, has been appointed as a new director of the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP). Julia will represent the higher education sector and replaces Professor David Eastwood, vice-chancellor of the University of Birmingham, who completed his two-year tenure on 1 May 2013. Julia became vice-chancellor at Aston in 2006 and was previously principal of the Engineering Faculty at Imperial College, London. Before that she spent eight years in various senior positions at Rolls Royce. Andy Street, the chair of GBSLEP, said: “We are very fortunate to have somebody of Julia’s experience, vision and expertise in higher education to continue the excellent work Professor Eastwood started.” Property agents CPBigwood have promoted Stratford-upon-Avon-based Peter Jordan to a new position at the firm’s Birmingham headquarters.

Currently a senior property manager, Peter has spent the last four years in Stratford. Now he has been asked to head up project co-ordination for the building surveying arm, a new role in the department. Managing partner Nigel Curry said: “The role has been created by the continued growth of the management department that looks after in excess of 20,000 properties nationally.” Solicitors Shoosmiths has announced six promotions at its Birmingham office. New senior associates are: Emma Dolphin (corporate); Robert Laugharne (corporate); Aaron Harlow (restructuring and insolvency); Hayley Saunders (regulatory); Erica Simpson (commercial litigation); and Joe Stephenson (IT and outsourcing). Mike Sibson has been appointed as Midlands regional director for The Business Growth Fund (BGF), established to help the UK’s growing small and medium-sized businesses. Mike, who was previously an investment director in BGF’s Aberdeen office, will lead investment in the region, support BGF-backed companies as a board member, and will sit on the BGF’s national investment committee. Stephen Welton, chief executive of BGF said: “Mike will add even more firepower to the great team we already have in Birmingham, helping to build our presence and relevance to Midlands based SMEs.” Birmingham venture capital specialist Midven has appointed Tim Grasby as an investment manager. Tim, of Solihull, spent seven years as an assistant professor at Warwick University, and co-founded a photovoltaics company where he was chief scientific officer.

www.dbslaw.co.uk

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COMPANY PROFILE

Robertson Brown is here to stay Commercial property firm and Broad Street BID member Robertson Brown is planning further growth after enjoying a buoyant start to the year Fast-growing commercial property advice firm Robertson Brown has expanded its portfolio and is on target to create new jobs after appointing a new senior figure to help drive the business forward. The firm, which offers professional advice to commercial landlords, has continually grown its portfolio in recent years while supporting the development of its ever-expanding stable of clients. And the arrival, earlier this year, of associate director Gary Bucknall has further bolstered its position in the market. Bucknall, formerly of Johnson Fellows where he worked in the professional agency team, will provide agency and professional consultancy advice to occupiers, landlords, developers and investors. Robertson Brown specialises in advice on investments, lettings, rental valuations, tenant mix, asset management and marketing strategies and advises retailers on acquisitions, disposals, lease renewals, rent reviews and development strategy programs. The company is now gearing up for a significant rise in new instructions and, in turn, is expecting to recruit extra members to its team as well as increase its services still further. According to Alastair Robertson-Dunn - coproprietor of the firm and a director alongside Dominic Brown - the business’s current successful status within a very competitive market place can be attributed to a lot of hard work and long hours through what are very tough economic conditions. While the recessionary climate has certainly proved the company’s biggest test, it has also resulted in its greatest triumph, he points out. “We started in March 2009 and to get through that first year was a big challenge,” he says. “The nature of the work we do means there can be long lead times between winning an instruction, completing a deal and then receiving our fee. “The current economic conditions have made this process even harder and as a small business you’re

such as WH Smith, Nationwide, KFC, Barnardo’s, Santander, PDSA, The Money Shop, McDonalds, British Heart Foundation, Fonehouse, Loans2go, Firkins and Waitrose to name but a few. Robertson-Dunn says: “Now we aim to continue that expansion over the next 12 months as our client base and the number of instructions continue to grow - which means it’s likely that we will have to expand our team still further. We are also considering expansion into other associated areas within our market as we look to offer clients a wider range of competitive specialist services.”

Alastair Robertson-Dunn MA MRICS Director

Ironically, surviving that and now still growing and expanding over four years later has to be our greatest success to date dependant on a steady cash flow. “Ironically, surviving that and now still growing and expanding over four years later has to be our greatest success to date.” Robertson has built up an impressive roster of client names, with major Institutions, property companies, developers and retailers from across the country within its portfolio. Its existing clients include AXA, London & Cambridge Properties, NCP, ING Reale Estate, Lloyds Banking Group, SEP Properties Ltd, Boultbee, Cube Real Estate, Conygar Investment Company PLC, Picton Capital, Nurton Developments and Stoford, Ignis Asset Management. The firm is also working with REI, Goold Estates, Abstract Land, Catalyst Capital and The Local Shopping REIT. Its recent dealings have featured national retailers,

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AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF BROAD STREET BID Robertson Brown has been a member of Broad Street Business Improvement District (BID) since 2009. The BID is a mix-use leisure and businesses district home to over 300 companies. The commercial property agent has historically been involved with a number of instructions on Broad Street and the surrounding areas over the years, securing new leisure operators to maintain what many still regard as Birmingham’s premiere leisure circuit. Now in its 5th year the company has only recently moved from Baskerville House, Centenary Square to the desirable 3 Brindleyplace, continuing membership in the BID.

Broad Street BID, Quayside Tower, 252-260 Broad Street, B1 2HF visit www.broadstreetbirmingham.com or email: mike.olley@broadst.co.uk For further information about Robertson Brown and its services, and to view all its current instructions, visit www.robertsonbrownltd.com. Alternatively telephone 0121 503 2130 or email info@robertsonbrownltd.com

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AVIATION NEWS

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>> A chance for regional airports to shine? New reports have suggested that the Government should consider expanding airports in the regions, like Birmingham Airport, rather than concentrating on the South East. Kevin Johnson reports British businesses and exports will be best served by a network of long-haul airports around the country – not just a London hub. That’s the view of a new report that shows Birmingham Airport has the second largest business catchment of any long-haul airport, and that the catchment specialises in manufacturing. Birmingham Airport bosses say the study provides further evidence to show that expanding Heathrow is not the best national aviation strategy, because it will not best serve huge numbers of businesses outside of London. Key findings of Great Airports for Great Cities, produced by economic consultancy Capital Economics, include: Over half a million businesses are located within Birmingham Airport’s catchment – one quarter of all Britain’s businesses and the second largest business catchment after Heathrow. These businesses employ 6.4 million workers – over 25% of Britain’s workforce. There are more managers – more likely to travel – in Birmingham Airport’s catchment than in any other long-haul airport’s.

Over three million business trips were made from the Birmingham catchment in 2011 – second only to Heathrow. Birmingham Airport has the largest share of manufacturing activity out of any long-haul airport catchment – particularly high-value manufacturing including transport, machinery, motor vehicles and aerospace. Birmingham Airport’s catchment was the destination for a quarter of all Foreign Direct Investment that came into Britain in 2011. Businesses in Birmingham’s catchment exported more goods to Asia and the Middle East than any other airport’s catchment area. Mark Pragnell, of Capital Economics, said: “British businesses and exporters will increasingly require connections to longhaul destinations like Asia, South America, the Middle East and, eventually, Africa to be successful. Few airports are equipped for these long-haul connections – and most are concentrated in the already congested London area. Birmingham Airport is the best located airport to serve the long-haul needs of over 500,000 businesses employing 6.5 million people, taking pressure off over-crowded

The Government set up the independent Airports Commission, chaired by Howard Davies, to investigate how to maintain the UK’s position as Europe’s most important aviation hub. An interim report is due by the end of this year on how to improve existing runway capacities, with a final report on longterm UK airport options due by the summer of 2015. The new research from Steer Davies Gleave and Capital Economics is helping to form Birmingham Airport’s evidence to the Commission. The airport has also highlighted how its runway extension, due to complete in early 2014, will enable direct flights from Birmingham to China, South America, South Africa and the West Coast of the USA. Meanwhile, rumours about the prospect of a second runway at Birmingham have been emerging, albeit in whispers and through quiet lobbying by MPs at Westminster. Last week’s publication of ‘Delivering Growth’ – the economic framework for the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP (GBSLEP) – again underlined the strategic importance of Birmingham Airport.

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London airports. “Used properly, Birmingham Airport can help balance out airport capacity – and support efforts to build a more balanced British economy beyond the South East”. The report was commissioned by Birmingham Airport as part of a series of publications to help inform its response to the Airports Commission, which has called for evidence on how to make the best use of existing capacity. Paul Kehoe, chief executive of Birmingham

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AVIATION NEWS l-r, Paul Kehoe Selim Ozturk

>> Turkish delight

Airport, said: “A surprisingly high proportion of the country’s potential demand for business air travel comes from Birmingham Airport’s catchment area. “But rather than flying from their local airport, we have an illogical situation where these businesses have to slog down the M1 or M40 to get to Heathrow – leaving them with huge time and cost implications and adding to the London congestion. It is clear that UK exports are best served by a great network of British airports that serve our great cities, not just a London hub. If the Government is serious about boosting growth across the UK and encouraging a renaissance in manufacturing then we need a complete rethink of our aviation model.” The Airport’s response to the Commission has been endorsed by a wide group of business associations, including the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP and the Black Country LEP, plus Chambers of Commerce representing Birmingham and Solihull, North Staffordshire, Shropshire, Hereford and Worcestershire, the Black Country and Coventry and Warwickshire.

More than 35 million people are already within two hours’ travel of Birmingham Airport – the largest number of potential travellers boasted by any UK airport. And after High-Speed Two (HS2), Birmingham Airport’s two-hour catchment will increase to 45 million, with 15 million passengers within a one-hour journey of the airport. These are the verdicts of a major new study by Steer Davies Gleave and Capital Economics, leading transport and economics experts. Birmingham Airport says the Government should heed this analysis and develop a network of major British airports, rather than one London-centric hub. This, it says, will not only help the UK to handle the forecast surge in air travel but will also underpin the competitiveness of Britain’s regional economies.

Turkish Airlines has increased its Birmingham flights programme from seven to ten departures each week. The development means the airline has doubled its flights since starting operations at Birmingham in December 2008. Selim Ozturk, general manager for Turkish Airlines at Birmingham, said: “The extra flights offer even more choice thanks to our growing network from Istanbul – across 98 countries, providing 221 destinations worldwide for the Midlands traveller.” Meanwhile, BMI Regional is starting four new routes from Birmingham Airport, creating 75 jobs. Direct flights to Lyon and Toulouse in France and Gothenburg in Sweden began in May, with fights to Billund in Denmark starting in June. And Air Malta has relaunched charter flights from Birmingham Airport twice a week.

>> A towering success Birmingham Airport’s new £10m Air Traffic Control Tower has been crowned ‘Project of the Year’ by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. The tower received the overall title in the regional awards for its ‘overall outstanding best practice’, and also won the ‘Regeneration’ category.

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AS I SEE IT

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don’t lose sight of us opportunities Steve Allen, vice president of the British-American Business Council, urges local companies not to forget the USA – the West Midlands’ biggest trading partner and investor

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May 2013 saw Birmingham attract delegates from all over the US for the British-American Business Council’s (BABC) Annual Transatlantic Business Conference. The event was the culmination of more than a year’s work by the Midlands Chapter of the BABC. In 2012, I led the team that pitched to bring the conference here. Having attended previous conferences held in Chicago, San Francisco, London, New York and Edinburgh, I knew that with the phenomenal facilities available in the city, and with support from Marketing Birmingham, UKTI, Birmingham Chamber and the city council, not to mention the CBSO, we could pull it off against stiff competition from the US. A very significant part of our pitch was the city’s already strong transatlantic links. In an era when the focus is improving relations with the booming economies of China and India, it’s easy to overlook the fact that the West Midlands’ number one trading partner remains the US. The United States has also been a significant investor into West Midlands plc. More than 600 US companies have a presence across the region, employing some 60,000 people. According to Business Birmingham, the inward investment arm of Marketing Birmingham, since 2008 there have been 90 US investments into the West Midlands,

creating more than 2,600 jobs and safeguarding a further 9,000-plus. Big deals in recent years include the establishment of Amazon’s distribution centre in Rugeley, creating 900 jobs, and Kraft’s acquisition of Cadbury, safeguarding 2,900 jobs at Bournville. And once here, it seems that US businesses thrive. For each new slice of foreign investment attracted, an average of 34 jobs has been created, but for each US expansion, 91 jobs were created or safeguarded. Birmingham is the star attraction for investors, with almost 600 jobs created in the city, and some 4,000 safeguarded. But the Black Country, Staffordshire, Solihull and Warwickshire have also seen significant investment. So what about Midland companies seeking to trade across the pond? Does a shared language and the widelyacknowledged ‘special relationship’ make it easy? I regularly travel to the US to see clients and build new client relationships and can attest that the enduring special relationship still counts. Products that trade on their ‘Britishness’ have a distinct advantage, as shown by the significant increase in American sales of UK-manufactured cars, particularly the new Range Rover Evoque and Jaguar XF and XJ. The success of Top Shop and Dyson are also cases in point. Conversely, UK companies such as Rimmel

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have found it less easy to sell cosmetics in a country which associates this industry with France and Italy. Do not, however, underestimate Americans’ desire to ‘buy American’. Simple ways to create a ‘virtual presence’, for example by setting up a local phone-line, can assist UK companies in convincing Americans they are serious about doing business in their country. For all the advantages the Brits enjoy when trading across the pond, there are barriers and pitfalls. The US has a significant number of tariffs in sectors such as food, textiles, footwear, leather goods, glass and commercial ceramics. Regulatory barriers can also be an impediment. Products in the US are required to conform to multiple technical regulations regarding environmental and consumer protection, health and safety. Product safety requirements can change overnight, especially when the liability insurance market makes new assessments of what is required. If you are launching a new product in the US, product liability and insurance are essential. For UK business setting up in the States, location is important. The US operates on a state-by-state basis, with each having its own cultural, legal, regulatory and financial identity. For example, incorporating your company in Delaware offers significant tax breaks but also legal protection against insolvency. Good contacts with politicians at both state and federal level are also helpful. Most companies know there is no statefunded healthcare in the USA. However, they may not be prepared for the fact that employees require health, dental and vision cover as part of their basic package. I’m bound to say this, but investing in a good lawyer in the US is essential. It’s easy to set up a business there, but Americans are litigious. Getting it wrong could be very costly.

AS I SEE IT

There has been talk of a transatlantic trade pact for decades but the recession has underlined the need for better relations Trade links with the US could soon be smoothed with the creation of a new EU/ US agreement. There has been talk of a transatlantic trade pact for decades, but the recession has underlined the need for better relations. Cutting tariffs and harmonising regulatory standards are both on the agenda, and the European Commission is looking at a two-year deadline for a new deal. For businesses in the West Midlands, one barrier much closer to home has been direct flights, with just one route at the moment: Birmingham to Newark. The runway extension at Birmingham Airport could be a gamechanger. The ability to fly to and from the west coast of America will undoubtedly add another dimension to the Midlands’ offer. Now back to that conference… We were really proud to bring this prestigious event to Birmingham, and we certainly rolled out the

red carpet. VIP guests and keynote speakers arriving at Birmingham Airport were chauffeurdriven in sleek Jaguars, courtesy of Jaguar Land Rover, to the Hyatt on Broad Street. The CBSO played a special concert for our guests and Vince Cable was the keynote speaker at a gala dinner. Business cards were exchanged and important contacts forged. In time, I hope to be able to report on a few new transatlantic deals that were hatched right here in the city of Birmingham. Steve Allen heads the Birmingham office of national law firm Mills & Reeve LLP. He is also vice president of the BritishAmerican Business Council (BABC) – the largest transatlantic business network, with 23 chapters and 2,500 member companies throughout North America and the UK. More details at www.babc.org

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ENTREPRENEUR

tapping into a growing market As the old saying goes, ‘even the Queen goes to the loo’. But this sentiment is all part of the working day for Charlotte Conway – who designs luxury bathrooms for the rich and famous. Steve Dyson reports Just imagine how awkward I was feeling: showers, steam, mirrors and loo seats. Taps, towels, flushes and toilet roll holders. This whole bathroom thing – our personal ablutions for goodness’ sake – is a secret subject that most of us don’t easily discuss with anyone. But here I was, about to interview a young woman I’d never met before about... posh bathrooms. I mean, it’s just not the topic of conversation I’d choose. And so I threw myself in at the deep end, so to speak, and came out with a question I hoped wouldn’t create too much of a splash. As a bathroom designer, what’s important about the, er, toilet, and just where do you put it? Without blinking, 28-year-old Charlotte Conway answers, and her self-assurance immediately eases the atmosphere. “I like loos wall hung,” she says. “It’s best to keep it simple that way, as you don’t want to draw too much attention to them. It’s best if they’re not opposite the door, for instance. I often try to place them neatly away in the corner, or behind a piece of furniture.” I’m getting the mental image, and can almost sense privacy again, so I feel less intrusive with

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my next question: what about the toilet roll holder? Because I’m always noticing how they never seem to stay fixed to the wall... “I know,” she agrees, “people must play with them, because they’re often broken! For that reason, it’s important to go for quality. I’m talking about quality fixings, matched to the type of wall it’s going into. The fitting teams I work with know the standards I expect – all the way down to the toilet roll holder. It’s all about having the right lengths of screws. But again, you want them to be as simple as possible, using colour to blend them into the overall design.” It’s this attention to detail that Charlotte’s clients like, as she senses the need that

successful people have to create luxury bathrooms that feel part of their home. “You don’t want to walk in and think ‘this is a cold bathroom’,” she says. “You want it to be comfortable. You want the same feeling you’d get if you were walking into a lounge – tranquility. “It’s a place where you start and finish your day, so it should be somewhere you feel you’re most relaxed and at peace. “It’s a quiet, calm place to help you shut down before bed, but that also helps you to be ready to start the day.” This is not just a theme for Charlotte; it’s almost her philosophy: “They say the kitchen is the heart of the home. Well, the bathroom is

It’s a place where you start and finish your day, so it should be somewhere you feel most relaxed and at peace

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Once you do one bathroom that’s liked you’re soon lined up to do other properties in their investments, then recommended to their friends the soul. And why wouldn’t you want to spend money like you would on a lounge and kitchen? It’s the only place in the house where you can be on your own if you want. The bathroom is a place to relax and reflect. It should be an area where you spend money to have exactly as you want.” Charlotte’s business – Charlotte Conway Design – only had 33 ‘jobs’ in 2012, but these were all high-value projects, ranging from posh cloakrooms to plush master bathrooms. And it’s the personal attention to detail that makes the difference. “Each bathroom is individual to the client,” Charlotte says. “I don’t have a showroom because I don’t want to take a display and repeat it in lots of people’s homes. “The bathrooms I create are exclusive to each client, with bespoke elements from their lifestyle and personality. “It starts during the initial consultation – when I just listen to what a client says about themselves and their lives. I might ask a couple

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of questions about what they like, what they do, about their family and children; what they wear, their style, their jewellery, and so on. “I then visit their home to build up the picture. When I’m in their home I can see how they’ve decorated, what possessions they have, and visualise things that might work well, for example, a free-standing bath. “After this, I hand-draw the draft design, a professional touch and one that is easily altered. Once they like it, I produce a fully-scaled floor plan, with itemised specification. They can look at this on my iPad, feel its value and look through and select different textures and shapes. “I’m looking for a ‘wow factor’. I try to use bespoke stone, cut in certain sizes and shapes. Or taps coming out of the mirror, so when their guests see the bathroom they think ‘that’s amazing’ and ‘I’ve never seen anything like that before’. “For one client I created a feature wall using the pattern wallpaper they had in the

bedroom. A glazier scanned this pattern and then sandblasted it onto their mirror, connecting the two rooms. For another, in an old barn, I wanted to keep the character and so I used old beams that weren’t required to create shelves to sit on.” Charlotte has a way with her words, easily describing how she can help clients working on restoration projects: “I’m always seeking to use old material as furnishings in a contemporary way. So I’m always looking for different pieces hidden in a corner that can be used for a basin or something. “For one client, I found an old Belfast sink half-buried in the garden. I used this as part of the design, with a mirrored shelf. Another was restoring a gothic Victorian property, reviving it back to its original form. I created a troughstyle basin, one that would originally have been filled with water jugs. “There was a porcelain bowl within this trough, with holes drilled in for taps. Then I looked at the original light fittings and door

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handles, and made sure that the taps were made to match the brass of the time, back in their original finish.” People are prepared to pay for this kind of detail, Charlotte’s clients spending anything from £10,000 on a cloakroom and up to £70,000 on the design and material alone for main bathrooms. With trade and fitting costs of up to £15,000, it means a total spend of up to £85,000 for domestic jobs – with larger,

ENTREPRENEUR

commercial projects costing more. A famous Premier League customer is West Bromwich Albion captain Chris Brunt and his wife Cathy, who had five bathrooms designed by her at their home in Four Oaks, Sutton Coldfield. This led to recommendations, and Charlotte’s now designing the bathrooms for West Brom’s James Morrison and his partner Kayleigh Denham. “Most of my clients come through

recommendations,” says Charlotte. “As well as football stars, many are top professionals with second and third properties. Once you do one bathroom that’s liked you’re soon lined up to do other properties in their investments, then recommended to their friends. “One of my best customers is an investment banker with UFC Fund Management. I started off doing some accessories in his home in Staffordshire which were liked, and then was

How Charlotte designed an empire with room for expansion Born in Sutton Coldfield in 1984, Charlotte Conway scored A, A, B in her Design, Graphics and English Literature A-levels at Arthur Terry School. She then studied for a Foundation Diploma in Art and Design at Sutton College, trying out art and design, photography, graphic design, life drawing and textiles. Charlotte started a BA (Hons) in Textiles at Manchester Metropolitan and, although she loved the city and the course, found that her foundation year had given her “an older head”, and that “I just didn’t enjoy the university lifestyle”. So in 2003 she found a job at Ripples Bathrooms in Sutton Coldfield, working on high-end bathroom design – everything from fabrics and wallpapers to toilets. “When I first went there I didn’t think I’d enjoy working with toilets, but I did! I really enjoyed design consultations – learning all the things you need to do with a client. “My business manager was great and I learned all about margins, and working hard on discounts to keep within those margins. It was a really good experience on the basics of business life, and it made me who I am and what the business is today.” Charlotte left Ripples in 2005 as she “wanted to discover more about the softer side of things – materials”. She did this at Casa Belle in Walmley, Sutton Coldfield, working as a design consultant and interior designer on show homes all over the country and making presentations to builders. But she left after six months because she “missed the bathrooms”. So Charlotte decided to work part-time as a design consultant at Bennett and Bowman Interiors in Four Oaks, Sutton Coldfield, spending the rest of the week setting up her own business. “As much as I like interiors and soft furnishings, I missed the technical involvement in designing bathrooms. The plumbing and central heating, the structures and project management, dealing with building teams and different trades. Interiors were not as complicated – simply design and then decoration, with not so much after service required. Bathrooms are

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more involved, with care and attention to detail. I’ve carefully selected different trade teams to work for me, the builders, plumbers, plasterers, tilers, electricians and glaziers. “They’re people I know won’t mind if it’s not quite my standard and they have to redo parts. It means I have control over projects, although some clients use their own trade teams, and I can work with that as well.” In April 2010, Charlotte formally started Charlotte Conway Design, initially from home, with consultations in clients’ homes. By last year, she was doing so well that she started renting a studio in Four Oaks and took on her first member of staff. “I didn’t want a showroom with the footfall that brings, with browsers not looking to do a project. With the type of clients I’m dealing with I wanted to give them exclusivity, to make them feel looked after. “My studio is exclusive and relaxed – making clients feel my attention is with them. Many are well-off and well-known, and would not want people looking over their shoulders.” The oldest of three sisters, Charlotte now lives in Canwell, Four Oaks, and is married to company director Adam Smith, aged 34. She loves travelling to European cities for inspiration, and is a regular in antique markets in places like Florence and Nice. What about her own bathroom? “We live in a renovated old cottage, and so I wanted an elegant bathroom. I chose an antique piece of furniture as the feature – a Georgian sideboard, with distressed paint work. This has counter-top basins, taps coming out of walls, a free-standing bath with a mirrored wall, the taps coming out of the mirror. And a walk-in shower.” Charlotte Conway Design is becoming more and more successful, and is heading for a turnover of £500,000 in 2013, making enough profit for Charlotte to “treat myself” to a new Range Rover Evoque. Her vision after 2013? “I’d like to push turnover up to £750,000 in 2014, opening another studio in the Cotswolds, then maybe Cheshire. By expanding into these areas I can make it easier to travel for the type of clients I’m after, perhaps pushing the boutique hotel market as well.”

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ENTREPRENEUR

commissioned to work on his properties in London. “Other customers include well-known directors of Deloitte and KPMG, and various top surgeons. The main customers often tend to be women. They have people round for coffee or dinner parties, and show people round their houses who like what they see, and this leads to new jobs.” Charlotte shows me a recently published list of the ‘top ten roads to live on in the West Midlands’, and proudly tells me that she has clients in seven of them: Bracebridge Road, Ladywood Road, Hartopp Road and Luttrell Road in Four Oaks; Roman Grange, Roman Road and Endwood Drive, in Little Aston. Some jobs involve whole houses, where clients not only want bathrooms designed but also want smart cloakrooms, swimming pool and gymnasium areas, and private spa facilities.

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The main customers often tend to be women. They have people round for coffee or dinner parties, and show people round their houses who like what they see, and this leads to new jobs As well as domestic clients, Charlotte works on commercial projects like schools and boutique hotels. These have included guest bathrooms at Alrewas Hayes, Staffordshire, and ensuites and a bridal suite at Moxhull Hall, Sutton Coldfield – both exclusive wedding venues. And her most unusual job? “A dog shower!” Yes, although Charlotte can’t reveal the name, there’s a very lucky labrador living in Sutton Coldfield with its very own bathroom. “The

client spent around £10,000 on this, with a ramp for the dog to walk up so the owner or groomer doesn’t have to bend down, and can just stand there and wash the dog. There’s even a dog-sized dryer!” By now, I’m laughing, and I realise I’m no longer embarrassed about talking bathrooms. In fact, while I can’t stretch to a full ensuite job, I’ve got this little privy downstairs that needs a makeover... n

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INTERVIEW

Coutts thrives by building strong, personal relationships with its banking customers, concentrating on real, long-term returns for their investments. Ros Dodd reports When clients talk to Miles Plumb about the ups and downs of managing a business, he knows exactly where they’re coming from. Not only has he been a financial adviser to the rich and famous for nearly 20 years, he used to run his own fruit and vegetable company. “I started working when I was 13 – as you could do in those days – and my first job was at a local fruit and veg shop, which I loved,” remembers 50-year-old Miles, who grew up in Solihull and still lives there. “It was really exciting, hard work and quite unlike anything I’d experienced previously. “I went to work for Barclays Bank after leaving school, but I always felt that I wanted to have my own fruit and veg business. So at the age of 23 I decided that before I had a mortgage, I’d do it.” Miles bought a run-down business in Knowle, along with an old, battered van, and over the next seven years transformed it into a thriving retail, wholesale and import company. “It was built up through reputation, because we sold top-quality produce and provided good service. I picked up contracts from Birmingham City Council, hotel chains and restaurants and at its height had 15 people working for me.” The long hours – 3.30am until 7pm, six days a week – eventually took their toll, though, and in 1993, Miles sold the business for a handsome profit. The experience stood him in good stead, because these days, as a director and wealth manager with Coutts Birmingham, the majority of his clients are entrepreneurs. “Because of my experience, I do understand what clients are going through – the difficulties of getting finance, paying people, cash flow and the excitement of selling the business on. It also taught me a lot about looking after clients and resolving things when they go wrong.” Miles was “clearly not a serial entrepreneur”, because after selling his business, he returned to employment, joining Lloyds Bank for a year

before moving to the Bank of Scotland. “I recognised that if I wanted to get on, I needed to work hard. So I was determined to become as well-qualified as possible.” And that is precisely what he did, becoming one of the first fellows of the Personal Finance Society, as well as a chartered financial planner and a member of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment (CISI). Coutts wealth managers are expected to be CISI-qualified to level six. So how wealthy – exactly – does someone need to be for Miles and his team to take them on as a client?

If you look back, the people who lost out were those who lost their nerve

“Typically, you’re looking at clients having about £1m of investable assets from day one,” he says. “We want to ensure we offer excellent service by highly-qualified individuals, and if you have too many clients, you can’t do that, so that is why we are selective.” Its charges aren’t especially high, however. “People’s perception is that Coutts is expensive, but that’s not the case. We are very competitive, certainly when it comes to wealth management and private banking.” What clients pay for is also more transparent since new rules from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) came into effect on January 1. Known as the Retail Distribution Review (RDR), the aim is to raise professional standards in the

industry, introduce greater clarity between the different types of service available and make the cost of advice very clear. “Our clients are very open to it; they see the benefits and are happy to engage with us on this basis.” The recession and banking crisis have made for turbulent times – but Miles says Coutts and its clients are coming out the other side of both tunnels. “In 2008 and 2009, people were jittery and there was a degree of panic. It’s easy to say in hindsight, but if you look back, the people who lost out were those who lost their nerve. Where we did well was to maintain communications with our clients. We had the difficult conversations and the tricky, face-to-face meetings. Obviously things were changing very quickly, but the vast majority of our clients held their nerve and were right to do so: their investments started to recover.” As a result, says Miles, people are much more aware and better informed – and expect more of the people who are looking after their money. “We have to be more on the ball than ever before. The last few years have been challenging, but I can see that, to a degree, the optimism has returned. We’ve had more work come in this year than in the last two years put together. “There is definitely more going on now: there are quite a lot of mergers and acquisitions taking place, sales of businesses and private equity companies taking over businesses and turning them around. So I think the West Midlands region is definitely on the up. The mood generally is positive.” Miles doesn’t believe Coutts’ reputation has suffered as a result of the banking crisis. “I don’t think clients have lost confidence in us. I think they know we are run on the same old-fashioned principles on which we were founded and that we are run conservatively. So any loss of confidence bounced back quickly.” Any residual jitteriness as a result of the last few years is the reason a large part of Coutts’

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

INTERVIEW

SUMMER 13

Royally recognised the world over Coutts & Co is most famously known as the Queen’s bank. It was founded in 1692 by a young Scots goldsmith-banker, John Campbell of Lundie, Scotland. He set up business in The Strand, London, under a sign of the ‘three crowns’. The Coutts logo still has the three crowns, and its headquarters is still in The Strand. Today, Coutts is the wealth division of Royal Bank of Scotland Group and has more than 40 offices across the world, including Zurich, Hong Kong and Dubai, offering tailored wealth management, banking, trust and tax services. Its Birmingham office – one of 27 offices across the UK – opened in 1994. It provides private banking and wealth management services to clients throughout the West Midlands. Led by Miles Plumb, the office has 24 highly-qualified staff operating within three distinct areas: • Banking • Wealth management, and • Specialist areas, such as inheritance tax planning and pension arrangements. In April, the wealth management team was joined by Layla Fear, who will be responsible for developing new and existing business in the Midlands. She has more than 12 years’ experience within financial services, having held investment management and analyst positions at a number of companies, including Alliance Trust plc and Standard Life plc.

discussions with clients centres on their appetite for risk. “We spend a lot of time talking about their ability to tie up money for a period of time. A good thing about what happened in 2008 is that we can talk to clients about how they felt then and that provides something of a benchmark for the future. Our risk conversations are much more detailed than they were before, to ensure that if things don’t go too well in the short-term, they don’t panic. “Sometimes clients are very keen to invest because the markets are moving in the right

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

direction, but we will rein them in if we think it’s not the right time for them; for example, if they’ve just sold a business. Recently this happened and I was proved right in dissuading a client from investing, because he subsequently decided there was something else he wanted to do with his money. “This client described me as a psychologist, because there’s an emotional side to what we do. We spend a lot of time trying to understand what makes people tick. And this demonstrates that we’re not just out there to invest money regardless of what’s right

for an individual client.” Bankers and financial advisers in general – and Coutts bank in particular – are sometimes perceived as being a bit, well, stuffy. Miles is anything but. He’s open and friendly with an infectious sense of humour and after an hour in his company you feel as if you’ve known him a long while. No wonder he is able to forge long-lasting relationships with his clients. “My ideal client is interested in what they do; they value the relationship they have with you, they value the advice they get and value your opinion as an individual. People often want to know if my views are the same as Coutts’, and sometimes they’re different, perhaps because of what’s going on in the local economy. Coutts is happy for us to have our own opinions.” In terms of investment advice, Coutts advocates diversification and provides an investment-focused blog – https://blog.coutts. com – to help guide clients through the changing financial landscape. “Our investment advice will include bond holdings, commodities, including gold, and there will be some property and hedge fund exposure too,” explains Miles, who stresses that Coutts isn’t about speculative investment. “Our approach is conservative. We are looking to build up long-term investments; we are not the place to come if you’re looking to make a fast buck, and we will turn down would-be clients who want to do that. Our reputation is important – we’d rather not take someone on than mess it up.” Does coming face-to-face with great wealth on a daily basis make Miles envious at times? Not at all, he says. “I would say that money provides a degree of security that you don’t have if you don’t have a lot of money. It also provides opportunities. But from a personal point of view, I think you can be very happy without being wealthy. And, of course, it depends on your expectations. I come out of clients’ houses sometimes and see Bentleys and Ferraris parked on the drive, while I climb into my Audi. But I love my Audi – and I remember the time I drove an old van. “I like my clients for who they are as people; not because they have money. And while I quite like dipping my toe into their world, I am happy to go back to mine.” n

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Dr Chris Hand

Researching new diagnostic techniques and pioneering the use of synthetic biology in industry.

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EDGBASTON MEDICAL QUARTER

SUMMER 13

Taking research to market Chris Hand, CEO of Oxford based Abingdon Health Ltd, talks to BQ about doing business in Birmingham, an award winning joint venture with the University of Birmingham and the opportunities for growth in the Edgbaston Medical Quarter PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND I have spent the past 20+ years in the medical diagnostics industry. Following a role as Director of Research for the European base of a large USA diagnostics company (DPC now part of Siemens), I started my own diagnostics company, Cozart plc, which was listed on the London Stock Exchange AIM market and later sold for £65m in 2007. Cozart became part of a larger group, which I joined as a Non Executive Director, and was sold in 2009 for £147m. I am currently Chief Executive of Abingdon Health Ltd, a company I formed with colleagues in 2007. We have a joint venture company with the University of Birmingham, Bioscience Ventures Ltd, which was established to commercialise intellectual property (IP) in the field of medical diagnostics. YOUR MAIN BASE IS IN OXFORD, WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO BIRMINGHAM? At Abingdon Health we were aware of particular inventions from the University of Birmingham, including those relating to the management of the blood cancer, myeloma which we thought we could help commercialise. We could see great benefit in the combination of the world-class IP from the University Birmingham with our product development and commercialisation skills. We approached Alta Innovations, the University’s technology transfer company, to discuss this and following in depth talks, we formed a joint venture to develop this IP from ‘lab-bench to product’ and to enhance the activities of Alta Bioscience Ltd, a specialist manufacturer of peptides and provider of amino-acid analysis based on campus, which is now part of the joint venture company. WHAT IS IT LIKE COLLABORATING ON A COMMERCIAL VENTURE WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM? We have worked well together with the University,

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

Dr Chris Hand and Professor Lawrence Young collect the ‘Open Collaboration’ award from Lord Stafford in November 2012.

We could see great benefit in the combination of the world-class IP from the University Birmingham with our product development and commercialisation skills academics and with Alta Innovations. We have secured and created new jobs, launched new products and the collaboration has received additional validation through external awards. Towards the end of 2012 we were delighted that our joint venture, Bioscience Ventures Ltd, won the Lord Stafford Award in the category of ‘Open Collaboration’ and more recently one of our Bioscience Ventures spinouts ‘Serascience Ltd’ won the Medilink West Midlands Award for best start-up company. We also won a grant of £100,000 from the Birmingham Post Regional Growth Fund to expand our activities at Alta Bioscience Ltd.

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IS THIS A TYPICAL WAY OF WORKING WITH A UNIVERSITY? Our model is different to the usual model employed by a university where IP is licensed to third parties or small spinout companies are formed to commercialise an invention. The Bioscience Ventures model means that each new innovation has the benefit of support from an experienced management team who can develop it without the major cost of creating infrastructure and management cost for each invention. In effect this management expertise and infrastructure is ‘shared’ until the activity is sufficiently well

SUMMER 13

EDGBASTON MEDICAL QUARTER

Having the right networks and a supportive business environment is really important established to require additional sources of funding and management – Bioscience Ventures has the resources to provide ‘seed funding’ to make initial progress quickly. CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE CHALLENGES AND ADVANTAGES OF ACCESSING THE EXPERTISE AT THE UNIVERSITY? Both Abingdon Health and the University of Birmingham have two directors on the board of Bioscience Ventures meaning that both entities can ensure that interests are aligned. We meet regularly with Alta Innovations to review the potential of new opportunities. I believe that illustration of success which we are seeing with some of our activities will encourage even greater interaction with the academics. We have set-up Bioscience Ventures so that operational decisions can me made immediately. HOW WELL IS BIOSCIENCE VENTURES DOING? The company has performed well and continues to do so. We are delighted to have completed the development of a new ‘near-patient’ or ‘on-thespot’ test for the diagnosis and management of patients with myeloma, a cancer of the blood. This product originated from an invention in the University of Birmingham’s College of Medicine and Dental Sciences and resulted in the company ‘Serascience’ being established. The product was launched in April 2013 at a major conference in Japan and was well received by the international experts attending the meeting. Additional developments are following rapidly with a new detection method, invented in the university’s School of Biosciences, which allows for testing of multiple parameters in a sample in a matter of minutes. WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD? Over the past two years since the joint venture we have made great progress. Moving forward we expect some of our activities to be further developed into fully fledged diagnostics companies or to be integral parts of larger entities – Serascience and Linear Diagnostics are good

Dr Chris Hand and Professor Mark Drayson from the University of Birmingham with the new testing kit for very fast detection of myeloma

examples of that and we expect these and other inventions alongside the services we provide at Alta Bioscience Ltd to continue to expand. In addition to original funding which established the venture, both Abingdon Health and the University of Birmingham have each committed £1m to continue to fund this venture – an indication of the early success and the confidence in the future. Edgbaston Medical Quarter was launched in March in recognition of the districts medical excellence. DO YOU THINK THIS WILL ATTRACT MORE MEDICALLY FOCUSED BUSINESSES TO INVEST IN THE REGION? This is a very exciting initiative for the city and a well-deserved title for Edgbaston. Creating a focus for medical and medical diagnostics research and product development could be a key driver in attracting companies to the area – and importantly higher skilled staff – to train or locate to the region. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A COMPANY CONSIDERING LOCATING THEIR MEDICAL BUSINESS IN EDGBASTON? Having the right networks and a supportive

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business environment is really important. Edgbaston Medical Quarter is obviously a driver behind this. Universities are also extremely valuable resources both in terms of access to exciting innovations and also in nurturing entrepreneurial talent and providing business support advice and links. Tenants at Birmingham Research Park for example benefit from its closeness to both the University of Birmingham and the Queen Elizabeth hospital and plans for a Biomedical innovation Hub within the University environment provide excellent opportunities to locate next to a world-leading base of medical and life sciences research.

For a fresh perspective on a problem or challenge contact the business engagement team at the University of Birmingham: businessteam@bham.ac.uk +44 (0)121 414 8635 www.birmingham.ac.uk/tailoredforbusiness/

BUSINESS SUMMER 13 BUSINESSQUARTER QUARTER||SUMMER

EDGBASTON MEDICAL QUARTER

SUMMER 13

Edgbaston focus on medical Thriving hub for healthcare and medical firms continues to develop since its launch Edgbaston has been the centre for an expanding healthcare and medical services for many years. As well as traditional healthcare services, there has been a growth of wider practices specialising in cosmetic, holistic and alternative therapies. With so much expertise in the area, Edgbaston is now the region’s hub for medical matters and this has been further underlined with the launch of the Edgbaston Medical Quarter this year. The idea to form a specialist group evolved from Medilink, Calthorpe Estates, and a number of pioneering businesses, academics and clinicians and links to the Life Sciences corridor. All believe that by collaborating the area will attract further interest and investment . As Jayne Herritty , Sales and Marketing Director explains; “The Edgbaston Medical Quarter cluster provides a valuable platform for the exchange of knowledge, resources and services for health and research related organisations choosing to be based here. Research undertaken by Medilink last year showed 64% of the city’s healthcare provision to be found in Edgbaston – over 180- medical organisations’’ Construction will start later this year at Pebble Mill to provide world-class medical facilities within The Dental Hospital , School of Dentistry, a private hospital and plans are progressing to create an exceptional Bupa Care Home. Combined with the outstanding healthcare

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

The Edgbaston Medical Quarter cluster provides a valuable platform for the exchange of knowledge, resources and services for health and research related organisations choosing to be based here. provision within the QE Hospital, BMI and Priory – the research facilities at Birmingham University and the Institute of Translational Medicine – Edgbaston has a lot of connections to offer new companies looking to expand their healthcare links. Ms Herritty added ‘’Whilst the larger organisations provide an anchor for the EMQ, the supporting housing, education and lifestyle infrastructure in Edgbaston attract and

8 George Road

retain the best private practitioners who find the elegant period properties lend themselves ideally for living and working from’’. Calthorpe Estates have facilitated growth of the medical sector in Edgbaston over many years and will continue to do so by making available development opportunities such as Pebble Mill which has one plot available with planning consent for a 40,000 sq f t development, to smaller consulting room practices available immediately and offered with D1 use such as 8 George Road.

To find our more on how to join the Edgbaston Medical Quarter visit. www.emq.org.uk.

Map of Edgbaston Medical Quarter

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For details call Calthorpe Estates on 0121 248 7676

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EDGBASTON MEDICAL QUARTER

Collaborate to innovate: bringing together the four corners of the medtech/healthcare sector By Jim Lavery, Partner and Lead for Healthcare at DLA Piper’s Birmingham office The healthcare and medtech sector is changing rapidly. Evolving technologies are opening the way for innovation and ground-breaking new medical devices and - with an ageing population - there is a strong focus on medicines, devices and diagnostics that are vital to the ability to care for the elderly and long term conditions. Health reform initiatives in the UK and rising prosperity in the emerging economies such as China and Brazil are increasing domestic opportunities and opening up fruitful new export horizons for healthcare and medical devices companies. According to a long-term forecast by consultants Bain & Company, we can expect to see a $4trn rise in sales in the global healthcare market by 2020. Against this backdrop of rapid global change, the Edgbaston Medical Quarter is a recognition of the fact that the region has to compete on an international stage to tap into this lucrative market. The Medical Quarter has the potential to fulfil a gap in the market by offering Midlands companies and international investors who operate within this highly technical dynamic sector a dedicated environment that is tailored to their specific needs in terms of community, facilities and support. The region already has outstanding existing credentials in the sector, including: • Our strong critical mass of healthcare/medtech companies from small start-ups and university spin outs to well established national and international buisnesses, all of which are driving innovation. • Our world class teaching hospital (the Queen Elizabeth) and leading medical schools such as Birmingham University, who are at the forefront of some of the largest clinical trials in the UK. • The outstanding reputation in manufacturing and engineering at the heart of our heritage, which has led the region to develop a rich pool of talented workers whose skills are readily transferrable to manufacturing for the medical device market. Indeed, it is a testament to the entrepreneurial Midlands spirit that many

Jim Lavery, Partner and Lead for Healthcare DLA Piper Birmingham Office

manufacturers have already diversified their offering to tap into the opportunities within the healthcare/medtech supply chain and developed outstanding reputations for innovation. • A strong professional advisory community with global sector expertise. The benefit of the quarter will be to bring these strengths together, fostering collaboration, knowledge transfer and access to skills to create opportunities across the various disciplines. This will enhance the Midlands’ offering to international inward investors in the sector in a very direct and tangible way. For example, it can be far more cost effective for companies to tap into the existing specialist skills of universities, hospitals and research centres than to develop the capabilities in house, as shown by the fact that Birmingham University has collaborated with many of the world’s top 20 pharmaceutical companies – including GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer

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and AstraZeneca. It is also important that the professional services community is engaged in the development of the Medical Quarter. Life Sciences, including healthcare and medtech, is one of DLA Piper’s focus sectors and we have an international team of experts within the industry who work for exactly the kind of companies, from start-ups to global conglomerates, that the Medical Quarter is trying to attract. As such we realise that although the opportunities within the industry are boundless, there are also very specific issues that companies need to overcome. For example, collaborations between companies or between the public and private sector often throw up difficulties with intellectual property and/or data protection. Also, as companies look to export new products, they often face regulatory uncertainties. Taking the example of new medical diagnostic apps, regulating bodies across the world are grappling with the question of when a phone app ceases to be a provider of information and becomes a medical device, subject to stricter regulatory guidelines, which will vary between jurisdictions. So for the Medical Quarter to fully succeed, it is essential that all stakeholders are engaged and supportive. If successful, the Medical Quarter could open up fantastic opportunities for the Midlands, creating a real focus for attracting international inward investment into the region and supporting our innovative SMEs in achieving their full growth potential.

Jim Lavery Partner and Lead for Healthcare DLA Piper Birmingham Office T: 0121 262 5663 E: jim.lavery@dlapiper.com

BUSINESS QUARTER QUARTER || SUMMER SUMMER 13 13 BUSINESS

EDGBASTON MEDICAL QUARTER EDGBASTON MEDICAL QUARTER SUMMER 13

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Fundraising to focus on saving sight Imagine the shock of being told that you are losing your sight. Things you take for granted, like reading the words on this page, would become difficult and you may need help with everyday tasks Retinal disease is the most common cause of sight loss in the UK and is responsible for around 60% of all blindness. Retinal disease is damage to the lightdetecting cells in the eye that allow us to see and affects people of all ages and backgrounds. The number of people affected is steadily increasing, as is the number of people going blind as a result. To save people’s sight the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity has launched a new £250,000 QE Eye Appeal. The charity aims to purchase two world class machines to treat patients with the two most common retinal diseases - macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. These two diseases are together responsible for sight loss in more than a million people in the UK, and represent around 15,000 patient visits each year to the Ophthalmology Department at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB). The QE Eye Appeal will enable the department to be one of just a few centres in the UK to have these state of the art diagnostic and treatment capacities. Mike Hammond, chief executive of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity, explained: “We are fundraising for a Spectralis imaging machine, enabling earlier detection, diagnosis and monitoring of retinal diseases, and a Pascal Laser treatment machine to reduce the pain and duration of laser treatment. “Our QE Eye Appeal will help to save sight. It will provide greatly improved care for patients with retinal disease by diagnosing their conditions more quickly and treating them more accurately and efficiently.” Workers at Birmingham-based Aston Labs, who make lenses for spectacles, have already pledged to raise funds for the QE Eye Appeal. Dave Stanton, general manager at Aston Labs, said: “Supporting the QE Eye appeal is easy as it reflects what we are trying to do as a business which is to be the very best eye care provider.”

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

Left to right: lead nurse Nicki Pettitt, Dave Stanton and Anne Waller, QEHB Charity

Our QE Eye Appeal will help to save sight. It will provide greatly improved care for patients with retinal disease by diagnosing their conditions more quickly and treating them more accurately and efficiently Mike added: “We are thrilled that Aston Labs have chosen to back the newly-launched Eye Appeal. Their hard work will enable us to save people’s sight – very fitting for a firm that makes lenses.” The Spectralis machine is the world-leading instrument for ophthalmic imaging, enabling the highest levels of resolution when scanning a patient’s retina. It is more accurate than the current equipment being used, enabling staff to detect retinal eye diseases earlier and track changes in patients’ conditions more reliably, so that they are receiving the best possible treatment. Laser treatment is the only tool to prevent patients with retinal diseases from going blind. Although essential this treatment is understandably unpopular with patients because using standard equipment it is lengthy, painful and requires multiple visits. Between 2,000 and 4,000 individual laser burns are usually needed for each eye, and this is currently done in half-hour

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sessions of 1,000 burns each. The Pascal machine will greatly decrease the pain and discomfort felt by patients who need laser treatment and will be able to deliver treatment more quickly and in the majority of cases, in one session. Few places in the UK currently have this advanced laser technology, so it really will be making an enormous difference to patients from across Birmingham and the Midlands.

To support the QE Eye Appeal please visit www.qehb.org or contact Laura Power, QEHB Charity, on 0121 371 4852

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

SUMMER 13

EDGBASTON MEDICAL QUARTER

At the heart of the Edgbaston Medical Quarter When looking for the best location from which to build your business, having dynamic neighbours who can support innovation is a good place to start Situated at the hub of Birmingham’s health research base, Birmingham Research Park is in the prime location of Edgbaston approximately 2 miles from the city centre and adjacent to both the University of Birmingham’s main campus and the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Birmingham Research Park is the perfect location to support the growing number of research led, technology and health related companies developing in the region. Companies choosing to locate at the Park are integrated within a vibrant and diverse network of businesses, researchers and the wider University of Birmingham research community. The College of Medical and Dental Sciences is at the forefront of medical, health and dentistry research. It is home to one of the most significant collections of clinical trials activity in Europe and the opportunity to be located adjacent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital means companies based at the Park benefit from a proposition which is quite unique in the UK. With the support of on-site staff, who can not only provide practical help to get your business off the ground but also provide on-going business support through its network of business contacts and relationships, Birmingham Research Park offers an unrivalled package to boost your company’s chances of commercial success. One such company that has benefited from the support of Birmingham Research Park is Aspen Healthcare Solutions UK Ltd (AHS). AHS is a company specialising in the provision of medical training, personnel and facilities. CEO Mike Godkin was responsible for identifying the best location for the new business. ”I used to be Executive Officer for the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine based in Selly Oak so I was aware of Birmingham Research Park. I was responsible for finding a location where I could centralise the Defence Medical Services academia and research departments. Birmingham

University of Birmingham main campus with the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Medical School behind Research Park, with the University on its doorstep and excellent transport links was my first choice”.

BIZZINN – BUSINESS INCUBATOR A new business and networking centre called the BizzInn has recently opened at Birmingham Research Park and provides incubation space for new technology based start-ups and entrepreneurs. In addition to providing hot desking, meeting rooms and specialist business advice, the incubator provides an open environment to share best practice, discuss challenges and network with other users. Use of the BizzInn is free to eligible companies for the first 6 months.

BIOMEDICAL INNOVATION HUB Planning permission has recently been granted for a new purpose built Biomedical Hub, set for completion in August 2014. The Hub will be a fully serviced biomedical laboratory aimed at providing small ‘micro’ businesses access on a commercial basis to laboratory workstations and facilities such as tissue culture, DNA replication and other relevant equipment that they would otherwise be unable to afford.

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Birmingham Research Park with the University on its doorstep and excellent transport links was my first choice

Birmingham Research Park • Office space available from 115sqft-7,500sqft • Flexible lease terms available • 24-hour access • Free secure on-site car parking • CCTV Contact Robbie Mackenzie to discuss a package that is right for you. Telephone: 0121 471 4988 E-mail: BRPL@bham.ac.uk Web: www.birminghamresearchpark.co.uk Birmingham Research Park, Vincent Drive, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2SQ

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

SUMMER 13

Improved work-life balance, living wall proves popular, Birmingham’s office conversion potential, jewel in the crown, big deal for Little Heath, and breathing new life into old stock

>> Work-life balance at Two Colmore Square Shoosmiths has relocated to a huge 40,000sq ft office at Two Colmore Square in Birmingham to accommodate growing staff numbers. Around 170 legal advisers and support staff at the national law firm made the move in May from 125 Colmore Row, where Shoosmiths opened with just seven people in 2002. Partner and head of office Jason Jackson said: “We’re not moving very far – from one end of Colmore Row to the other – but it’ll make a world of difference. Having reached capacity we had to begin looking for more space. We’ve certainly found it: we’ll occupy the city’s largest office floor space and have state-of-the-art facilities for all our employees.” Two Colmore Square has just undergone a £10m refurbishment along with adjoining Cannon House. Nurton Developments’ development director Rupert Young said: “We’ve been working closely with Shoosmiths

>> Living wall to flourish The largest ‘living wall’ in Europe was unveiled at Two Snowhill. Measuring 220 metres long and seven metres high, the wall includes 604sq m of plants. Carly Kingswell, landscape architect at Hyland Edgar Driver, which installed the living wall, said: “Living walls have been growing in popularity, although one the scale of Two Snowhill’s is rarely seen. Once the plants

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since it made us aware of its requirement for a large, open plan space. Its decision to move now will prove timely, because 40,000sq ft of prime space doesn’t come up very often. “Shoosmiths were really keen to have a crèche facility as part of their conditions in entering into the lease and, as a high-calibre occupier with a long-term commitment to the building, it was in our interest to work with them. “To our knowledge no other office building in Birmingham has a purpose-built crèche. Working with employees to balance their work/ life needs is clearly important in recruiting and retaining top employees. “All this will be topped off by a roof garden with views over Colmore Business District and beyond. A unique place for Shoosmiths to use for client entertaining.” Property consultants CBRE advised Shoosmiths on the 15-year lease. GVA acted for Nurton.

achieve full coverage, the effect will be fantastic. Visitors to the building will see the wall grow and flourish over the summer.”

>> Conversion capacity Birmingham has the most office-toresidential conversion potential, according to a new report launched by national commercial property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH).

The report highlights how 11,500 new homes could be created by converting 7.4 million sq ft of the UK’s obsolete office stock. More than 80 property professionals from across the Midlands attended an event at the company’s Birmingham offices where the latest research – Office Market Review 2013: Addressing Obsolescence – was unveiled. Regional director of office agency Ian Leather told the audience that if obsolete offices were converted, the potential 11,500 new homes would fulfill 25% of the total recently pledged by Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg. LSH’s research analysed 32 regional markets and found that 27% of total regional availability is obsolete (11.7 million sq ft) and of this stock 7.4 million sq ft is suitable for conversion. Ian said: “Modern workplace trends have changed office occupier’s requirements – they need flexible, open-plan space and crucially less of it. In the last 20 years, the amount of allocated space per person in an average UK office has halved. “In the past, getting planning permission to convert an office into residential accommodation could be costly and timeconsuming. This is no longer the case in England following the government’s recent announcement that they will allow office space to be converted without planning permission.”

>> Jewel in the crown A landmark 19th century Grade II* listed building in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter is set to be transformed into a base for thriving businesses after securing the funding necessary to start work. The £2m project to revamp Newman Brothers Coffin Fitting Works in Fleet Street will receive over £200,000 after successfully applying to the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership for support from the Growing Places Fund.

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COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

>> Supermarket sweep

>> Venue’s £6m boost

Tesco Stores has leased the last remaining space at Guardian House in West Bromwich from Black Country property agents Bond Wolfe. The 4,500sq ft suite has been taken as the supermarket giant prepares to train new staff for the New Square development that has been constructed next door. James Mattin, Bond Wolfe managing partner, said: “Guardian House is right on the doorstep of New Square which is due to open in the autumn, so staff can be trained while at the same time familiarising themselves with the area in which they will be working.” The shopping and leisure destination forms part of one of the largest regeneration programmes in the UK. Totalling 248,000sq ft of retail space, it is anchored by a 139,000sq ft Tesco Extra store. It has already attracted key retailers including Next, JD Sports, and Primark.

A Birmingham conference venue is getting a £6m investment to help it benefit from a HS2-inspired boost. Conference Aston, Birmingham’s biggest residential conference venue, plans to win a bigger share of a growing market in the city. The first £2.4m phase, due for completion next February includes increased capacity, a bigger private dining restaurant for up to 200 guests, an improved bar area and coffee lounge, and 50 upgraded bedrooms. The venue, located on Aston University’s campus, has appointed former AA hotel and restaurant inspector Lucy Talbot to oversee the work. She said: “Birmingham has a rich history of attracting major conferences and it is fundamental that the region retains its reputation as the natural choice for hosting events.

>> Expansion plans Expanding manufacturer SRS Precision Engineering has relocated to a 12,000sq ft unit in Lye, West Midlands. SRS, which acquired former Redditch toolmaker Harper & Simmons in January 2013, has relocated the business to the Old Forge Trading Estate on Dudley Road, enabling the company to go ahead with major expansion plans. The specialist manufacturer of new and refurbished tools, mainly for the automotive, white goods and aerospace industries, is now seeking to add up to 20 more staff to its 13-strong workforce. SRS chairman Steve Hayes said: “We decided to relocate the SRS business to give us a professional and cost-effective platform, and re-energise this Midlands-based former family business. “Being based in the area’s industrial heartland gives us the best location to employ skilled engineers over coming weeks and months.” Lye-based commercial property group Folkes Holdings fast-forwarded a lease arrangement in a two-week time frame in order to meet SRS’s relocation targets.

>> Suites up for grabs Embassy House in central Birmingham, which had a £2m refurbishment at the beginning of 2012, is having another 30,000sq ft refurbished in a second phase. Work on the building on the corner of Cornwall Street and Church Street will be completed by June, when AXA Real Estate will market the additional Grade A space on behalf of Co-operative Insurance. The initial investment returned a number of lettings during the year with circa 20,000sq ft being let to the Marston Group, Kings Chambers and a new lease and internal relocation of Chartis Insurance. Vicki Burnett from Jones Lang LaSalle, who act on behalf of AXA alongside DTZ, said: “A significant supply of space in the city was withdrawn for alternative uses last year, leaving the vast majority of remaining space of Grade B quality. “We are already in talks with potential occupiers interested in the new refurbished suites which will be available from June 2013 in sizes ranging from 3,500sq ft to whole floors of 7,500sq ft.” Embassy House dates back to 1899 when it was constructed by Birmingham-based architects, Owen and Ward, who gained prominence more for their design of theatres than commercial buildings.

>> And the award goes to... Office fit-out specialist Overbury has won a Considerate Constructors award for its work on the East Midlands headquarters of one of the world’s leading games developers. Overbury was appointed to provide a full turnkey package – including design, fit-out and furniture services – for the transformation of Rare Games’ Leicestershire offices. The BAFTA award-winning company’s headquarters – a converted barn development in Twycross – accommodates 180 employees. The eight-week refurbishment project focused on a major overhaul of one of the development areas. The reception area and the in-house restaurant were refurbished to add casual meeting spaces and a central recreational area with a focus on fun. Julian Lebray, managing director of Overbury for the Central region, collected the bronze Considerate Constructors Scheme’s National Site Award 2013. He said: “This was a really exciting project for Overbury as it allowed us to use our imagination with the designs and furniture. “Rare embraced our non-traditional ideas, including breakout spaces and window vinyl that can be written on like a blackboard.”

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COMMERCIAL PROPERTY >> Kensington buy A major multi-million-pound investment in a prominent Birmingham city centre office building has been completed by a leading West Midlands property company. Birmingham Properties Group has purchased the freehold of Kensington House at Suffolk Street Queensway, located near major retail and leisure facilities at The Mailbox and New Street Station, for an undisclosed sum. The 52,000sq ft, seven-storey office building, which has 12,000sq ft of ground floor retail and leisure space, includes recently refurbished open-plan office accommodation on the 5th and 6th floors. Tenants include financial services firm Deloitte, the UK Border Agency, and training and employment company Seetec Group. John Tebbutt, managing director of Birmingham Properties Group, said “This represents a major investment and demonstrates our continued commitment to the Birmingham and wider West Midlands market.” Jonathan Ward, of agents Collingwood Rigby, who marketed the property, said: “Birmingham Properties Group were able to clearly demonstrate the ability to purchase and complete the transaction in the required timescales.”

>> Long DTZ stint ends Property agent Matthew Long is to join Colliers International as a director in its national offices team, based in Birmingham. Matthew joins the firm after 15 years at DTZ, where he was associate director in Birmingham. At Colliers, he will continue to advise institutions, landlords and developers, as well as working on current schemes including Brindleyplace for Moorfield and Hines, and Colmore Row for Sterling Property Ventures. Matthew has been involved in a number of large deals across the region, including the Department for Communities and Local

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John Tebbutt and Jonathan Ward

>> CTG work completed Birmingham interior architects Monteith Scott has completed a design project for the £5.5m office and production facility for advanced composite experts, CTG. The new 120,000sq ft Composite Centre of Excellence in Banbury, Oxfordshire, will accommodate the company’s rapidly expanding workforce. CTG is a global supplier of systems and services to the aerospace, clean energy, medical and automotive industries. It has seen its workforce grow from a small core of people to around 200 employees, and staff levels are expected to rise to 350 in the near future. Dominic Cartwright, managing director at CTG, said: “The new development not only makes our operations more streamlined and effective, it also helps us build for the future. This investment enables us to position the business for long-term growth.”

>> Big deal for Little Heath

Government at The Axis in Birmingham city centre and a letting to an automotive supplier at Stella House at Small Heath Business Park. Douglas Bonham, head of out-oftown offices, Colliers International in Birmingham, said: “Matthew’s appointment is recognition that today’s market requires experienced agents with expert knowledge.”

A 40-acre site in Coventry has been given the green light for development. The site, in Little Heath, is owned by Acetate Products Limited (APL), and was home to their Courtaulds factory until 2007. Coventry City Council has granted permission for 344 new homes, with ten acres given over to a detailed commercial scheme. The latter has been pre-let to Lex Autolease, for a lease car processing centre, creating 180 local jobs. A multi-disciplinary team from the Birmingham, Manchester and London offices of CBRE steered APL through the three-year planning process and secured the letting.

>> Bennett on the rise Property agents CPBigwood have promoted Jo Bennett to associate partner on the tenth anniversary of her joining the firm.

ONLINE: More commercial property stories are available on BQ’s website www.bq-magazine.co.uk

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COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

Jo, the third female employee to be raised to associate partner level in the last 12 months, has been in the property management sector for 23 years, and heads training and compliance for CPBigwood. Nigel Curry, managing partner, said: “This is well deserved. Jo is highly valued and plays a vital role.”

>> Industrial slump The take-up of industrial and logistics space in the Midlands was subdued during the first quarter of 2013, with less than 300,000sq ft transacted. Research by CBRE shows that the take-up of new and secondhand units above 100,000sq ft totalled just 290,000sq ft. Richard Meering, senior director in the industrial agency team at CBRE in Birmingham, said the low take-up level was due to the scarcity of ready-tooccupy space, particularly in prime locations. He said: “It’s no secret that the Midlands industrial and logistics market is suffering from a severe shortage of available quality space, especially along key infrastructure corridors, such as the M1, M6 and M42. “The supply crisis has reached a critical point and there are now only a handful of quality buildings left in the Midlands ready for immediate occupation. “Until more stock is made available we’ll continue to see design and build deals dominate the market.”

>> Doosan dominates Birmingham property firm Hortons is celebrating one of its largest lettings in the past 12 months – 10,000sq ft of offices for Doosan Enpure Ltd at the city’s Parklands Business Park. Doosan Enpure is a new process engineering company in the water and wastewater sectors, owned by a multibillion dollar South Korean company – Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co Ltd. Steve Tommy, commercial surveyor for Hortons, said: “This demonstrates the draw of Birmingham as a base for innovation and global technology companies.” Parklands Business Park is located within a 200-acre mixed-use park in the Longbridge/Rubery area in south Birmingham with direct access to the M5, and just nine miles from the city centre.

>> Hitting the ground running A new commercial property company celebrated its first anniversary with a flurry of transactions. Larkstoke Properties’ managing director Tim Hurdiss said 2013 is already promising to be another successful year and that he believes the bottom of the market has been reached. Much of the first year’s success centred upon the major regeneration scheme of St Georges in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, where a sale of part of the site was agreed with the Birmingham Assay Office. Tim said: “Whilst we’ve seen a couple of really important transactions take place during the last year we’re very hopeful of being able to announce even more exciting news in the very near future.”

>> Returning home Law firm Forresters is going back to its roots in Birmingham. The intellectual property specialists – formed in the city almost 130 years ago – are moving into fully-refurbished offices at the heart of Birmingham’s business district. Birmingham office partner Matt Shaw said the move was from Chamberlain House, on Paradise Circus, to Rutland House, where they were based during the 1970s. He said: “Though we have always been based in Birmingham, our move to Rutland House puts us at the beating heart of the city. The move really does feel like we’re going back to our roots as this was once our home.” Rutland House is a fully refurbished, 11-storey office building located at the centre of the city, near Colmore Row, with excellent access to public transport.

>> Nationwide success Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) has been appointed by the Nationwide Building Society as their corporate real estate advisers across the UK. Their portfolio comprises approximately 800 properties including offices, retail outlets, administration premises and ATMs. LSH will provide Nationwide – the world’s largest building society – with a full estates management service, offering strategic advice on efficiencies and cost savings. The contract will run for five years, with the possibility of a one-year extension. Chris Shott, head of property and corporate services at Nationwide, said: “LSH demonstrated a deep understanding of our business and a commitment to delivering solutions that will drive value and achieve efficiencies. We look forward to building a successful partnership.”

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ENTREPRENEUR

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Eight years ago, the only accommodation Eamon Gaughan could afford was a flat with holes in the floor and rats in the kitchen. Now he’s so wealthy he could snap up most of Birmingham’s penthouse apartments. Ros Dodd reports

the bullion boy Entrepreneur Eamon Gaughan is so successful that he only has a vague idea of how much he’s worth. “People often ask me this question: is it more than a million? Certainly. Is it tens of millions? I honestly don’t know.” The reason Eamon doesn’t know – although he does know how much he spends each month; in the region of £60,000 – is that his company, JEEG Global Group, owns or part-owns so many SMEs at any one time that it’s difficult to keep track of what constitutes his personal fortune. So let’s just say it’s a lot. JEEG has grown from a one-man operation selling gold to the jewellery trade into a multinational investment group, comprising more than 30 companies, with footholds in Greece, China and Russia. It’s a wonderfully-diverse portfolio: as well as one of Europe’s leading precious metal dealership, The Bullion Room, and recruitment, property and security SMEs, there’s a supercar dealership, The Torque Project, where Lamborghinis and Rolls Royce Phantoms sell for up to £150,000. Predicted turnover for 2013 is more than £1bn. As CEO, 34-year-old Eamon is at the epicentre of this fast-growing conglomerate, based in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. An ebullient Mancunian with a deep sense of family and a desire to help others (this year he raised a whopping £250,000 for charity simply by not going out for a month!), his business drive is matched only by his love of fast cars and partying. He relishes his role as a Dragons’ Den-type entrepreneur who can help ailing or

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start-up companies by injecting cash and management expertise to turn their fortunes around or set them on the road to business success. As someone who greatly benefited from the recession – gold becomes hot property during financial downturns – Eamon takes a lot of satisfaction from coming to the aid of companies that didn’t fare as well. “One of the rules we have is that we don’t

Austerity measures How Eamon cut his monthly spending from £60,000 to £910 for his Famine Fundraiser: • Drove a run-around car instead of gas-guzzling supercar • Cooked at home instead of eating in expensive restaurants • Stopped smoking • Stopped drinking • Stopped socialising • Monitored expenditure on household bills • Took packed lunches to work instead of eating out • Stopped shopping at Tesco (“because if I go in for just a bottle of lemonade, I end up with a £60 bill!”) • Stopped buying clothes • Didn’t travel abroad except on business

discard people who need only £1,000 of investment. I was once that person.” Born in north Manchester, Eamon moved to London in his early 20s and worked in the tourism industry. After a spell in the US, he

returned to the UK in 2003 – but without a job. So he moved back home. “I started selling stuff around the house on eBay – it was the time when people were becoming eBay millionaires. But I ended up with just a few hundred pounds. So I thought I’d sell jewellery as my father, who had been involved in the wholesale jewellery business for 25 years, had the right contacts. He put me in touch with someone in Birmingham, who gave me credit on my father’s bank. So, in 2005, I started selling gold jewellery on eBay.” All went well for three months – until gold prices started to go up. “Instead of making money, I was losing it,” recalls Eamon. “But then I realised I could buy gold and precious metals at auction and sell it on to the trade and make a profit. So rather than buying from Ali at the Golden Purse jewellers in the Jewellery Quarter, I was buying from Stephen Whittaker at auction house Fellows and Sons and selling to the Golden Purse down the road. “Then one day Ali said ‘why don’t you take a shop’? So I took one of his shops, in Spencer Street, but instead of making it a retail outlet, I just put a screen across the window with scrap metal prices I was prepared to pay.” Eamon lived above the shop, but it was “pretty horrendous. There were holes in the floor and rats. I bought an old sofa and mattress and a £60 electric shower.” He quickly became known in the trade for buying up scrap metals and within two months there were queues down the street of people clutching carrier bags full of old >>

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ENTREPRENEUR

jewellery. Soon he moved to bigger premises, was paying out £1m a day in cash and employing eight security men. “We then opened a foundry to process our own gold so that we could sell directly to the market – and it’s grown from there. We can now melt 750 kilos of gold at a time, which is about £10m worth, and we have people melting the gold 18 hours a day. The Bullion Room’s clients are independent jewellers and large pawnbroking chains, as well as investors and international institutions – we’ve pretty much got every large multi-national and plc company as our customer now.” The gold trade rapidly made JEEG very rich indeed, but, just as rapidly, Eamon was looking around for new business opportunities. “There’s only so far you can go in this trade in the UK, so we thought we’d diversify and become a private equity house. So we took on Richard Lees from Lloyds TSB, who was my bank manager at the time and who had lots of experience with SMEs. “As we had cash sitting in the bank, we began buying equity in SMEs and offering

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management advice. Small companies are often cuffed by cash. What we do is remove those cuffs. “We look for the right investment – a company that has a great product but not necessarily the management skills or marketing know-how. We can provide day-to-day support: our centralised operations mean SMEs don’t need payroll people or accountants, because we have them. So it streamlines their cost base and structures deals that are profitable.” Once companies are up and running or back on their feet, JEEG exits with a profit. The group’s investments are now international: it has rolled out the bullion side of the business across the globe. “We now own the biggest chain of precious metal dealers in Greece, with 24 offices, and we’re going to roll it out across the whole of Europe, which will create about 1,000 jobs. We’ve also got licences to go into Russia and China.” It sounds almost too good to be true: there must have been some failures, surely?

“There really haven’t been,” says Eamon with an almost sheepish smile. “That does sound like I’m making it up, but I’m not. There have been companies that have gone to the brink, but we’ve worked hard and invested more time in them, or we’ve been able to exit profitably. There hasn’t actually been anything we have had to draw a line under.” Now that he’s so successful and so wealthy, what keeps him motivated? “Originally it was money – and purely money,” he admits. “But now it’s the team I have around me. They’re a great group of people, and it’s them who drive me forward. They are incredibly hungry for success and I have to be a role model. “If everyone wants to follow in your footsteps, that’s what drives you to get out of bed every day rather than go and sit on a beach somewhere.” Although Eamon is candid about his desire for money and his opulent lifestyle, he concedes that being rich doesn’t make you happy. “Money allows you to buy more things, but it doesn’t necessarily make you happier. “It allows you to eat in better restaurants and makes life more comfortable. I have a niece I think the world of – she’s eight – and it’s great to look at her and think ‘it doesn’t matter how well you do at school, because you’re not going to have to worry about money’. Family is the most important thing to me, so it gives me a great deal of comfort to know that I can provide for them.” It was the illness of a close family member – his uncle Paul – that spurred Eamon to embark on a major charity venture, his £1m Famine Month Fundraiser, that saw him vow to restrict his expenditure to £800 for a month (he went over-budget by £110) to raise money for The Christie charity, which funds projects outside the scope of the NHS and carries out cancer research. It raised £131,000 in sponsorship, to which he added the difference between £800 and his usual monthly expenditure, and it was topped up with donations, which are still coming in. So far the amount raised stands at more than £250,000. Sadly, his uncle died from cancer that same month. “There are a few charities we support – we’ve raised hundreds of thousands of pounds – but I get accused of doing the easy bit by writing

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ENTREPRENEUR

I feel I’ve got five years left as CEO. By the time I’m 40 I’d like to have my toes in the sand somewhere

the cheque. So the big challenge was to stop spending money.” And that, for man-about-town Eamon, was a pretty big deal. For example, if he and his mates decide to go out for an evening with £50 in their pockets, Eamon will still manage to chalk up a £1,200 bill. “I’d normally spend £50,000 to £60,000 in a month,” he admits. “If I’m going out for the evening, dinner can be £1,500 for two. “Two things I really like in life are food and good Champagne and wine. I don’t look at the prices; I look at the wine and if I like it, I buy it.” Driving gas-guzzling supercars – his current

one is a Ferrari 458 Spider – can cost him £100 a day, as he regularly travels between Birmingham, Manchester and London, and employing a chauffeur to wait outside a club for him – all night if necessary – doesn’t come cheap. “And then, when I book into a hotel, I don’t order a room, I have a suite.” So, for one month only, Eamon slashed his spending to £910. All I had to do, really, was stay in. And, to be honest, I felt brilliant at the end of it because I’d had a month of relaxing instead of partying. But don’t get me wrong – I’m quite aware that what I did was nothing, really – I just lived the way most of the country does all the time; and it’s the way I used to

live, too, before the success of JEEG. “But it was something I really wanted to do: when they walk you round The Christie charity and you see the difference the money will make, it really means a lot. “If what I raised helps one person go into remission for cancer, it will be worth it.” So, with so much under his belt and still only 34, what comes next for Eamon? A wife and children, perhaps? “I don’t have a significant ‘other’ at the moment – my private life’s quite boring! But I’ve got a great group of friends and my family mean everything to me. “My parents have stood by me in every way – my father helped me to set up JEEG – and I’m very close to my sister and niece. I can’t see children fitting into my lifestyle, but we’ll see what happens in future. “The JEEG Group is going to keep expanding. But as far as I’m concerned, I feel I’ve got five years left as CEO. “By the time I’m 40 I’d like to have my toes in the sand somewhere.” One suspects it won’t hold him fast for long. n

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COMPANY PROFILE

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Celebrating 75 Years Rudell the Jewellers was founded on Valentine’s Day in 1938 by Justin Rudell. Today Rudell’s is renowned as a jeweller of excellence and with the finest customer care in the West Midlands, boasting the prestigious selection of jewellery, timepieces and luxury giftware brands Back in 1938 Rudell’s began as a retailer of leatherware and fancy goods. At the start of the Second World War Justin was enlisted and served in the Warwickshire Regiment. During 1940 whilst Justin was recovering from a bout of influenza he met his future wife Etta who later helped develop the business with him. In 1946 their son Anthony was born and from a very early age was to show a keen interest to follow in his parents footsteps. Anthony joined the family business in 1966 having worked with other independent Jewellers, seeing the alternative side to the trade. In 1971 Justin and Etta took their first ever three week holiday, the day after they set sail on their trip Anthony learnt that the adjoining premises had become vacant allowing for the store to expand. Without the modern communications we have today, Anthony made the decision to go ahead with the purchase and proudly announced the company expansion to his parents on their return. 1981 saw further expansion when the adjoining premises on the other side of the store became vacant. The showroom from there on featured new, exciting iconic jewellery and watch brands. Yet again exciting times are ahead for Rudells. This year is the 75th birthday of Rudell the Jewellers and they are going to mark the occasion in style with a whole host of events throughout the year. Rudell’s have always been known for their traditional approach to customer service and standards of excellence. This continues to be part of their success of the past 75 years and long may it continue. The team who combined have over 600 years experience are always more than happy to pass this experience on through their excellent service at their Wolverhampton and Harborne showrooms.

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Photograph by Professional Jeweller Magazine/ITP Jon Weston, Managing Director

We have the finest watchmakers on site in both Wolverhampton and Harborne, plus jewellers to size a newly selected ring while you sip a glass of champagne and savour the special moment, it’s all part of the Rudells experience

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COMPANY PROFILE

Harborne Showroom

Justin, Etta and Anthony Rudell

for the team at Rudells it has always been about offering an unrivalled service to our clients, when you combine this with fine quality and great prices, this is a winning combination So.... what plans does Jon Weston, the Managing Director of Rudells have for the future? Well, plans are in an abundance he says; “for the team at Rudells it has always been about offering an unrivalled service to our clients, when you combine this with fine quality and great prices, this is a winning combination”. During their 75th year Rudells are embarking upon a programme to update internally the dedicated “branded“ cabinets for Jewellery and Watch houses alike at both of their showrooms. Following on from last year’s facelift at Wolverhampton, this will give an even greater “quality” feel to their showrooms and continue to strengthen the strong bond they have with their chosen Brand partners. Whilst the offering in store is tremendously impressive, they will also be concentrating on improving their website products and features, which already showcases “Rudells fine diamonds by appointment” giving clients the opportunity to request a viewing of any item at a time which is convenient to them.

Wolverhampton Showroom

There are, in addition, plans to increase features on Facebook, Twitter, linked-in and a rather interesting blog has been created to cover an array of interesting Jewellery related aspects. “ This will be coupled with a very active marketing campaign of radio, local glossy magazines and papers, plus Rudells own bespoke lifestyle magazine, Preview magazine and sumptuous catalogue. We have also launched our very own Rudell’s app which is now available for everyone to download” say’s Jon. Special ranges of “in house” designed exclusive jewellery are also being expanded alongside the “embrace collection”. The ‘Legacy’ design is a tribute to their founder Justin Rudell . It was launched on the 14th February with a special birthday party staged in both showrooms on that day. The design and development of their own exclusive jewellery ranges are a high priority for Rudells these days. USP’s are very important these days comments Jon ; “ We have the finest watchmakers on site in both Wolverhampton and Harborne, plus jewellers

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to size a newly selected ring while you sip a glass of champagne and savour the special moment, it’s all part of the Rudells experience “ we have more exciting unique ideas planned to roll out during 2013”

89A High Street, Harborne, Birmingham, B17 9NR Tel: 0121 427 1904 97 Darlington Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 4HB Tel: 01902 423 308/427 199 W: www.rudells.com E: info@rudells.com

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fashioning a new niche

You know what it’s like: you desperately need a new, top-quality suit, but are just too busy to go for measuring at a tailor’s shop. Now you go to Twitter and @TweetingTailor – aka Adrian Barrows – will come to you. Ros Dodd reports BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

Adrian Barrows was about eight when he attended Princess Diana’s 30th birthday party at London’s Savoy Hotel. “My mum, who used to make Diana’s birthday cakes, reminds me that at the end I went on stage and played Phil Collins’s piano!” Today, some 25 years on, royalty is the only notable absentee from Adrian’s top-drawer clientele. Those clamouring for his bespoke menswear include Premier League footballers, actors, musicians, politicians, managing directors and commodity traders. There are “ordinary folk” on the list, too; from farmers to factory workers. In just two years since setting up his own

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business, The Bespoke Tailor, Adrian has woven quite a name for himself, not only in his native Midlands, but across the country and even overseas (a New York-based businessman recently commissioned him to make his wedding outfit) as the man to go to if you want an individually designed, top-quality, British-made suit – or any other male couture garment, come to that. He doesn’t do women’s clothes. “Menswear is what I’m comfortable with; I just didn’t fancy getting into women’s wear. “There are 3.5 billion men in the world – that’s enough for me!” Adrian, who’s 33 and grew up in Walsall, certainly dresses for the part: today he’s wearing a sharp three-piece suit he – of course – designed himself. With his tall, slender frame and chiselled cheekbones, he’s a walking advert for his own business. Already he is in the happy position of not having to advertise formally: his customers come from repeat business, word of mouth – and Twitter. Using the sobriquet @TweetingTailor, he posts regular updates on his hectic work schedule. “My business is all about retention and recommendation, with about 5% coming via Twitter,” he says. Unsurprisingly, Adrian’s clothes don’t come cheap, with prices starting at £800 for a two-piece suit and rising to more than £10,000. “I have a few clients in London who spend in excess of £5,000 on a suit, but the average spend is £1,000 to £1,200.” You might imagine that in these days of austerity, demand for high-end tailoring is thin on the ground, but Adrian insists not.

“The high street is dead,” he declares. “In frugal times, people realise that if you walk into a snazzy showroom and get given a glass of Champagne and a few canapés, you’re paying for that. What I’m doing is giving that type of service without charging for it – and

I’d rather close the books down for a while than feel out of control, which is why I can’t imagine expanding the business hugely

people buy into that. I’m also saving people money by going to them rather than them having to come to me.” Adrian, who co-founded tailoring firm Clements & Church in Birmingham, works from home – near Lichfield in Staffordshire – and drives around the country to see would-be clients and regulars at their homes, clubs or places of work. “My job is 24/7, because I have clients all over the place. I have to be there for them when they want me – it’s all part of the

INSIGHT

quality of the service I offer.” The fabrics – including the likes of Holland & Sherry and royal suppliers J & J Minnis – are another reason business is booming, because Adrian uses only British-made materials. “If we manufactured goods like we used to do, we would get out of this recession,” he contends. “I use only cloth made in British mills, which is arguably the best in the world. Some of the cloth is woven in a guy’s garage in the Outer Hebrides; other fabrics come from micro-mills in London. “A lot of the cloth I use is woven in Huddersfield. Again, people buy into what I do for that reason – because it’s British, from concept to product; it gives people a buzz.” He’s keen to point out that his clothes aren’t just for the rich. “What I really enjoy are guys who have a passion for what I do. I have one client who’s a factory worker and he saves up to get outfits made by me.” There must have been some wacky garments over the years? “I’ve been asked to do all sorts of wonderful things,” agrees Adrian with a smile. “One client – a musician – wanted me to make a denim suit with a lion’s head on the back studded with diamante crystals.” His creativity and eye for fashion have their roots in his family background. His Uncle Geoff, who’s still in the business, was a top designer in the 1960s and ’70s with brands such as Aquascutum and Daks, while his father is an engineer and his mother an artist who specialises in sugar art and made the late Princess of Wales’s birthday cakes. “In a way, what I do is a combination of my parents’ professions and my uncle’s >>

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

INSIGHT

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influence. I did train to be an engineer initially, but I realised I was doing it because of my father and it wasn’t for me.” Instead, Adrian worked in a small menswear boutique and then moved to a larger, upmarket boutique, learning about the business as he went. “The owner, who is still a very good friend, knows the industry inside and out and taught me the business elements, which have proved invaluable over the years.” One of those is to forge long-term relationships with clients. “Over time, clients trust me and I get to know what they like, which makes it easier on both sides. An example is a client who runs a PR agency in London. He found me through Twitter last year and wanted me to do his wedding suit. He has a very specific style and said I’d managed to nail it – that I’d got under his skin. “That’s what I aim to do – to understand an individual’s sense of style, which might be very different to mine. “After his wedding, he phoned me wanting a New Year’s Eve outfit. But he said, ‘you don’t need to come down and see me; just send some cloth samples’. More recently he phoned to say he was going on his belated honeymoon on the Orient Express, had only just seen the dress code and needed a suit quickly: I sent cloth by UPS and emailed him some ideas. He approved them by email and yesterday I texted him to say the clothes were on their way. That was all done in four weeks. Normally I ask for six to eight weeks.” Although ambitious, Adrian doesn’t want to expand to the point where the integrity of what he does is compromised – or that he loses control of the business. “There are different forms of success. I’m happier now than I’ve ever been. I know where I am with all of the garments I have on the go at the moment; I know when they’ll be ready and I like the fact I’m in control. I’d rather close the books down for a while than feel out of control, which is why I can’t imagine expanding the business hugely.” But that doesn’t stop him working his (designer) socks off. “Even though we’re in recession, there’s a lot of work out there. But you have to seek it out. I don’t sit in a shop waiting for customers to come to me – I go out and find them. Over time I think we’ll see a

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lot more people doing what I do.” It means working very long hours, though: Adrian is on the go for nearly 19 hours a day. “I don’t have a social life. This morning, for example, I was up at 4.45am and tonight I won’t be back home until 10pm, because I’m in Nottingham seeing some footballers, one of whom I’ll have dinner with because he’s

become a friend. After I get home, I’ll have to do some more work. “But I love it. And that’s because I don’t see what I do as work; it’s a hobby. “If I sat at a desk all day, I’d last a week in a job. But every day is different and a new challenge. I don’t view it as hard graft – I truly adore it.” n

Meet the customer Steven Quance slips the electric blue mohair jacket over his crisp white shirt. Unlike the jacket he’s just taken off, it fits like a proverbial glove. “I’m not your regular shape: I’ve got short legs and I’m almost square!” he says with a laugh. “That’s why I go to Adrian to have my suits made – because they fit so much better than anything you could buy on the high street. Off-the-peg trousers tend to be too long, as do the jacket sleeves. Adrian’s are comfortable to wear, the attention to detail is fantastic and you feel like a million dollars when you’ve got one on.” Steven, a 42-year-old jeweller, has two three-piece suits designed and made by Adrian – both with personalised touches. The first, a black ensemble, has a diamond-encrusted flash cuff on one jacket sleeve and the new, blue one has a claret flourish on the underside of the jacket collar, reflecting Steven’s passion for Aston Villa FC. When Steven wants a suit, or trousers, made, he doesn’t need to go to Adrian – the tailor comes to him, to his office-from-home in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, where there’s a sofa draped with multi-coloured velvet cushions, a fluffy rug, a fireplace with a Gothic gilt mirror above it, glittery black walls and a kitchenette where Steven makes a “mean” cup of coffee. It’s here that Adrian measures him up, discusses patterns, goes through cloth samples with him and, a few weeks later, delivers the outfits. And it is here that the two men, who now recommend each other to their respective clients, have become firm friends, “We offer a similar service,” says Steven, who’s been in the jewellery trade for 26 years. “I used to have a shop, but a year ago I moved into this office. People can visit me here, or I will go to them, at no extra cost, wherever they want to see me.”

It’s not Where you come from. It’s Where you’re headIng. With unrivalled knowledge and experience, no-one understands the needs of the local market like we do. To speak to an expert, call our Birmingham office on 0121 607 8486.

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BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

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BUSINESS LUNCH

out of the ashes

Twenty five years ago, Ben Reid was sent to rescue the loss-making West Midlands Co-operative Society. He’s still there today, but it’s now called The Midcounties Co-operative, and is making £23m profit from a £1bn turnover. Steve Dyson finds out more over lunch It was a life-changing conversation that Ben Reid had with his boss in 1988. Technically, he was offered the role of deputy chief executive at the West Midlands Co-operative Society, then based in Walsall. More accurately, he’d been selected as a trouble-shooter to rescue the failing organisation. “It was really in dire straits,” recalls Ben. “Even the bank was telling them ‘we’re not going to pay your wages’ because they were in breach of a £1m overdraft. Everything was losing money. My boss said: ‘Go and make your name, or go out with a big bang.’ And so I went, mainly, I think, because no-one else would take the job. “When I arrived the society was completely wasted. They hadn’t even completed their accounts, which were two months overdue. My new boss, the then chief executive, just said: ‘Don’t worry, the money’s all in the dairy side of the business.’ Well, it wasn’t – there was no profit there either, although they thought they were making money. “The management information was rubbish, and no-one was reading any of the signs. The society was burning cash. I’d always seen myself as an accountant, and I loved the poetry of numbers. So, if they had to choose anyone, I suppose I was the right person.” Ben began a five-year turnaround of the business, and within 18 months took over when the chief executive left. Things were so critical that he had to cut costs, lose staff and close loss-making department stores.

• enhancing • connecting • developing

“It was very hard work,” he says now, looking back. “A high-risk strategy. If I failed, the Co-operative movement would never touch me again. I went out and recruited what I called the ‘dirty dozen’. ‘There’s no way back,’ I told them. ‘But this is an almost unique opportunity to start from the bottom. To build something on ethics.’ “I picked people I knew had a high degree of financial confidence, liked a challenge and believed in engaging in the community. And that’s what we wanted to do – to go from an arrogant, run-down business to being part of the community again. “I thought I’d stay for two years. Get in, repair the damage and get out. I was making difficult decisions – closing historic department stores in Walsall, Wolverhampton, Kidderminster; icons of the towns, big decisions. I think the board thought bringing someone from the outside would do it, take the blame and then go.” By year two, the society was making profits again, but Ben stuck at it, continuing the recovery. By year five, the profit was healthy, and by now he’d moved to Walsall. “The hardest part was moving the family from the Vale of Belvoir, Melton Mowbray to Walsall,” he says. “What a shock! The East Midlands is not the same, its climate is so dramatically different. But I really loved Walsall. I’d never experienced such a generosity of spirit. It’s like the biggest village ever, an extended family. I met some really great people. I was living the dream – building a business.”

Things moved fast. In 1993, Ben sold off the society’s Holiday Hypermarkets which he’d built from nothing, bringing in £60m from First Choice. This meant the West Midlands Co-op had money to invest for the first time in recent years. It carefully repaid debts and was able to modernise equipment and technology. Over the years, this recovery, investment and consistent profit gave Ben and his management team a growing reputation within the Co-operative movement, leading to an approach by the Oxford, Swindon and Gloucestershire Co-op – “two or three times our size” – to merge. And so, in 2005, the two societies joined and were renamed The Midcounties Co-operative, based in Warwick, covering Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Buckinghamshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire, as well as the Black Country and Sutton Coldfield parts of the West Midlands (not Birmingham). The new, bigger Midcounties Co-op had a turnover of some £500m; this spring, eight years later, the society reached revenues of £1bn. What was the 100% growth down to? “This was my last big job,” he explains. “I asked myself ‘what did I want it to be before I ended?’ The answers were for the society to be financially secure, bigger and stronger, and that meant trading in sectors where the Co-op difference gave an advantage, giving us a better risk profile.” The first part of this was deciding where not to expand, and in some cases where to pull out of. >>

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BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

BUSINESS LUNCH “We had garages selling cars, and sold them,” says Ben. “I just couldn’t reconcile the Co-op environment with gas guzzlers. Our pharmacy side, that’s grown slightly, but there were profitability issues, so that was a ‘hold’. With food [there are around 250 food stores] we just made sure we were shaping in the right way to focus on the community. Funerals were good too; our original society only had three, and we’ve got 76 now – doubling what we inherited from the merger.” But the real growth came from three sectors: travel, childcare and energy. “I’d been on the plc board at First Choice,” says Ben, referring to the Holiday Hypermarkets business sold off in 1993. “So I’d picked up a significant background in travel. We were happy with what was then Co-operative Travel - basically a consortium run by three Co-ops. But two decided to sell to Thomas Cook and I refused. “The Thomas Cook price was huge, ridiculous. But Thomas Cook was a plc, and I felt it would be misleading to be trading as the Co-op. The Co-op brand is important, and we felt that if Thomas Cook did something to disappoint the public, we would carry the can. So all the infrastructure went to Thomas Cook and we had to start again. A huge opportunity. There was a transfer of staff, with various offices closing, but then we just started to build – and have doubled travel revenues in 18 months. They’ll soon reach £200m. “A lot of staff who transferred then came back

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to the Co-op’s home. And we opened extra travel branches – 20 where Thomas Cook had closed. We’ve got 54 now. Also, the old Co-op business used to act as a consortium, buying for other travel businesses. They came to us because they could see everyone’s product. They didn’t just want Thomas Cook, so they came back to us as well. We’re now turning over £100m on the consortium business alone.” Ben insists that any business should be “counter-cyclical”, building up a wide portfolio to lessen its risks. “For example,” he says, “after 9/11, you couldn’t give travel away. If I mess up we can’t go for a rights issue; we have to borrow. So we have to take care.” This is where the idea to diversify into childcare came from – an area strong on ‘trust’, the Co-op’s brand message, but still largely a cottage industry with no huge national chain. “We’d

A journey to the Midcounties summit Ben Reid grew up in Nottingham and went to The Becket School, a Catholic grammar, before training to become an accountant. He worked in various practices, the health service, Nottingham County Council and Nottingham Building Society, “getting a wide range of experiences to see where I wanted to be”. He then joined the Ilkeston Co-operative in Derbyshire 31 years ago and “loved what I found – an ethical business.” By 1982, he was a financial controller at the Leicestershire Co-op, before he was parachuted into Walsall in 1988. Now aged 58, Ben’s married to Sue, 50, whom he met at the Co-op; she still works there, and is in charge of the travel branches. After bringing their three children up in Walsall, they now live in the Stourbridge area. As well as chief executive at The Midcounties Co-op, Ben is currently a director of the Co-operative Group and the Co-operative Banking Group. He’s also chairman of Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, one of a number of local positions he’s held and was awarded an OBE in June 2010 for ‘service to business and to the community in Walsall,’ and in 2012 received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from Wolverhampton University. Ben runs to keep fit and takes part in major marathons; his next is the Paris Marathon.

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inherited five nurseries,” says Ben, “and had to ask ourselves ‘hold or develop’? Market research said the public would like this. Someone trusting their child to your care is the utmost trust. So we acquired some more, opened a few, and now have 50 nurseries, and the occupancy and enquiries grew and grew. The Midcounties Co-op now has 4,000 ‘settings’ in childcare –the industry term for how many little kids they look after. “In ten years we’ll be incredibly strong in nurseries,” predicts Ben. “Even now we’re the fifth biggest in the country. There’s nothing stopping us from being the biggest in the fullness of time. If tomorrow I wanted to go and buy the business to be number one we could. But that would mean moving too fast, losing discipline. We need to do it via steady growth.” Which brings us onto Midcounties’ “most exciting” expansion – into the world of energy. “It’s the most significant thing I’ve done and it’s really turning into something quite remarkable.” Research had highlighted customer concerns about the energy world’s poor records on sustainability, and its lack of openness, and this created opportunities for the Co-op. “We asked what business the public thought the Co-op should be in, and the answer was ‘utilities’. We took that up into focus groups and people were annoyed that the big players kept lowering tariffs to collect new customers, but then introduced higher charges a year or so later.” So Midcounties Co-op offered a different model – Co-operative Energy. This promised one tariff, a standard variable rate, cheaper than the standard rate offered by the

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‘big six’ – the likes of E.ON, British Gas, Scottish and Southern and npower – but one that didn’t lower itself temporarily to attract new customers. A test model was launched two years ago, then, 18 months ago, it went live as a regulated service. “Not like the Sainsbury’s model,” says Ben, “where you’re getting energy from one of the big players, but buying energy from the market, so as a Co-op customer you know we’re getting the energy directly. We didn’t set out to be the cheapest, but we promised to be consistently competitive. What we said was: ‘We’re a good bet. We will operate appropriately to keep the price at a certain level. We will look after you. We will only charge one rate.’” Once again, Ben was only after “steady growth” and predicted 35,000 customers by end of 2012. But Co-operative Energy quickly won several awards, including one from consumer charity Which?, and without any proactive marketing there are now 125,000 customers, heading for 200,000 by the end of 2013. “We’ve not been able to keep up with the level of people wanting to join us,” Ben says. “We had 270 people wanting to switch just yesterday! This summer, the big six will be putting up their prices by 10% to 15%. I’ve bought my energy for the next 15 months and can hold my prices. If we ran an ad campaign, we’d be swamped. So I’m slowing it down, because we need to build a network far faster than we thought. We’ll build steadily through word of mouth.” All this expansion makes The Midcounties Co-op – the UK’s largest independent co-operative – what Ben calls a “potential Olympic medallist”, with “thousands of advocates”. That’s 9,500 advocates – the number of staff Ben now leads. “Colleagues,” he corrects me, “not staff.” “It’s a very powerful business model,” he says, “and the management has learnings, values and knows how to deliver. When I first started, it was very worrying to know if I’d even have a job. Now it’s a pleasure to be chief executive.”

• enhancing • connecting • developing

BUSINESS LUNCH

Edmunds delivers something special Given that I was lunching the boss of a £1bn business, I thought we’d better have something decent. And Edmunds, overlooking Brindleyplace in Birmingham, didn’t let us down. Our taste buds were set off with a delightful amuse-bouche – a mushroom cappuccino with parsley cream on tarragon. I then tried taking shorthand while eating hand-dived scallops from the Orkney Islands, served with a fresh celeriac remoulade, apple puree and a single caviar crisp. It was tasty, but I struggled between fork and pencil, while Ben really enjoyed goat’s cheese and beetroot panna cotta, served with a red currant salad and balsamic dressing. I continued to juggle gastronomy and note-taking with my main course, probably not doing full justice to the slow-cooked shoulder rack of British lamb. But I did savour the delicious caramelised sweetbread, and quickly wiped up the tasty red pepper puree, garlic cream, tomato and lamb jus with boulangère potatoes. Ben relaxed into roasted fillet of Devon monkfish, caramelised octopus, saffron potato and tiny vegetables. He’s been to Edmunds before, but says: “They’ve excelled themselves. I wondered how that octopus was going to come, and it was just right.” The tempting thing about Edmunds is the delicate portions, justifying hot toffee soufflés with bitter chocolate ice cream. Tiny pre-desserts kept us going – brioche and butter pudding, lemon posset and a raspberry, gently washed down by 2009 Henri Bourgeois Petit Sauvignon Blanc. The whole experience was calming: modern sculptures on the window sills framing the world outside, the pristine white tablecloths and shining cutlery reminding you this was somewhere special. Email info@edmundsrestaurant.co.uk, call 0121 633 4944, or visit www.edmundsrestaurant.co.uk.

I discover what that pleasure means when we discuss profits: out of its £1bn revenues, The Midcounties Co-op makes just £23m.“We’re not profit maximising, we’re profit optimising,” he says. “It’s good to generate profits to invest in new fridges, tills and so on. And to be able to keep some stores open, even if they’re making a loss. If you’re the last store in a district we can make the decision to keep you

open. The board is not ruthless. It has a social conscience. That’s the benefit of getting the place into good nick. You can make money and be mindful of the community in which you trade.” On this profit theme, Ben adds: “We’re only passing through this way once. If you can be a successful businessman and contribute to the community, you can go to the pub and feel you’re doing a good job.” n

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BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

COMPANY PROFILE

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Meet the man who is making a mark on Birmingham’s hospitality sector After managing some of Birmingham’s best known hotels, Mark Davies is now sitting at the top of the city’s hospitality sector You’ll never tire of the stunning views from The Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar & Grill in Birmingham. Better known as MPW, the city’s horizons can be seen in all directions from the restaurant’s position on the 25th floor of The Cube, the iconic building on the canalside behind The Mailbox. This exciting visual experience is made perfect by the fine wine and dining to be enjoyed at a venue that is steadily becoming the place to be seen in Britain’s second city. MPW is part of the adjoining four star Hotel Indigo, and also boasts two stylish champagne and cocktail bars, a rooftop terrace and a glass-fronted alfresco balcony, creating what Marco himself calls “affordable luxury” for guests. Mark Davies, general manager of the hotel and restaurant, says: “MPW is all about the experience: the buzz, the lively atmosphere and enjoying the company of friends and family in gorgeous, comfortable surroundings, while being treated to excellent food, great cocktails and memorable views of the city. “At the beginning, there was a popular belief that MPW was Michelin-star dining. The truth is we are a steakhouse – but a high quality one. We serve 80% steak, but many of our classics also do really well, like prawn cocktail, smoked salmon and chicken kiev. “Once diners understood this simple but superior food concept, they started to really appreciate the food our head chef and his team prepare with such high standards and care, sourcing the best ingredients.” First launched in December 2011, MPW now employs 70 chefs, kitchen, waiting and bar staff, serving an average of 60 covers a day at lunchtime, with another 150 for dinner each evening – a number that reaches up to 200 on Fridays and Saturdays.

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Far right, Mark Davies, General Manager of Hotel Indigo and Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar and Grill. Right, Mark Davies with Marco Pierre White

MPW is all about the experience, the buzz, the lively atmosphere.

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Leading the food delivery is head chef Ryan Edge, who joined MPW in May 2012 from The Hansom Cab Grill Room and Oyster Bar in London, where he had worked directly for Marco. Ryan has more than 15 years experience in the kitchen, and achieved two AA Rosettes at The Hansom Cab in just six months. Mark says: “The addition of Ryan has brought really high standards to MPW, and he inspires his team to work hard to meet guests’ expectations. “The bar and waiting staff match this quality in their friendly but very professional service to customers, everyone putting in the right effort and attitudes to drive real consistency.” As well as the restaurant and cocktail bar, the

COMPANY PROFILE

Laurent Perrier Champagne Bar is also situated on the 25th floor, offering guests more breathtaking 360° views of the city. Peter André, Ant and Dec, James Martin and Marcus Wearing are among just some of the stars recently seen at the bars and restaurant of MPW Steakhouse Birmingham, along with numerous Premier League players, politicians and top business chiefs. Mark adds: “We’re now well into our second year at MPW, and the restaurant really seems to have made its mark, attracting a wide range of people who want a top meal at the best venue in the city. “The Marco Pierre White brand is a wonderful

We’re now well into our second year at MPW, and the restaurant really seems to have made its mark, attracting a wide range of people who want a top meal at the best venue in the city.

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addition to the Birmingham marketplace, not just for the great food and beverage offering but also because of its 25th floor setting, and because it’s a part of the great overall offering of the 52-bedroom Hotel Indigo with its luxury health club and spa.”

To book a table call 0121 634 3433 or visit www.mpwsteakhousebirmingham.co.uk

To book a room at Hotel Indigo call 0121 6432010 or email info@hotelindigobirmingham.com

BUSINESS BUSINESS QUARTER QUARTER || SUMMER SUMMER 13 13

SMITH ON WINE

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weekend warmers

Adam Smith, forensic partner at Deloitte in Birmingham, spends a long weekend with two big hitting southern stars

On being asked to take delivery of, sample and review two quality bottles of wine over the course of the early May Bank holiday weekend, I considered myself fortunate in the extreme. Not least because we had a busy schedule of get-togethers with friends and family ahead of us and I saw the opportunity to delegate the slightly daunting task of tasting to others. There was no shortage of enthusiasm for the challenge, not least because they were wines (and grape varietals) that did not feature

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

regularly in the buying habits of the chosen testers. Needless to say, we had two thoroughly enjoyable tasting sessions and both wines will stay longer in the memory as a consequence. Two southern hemisphere wines were kindly provided to me. First up was a bottle of Malbec from the family-owned Agua Viva Estate in Mendoza, Argentina. This was enjoyed at the house of our friends early

one evening as we sat watching the day’s sun disappear. The wine was a strikingly deep red, with bags of fruit on first taste and the descriptions that followed included “complex”, “rounded” and “smooth”. The wine label confirmed it had been aged in oak casks which we’d spotted from the vanilla and, we thought, liquorice overtones. The overriding sentiment was that it was a super wine that would perfectly accompany a beautiful piece of steak. We’ll know for next time and it is certainly a wine to which I plan to return. The second was a bottle of Chenin Blanc from the Hoopenburg Winery in Stellenbosch, South Africa; Chenin Blanc being South Africa’s signature white grape variety. A grape I have tried infrequently over the last five years or so, with my experience of South African whites tending toward the Sauvignons of Stellenbosch or, more recently, the un-oaked Chardonnays of the Elandskloof Valley. This was enjoyed in the garden with close family around for the first, and hopefully not the last, barbecue of the summer. Chicken and salmon were the principal main courses and the acidity of the wine, coupled with its lemony freshness, zing and a slight mineral edge made it a wonderful accompaniment. It was light to medium bodied and therefore was ideally suited to afternoon drinking. My overall verdict was that it is a genuine alternative to the seemingly ubiquitous Sauvignons and a bottle which we all thoroughly enjoyed. In this battle of wines from two of the more “robust” rugby union playing nations, the Malbec was undoubtedly the bigger hitter of the two, whilst the Chenin Blanc impressed with its fresh legs and lightness of touch. n

Wine supplied by Hyatt Regency, Birmingham. Hoopenburg Chenin Blanc, priced at £27.00 / Agua Viva Malbec at £32.00

MOTORING

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powerful yet prudent

Jaguar â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s new Portfolio model has huge appeal to business people looking for luxury, power and performance, while also keeping their tax at a sensible level, writes Edward Stephens

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

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There was a time when Jaguar wouldn’t even contemplate putting a diesel engine into one of its cars. It wasn’t considered sporty enough for the marque. But as diesel engines underwent a transformation in recent years, becoming cleaner, quieter and more powerful the company saw the light - not to mention the potential of major exports to Europe where diesels have always been more popular. Having bitten the bullet the Birmingham-based luxury car maker has gone on to produce some of the best diesel-engined cars in the

world - and one of them is the new XJ V6 D. With emissions down to 159 g/km - compared to well over 200 for petrol variants of the car - the new diesel Portfolio model has massive appeal to the businessman or woman, allowing him or her to keep their company car tax down to a sensible level. And buying diesel doesn’t mean compromising on performance. The 155 miles per hour limited top speed of this car is identical to that of the 3.0-litre petrol version, and the 0-62mph acceleration figure is an infinitesimal 0.1 of a second slower at six seconds.

MOTORING

Even in short wheelbase form - like the one I sampled - the XJ is a big car, but that means an abundance of space for both passengers and luggage. Inside it’s pure luxury, with electrically adjustable seats of the finest leather and beautifully crafted high-gloss wood veneer panels set into the doors. The dashboard too is covered in matching leather while the contrasting headlining is in suede. As you would expect for a car of this price it’s packed with a host of features which make it easy to live with. Both the front and rear >>

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

MOTORING

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seats, for example, come with a heating and cooling facility and there’s even a heated steering wheel. And as well as climate control the Portfolio model has twin glass sunroofs, one for the front seat travellers and one for the rear. At £67,000 you wouldn’t expect to have to take the keys out of your pocket to unlock the door and with this XJ you don’t. If you have the keys in your pocket it unlocks as soon as you touch the exterior door handle. The same applies to the boot. Touch the exterior button and it unlocks and opens automatically and closes the same way. Once inside, a touch of the starter buttons not only fires the V6 into life but also prompts the steering wheel to lower itself to your pre-selected position and the round gearshift to rise automatically from the centre console. On the road the diesel engine is completely inaudible even when you put your foot down hard. In this car you are cocooned from the outside world in an interior of silence. When

you do floor the pedal this big diesel really delivers. Turn the gearshift from Drive to Sport and this big cat grows horns as its holds on to the gears right up to the red line on the rev counter and the horizon comes towards you at a startling rate. And because all of the dials on this model are virtual they can change their appearance as you switch between normal drive and sport. The new eight-speed automatic gearbox is superbly seamless, ensuring there is no sense of gear changes for the passengers. I found it particularly impressive on the motorway where the abundance of torque meant effortless overtaking at speed, while despite its size it‘s nimble and agile when it comes to twisting country lanes. If you want an even more sporting drive you can change gear manually using the paddles behind the steering wheel and tighten up the ride and handling of the car by depressing the Dynamic Mode button. But whether you use the gearbox as an

On the road the diesel engine is completely inaudible even when you put your foot down hard

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Fast Facts • Jaguar XJ V6 D Portfolio • Price: £67,260 • Mechanical: 3.0-litre, 6 cyl diesel engine driving rear wheels via 8spd automatic gearbox. • Max speed: 155 mph • 0-62mph: 6.0 secs • Combined mpg: 46.3 • Insurance group: 49 • CO2 emissions: 159 g/km • BiK Y1/2/3 25/26/27% • Warranty: Three years/unlimited mileage

automatic or manual this diesel is a real powerhouse which rockets the car to the legal limit and beyond in the blink of an eye, as if it was a small family hatchback. And the best of it is this Jaguar is more economical than many small hatchbacks, averaging more than 46 miles per gallon. Not many luxury limousines of this size and with thrill-a-minute performance can claim that. n The car Ed drove was a Jaguar XJ V6 D Portfolio with a total RRP inc vat price of £67,260. It was supplied by Jaguar UK, Coventry

ExpEriEncE thE company car EquivalEnt of thE cornEr officE. Individuality has its rewards and driving a Jaguar XJ is one of them. Its effortless combination of luxury, technology and performance is unmistakable. Lightweight aluminum construction and 8-speed automatic gearbox with Intelligent Stop/Start technology offer you improved fuel efficiency and emissions of only 159g/km. The Jaguar XJ has yet another impressively low figure, its price per month is from £559*. To discover why there’s no equivalent to driving the Jaguar XJ, speak to a Business Sales Specialist on 0845 600 2214.

W W W.JaGuar.co.uK/businEss

Official fuel economy figures for the Jaguar XJ in MPG (l/100km): Urban 16.7-39.8 (16.9-7.1). Extra Urban 32.8-51.4 (8.6-5.5). Combined 24.4-46.3 (11.6-6.1). CO2 Emissions 270-159g/km. Model shown is XJ 3.0D 275PS LWB priced from £59,375. The figures provided are as a result of official manufacturer’s tests in accordance with EU legislation. A vehicle’s actual fuel consumption may differ from that achieved in such tests and these figures are for comparative purposes only. *Business users only. Based on a 36 month Jaguar Contract Hire agreement on the model shown, standard specification, metallic paint, a mileage of 10,000 miles per annum (30,000 miles in total), non-maintained. Initial payment in advance of 6 months rentals + VAT followed by 35 monthly rentals at rental shown + VAT. May be subject to further charges depending on the condition/mileage when vehicle returned. Finance subject to status. Guarantees/indemnities may be required. This promotion cannot be used together with other manufacturer’s promotions and is subject to availability at participating dealers only for new vehicles ordered by 30th June 2013, or while stocks last. Certain categories of business user may be excluded. Jaguar Contract Hire is provided by Lex AutoLease, trading as Jaguar Contract Hire, Heathside Park, Heathside Park Road, Stockport SK3 0RB. Written quotations are available on request. All details are correct at time of publication and are subject to change without notice.

EQUIPMENT

voyage of rediscovery New thinking around ancient technology has seen sails making a welcome return to prominence in the seafaring market

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EQUIPMENT “Raise your sail one foot, and you get ten feet of wind”, as an old Chinese proverb has it. What might be more remarkable today, in the era of the mega-yacht, is that anyone any more raises sail at all, aside from on learner dinghies. The motorised vessel has, on first sight, so overtaken demand for sails in the luxury market - despite luxury brands’ association with major events the likes of the America’s Cup, the Tall Ships’ Race and even Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez - that the sail might seem anachronistic. True sailors, of course, know that it is precisely the quality of being an ancient technology that makes mastering a sailed yacht to best utilise available wind that is at the heart of sailing’s pleasure. Indeed, even at the very top of the market, some kind of battle is at hand between classic sail boats and their proposed equivalents of tomorrow. Take, for example, the renaissance of the J-Class yacht. The J-Class belonged to an era of the wealthy gentleman adventurer, and were sailed by the likes of Harold Vanderbilt, whose surname speaks for itself, and Sir Thomas Lipton, then owner of the grocery chain and the Lipton Tea brand. In fact, it was Lipton who had the first J-Class commissioned to race in the America’s Cup. It was a revolutionary design: long, with a waterline of between around 23 and 27m (the size of a yacht being ascribed a letter of the alphabet), sleek, agile and aqua-dynamic being almost triangular in profile - and with impressive speed, thanks to a mast that >>

As with the floating palaces beloved of Russian oligarchs, in sailing yachts, size increasingly matters BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

While one part of the luxury yacht world may look to yesteryear for inspiration, another is decidedly steering towards tomorrow’s analysis and found that the balance of the design could hardly be improved on. But could the sails themselves? While one part of the luxury yacht world may look to yesteryear for inspiration, another is decidedly steering towards tomorrow’s - in no part driven by the ecological and financial benefits afforded by new sail or hybrid power technology. Huisman, for example, also has for sale the Athena - inspired by the J-Class style yachts of the 1930s, but made entirely of aluminium, making it extremely light. It is, in fact, the largest all-aluminium sail yacht ever built. Of course, as with the floating palaces beloved of Russian oligarchs, in sailing yachts, size increasingly matters too. Lila-Lou, a Londonbased yacht-brokers, is building the Ankida, at 73m long, while Sparkman & Stephens is

allowed the carrying of huge sails, one at a gargantuan 18,000sq ft. Up until the end of the 1930s only 10 J-Class vessels were ever built but by then it had arguably come to define the look and lines of the definitive classic yacht in the public imagination, one that has held right up to modern times. Certainly the class still evokes that romance, which may be why Hanuman, a modern

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recreation of the J-Class, built by the Royal Huisman shipyard complete with a period interior and currently for sale, is garnering so many interested parties. Or why Spirit Yachts has this year announced an historic collaboration with Sparkman & Stephens yacht-builders to build a new J-Class. But then perhaps it is no wonder at all: a decade ago boatbuilders put the J-Class’ dimensions through aqua-dynamic computer

EQUIPMENT

building a 75m Bermuda-rigged schooner - to put that in perspective, both yachts will on completion be bigger than Nelson’s HMS Victory (and these are minnows against proposed motor yachts concepts the likes of that from Donald Starkey or Emocean’s 200m Project 1000). And certainly one key trend in big sailing yachts now are designs that reconfigure the interior to make more space. In fact, UltraLuxum’s CXL concept somehow makes room for an on-board garage, ostensibly built to house a McLaren supercar. But such concerns are secondary to J-Class levels of style, with the advantages of science too. Enter the likes of Igor Lobanov’s Phoenicia sailing yacht concept, with, for example, a hi-tech version of a bow design dating to the Greek triremes of 2000 years ago.

It is precisely because even the very rich want to save on fuel that sails could prove the future of yachting

Or the Maltese Falcon, at 88m long currently the world’s second largest sailing yacht, built for venture capitalist Tom Perkins and, again, while looking to be a classic schooner, operating three hollow masts that rotate to unfurl a huge 2,400sqm of sail that can be extended out along the yard. Indeed, it is precisely because even the very rich want to save on fuel that sails could prove the future of yachting rather than being consigned to its past.

Or, at least, sails of a kind. Christoph Behling’s SolarLab Research Company has proven the efficacy of solar-powered craft through the 40-passenger, solar-energy powered boat it designed for London’s Serpentine in 2006, then with another - the world’s largest solar-powered boat - for Hamburg, and, most recently, in a ferry for Hong Kong harbour. In 2009 Behling received a private commission from a client in Dubai to build a solar-powered yacht, complete with a solar-powered desalination unit. And 2010 saw the launch of the Turanor PlanetSolar catamaran, the world’s largest solar-powered boat to date, using so-called solar sails. These, as they suggest, use their huge surface area to collect solar energy for conversion into electricity to power engines. Sauter Carbon Offset Design’s Emax E-Volution schooner takes the idea a step further, being a solar hybrid model, able to run on solar power (which, through panels embedded in the hull, also powers all of the yacht’s amenities, from refrigeration to jacuzzis), diesel or wind-power. Of course, such super-sails come at a price. Lipton’s first J-Class yacht cost him US$1m. The E-Volution will cost you US$40m. n

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FASHION high fashion on the high seas

The once disparate worlds of luxury fashion and yachting are becoming increasingly intertwined, writes Josh Sims

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When Monaco-based yacht-builders Wally launched its acclaimed triangular hull concept, proposing something akin to a floating apartment, its partner in the project was no mistake. Wally’s co-creator was French fashion brand Hermes. Certainly, if high fashion and yachting used to go together like oil and water, now private commissions and sponsorship deals have seen the likes of Giorgio Armani devise yacht interiors, Louis Vuitton launch the Louis Vuitton Trophy and, more recently, the Trophy Auckland regatta, and Prada pour money into its own America’s Cup racing team. Small wonder then that such brands have followed with a new breed of style-driven sailing clothing: Prada’s Luna Rossa line named after the yacht and including replicas of the sailing team’s clothes - alone has annual sales of over €20m. Puma has now set sail for the first time, Italian luxury textiles company Loro Piana has launched its Regatta clothing collection and Porsche Design its Marina Collection, its first specialist sailing clothing line, developed in conjunction with three-times Olympic gold medal sailor Jochen Schuemann. “Sailing has become much more a topic of media and public interest than it was, say, a decade ago,” says its CEO Juergen Gessler, “and that is driving demand for stylish, new products. And while boat shoes have long been a fashion must-have, of course, you can see other types of sailing clothes increasingly making the transition to being worn casually too.” Indeed, the interest of fashion brands in the sport, as well as that of a younger consumer, is now also prompting a reassessment of the place of style among the marine clothing brands who have traditionally placed functionality well to the fore - with issues of weight, waterproofing, articulation, corrosion, layering and storage all deemed priority. Visitors to such famed sailing events as the Round the Island Race on the Isle of Wight this June, or the Tall Ships Race in St. Malo and Lisbon in July or Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez in September might expect a more stylish line-up from the sea-dogs. Boat shoe companies are already deep into the style market: Sperry Top-Sider has launched its new lifestyle stores in the US, while >>

Newbies typically wore either inappropriate clothing or the unnecessarily hi-tech

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FASHION

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FASHION Sailing has become much more a topic of media and public interest than it was a decade ago

competitor Sebago has created a limiteddistribution fashion line. But now Gill Clothing, for example, the official technical clothing sponsor for Cowes Week, has also created its

Race Collection, a co-ordinated 12-piece range aimed at providing the teams in match races - the F1 of yachting - with a distinctive look: in an unusual silver-grey with hi-vis colour flashes. “Fashion brands might develop a capsule line for what is now a highlyaspirational sport before moving onto something else, while marine brands have to be careful not to dilute their perception in the rather insular marine market. But there is no question that that market is developing an appreciation that a technical garment should look as good as it possibly can,” says Matt Gill, Gill’s product development manager. “Now consumers don’t just want red, yellow or navy, for example. Up until just a few years ago you would never see black. It might be low-visibility in the water but it looks good and has seen real demand.” Nor is Gill Clothing alone in pursuing the likes of Hugo Boss and Tommy Hilfiger in bringing such fashion names’ more pleasing aesthetics to their specialised clothing. Norwegian brand Helly Hansen has sought to blur the fashion/function boundary with its new Ask advanced sportswear line -

“because there’s a readiness to buy new sailing kit in line with changes in fashion now,” suggests its watersports manager Tor Jenssen. “People used to buy new every decade. Now it can be every other year.” Application of the latest manufacturing technology - in which the marine brands are ahead - has resulted in attractive but utilitarian detailing too. Henri Lloyd has teamed up with Japanese fabric and chemical manufacturer Teijin to launch Blue Eco, sailing’s first fully recyclable, waterproof/breathable collection. “We’re aware that the same people who sail often ski or climb and are influenced by the style of those sports too, and as the market gets more competitive, bringing aesthetics to the technology is what’s giving an edge,” argues David O’Mahoney, Henri Lloyd’s technical design manager. “Now it’s about using that technology to create more stripped-back, streamlined style which is its own look. Ugly garments won’t cut it on the water any more.” But when kitting yourself out for sailing, be cautious not to go overboard either. After all, one conclusion of a study paper in consumer research entitled ‘The Consumption of Clothing in the Sailing Community’ by the Universities of Strathclyde and Stirling, was that the close-knit subculture of the sailing world was quick to identify and dismiss neophytes by their style. Newbies typically wore either inappropriate clothing or the unnecessarily hi-tech. ‘True’ yachtsmen and women, on the other hand, expressed their experience by simply donning the rather careworn and mis-matched. n

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ENTREPRENEUR

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when the torch stopped burning... BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

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ENTREPRENEUR The 2012 London Olympics was seen as a huge success, but also created new challenges for many companies. Ros Dodd reports.

The high point of Tim Andrews’ career came when his Birmingham-based graphics and signage company won a £1m contract for the greatest show on Earth – the 2012 London Olympics. Hollywood Monster landed the work to help dress the streets around the Olympic Park in Stratford, which included Europe’s biggest-ever banner – measuring a gigantic 350m by 14m – at the Westfield Stratford City site overlooking the entrance to the park. It was a spectacular success and confirmed the company as one of the UK’s top digital signage outfits. However, even this ‘monster’ of a firm hasn’t been immune to the tough economic climate and, just a few months after the Olympics, things were looking less rosy. Happily, though, business is very much on the up again – thanks to the company’s innovative approach and the drive and energy of its founder and managing director. “We’re still here to tell the story, but even as recently as last Christmas, things were tough and we were quite worried,” admits 43-year-old Tim. “We’d taken on extra staff to do our biggest job to date – all the branding at the Olympics for Coca-Cola and Visa, two of the biggest brands in the world, which for a small family business from Birmingham was something to be proud of. As it turned out, there were downsides as well as upsides: in order to service a big account like the Olympics, which was a one-off, we took on extra staff, taking us from 60 to 80. “We thought we’d have a lot of legacy work on the back of it, but that didn’t happen in the way we anticipated. So we’ve now got to fill that £1m void and unfortunately we had to >>

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ENTREPRENEUR make some redundancies at the end of last year. I think many companies that won major contracts associated with the Olympics have found themselves in a similar situation.” There has been a notable chunk of indirect spin-off work, however. “Before the Olympics contract, we had a client, Virgin Media, which decided to review how it bought all its printed material and as a result put the work with a ‘print farmer’, who’s a middle man, which lost us a big client overnight. We approached this new company and had meetings with them. The first time they walked into our offices in Birmingham, they saw the references to what we’d done at the Olympics, and said: ‘The Olympics? If it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for us’ and took us on! Now we do Carphone Warehouse and Virgin Media for them, so having been involved in such a prestigious event did have some longer-term benefits.” The company, which turns over £6m a year and has won a clutch of awards, works with a wide range of other major brands including Next, HMV, Carillion, Lovell Homes, Redrow and Bovis Homes. It was Hollywood Monster’s large property portfolio that caused the company the biggest headache when the recession set in. “This is really the first recession to hit us – and it hit us hard,” admits Tim, a married father-of-two. “Until 2008, most of our clients were in the property industry and it was what we were known for. We benefited from the redevelopment of Birmingham, London, Manchester and Liverpool. So when the property crash happened, we felt it keenly.” In 2008, the company’s clients were predominantly in the West Midlands – only about 30% of its business was drawn from the rest of the UK. Today, the opposite is true: 70% of its work is in London, with only 30% coming from the West Midlands. “That’s because London is a different world and it’s not been affected by the recession like everywhere else, especially Birmingham. It really has changed the landscape of our business very much.” Hollywood Monster, which also has an office in London, dates back to 1991 – and the last recession – when Tim and his father, John, established a traditional signage business called Hollywood Signs –

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initially based in the attic of the family home in Hollywood, near Wythall, just south of Birmingham. “My dad was made redundant from a construction firm, where one of his roles had been to look after the signage department,” he explains. “The company offered him the opportunity to take them on as a client for signage.” Tim, who was 21 at the time, had just finished

a precision engineering apprenticeship in the aircraft industry and it “felt right” to go into business with his father. “I wanted to start my own business; I’d just taken on my first mortgage, but it was only a small house and I had no children, so it felt like the right time – and I went for it.”He and his dad “naturally” fell into different roles, with Tim looking after the design and his father

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doing the installations. The business took off quickly, helped by Birmingham City FC becoming its second client. “The first company – my dad’s old firm – went through a restructuring process, and people left and set up their own property businesses, so very quickly we had six or seven clients. The property market started to explode – and we rose on the back of that.” Hollywood Signs proved the widespread belief that the best time to start a business is in a recession. “As I often say, if you can survive the first year – especially in a recession – you are likely to make it.” After 11 years working with his dad, and keen to expand into the newly-emerging digital world, Tim set up Monster Digital, a printing and graphics business servicing events and exhibitions as well as retail and industry. Seven years later, in 2009, the two companies merged to create Hollywood Monster, one of the largest businesses of its kind in the UK. With the country still languishing in the economic doldrums, how has the company managed to come through not just intact but also on the up? “It’s a mixture of things,” says Tim. “As a business, we really focus on client service, because we know how important that is. I’d say that was our USP – the way we’ve built the business on reputation and service delivery. It’s that that gets you through the tough times, because in a recession, everyone has time to look for cheaper prices, so they will walk away if they’re not happy with what they’re getting.” Investing in cutting-edge printing technology has also helped to keep the company ahead of the competition. And, as Tim candidly concedes, the recession has provided some valuable lessons. “One of the things we’ve learned is not to put all your eggs in one basket, so on that basis we’re now looking to diversify a little – into LED technology and dye-sublimation flag-making. We went into the recession largely geared towards the property industry, but we’ve come out of it with a much wider spread of business – we now work in five different market sectors equally. It’s a tough business world out there, but we’ve managed our business through it – and we’ve become stronger and more focused as a result.” n

ENTREPRENEUR

If you can survive the first year especially in a recession - you are likely to make it

Helping where it really makes a difference Tim Andrews has been raising money for charity since he was a lad of eight. “As a child, I used to go round Hollywood and Wythall, where I grew up, collecting old newspapers that people would leave out on their front doorsteps. Dad and I would take them to the recycling plant and get £80 per tonne for them. We gave the money to Cancer Research as my grandparents died of the disease. “I was brought up to do what I could for charity, so when the business has been in a position to get involved in fund-raising, that’s what we’ve done.” Despite the difficulties caused by the recession, Tim says Hollywood Monster has stepped up, rather than scaled back, its charity work, which has seen it raise more than £200,000 over recent years. “One reason our charity work has increased is slightly selfish: I developed a passion for marathon running – I started doing half-marathons and then full marathons, including the five majors across the world, and each time I ran one, I raised money for charity,” says Tim. “The feeling of achievement can never be described, but only understood having completed a challenge of similar standing. Then my knee started playing up, so I took up cycling instead and did that around Europe too. So I suppose that’s been the driver.” Another driver was the sad but hugely inspiring story of 11-year-old Harry Moseley from Sheldon, Birmingham, who died in October 2011 from a brain tumour. While he was under treatment, he started a campaign – not because of his own illness but because of a friend with brain cancer – to raise money and awareness. Through public speaking and making bracelets, he raised more than £650,000. Last year, Tim was asked to become a trustee of the Harry Moseley charity, HelpHarryHelpOthers (HHHO), which he helped to set up with the little boy’s mum, Georgina. Tim helped organise, with PJ Ellis, the inaugural charity ball, a celebrity-studded event that took place at Birmingham’s International Convention Centre last October. It raised a staggering £100,000 to fund research, pay for extra care and provide once-in-a-lifetime experiences for children with cancer. This September, Tim is staging his biggest charity event to date – the 7inSeven cycle challenge – which will see cyclists from a wide range of backgrounds pedal from Zurich to Birmingham through seven countries, covering more than 700 miles, in seven days. As well as attempting to raise £250,000 for HHHO and another Birmingham-based charity, Cure Leukaemia for Kids, the event is also aimed at encouraging Brummies to take up cycling. In fact, it is hoped 10,000 will participate in the event, from kids in schools to corporate company workers, pedalling static exercise bikes in a relay format. Meanwhile, Tim is also planning the second HHHO ball. “I’m as proud of the HHHO charity as I am of my business. Harry has created another monster, and I am proud to be part of it – one that will make a big difference to many kids and families travelling the cancer journey over the coming years and helping to find a cure for the terrible disease.”

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SUCCESS STORY

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SUCCESS STORY

recipe for success Since opening its first venue in Birmingham in 1992, the San Carlo Group has expanded to sixteen restaurants worldwide, with a £50m-plus turnover. According to founder and chairman Carlo Distefano, quality ingredients are the key to this success. Steve Dyson reports “We try to get all our fresh tomatoes from Pachino,” says Carlo Distefano, in near-perfect English, although with a heavy Italian accent. Pachino is a location I later look up and find is a small town in the province of Syracuse, Sicily. “They’re much sweeter from there, really tasty,” he adds, wistfully. “And I insist that all our tinned tomatoes come from Gerardo Di Nola [a brand] because they come from Naples, in southern Italy – where the sun shines. They cost more, of course, but they’re delicious, and I get a good deal when I tell them ‘I buy the lot!’, and that’s what I do for all my restaurants. Yes, the profit is less, but I want the very best.” It may seem strange to be talking tomatoes for BQ, but I did ask Carlo, the founder and chairman of the San Carlo Group of restaurants, for the secret behind his company’s success, and an expansion that has defied the recession. As far as the 69-year-old is concerned, it’s all about quality ingredients. “The aubergines and peppers from Ragusa,” he says, referring to another province in Sicily, the island of his birth. “The artichokes from Rome, and the chianini beef from Tuscany. “And the truffles from Alba,” he continues, now talking up the reputation of produce from a town in the province of Cuneo, in Italy’s Piedmont region. After reeling off the list of ingredients and origins, Carlo pauses, seemingly for effect, and then adds with passion: “To be a successful

restaurateur, you have to believe in what you do. Do you want only profit? Ha, then you will have failure! “Instead, you have to imagine how you would like to eat yourself, and what you are prepared to spend on creating the perfect dish. The answer is always quality ingredients and yes, the profit is not so great, but the originality, you keep that special. “So my approach is very different in that I bring the products I love for Italian cooking to England from Italy, and we have huge shipments twice a week to make this happen. For me, it’s important that the customer has

therefore build and keep honesty with customers. Good Italian food is down to the simplicity of cooking, so the ingredients have to be very good, the best. Without this it can’t be a success.” Carlo hangs up and continues as if he’s never paused: “We never, ever give ‘two-for-one’ offers like other restaurants – we have no discounts. Others have so many discounts customers end up not really valuing their food. But here, they know the price, they know the quality and they keep on coming. “Instead of discounts, we concentrate on the food to improve it. I send all my chefs to Italy

I send all my chefs to Italy five times a year to keep them fresh, to keep their skills

real, original Italian. No imitations.” At this point, Carlo takes a quick call on his mobile and Marcello, his eldest son and a group director, tells me more: “At one point competition was really hard, with many Italian food imitators, but at every stage, every decision we made was to be even more Italian. “Dad’s always insisted that to grow we need to retain the quality of our ingredients, and

five times a year to keep them fresh, to keep their skills.” Then he’s off on another phone call, leaving Marcello to add: “People want to eat out in 2013, it’s part of their daily lives in a way that it never used to be. And they want value – in terms of great food for a good price – rather than discounts. Rather than thinking about the high costs of a dish, we think: ‘does the >>

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SUCCESS STORY price of the dish sound fair? “Restaurants, I’ve learned, can become greedy. You can make much bigger profits with cheaper ingredients, and by offering discounts, but once you start doing either it’s not very good for the business.” Carlo’s back again: “I want people to come out

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and say ‘fantastic’... the atmosphere, the service, the quality of food. I don’t want them to say just ‘OK’. My restaurants are making classic Italian food. People may think it’s expensive, but customers keep coming because they know what they want, and what they are prepared to pay.”

Trying to explain his father’s passion, Marcello says: “When I decided I wanted to come into the business, he said this is a lifestyle not just a job.” And Carlo immediately picks up the theme: “I still work seven days a week. I drive around 1,200 miles a week to visit all my restaurants.

The rise of a Sicilian star Carlo Distefano was born in Ragusa, south Sicily, in 1944, the son of a builder, and one of four children. He worked from the age of seven or eight, sweeping up in a coffee bar and hairdresser, and first came to England in the early 1960s – aged 17 with £12 in his pocket. “I wanted to come to England to enjoy a living,” he recalls. “There were stories of England being a great country. A democracy. And after 25 years of fascism in Italy, the class divides were big, and so I chose England. “To get my permit I had to have a job and not change for four years, so I was a hairdresser in Leeds. Then I opened a salon with a partner in 1964 – Nick and Carlo. I was very ambitious. We opened three salons, a coffee bar and a disco.” In 1970, Carlo faced a decision – should he stay in England for good or return to Italy? He sold everything, and went back to Italy, but within six months he says he felt more English than Italian, and wanted to return. He’d signed a contract as part of his sale saying he couldn’t re-open a business in Leeds, so he started again in Manchester, opening a hairdresser in 1971. He then opened four hairdressers called Figaro in five years, including one in the Rackham’s Birmingham store that is still there today. But Carlo soon realised his real passion: “Always I like food. All the money I made I always spent with food, eating at the Savoy, at the Dorchester, and at Mario and Franco in Soho, my inspiration.” Carlo’s reference to Mario and Franco, I later research, is the names of Mario Cassandro and Franco Lagattolla, who opened La Trattoria Terrazza in Soho in 1959, quickly becoming accepted as Britain’s first and best ‘original’ Italian restaurant. Whatever the formal name of the restaurant, those in the business simply remember it as ‘Mario and Franco.’ “It was a classic Italian restaurant that I admired very much, my inspiration,” explains Carlo. “So, in 1980 I convinced partners to open a restaurant with me in Manchester. Called CoCo. There were four partners, but I was the mover. It was a big success. “We had guests like Pavarotti, [the opera singer] Nureyev, [the ballet dancer] and all the top footballers. So we opened a second, CoCotoo, also in Manchester, seating 300 people. But there were still four partners, and I could not express myself [as a restaurateur] like I wanted to. I felt I could do better.” Carlo had arrived in Birmingham with his Figaro hairdressers in Rackham’s and liked what he saw, so chose the city to open

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the first restaurant of his very own in 1992. “There was not much competition at the time,” he recalls. “I employed former staff from Mario and Franco. I brought them to Birmingham. We got so busy and every year since 1992 has gone higher – more customers.” It was this success that led Carlo to expand, opening San Carlo venues in Bristol in 1996, then Leicester in 2000, Manchester in 2004, Liverpool in 2009 and Leeds in 2010. In 2007, the San Carlo Group acquired Signor Sassi, a top brand of restaurant in fashionable Knightsbridge Green, opposite Harrods, entertaining wealthy sheiks, politicians, business executives and sports personalities. This set the scene for an ambitious international expansion, and in 2009 Carlo signed a multi-million pound agreement with Kuwait Food Company, part of the giant Americana Group, to open Signor Sassi restaurants throughout the Middle East and North Africa. So far two Signor Sassi restaurants have opened in Kuwait, a third in Beirut and a fourth in Bangkok. China, Singapore and India are now being considered for the next potential locations. The San Carlo Group also opened a French restaurant in 2010, La Petite Rouge, above its Italian sister in Leicester, and in 2011 bought the Flying Pizza restaurant in Leeds. But the real UK expansion is in Italian tapas venues: the group’s Cicchetti tapas restaurants opened in Manchester in 2011, and Piccadilly, London in 2012. The same year saw £2.5m invested in the San Carlo Group’s ‘home’ city of Birmingham, with the opening of Fumo, another Venetian tapas bar. Carlo’s eldest son Marcello talks in more detail about this expansion. “For San Carlo, you need space, and they grow organically,” says Marcello. “For Cicchetti and Fumo, it’s tapas and you need less space, so it’s a faster growth rate.” Aged 34, Marcello did a business degree at Bath University and now lives in South Manchester with his partner and new-born baby, Luca. He’s wearing a tailored suit with waistcoat, and is very much the modern face of the San Carlo Group – smart, designer-style, applying the knowledge he’s picked up from his father and adding his own business skills for the future. Carlo has five children – three daughters and two sons. While Marcello is a group board director, the other son, 24-year-old Alessandro, is also part of business, learning the ropes as a regional manager. However big it gets – there are now more than 500 staff worldwide – this company is still very much run by the Distefano family.

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SUCCESS STORY

left to right: Alessandro, Carlo and Marcello Distefano

Well, I have a driver, but I’m working all the time on the phone.” He tells me somewhat sheepishly that his car is a Rolls Royce Ghost. “It’s his only pleasure in life,” Marcello points out. “Ha,” agrees Carlo, “Pleasure? I have had no holidays – except when my daughter was married – in ten years. Do you know why? This is my holiday! My pleasure.” Carlo then explains how he runs his business hands on, either face-to-face or on his constantly ringing mobile phone. “No email,” he declares, “I don’t do that. Phone, or one-to-one, that’s how I do business.

I’m always at one of the restaurants, and my car is my office, and I phone each manager at least ten times a day.” Really? “Yes, ten times a day!” Carlo’s suddenly remembered something and so, once again, he picks up the phone, this time dialling himself to bark away pleasantly but firmly in Italian to one of his managers in London, Manchester, Leeds or another city. He makes another point as soon as he hangs up, as if the phone call was simply a punctuation mark: “I pay my staff wages, not by the hour, whether it’s quiet or not they get paid. We treat them properly. And that makes

another difference in our quality – staff loyalty.” The San Carlo Group has twelve restaurants around the UK and four in the Middle and Far East, with more on the way. But it all started in Temple Street, Birmingham. “Birmingham is the one in my heart,” Carlo says, “because it’s the first one I opened on my own. My biggest success. With this one comes a lot of emotion. Birmingham has been very good to me. Most people are very friendly.” Carlo still lives near the city, in the plush village of Barnt Green, where former Aston Villa boss Ron Atkinson is his neighbour – “and one of my first and best customers”. But his phone is vibrating again, and other members of staff are waiting to speak to him, probably about the next tomato deal... I get up to go and he wants to add something: “I’m a restaurateur – not a chef. “I hire the chefs. I’m front of house, I create the atmosphere, the quality service.” I press on this point to confirm his meaning: “So, to be successful in this business you need to be a pure restaurateur, not a famous chef?” And Carlo responds with what I now see is his typical short, decision-making style: “Si, that’s the secret.” Then, as I’m on my way out, he speaks again, not even telling his latest caller to hold the line, but simply putting a hand over the receiver: “Hey, I open on Christmas Day! Do you know why? I was bored one Christmas Day and so I opened the restaurant. Then I did it the next year. Now all my restaurants open Christmas Day. All of them, except London, but who knows this year...” Working every Christmas, taking no holidays... as a friendly, parting question I ask 69-year-old Carlo whether he’ll ever retire? He produces an Italian shrug and says: “I’ve no intention of retiring. If I find an alternative, I’ll stop. “But I haven’t!” And then he’s back on the phone, and I’m off, quickly transcribing my shorthand to make sure I remember who was speaking when during this fast and furious conversation. n

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BIT OF A CHAT

SUMMER 13

Katie noticed that one officer’s red stripes were much thicker than everyone else’s, and because he was a bit chubby she told her end of table: “Poor chap! He’s had to take his trousers out because they don’t fit him!” A moment’s silence, and then Katie’s fiancé corrected her: “No, Katie, it’s because he’s a colonel.” D’oh!

with Bill Borde

>> ITV man is squids in To many TV viewers, he’s the ‘Robert Peston of the West Midlands’. But when off screen, ITV’s Central News business correspondent Mark Gough is a talented guitarist for surf band Los Calamares – the ‘surfing squids’! Hawaii Five 0, Wipe Out and themes from Pulp Fiction and James Bond movies are often heard ringing out from the band’s studio in Kings Heath, Birmingham. Mark ‘Goffy’ Gough told me: “People look a bit quizzical when we tell them it’s surf music, but just think Pulp Fiction, James Bond with a bit of Batman and Munsters thrown in for good measure and I swear – you’ll know every track we play. And you won’t stop dancing.” This summer, Los Calamares are even playing at the Americana International Festival in Nottinghamshire. Goffy adds: “65,000 went there last year, and they’ve booked us on the main stage!” More details at www.los-calamares.com

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>> John’s parking stops Jo Jo Brand was going down so well at The Birmingham Press Club’s celebrity lunch in May... until she was put off her stroke by the chap at the front checking the time. She paused during one of the biggest laughs when she spotted John Lamb – head of media at Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and vice-president of the Press Club – frowning as he looked at his watch. “Oh, I’d better finish up because this chap’s got somewhere to go,” quipped Jo, much to the embarrassment of ‘Lord Lamb’, who feebly claimed his parking ticket was about to expire. She forgave him, of course, but would she have if she’d been aware of his earlier career? Forthright as ever, Jo had only just told members exactly what she thought of The Sun’s Gary Bushell, and left no-one in any doubt of her feelings towards the rest of the national press. John, of course, spent years in Fleet Street – on sport for the News of the World, as night editor at The Sun and news editor on the Evening Standard. Does Jo know? I think she should be told...

>> A blonde BBC moment I loved this story told by BBC broadcaster Katie Rowlett at a recent business lunch. Katie, a former Midlands Today presenter, is engaged to a Royal Marines Captain, and at a recent dinner the chaps were all sporting evening gear – including dark blue trousers with narrow red stripes.

Poor chap! He’s had to take his trousers out because they don’t fit him! A moment’s silence... No, it’s because he’s a colonel.

>> And finally... Did everyone catch the legendary Russell Luckock of Birmingham engineers A. E. Harris on the BBC in early May? No, unfortunately, they weren’t asking ‘whiskers’ Luckock for his take on the economy. He was actually used as a ‘fun’ picture on Have I Got News For You? I wonder why...

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EVENTS

SUMMER 13

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 steve.dysonmedia@gmail.com and please put ‘BQ events page’ in the subject heading

JUNE 4 Blueprint for Growth Breakfast Seminar with the IoD, (7.30am to 10am), Palm Room, Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Westbourne Road, B15 3TR. Free of charge. Book at www.iod.com/WMidlandsevents or contact sue.hurrell@iod.com 6 BCCG, Chamber Group Expo, 10am-3pm. For more details call 0121 607 1772 or email events@birmingham-chamber.com. 6 CBI, manufacturing lunch with John Cridland, CBI director-general, by invitation, at Jaguar Land Rover. Details, Julia Fox at julia.fox@cbi.org.uk 6 CBI West Midlands Annual Dinner, speaker John Cridland, CBI director-general, with TV and radio broadcaster Gavin Esler, Edgbaston Stadium, Birmingham. Details, Julia Fox at julia.fox@cbi.org.uk 7 Solihull Chamber, enterprising women, 12 noon to 2.30pm. Ardencote Manor Hotel Country Club & Spa, Lye Green Road, Claverdon, Warwick, CV35 8LT. For more details call 0121 781 7384 or email solevents@solihull-chamber.com 7 Annual Birmingham Corporate Social Responsibility Summit 2013, Aston Business School, 9.00am - 1.00pm. For more details email Maria Podsiadly at m.podsiadly@aston.ac.uk or call 0121 204 3368. 11 Goldman Sachs 10,000 Businesses Programme Preview, Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham. For details, go to www.10ksb.aston.ac.uk/events or call 0121 204 3225. 13 BCCG, business breakfast with Jerry Blackett, 7.15am to 9.30am, 75 Harborne Road, Edgbaston

available, and avoid repeating the pitfalls of the past? (7.30am to 9am), Higgs & Sons, 3 Waterfront Business Park, Brierley Hill, DY5 1LX. Free of charge. Book at www.iod.com/WMidlandsevents or contact sue.hurrell@iod.com

JULY 2 CBI, Senior Executive Lunch, Chris Sims, Chief Constable, West Midlands Police, at AON Risk Solutions, 12-2pm. Details, Julia Fox at julia.fox@cbi.org.uk 2 BCCG, maximise your membership, Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, 75 Harborne Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 3DH. For more details call 0121 607 1772 or email events@birmingham-chamber.com. 4 CPBigwood Auction at Aston Villa FC from 11am. 4 Solihull Chamber, networking and Wimbledon ladies semi-final, 12 noon-3.30pm. For more details call 0121 781 7384 or email us at solevents@solihull-chamber.com. 4 Investment Property Forum, tax incentives in the property market, at BDO, Birmingham, 4.30pm. 9 IoD Breakfast, in association with the Guardian and SAS, at the Terrace Suite, Botanical Gardens, details at www.iod.com/Wmidlandsevents 11 The IoD’s Severn Railway VIP trip, details at www.iod.com/Wmidlandsevents

Birmingham, B15 3DH. For more details call 0121 607 1772 or email events@birmingham-chamber.com.

12 Worcestershire v Warwickshire Twenty20 Networking Event with the IoD, (5.30pm), at Worcestershire County Cricket Club, New Road, Worcester WR2 4QQ. Book at www.iod.com/WMidlandsevents or contact sue.hurrell@iod. com

13 Solihull Chamber, golf day at Shirley Golf Club, 11.30am. For more details call 0121 781 7384 or email us at solevents@solihull-chamber.com.

17 BBBC, (7am to 9am).Tim Watts, Pertemps. Botanical Gardens, Birmingham B15 3TR. Book at www.bbbc.biz

13 Investment Property Forum, UK commercial property lending market report, at DLA Piper, Birmingham, 12.15pm.

17 Solihull Chamber, Need2Know, protecting your business from cybercrime, 4pm. For more details call 0121 781 7384 or email us at solevents@solihull-chamber.com.

13 Birmingham Press Club’s Midlands Media Awards, Holte Suite, Villa Park, Birmingham. To book call 0115 841 9699 or email paula@cloud9em.co.uk 19 BBBC, (7am to 9am). Mary Kaye, The President of The Birmingham Law Society, Botanical Gardens, Birmingham B15 3TR. Book at www.bbbc.biz

26 Lichfield Rugby Business Connect Breakfast, 7am to 9.30am, Lichfield Rugby Club, Cooke Fields, Tamworth Road Lichfield , WS14 9JE. For more details call 08450 710 191 or email c.plant@chase-chamber.com

19 Investment Property Forum, REITs, changes to the regime and impact for property companies, at Jones Lang LaSalle, Birmingham, 4.30pm.

AUGUST

20 BCCG, summer network garden party, 11.30am to 2.30pm, New Hall Hotel, Walmley Road, Sutton Coldfield, B76 1QX. For more details call 0121 607 1772 or email events@birmingham-chamber.com.

6 Solihull Chamber, enterprising women, 12 noon. For more details call 0121 781 7384 or email us at solevents@solihull-chamber.com.

21 Lichfield Rugby Business Connect Breakfast, 7am to 9.30am, Lichfield Rugby Club, Cooke Fields, Tamworth Road Lichfield , WS14 9JE. For more details call 08450 710 191 or email c.plant@chase-chamber.com. 26 GBSLEP annual conference, 1.30pm to 4pm, Aston Villa Football Club, Villa Park, Trinity Road Birmingham, B6 6HE. To book email lepagm@birminghamchamber.com 27 CBI, dinner with Rhian Kelly, CBI director business environment, by invitation, venue tbc. Details, Julia Fox at julia.fox@cbi.org.uk 27 Solihull Chamber, Need2Know, how to lead your business through its lifecyle, 4pm. For more details call 0121 781 7384 or email us at solevents@solihullchamber.com. 28 CBI, member breakfast with Rhian Kelly, CBI director business environment, by invitation, at Wardell Armstrong LLP, Stoke on Trent. Details, Julia Fox at julia.fox@ cbi.org.uk 28 How can the manufacturing sector take advantage of the opportunities

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23 Lichfield Rugby Business Connect Breakfast, 7am to 9.30am, Lichfield Rugby Club, Cooke Fields, Tamworth Road Lichfield , WS14 9JE. For more details call 08450 710 191 or email c.plant@chase-chamber.com

The diary is updated daily online at www.bq-magazine.co.uk Please check with contacts beforehand that arrangements have not changed. Events organisers are also asked to notify us at the above email address of any changes or cancellations as soon as they are known. KEY: AGM, Annual General Meeting. BBBC: Birmingham Business Breakfast Club. BCCG: Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Group. CBI: Confederation of British Industry. GBSLEP: Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partenership. IoD: Institute of Directors.

CMY