BQ YORKSHIRE Issue 17

www.bq-magazine.co.uk

ISSUE SEVENTEEN: SUMMER 2013

running with the mob Mafia group mobilises ahead of expansion live debate Technology opportunities in focus pints of intrigue Brewer separates fact from fiction stoking the engine A digital empire comes out of the shadows ISSUE SEVENTEEN: SUMMER 2013: YORKSHIRE EDITION

scents of success

Freshening up the global hospitality market BUSINESS NEWS: COMMERCE: FASHION: INTERVIEWS: MOTORS: EVENTS

YORKSHIRE EDITION

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BUSINESS QUARTER: SUMMER 13: issue SEVENTEEN In almost any entrepreneurial journey there comes a sink or swim moment; a point at which decisions must be made under pressure that will dictate whether success or failure is recorded.

The margins are slight between the two and whatever option is taken must be followed up with vigour and determination.

We chart plenty of such situations in this issue where strength under fire and unflinching self belief have taken entrepreneurs soaring away from low points and hardships in their careers.

We also see how the grasping of opportunities at pivotal moments can have a huge bearing on the heights reached in business further down the line.

Hazel Barry, founder of hotel toiletries business H2K, has endured more than her fair share of knockbacks on her route to creating global success. Even losing the ability to walk didn’t push her business off course and, with overseas markets opening up, the years of struggle are now paying off – although she is still yet to give herself the luxury of a PA. When Graham Leslie took a business plan to his then boss at a pharmaceutical company, he was told it was a “rubbish” idea and sent back to his desk.

Undeterred, he left that job, created the business himself, and later sold it for US$88m.

But he hasn’t stopped there and, as he tells BQ, continues to back Yorkshire businesses.

Technology and the opportunities and challenges it creates also feature heavily in this issue.

North Yorkshire is leading the way in the superfast broadband race, as other parts of the country flounder.

But here and elsewhere in Yorkshire there remain challenges in getting businesses to understand and access the many opportunities it presents.

Our live debate seeks a path to the heart of this issue as key stakeholders plot a way to maximise the opportunities of the superfast revolution. Also in the technology sector, Ian Harris is enjoying international success having found the mathematical formula to the digital marketing game. Search engine optimisation is

an industry that - while booming - is also undergoing dramatic transformation but Harris has been agile and forged ahead of competitors through a scientific approach and a knack for languages.

Equally impressive has been the rapid emergence of IT group Blue Logic, also featured in this issue, which is now plotting expansion beyond Yorkshire’s boundaries.

Against a backdrop of continually demanding conditions, collaborative practices are an important part of sustaining business success.

At the centre of this in Yorkshire is Geoff Shepherd, who from scratch has built up an organisation with a new take on networking that has one of the biggest business events in the North on its books.

As The Yorkshire Mafia’s power grows it is now eyeing up neighbouring territories and finding new ways to use people power for the wider benefit of the region’s economy.

Finally, we catch up for a spot of lunch with champion Yorkshire brewer Simon Theakston to uncover his family company’s tale of intrigue as it backs one of the most popular crime fiction festivals around.

He also explains why the appetite for his Masham-made ales is growing overseas as the world finally starts to understand what proper beer is all about.

With summer finally upon us, I hope you find plenty of inspiration and insight within these pages to ponder as you recharge your batteries in sunnier climes this quarter.

Andrew Mernin Editor, BQ Yorkshire

CONTACTS room501 ltd Christopher March Managing Director e: chris@room501.co.uk Bryan Hoare Director e: bryan@room501.co.uk EditorIAL Andrew Mernin Editor e: andrewm@room501.co.uk Ruth Lognonne e: ruth@room501.co.uk Design & production room501 e: studio@room501.co.uk Photography KG Photography e: info@kgphotography.co.uk Peter Skelton e: peterpsp@mac.com sales Katie Davies Senior Sales Executive e: katie@room501.co.uk t: 07977 567478

room501 Publishing Ltd, Spectrum 6, Spectrum Business Park, Seaham, SR7 7TT www.room501.co.uk room501 was formed from a partnership of directors who, combined, have many years of experience in contract publishing, print, marketing, sales and advertising and distribution. We are a passionate, dedicated company that strives to help you to meet your overall business needs and requirements.

All contents copyright © 2013 room501 Ltd. All rights reserved.

While every effort is made to ensure accuracy, no responsibility can be accepted for inaccuracies, howsoever caused. No liability can be accepted for illustrations, photographs, artwork or advertising materials while in transmission or with the publisher or their agents. All information is correct at time of going to print, July 2013. room501 Publishing Ltd is part of BE Group, the UK’s market leading business improvement specialists. www.be-group.co.uk

THE LIFE AND SOUL OF BUSINESS

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YORKSHIRE EDITION BQ Magazine is published quarterly by room501 Ltd.

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

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CONTE BUSINESS QUARTER: SUMMER 13

RUNNING WITH THE MOB

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Features 24 SCENTS of SUCCESS How a Harrogate business leader built a global toiletries brand against the odds

30 KeEPING IT IN THE FAMILY Yorkshire Mafia don, Geoff Shepherd, prepares for expansion onto new turf

44 BQ LIVE How to maximise the opportunities created by superfast broadband

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

54 HARD WORK PAYS OFF Uncover a technology success story on the rural outskirts of Leeds

72 PRECIOUS METAL Steeltech Kinetix is turning heads across the North of England

76 SEARCH and find Why the world’s biggest brands are falling under Google’s spell

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moving EVER ONWARD

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TENTS YORKSHIRE EDITION

36 COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

WATCH THIS SPACE

Deals, developments, moves and expansions from across the county

50 BUSINESS LUNCH BQ meets the champion brewer entangled in the murky world of crime

Regulars

58 WINE Squire Sanders’ Lindsay Texel checks in as our guest wine reviewer

60 MOTORs Sleek yet muscular - the BMW 640d Gran Coupe packs a punch

08 ON THE RECORD Looking at the positives in business

10 NEWS Who’s doing what, when where and why, here in Yorkshire

22 AS I SEE IT Contrary to popular belief, business finance for entrepreneurs is out there

64 EQUIPMENT

54 STOKING THE ENGINE

Sails making welcome return to the seafaring market

68 FASHION All shipshape with high fashion for the high seas

80 FRANK TOCK Gripping gossip from our backroom boy

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76 BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

ON THE RECORD

SUMMER 13

>> Nothing to lose, everything to gain The festival of colour, sweat and noise that will spin through Yorkshire next year carries not only the hopes of the world’s best cyclists with it – but also a growing number of businesses in the county, writes Andrew Mernin Doubts about funding have cleared, the route has been set and the focus has turned to maximising the opportunities of the Tour de France’s premeditated summer romance with Yorkshire. Across the business community the prospect of the tour has been digested and is now seeping into boardroom chatter, sales pitches and PR speak.

Momentum is building and the event has become many things to many people in these parts. For some, such events are an opportunity for awareness raising.

In Brazil recently, protestors took advantage of a football tournament with a global TV audience, to tell the world about their hardships. Perhaps a microcosm of this is the MP who piggy-backed on the hype around the Tour to moan about potholes in Yorkshire and their need for repair before the big event.

For others the Tour is just a feather in the cap which offers them general market confidence, even before clear tangible benefits have emerged in their sector. As one commercial property figure crowed in the press recently: “Name me another city that has a new shopping centre, music venue, speculative office space and a major sporting event – the Grand Depart of the Tour de France...Leeds has got its mojo back.”

At Leeds Bradford Airport, the Tour has opened up a clear scoring opportunity which commercial director Tony Hallwood is eager not to miss. “We’re never going to get a better opportunity than this,” he said of his plan to use the Tour as leverage to forge links with France. At the start of July he attended the French Connect conference in Bordeaux, where airlines, airports and tourism authorities converged to hunt for new commercial links.

Hallwood told BQ before he jetted off: “The Tour is a once in a lifetime opportunity to really capture these economic benefits.”His aim is to add new French routes to the 75 destinations already on the departures board at the airport

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

and he genuinely believes the Grand Depart will provide the Anglo-French goodwill to do that. Currently just one Paris-bound flight leaves Yorkshire every day.

“We’re looking to introduce multi daily frequency services to Paris,” he said.

“Paris is a very, very big market for us. We believe the Tour de France could be an impetus to us in increasing our growth and development into the key French market.

“There are some key French businesses located in Yorkshire and plenty of Yorkshire businesses with associated partners in France.”

He hopes to increase links to Paris and open up onward travel to places like Bordeaux, Marseille and Lille.

Businesses plugged directly into the visitor economy will benefit most from the Tour.

Early predictions say the event could be worth more than £100m to Yorkshire’s economy, with between two and three million people expected to turn out to watch in Yorkshire.

In Harrogate, a town which has never struggled to attract visitors with pulling power drawn from historic sites and surrounding beauty, even it is working hard to take full advantage. Angela Harris was recently appointed project director of ‘destination management organisation’ Visit Harrogate.

The organisation was conceived before confirmation of the Tour’s route but Harris admits it’s a “lucky” coincidence that just as she gets to work in building the district’s offering, such a global event will swoosh through her patch. The Tour, she said, “will get us on the map”.

“We’re making sure that when they come to Yorkshire they come to this district. We know what we’ve got here but I don’t think we’ve

projected that image enough. People still come and love it here but we recognise that we have to do more to actually promote the joined up thinking and the district as a whole.

Together we have a much better product.”

After an initial standoff between Yorkshire stakeholders and central government earlier this year, a £10m grant was eventually awarded to support the Yorkshire leg of the Tour, prompting a delighted Julian Smith, Conservative MP for Skipton and Ripon, to say: “There will be billions watching on television, millions on the streets and thousands of hotels, bed and breakfasts, shops, pubs, restaurants and other tourist destinations benefiting.”

The trick now is to make sure the investment, publicity and visitor spend sticks and creates long-term business growth. One way to do this, believes Welcome to Yorkshire chief executive Gary Verity, is to make Yorkshire the European capital of cycling – or an extremely cycle-friendly destination at least.

“This isn’t just a one-off, there are other international races we want to see happening in Yorkshire and we want to see more people cycling at all levels.” Verity said London had seen a huge rise in interest in cycling when it hosted the Grand Départ in 2007.

Meanwhile, a 100-day arts festival to promote Yorkshire as a cultural destination, supported by £1m of public funds, was recently given the green light and it too will no doubt play a part in building pre-tour momentum.

Within the business community there’s certainly a keen appetite to share the warmth of the Tour’s glow. By the end of its four month-long series of awareness-raising road shows about the Tour throughout the county,

ONLINE: BQ takes on the Grand Depart challenge set by Yorkshire hotelier Malcolm Weaving www.bq-magazine.co.uk

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SUMMER 13

Welcome to Yorkshire reckons it will have pitched to over 2,000 businesses. In fact demand has been so strong that extra dates have been added. But amid all the preparation and speculation, some businesses have just got on and done it - and are already taking commercial advantage.

Business leaders seeking inspiration to help them do the same would do well to speak to Malcolm Weaving, owner of the Rendezvous Hotel in Skipton. He heard the Tour would be passing nearby his business while in hospital recovering from a “replacement of a replacement” hip. He immediately considered how he could take advantage and called his old mate, Alan Halsall, chairman of global pram brand Silver Cross for advice.

He told him not to try to do something he knows nothing about and, instead, call in the experts.

ON THE RECORD

We’re never going to get a better opportunity than this. The Tour is a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity to really capture these economic benefits By chance he came across CyCol Tours – their expertise is in motorbike escorted cycling trips – and the plan was set.

Malcolm said: “We wanted to do something to herald this massive sporting event coming to our town of Skipton and also to give people the chance to experience the routes that the world’s finest cyclists will be taking on themselves next year.

“It’s great to have had these special guests cycling and we are confident it will encourage enthusiastic cyclists to participate in three day

packages which will encompass the experience of cycling day one and day two of The Tour de France 2014.”

The President of British Cycling and a former eight stage winner of the Tour de France took part in a special launch ride, and Malcolm is now taking bookings for packages.

He’s even developed a recipe for a special cyclist-friendly trifle.

Other businesses will be hoping to follow Malcolm’s recipe to get their own slice of the Tour’s riches. n

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BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

NEWS

SUMMER 13

Getting changed in the fashion world, a new partnership on the water, three new sites for vehicle recycling firm, takeover at abrasives supplier, big money in schools expansion, and children’s products win export deals >> Fashion changes Online retailer The Hut Group has acquired premium fashion retailer Coggles out of administration. The York-based upscale fashion chain went into administration in May after various failed attempts to restructure.”Our primary duty is to bring about the optimum return for creditors and the offer from the Hut Group was an extremely good deal,” said Andy Clay of Begbies Traynor. Joint administrators have completed a deal for The Hut to take some of Coggles’ assets, including stock and all intellectual property such as the brand and the company’s domain names.

Following the deal, The Hut Group will take the ailing retailer online, as part of its prestige division.

“Whilst it is sad to see Coggles disappearing from the high street for the time being, and the loss of employment for the remaining staff, it is positive that the business will continue as part of a large and successful specialist online retail group,” said joint administrator Clay.

>> New PwC leader PwC has appointed a new northern leader for its government and public sector team to be based at the firm’s Leeds office. Ian Looker takes over from Roger Marsh. He has been at PwC in Leeds for 24 years, spending the last 15 of those specialising in working with government and public sector clients. He is currently assurance partner and leading provider of higher education service, working with a number of universities including Leeds, Sheffield and York. He also works closely with the Department of Health.

>> Money in recycling A Doncaster-headquartered vehicle recycling company has acquired three new sites after securing an £8m funding package from Lloyds Bank Commercial

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

James Cain, managaing director of The Water Brands Group and Shaun Mullins, partner at Mazars in Leeds.

>> Fizzing future in water bottling Harrogate Spring Water has announced a new partnership with Leeds-based accountancy firm, Mazars.

The bottled water firm is owned and managed by The Water Brands Group and supplies customers ranging from restaurants and hotels to airlines and supermarkets.

Managing Director James Cain said: “We have exciting plans in place to further strengthen Harrogate Spring’s position in the drinks market over the coming year and as a result have to ensure every aspect of the business has been optimised to deliver its full potential.

“One such area which we wished to review and make changes was that of accountancy and advisory support. We were seeking a firm which we could entrust with our business and work with as a valued business partner. It’s only been two months since we started to work with Mazars. However the difference we have seen has been very beneficial.”

Banking in Sheffield. Motorhog Limited, which operates from five locations in Yorkshire, has acquired sites in Peterborough, Newcastle and an additional site in Doncaster. The business also operates from locations in Gloucester and Essex.

The company specialises in recycling parts from written off, unwanted, confiscated and abandoned vehicles. These are sourced from local authorities, police forces and insurance

companies and are sold online and at the company’s sites.

Motorhog, which has seen its turnover increase from £2.4m to £24m during the last 12 years, employs 180 staff.

More than 8,000 vehicles are stocked at the company’s 50-acre headquarters in Doncaster. The company’s other Yorkshire sites include Hull, Leeds, Sheffield and Huddersfield.

ONLINE: For the latest breaking business news from Yorkshire and the wider UK visit BQ’s website www.bq-magazine.co.uk

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SUMMER 13

>> Abrasive outcome Abracs Ltd, the York-based supplier of abrasives and accessories, has been acquired by a Leeds investment company for an undisclosed sum.

The Garbutt & Elliott York office acted as lead advisors for Abracs in a multi-million pound deal, while James Towler of York law firm Langleys provided legal advice.

Abracs, which is based on Northminster Business Park, and has a warehouse in Dunnington, was established in 2003, when it demerged from York power tools supplier Elcocks Limited.

Previously a family-owned business, Abracs is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of premium quality branded abrasives and accessories, including Phoenix and Proflex-branded abrasive and cutting products.

The existing management team will continue to run the business and the jobs of the 14 staff will not be affected by the sale.

Graham Garbett, the senior manager within Garbutt & Elliott’s corporate finance team, explained: “The sale was precipitated by the retirement of managing director David Elcock.

As a result of David’s impending retirement, we were appointed to find a buyer and to provide financial advice at all stages of the sale process.

“It gave me great pleasure that David Elcock and his fellow shareholders were able to achieve their twin goal of selling the business at a price which reflected the high quality of its customers, suppliers and staff, and to sell it to a forward- thinking Yorkshire based acquisition team. I am proud to have been associated with this deal,” said Mr Garbett.

The Garbutt & Elliott team consisted of Graham Garbett and corporate finance colleague Tariq Javaid, co-ordinated by senior partner David Dickson.

“Our work involved arranging discussions with short listed interested parties and the vendor team; advising on the structure of the deal, introducing appropriate buyers; appraising offers, enabling the vendor to make an informed selection of preferred acquirer; and facilitating the final price negotiations between the vendor and preferred acquirer,” said Graham Garbett.

The ultimate buyer was a new company

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

Artist’s impression of a Yorkon-built school.

>> Classrooms crush gives work York-based off-site construction specialist, Yorkon, part of the Portakabin Group, has been awarded contracts in the education sector worth in excess of £12m to help meet the national shortage of school places.

A National Audit Office report has warned that 250,000 extra school places will be needed in England by 2014 to meet demand following the dramatic rise in birth rates. Inner London is one of the most acute areas and to help resolve the issue, Yorkon has been working with Enfield Council and Barking & Dagenham Council, using off-site construction to speed up the build process and respond to the urgent need for additional teaching facilities.

By moving as much of the building work off site as possible and into its York factory, Yorkon can reduce programme times by around 50 per cent, site safety is improved and there is much less disruption to teaching.

The latest series of contracts awarded to Yorkon includes a new agreement with Enfield Council to expand capacity at seven schools in the first phase. Working in partnership with Cornerstone Property Assets and contractors Kier Construction and Willmott Dixon, £6m of orders have already been placed with Yorkon under this agreement.

Following completion of a new teaching block at Trinity School – a special school in Dagenham – Barking & Dagenham Council is also working with Yorkon to deliver a number of new projects.

The largest is a £4.5m contract at City Farm School.

Yorkon will also build a two-storey sixth form centre at Woodbrook Vale High School in Loughborough, which will free up classroom space elsewhere in the school and facilitate its expansion to include years 10 and 11. It is the fourth academy project Yorkon has been awarded in the Midlands.

established as an investment vehicle for a group of high net-worth individuals in Yorkshire who have previously successfully acquired other similar businesses in the region.

Bank finance was provided by Yorkshire Bank.

Jonathan Priestley of Leeds-based lawyers 3Volution advised the buyers. He said: “We are delighted to have worked on this important acquisition and look forward to seeing Abracs going from strength to strength over the next few years.”

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Financial advice for the buyers was provided

by Ian Marshall of Yorkshire Bank.

I am proud to have been associated with this deal

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NEWS

SUMMER 13

business primarily known for its private and commercial removals.

Operating across Yorkshire, its head office is in Leeds, and the company also has a 300 room self storage facility for homeowners and businesses in Harrogate.

>> Services in demand

Left to right – Jenny Hall, customer services for Little Helper with Sean Johnson, managing director and Kim Johnson, sales and marketing director of Little Helper, with the ArtStation, a multifunctional play desk, easel and blackboard. This is one of the products that is now selling in the Czech Republic and Slovakia thanks to the translation work carried out by RiDO.

>> Little helper, big excitement Children’s product designer and manufacturer Little Helper, based in Dinnington, Rotherham, has lined up deals with a number of international distributors in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and potentially in Germany.

The overseas breakthrough came after Rotherham Investment & Development Office’s (RiDO) business co-ordinator Julia Millea worked with Sean Johnson, managing director of Little Helper, to assist with translation services for product assembly instructions into four European languages.

Johnson said: “This is a very exciting time for our business. We have had some great support from RiDO in developing the export side of our business and see tremendous market opportunities internationally for our products. Around nine per cent of our turnover is currently from export, but this is set to grow dramatically over the coming months.”

>> Sales on the move Removals and storage firm McCarthy’s has boosted sales by 26% thanks to the success of its business services division.

Sales over the last 12 months at the Leedsbased business have increased to £3.4m from £2.7m, with services aimed at the professional market proving popular.

The growth follows a successful first year for McCarthy’s Safe Shred, the company’s new confidential shredding service, launched with the acquisition of The Mobile Shredding Company in May 2012.

McCarthy’s says Safe Shred, which provides on-site disposal of confidential documents, complements other business services available including archive storage, self storage and commercial removals.

The company also offers fully serviced offices for small businesses, located within its Meanwood Road site.

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

Managing director Mike McCarthy, said: “The success of the company over the past 12 months has definitely been helped in part by the launch of Safe Shred just over a year ago.

We wanted to be able to offer a full package for organisations which were looking to move, manage their documents or storage.

“With the range of services we offer, we can help store archives off site for businesses, alert them when a given destruction date approaches and then safely shred and dispose of the documents if needed.

“We’ve also seen an increase in businesses using the self storage facilities, as the rise of internet companies and entrepreneurs working from their spare bedroom means there are lots of smaller organisations without any space to keep stock. Using our storage means it’s just one all-inclusive price, rather than all the extra costs involved in running your own premises.”

Trading since 1970, McCarthy’s is a family

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Facilities management business Derwent FM, based in Harrogate, has won a deal to supply its services to the University of Harrogate. The company estimates that, over the long term duration of the 50 year deal, it could be worth in excess of £200m.

Managing director Martin Corbett, said: “We are delighted to have reached financial close for this major scheme.

We are looking forward to delivering our services and working in true long term partnership with the university and student union to enhance the student experience.”

>> Pubs jobs saved Around 250 jobs at pubs and clubs operator Atmosphere have been saved after it was bought by Sun European Partners’ affiliate the Chicago Group. The group, which was placed into administration in May, operates venues in Barnsley and Halifax within its reduced portfolio of 10 sites. Daniel Butters, joint administrator and partner at Deloitte, said: “We are delighted to have completed the sale of the restructured portfolio, thereby securing the employment of 252 full and part-time staff. We wish the buyer every success and are grateful for the support of all employees and stakeholders to the business during the administration.”

>> Cost-cutting pain As part of insurer Direct Line’s plans for cost-cutting across the UK, it was reported that its Leeds-based workforce could endure heavy job losses. Direct Line announced its intentions to cut 2,000 jobs across the UK, with up to 500 potentially coming at its three Leeds offices.

SUMMER 13

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Step one: create your own press list. At www. newspapersoc.org.uk you can search for local and regional press by town, city or county. Then explore www.mediauk.com for contacts in magazines, radio and TV. Just keep clicking on your chosen titles and you’ll find the editorial contact list – they’re the people you need. Switch over to LinkedIn and search for those names – that’s how you’ll find out if they’re still in post.

For every title, note the demographic of the reader – editors want stories aimed at their audience, so make yours relevant.

Step two: create your story. It’s no good just

shouting about something within your company that you find interesting. It’s got to hit the spot for the publication, so do a bit of research with back issues and see what kind of content they run.

Remember: editorial coverage is free and it carries ten times more weight than paid-for advertising space, so it’s worth your while coming up with an interesting twist.

People love people, so try to make your story about individuals. Write your tale; add a catchy headline and you’re ready to go.

Send a Word document (not a pdf - they need to be able to edit) to your press list and follow up with a phone call a few days later to check they’ve got it.

Whilst you’re taking advantage of your online research source, don’t forget to search for blogs (go to www.google.co.uk/blogsearch to find any blogs you might be able to post to) and never leave out Twitter or Facebook - don’t try and cram the

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BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

NEWS

SUMMER 13

>> Cutting forward Midlands-based laser cutting firm Accurate Laser Cutting has expanded with the opening of a new manufacturing facility in Rotherham.

The move follows the investment of around £500,000 and the expansion is set to break the group’s previous record turnover of £2.5m, which it recorded last year.

With an emphasis on quick deliveries of precision laser engineered components, the firm’s new base will help serve a wider customer base.

Co-owner and managing director Stephen Rolfe said: “We’ve built a strong team here very quickly and our business approach and great customer service have already won us some very interesting and high-profile work.”

Offering press-braking as well as laser cutting and in-house CAD services, he said the company had been investing in new software to simplify the programming process.

“Our bending software is fully integrated with the laser machine’s software so the process chain is as seamless and precise as possible,” he added.

Following on from last year’s £1m investment in new equipment, sales manager Mitchell Bradley said: “We are proud to be part of the UK’s manufacturing resurgence.

With the opening of the Rotherham branch and investment in five new members of staff here at our Oldbury site, we believe we are in a strong position to service all of our customers’ demands.

“The increase in staff has allowed us to hit quotations quicker and process orders with greater efficiency which has resulted in record months and a confidence in our service based business model.”

Our process claim is as seamless and precise as possible

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

Robert Adamson, chair of R3 in Yorkshire and Northern restructuring partner for Mazars.

>> One in four law firms ‘at risk’ Almost a quarter (23%) of law firms in Yorkshire and the Humber are ‘at risk’ according to the latest research by R3 using data from Bureau van Dijk’s ‘Fame’ database.

Out of a total of 509 active legal firms in the region, 14 were considered ‘high risk’ and 104 were in the ‘caution’ band. However, these figures show a slight fall from last year when 27% of local firms were ‘at risk’ and they are also more positive than the national picture with 31% (2,556) of law firms cross the UK at risk of failure in the next 12 months.

The legal sector is continuing to face the challenge of the Legal Services Act or ‘Tesco Law’ which has made legal services easier to access by allowing non-lawyers to invest in and own legal businesses via Alternative Business Structures (ABS).

“By opening up the legal market, the Legal Services Act has increased competition at a time when there is already pressure on client budgets and over-supply in the sector, and this combination of factors poses a real threat particularly for small high street firms,” explained Robert Adamson, chair of R3 in Yorkshire and Northern restructuring partner for Mazars.

“Already, we have seen a great deal of consolidation in the regional legal market with a number of mergers such as that of Keeble Hawson and hlw Commercial Lawyers LLP; DWF’s acquisition of Cobbetts; and the recent merger of Dickinson Dees with Bond Pearce. This is a trend that we expect to see continuing with small practices unable to afford the level of branding and marketing or the technology to compete with Alternative Business Structures.”

He continues: “Next month, partners in law firms will have to make their second tax payment of the year, which can be a real squeeze on cash flow if it hasn’t been carefully planned for. Ideally, a tax reserve fund will have been maintained for this purpose and this should be monitored and steps taken to apply for a reduction of payments on account if earnings are expected to reduce over the coming year.

“While law firms in Yorkshire and the Humber are faring relatively well, they are continuing to face a challenging environment and we urge any firms that are worried about their financial future to seek professional restructuring advice before it is too late - the complexities of dealing with the Law Society make it particularly important that advice is sought early to allow sufficient planning time.”

>> Elite sponsoring Law firm Pinsent Masons has been secured as sponsor for the elite women’s race at the Otley Cycle Races in July 2014, which takes place days before Yorkshire hosts the

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NEWS

SUMMER 13

>> Swiss buy in Leeds Swiss chemicals group Sika has acquired Everbuild Building Products, of Leeds, the UK’s largest independent manufacturer of sealants, adhesives and construction chemicals.

Founded in 1994, Everbuild has annual sales revenue in excess of £60m and a workforce of 270 employees.

The company operates a manufacturing facility for the full range of construction chemical products with laboratories and a logistic hub in Leeds.

Everbuild will operate as a subsidiary of Sika UK and will be managed under the existing management team.

Its founder Mr David Seymour will stay with the company to drive the continued success of the business and ensure a smooth transition.

He said: “With Sika we have the possibility to further grow our business and to benefit from the broad R&D capabilities for further product innovation”.

The acquisition will strengthen Sika’s position in the construction chemical market and in the distribution and do-it-yourself channels.

Sika AG, located in Baar, Switzerland, is a globally active chemical specialists.

It has a presence in 80 countries and employs 15,200.

>> Backing for a ‘jewel’ Equipment hire business Vp has secured a £65m finance facility from HSBC and Lloyds.

The Harrogate firm’s £65m facility, which consists of two tranches with a three year and four and a half year maturity, has been split equally between HSBC and Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking.

The transaction consolidates the company’s banking partners and marks the start of a new relationship with both HSBC and Lloyds Bank. Vp has also moved its clearing banking to HSBC. The deal was led for HSBC by senior corporate banking manager Neil Abbott, whilst relationship director James Sparling led for Lloyds Bank, with the support of its Complex Deal Team.

Vp was founded in 1954 and currently

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employs approximately 1,600 people across its business.

Martin Lunt, HSBC’s regional head of corporate banking in Yorkshire and the North East, said: “We are pleased to welcome Vp plc to HSBC and to have supported this important deal. This transaction is a great example of several HSBC departments, including corporate capital origination and payments and cash management, collaborating to deliver an attractive facility for the company and we look forward to working with Vp over the coming years.”

Jim Sparling, relationship director for Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking in West and North Yorkshire, commented: “Vp plc is a major employer and major contributor to the Yorkshire and wider economy, and our support gives it the backing it needs to pursue its long-term growth strategy. The team at Lloyds Bank are both delighted and proud to be associated with this jewel in the Yorkshire crown.”

significantly over the last four years. Our ambition now is to cement our position as an independent, end-to-end technology services provider and the trusted adviser of choice for blue chip and large government enterprises.

“Dunedin took the time to understand our business, the journey we are undertaking and our long term goals. They share our passion and drive and recognise the opportunities that lie ahead. Dunedin’s DebtBridgeTM product meant that the deal could get done quickly, while ensuring certainty of delivery to everyone involved.”

Our ambition now is to cement our position

>> MBO in technology Dunedin, the UK mid market buyout house, has backed the £43m management buyout of York headquartered technology business Trustmarque Solutions.

Trustmarque has been running for over 25 years and recorded revenues of over £130m for the year ended 31 August 2012.

It helps organisations licence, deploy and manage technology solutions for a number of developers including Microsoft, VMware and McAfee.

Dunedin’s investment will enable Trustmarque to expand its service offering and, correspondingly, its customer base.

The business employs 180 people at three sites in York, Bracknell and Edinburgh and currently serves over 1,200 clients including RBS, Lloyds Banking Group, Sainsbury’s and Capita.

Public sector clients include the NHS, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Justice, HMRC, and local authorities and NHS trusts throughout England, Scotland and Wales.

CEO Scott Haddow said: “Dunedin’s investment is a key milestone in the evolution of the business. Trustmarque has developed

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Emma de Vere Hunt and son Edward.

>> Top toy screened A Yorkshire toy company had its wares shown off in front of millions of TV viewers as it featured in the BBC TV programme “The Apprentice”.

The bestselling adventure kit - The Dangerous Den Kit from Yorkshire-based BattleBox – was the subject of a fierce battle between the two teams vying to sell it at the Motorhome and Caravan show at Birmingham NEC. The product, which was recently named Top Outdoor Toy of 2012, was created by Emma de Vere Hunt and inspired by her 12-year-old son Edward.

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BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

COMPANY VIEWPOINT

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Anytime Anyplace Anywhere With more than 30 years’ experience in the IT sector, Phil Parkinson recently took over as TSG’s regional managing director for Yorkshire.

With recent growth at Technology Services Group (TSG) leading to the division of the North of England into three separate regions – Yorkshire, North West and North East – Phil Parkinson is making a welcome return to Leeds, the city where he’d previously established his own business.

Joining TSG as regional managing director, Phil brings with him 30 years’ experience in the IT sector and is focused on working with customers to help them take advantage of the benefits new technologies can bring to their businesses.

In a series of regular features, Phil will work with experts at TSG to illuminate how technology can address the common issues faced by businesses of all sizes.

As the holiday season approaches, many SMEs are stretched to the limit and there’s a growing expectation that members of the team remain contactable, even if it is just for ‘emergencies’ as Phil explains.

The growing prevalence of mobile devices and tablets in the workplace mean the days of the annual family holiday being an escape from everything back home are history.

It’s not that long ago that going on holiday meant you really did escape. The nearest anyone got to being able to contact you was via the hotel reception. Calling home from the United States took twice as long while you waited for the delay on the line to catch up, and going anywhere remotely exotic meant you really were ‘unavailable’.

Nowadays, there’s no getting away from it all. It’s even possible to send an email or make a mobile

Phil Parkinson, regional managing director, TSG Yorkshire

phone call from the summit of Everest. Wherever you are is never far enough, and if the office wants you, they can get you, thanks to technology.

Many of us have become so attached to our mobile devices that we feel lost without them. When holiday time comes around we’re as likely to pack them as we are the factor 50. For some it’s a necessity, even a perceived expectation. For others, keeping up with workload is a deliberate choice to avoid a mountain of work when they get back. A high proportion say they can relax better if they stay in touch, while others say they love their job so much they don’t want to switch off.

Thanks to technology, for those who want, and need, to stay connected the possibilities are

Nowadays, there’s no getting away from it all. It’s even possible to send an email or make a mobile phone call from the summit of Everest. Wherever you are is never far enough, and if the office wants you, they can get you, thanks to technology.

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endless but connectivity and availability are increasingly critical.

Mike Tudor, technical escalations consultant at TSG (Technology Services Group) explains: “The concept of the ‘worliday’ has been around for a while but the technology that’s available now means you genuinely can create an office environment on the beach.”

Mike recalls an example from his own recent holiday.

“It started with an innocent beep on my phone.

My line manager had emailed to ask if I’d finished a report for a customer. Although it wasn’t urgent and could wait until I got back, I knew I had a copy of the report on my laptop at home ready to go.”

“There was no Wi-Fi so I set up my mobile phone as a wireless hotspot and created a VPN (virtual private network) connection to my home network from my tablet. Using a so-called “magic packet” to boot up my laptop remotely, I logged-in via my remote desktop and emailed the document to those who needed it.”

Working for one of the country’s leading technology service providers means that Mike, a self-confessed geek, is no stranger to gaining remote access. In fact, TSG SystemCare relies on remote access to provide monitoring and live-fix services for thousands of IT systems, with a team of specialists resolving issues before users are aware of them.

This type of technical solution has been commonplace for a while, but the idea of any time, any place access to business data will become a reality for many more thanks to the launch of powerful Cloud-based applications such as Microsoft Dynamics NAV and CRM with Sage 200 2013 due to be available soon through the Windows Azure platform.

For those who plan to holiday at home but want to stay connected, Mitel technology creates an “in office’ experience anywhere, on any device. So if an important client calls your desk at work, the

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call can be transferred via broadband to an internal extension in your house.

Microsoft Australia recently held a ‘Freaky Friday’ which began with the managing director sending out a group-wide notice advising staff: “Don’t bother coming in.” The aim was to show clients how it was possible to carry out all their business duties without physically being in the office; that work is an activity, not a place.

I know that Mike and others at TSG are confident that pretty much everything they do on a daily basis could be carried out on a phone or tablet as long as there is a decent data connection.

However, there is still some suspicion surrounding the Cloud within the business world and that’s something that TSG’s Applications Product Director, Paul Ince is keen to turn around, “Much of the concern appears to be fuelled by fear or perceived security issues but if you think about how much we use the Cloud already for personal use, we seem to have already accepted it in our daily lives without any worries.”

Paul is part of the company’s team entering Trekfest in the Peak District in July, and has been using a fitness app on his smartphone to monitor

COMPANY VIEWPOINT

his step rate, training routes and heart rate. The data is captured on his phone, synced and stored automatically against his account in the Cloud. He can analyse the data on his laptop later to review progress and, if he chooses to, share it with others.

These are all tasks that could apply equally in a business context using technologies such as Microsoft SharePoint and it’s all possible to do on holiday too, of course.

Paul says: “I’ve made sure that my privacy settings are set correctly and I’m confident that any reputable data centre will have robust disaster recovery models, redundancy and resilience.”

“Whilst I understand the concerns, the security requirements and standards around business data are even tighter and Cloud providers are under pressure to deliver against their availability promises and 99.9% service level agreements.”

“If anything, it’s the personal devices that people use to access business data while they’re on holiday that have the potential to cause problems and it’s certainly worth ensuring you have an IT security policy that takes into account BYOD – or ‘bring your own device’.”

For businesses that find and work with a trusted

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partner Paul is confident that the Cloud has a lot to offer, “At TSG we see the Cloud as simply another deployment choice that sits alongside on-premise or hybrid solutions. The key is to match the solution to the business requirements but there’s no doubt that those with multiple locations, a high level of mobility or a distributed workforce have the potential to gain significant advantages by adopting Cloud-based technologies.”

“It’s all about finding services that make life better, whether at work, at home or on the move,” he adds.

So this summer, closing down your device might be the only switching off you need to do.

For more imformation please call 0845 111 1888 or visit www.tsg.com

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AS I SEE IT

SUMMER 13

O M E N H EY T T E K RE A E H S

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AS I SEE IT

Despite much talk to the contrary, business finance is available out there for entrepreneurs looking to create and grow their enterprises.

Jonathan Simms assesses the market and explains how best to unearth these vital funding sources There is a feeling in the market that business finance isn’t flowing, and I can understand why that is the view in certain quarters, but there are deals being done by businesses with the right ingredients.

The banks are willing to undertake financing for the right businesses where their portfolio balances allow them to, but in an age of new accountability these deals prove more difficult and slower than ever to complete.

There has been a polarisation of fortunes in the economy for some time. Stronger businesses are able to borrow, retain cash and invest in a UK market that, whilst flat in terms of growth, still shows opportunities for business to build market share at the expense of competitors by diversifying and by looking overseas. Businesses with more constraints on cash, less attractive balance sheets or simply those with the wrong type of assets can find it very difficult to access finance, and are being dragged back by their lack of liquidity.

MAGNETIC CAPITAL Capital that can move quickly has never been more valuable, and investors that are close to the market now, and can live with taking some measured risks, are seeing great short term returns. It has always been the case that cash is king, but in the last two years we have seen capital becoming ‘magnetic’ and attracting more funds around it and growing rapidly.

Some of this is due to the fact that investors are backing propositions behind funds that have a model to undertake swift but deep due diligence. Often the security taken by these funds can be executed in hours or days, where banks need weeks; but savvy lenders are ensuring their loans are covered with ample guarantees and debentures as well as fees that would have been seen as very lumpy ten years ago.

Some private individuals and angels are seeing their capital multiply because it is placed and returned rapidly with a handsome dividend, either way the result is that what pools of capital there are in the market, whether private or in funds, are growing quickly.

If a business is looking for funds and liquidity today, where should it be looking to ensure it can attract some of this capital? That depends on a number of factors including; urgency, security, opportunity and returns.

Factoring and invoice discounting is still a very good source of short term funding and working capital for some PERSONAL FUNDS Where directors can leverage their own security, most are already heavily-committed as the recession(s) and liquidity drought has seen an extended period of hardship for many businesses.

Even where businesses and individuals are asset-rich, the process of securitising and lending is often prohibitive. Bridging, whether or not it is formally called that, is big business solving substantial problems and providing some lenders with great short term returns.

BANK LENDING Contrary to some widely held views, banks are still open for business, just not all banks

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and all business. If you have a strong trading business with a good management team and business plan then there are banks who are actively seeking to place lending that will meet their lending quotas.

There are areas of business, such as commercial property that are still a harder proposition to fund than others such as technology or manufacturing. However, there are still deals to be done if you have a plan that stands up in a sector that isn’t a no-go area for banks, and if you have the time to invest in some possible dead ends.

ASSET BASED LENDING ABL has seen a rebirth over the last two years, and what was once seen largely as a ‘lender of last resort’ has grown in respectability, relevance and activity over the last three years. Traditional asset based lenders (ABLs) specialised in leveraging assets, the more liquid the better, to bolster cash facilities for a percentage charge.

This market is still active and invoice discounting and factoring is still a very good source of short term funding and working capital for some firms. If you have a blue-chip debtor book, or large amounts of valuable stock or raw materials, these are particularly suitable assets to leverage. Banks as well as specialist lenders are easy to find in Yorkshire, and competition is fierce for this type of lending, so shop around before you take the first deal.

In some cases, ABLs will also lend against more fixed assets, land, plant or machinery.

But the less liquid the asset and the more difficult it is to value or establish a market for, the less attractive these will be to lenders as security. n Jonathan Simms is a corporate finance partner at law firm Clarion in Leeds.

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ENTREPRENEUR

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ENTREPRENEUR

scents of success

Anyone in doubt about the tenacity and determination needed to thrive as an entrepreneur would do well to spend an hour in Hazel Barry’s presence. Andrew Mernin had that privilege, as he heard how the Harrogate business leader has built a global toiletries brand against all the odds “I find it really hard to stop,” says Hazel Barry – and she’s not kidding. Losing the ability to walk for a year didn’t stop her from achieving business success. Nor did the six months she spent fighting the weekly threat of bankruptcy or losing it all and having to rebuild from scratch.

In fact it would take a lot more to knock this tenacious entrepreneur off course.

Still only 37, Hazel has – despite numerous setbacks – built up a business with truly global appeal from its base in Harrogate.

H2K sells luxury skincare, toiletries and spa products to hotels here, in the Middle East, Australia and in pockets of Europe. It lists some of the world’s biggest hotel brands among its customers and, with the company’s growth now picking up, plans to expand onto the High Street and into new international markets.

Hazel grew up in Bradford and showed entrepreneurial flair from an early age. When she was seven she ‘branded’ the rose petal perfume she’d made and sold it round the neighbourhood and “made enough money to buy sweets, which was very important then”.

Dad worked in a bank, while mum sold skin care products at Tupperware-style parties. She

left school at 16 and, on her mum’s orders, went to secretarial school for six months.

“My mum said if I was going to live at home I had to find a proper job.

“I remember thinking at the time, I’m not going be a secretary I’m going to have one,” she says with a laugh. Despite her success today, an in-joke at H2K is that Hazel still hasn’t actually got a PA or secretary. That goal as yet has eluded her.

“I actually do need one, hopefully by the end of the year. Emma, my sales administrator, does some of my PA work though.”

Next a business degree funded by the chemicals company Cytec where she worked in customer services admin, helped to set her on the road to entrepreneurialism.

Her time at Cytec also gave her an insight into the formulating and treatment of chemicals – something which would prove useful later in life.

At her next job she progressed into an export manager’s role and learned about another area which is now a crucial part of her business; global trade.

“I learned about international banking, how to import and export, the many regulations that the Government imposes on import

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and export.

“I remember leaving thinking ‘what a waste.

I’ve just spent three years at this company learning all that and I’m never going to use it again’. So ironically years later here I am running my own business where we export all over the world. It’s bizarre how things work out.”

By the time she was 21, a Prince’s Trust business course had propelled Hazel into setting up her own fashion business.

After six months of trading, profits were tight and so she decided to do secretarial work by day and sell at night.

“I had three girls working for me making clothes for businesswomen. Looking back I probably should have set it up in Harrogate instead of Bradford. I really enjoyed it but it wasn’t bringing in enough money so I decided to type during the day and sell at night. It seemed like a cracking idea and doubled my money but, because of the workload, I got tendonitis and couldn’t move my hand so I had to stop.”

This commitment to hard work continues today though as she balances the life of a young mother with that of an entrepreneur.

“I don’t think anyone who has a >>

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ENTREPRENEUR business works less than 12 hour days do they? I’ve got a nice work life balance now because I’ve got a little girl but if I’m really honest, I work from nine till two, then go back to work after seven when my daughter goes to sleep. I’d love to meet a person who’s actually made it and done it on short hours, I just don’t think it can happen.

“When I first had my daughter I probably let the business tick over as opposed to pushing it for a year but businesses don’t survive if you do that for too long.”

After her short-lived fashion empire, Hazel landed a job as the northern sales rep for a South East based cosmetics firm and, over three years, was instrumental in doubling the firm’s turnover.

But: “I found I really missed doing things for myself,” she says.

And so Hazel went it alone and within two months found herself pitching to the only five star hotel in the North of England at the time, The Lowry Hotel.

The original concept for the company evolved from Hazel’s plans to manufacture skincare products to help people whose skin was affected by medication for the same ongoing gut complaint that she suffers from.

“I had really dry skin and couldn’t find anything to help it until I found Kalahari melon oil which comes from Namibia and is really good as a natural moisturising derivative.

“Because I’d found that in my teens, when I set my business up, I wanted to involve it in the products.”

The brand has since grown, with more products being developed for all skin types – alongside its toiletries products. But a call from a business looking to tap into her selling power was what really got the company moving in its first few months.

“I set the business up to sell various things for the hotel industry and I’d been contacted by a company asking me if I could sell pens and pencils into the Lowry. Pens and pencils weren’t really my thing but I did it anyway and I got the order.

“But at the end of the meeting the Lowry guy asked me if I also sold toiletries. I didn’t but I said I did. He showed me some products and said ‘if you can do something like this by the time we open next year I’ll buy it’. I said ‘we’re

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already on it’. Then he asked what I was going to put on the front of the bottle. Without hesitation I said ‘H2K’ and then looked at the products he had and reeled off ‘handwash’, ‘body lotion’ and that was that.”

H2K (H2 representing H2O and ‘K’ for Kalahari) then started building traction in the hotel industry.

“Taking a brand that didn’t really exist into the best hotel in the North was a bit of a challenge really. I thought it couldn’t be too difficult, and then I realised how difficult it was.

“But because I won that contract I could then go to other four star establishments and win further business on the back of it.”

Initially the business traded out of a “tiny bungalow” on a trading estate in Bradford with a team of one.

The Middle East really likes the fact that it says Harrogate on the front of the bottle

“It was just me for three years really. I used to get up at five, fill bottles until seven, and then get out on the road to do deliveries and then back to do my accounts. At the same time I’d always have the phone next to me so I could take calls.” While many start-ups fail because they struggle to find a market to sell to, Hazel’s challenge was the opposite problem – she sold too much.

“I was trading too fast. So I was buying more stock but people weren’t paying quickly enough. So I put the house in with the business.

“For six months I had to fax the bank every Friday and then on a Monday to find out if I was going bust. I could hardly sleep at night.”

“I did consider getting out but I was in too deep. I still had really big contracts I just didn’t have any cash but I couldn’t go bankrupt, my dad was a bank manager after all. He had

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already passed away by then but it would have been a complete failure to go bankrupt, so failure wasn’t an option.”

She alleviated the problem by selling her house at a 30% profit – this was in 2003 in the housing boom years - and put all the money in the business, paid the bank back and moved back in with her mum.

“I thought I’m just going to have to take a hit so there were no perks for a while.”

That ‘while’ lasted for six years as she slowly but surely got the business firmly established, with a small team and growing presence.

Spotting an opportunity to raise some cash fast for the business, Hazel renovated and sold three houses – selling by day and painting, decorating and learning to plumb and hang doors at night.

The company then cracked the Middle East market with a deal taking it into some of Dubai and the wider Gulf region’s luxury hotels operated under names like Hilton and Sheraton as well as Microsoft’s UAE offices.

This market has since acted as a stepping stone into Australia for H2K. Next came the economic downturn. “The recession hit 2009 but didn’t hit UK hotels or my business for about a year because a lot of the hoteliers had a lot of stock. So it hit in mid to late 2010.”

In the fallout H2K lost a major client in Dubai which had been offered free toiletries from a rival supplier.

The company survive the knockback and began moving along briskly until a health problem threatened to stop Hazel in her tracks. Around 18 months ago she collapsed at home and was unable to get back up. It was caused by an inflamed pelvis related to the medical condition she was born with which causes certain parts of her body to become inflamed.

Hazel was unable to stand or even sit and was told by doctors that if she couldn’t overcome the pain of learning to walk again in the first two years, she’d probably never walk again.

But a little problem like this wouldn’t stop someone as determined in business as this, despite fearing the worst.

“I needed 24 hour care for six months and couldn’t walk for a year. I couldn’t even use a wheelchair as I couldn’t sit upright. >>

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ENTREPRENEUR “It was horrendous running the business but I moved the phone line and PC downstairs.

I was still able to talk and type.”

She also employed a sales director, Angela, which Hazel says is the best decision she’s ever made.

And the year spent running the business from a horizontal angle delivered some surprisingly positive results.

“I don’t like to admit it but I’m not good at stopping. Not being able to walk and get out and do things made me for the first time in my life stop.

“Instead of me going out seeing people and doing all the things I used to do, it made me stop and sit back from the business.

It made me jump out of it and see it in a different light.

“That’s been fantastic because, since I’ve done that, I see the business very differently. We’ve been able to rebrand, I’ve bought a new product range in and I also wrote a business plan for the next five years.”

The rebrand came after the company missed out on what had been considered a shoe-in contract win worth £500,000. And it has certainly proved to be a shrewd move.

“We tendered for a major account with a big hotel group and we were told that they were 99.9% sure we were going to get it. We were really excited, but when it came to signing the papers we were told we hadn’t got it.

“We asked them why and they told us it was because we weren’t English enough. We have our address on there but they said it’s not on the front of the bottle. So we rebranded as H2K of Harrogate and since then the business is virtually doubling.

“Being British globally is fantastic. We supply to the Middle East through a distributor in Dubai and since rebranding in December they’ve doubled the amount of business they put with us because the Middle East market really likes the fact that it says Harrogate on the front of the bottle.”

Another global boost is the deal it has just signed through a distributor to sell its products as a vendor on Amazon across the US and Germany, as well as the UK. “We expect big results from that,” she says.

“People can also buy from our website and we do get three or four people each week coming

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onto the site after seeing our products in a hotel. We do particularly well in Italy, France and Belgium.”

At a time when many retailers are shedding the bricks and mortar expenses that come with a high street presence, H2K is moving in the opposite direction.

compromise on their skin and I can’t see the high street being a bad thing for us.”

The company certainly seems on an upwards trajectory then? “We sell about 250,000 bottles per month and have grown 20% on last year, and will grow by a further 20% next year. We expect to hit £10m turnover within

“We want to get onto the High Street and we’re waiting for planning to go through for a site in Harrogate, but it should definitely happen before the Tour de France next year.

“We’re doing it for our profile and because we have a really big following. We are in a recession but what we’ve found in the hotel industry is that people aren’t buying cheaper toiletries, they are actually still wanting a really quality product. People don’t want to

five years.”

For now, though, Hazel is on the hunt for up to seven figures of new investment to realise her business ambitions.

“We’ll use it to make the brand global. The next stop is America next year.”

With her tenacity, there’s very little doubt that she’ll not only get there, but make a success of what could potentially be a hugely lucrative market. n

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SUCCESS STORY

SUMMER 13

Running with the mob

What started as a beer among a few business friends has snowballed into an organisation with the biggest business-to-business event in the North of England on its books. Andrew Mernin meets Yorkshire Mafia don Geoff Shepherd as he prepares for expansion onto new turf

The rise of The Yorkshire Mafia has an element of Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point theory about it.

In his book of the same name, he talks of the magical moment when ideas and trends cross through into positive epidemics which bring about rapid change.

That moment for The Yorkshire Mafia could have been a beer shared with 60 business people at its first gathering. Or more likely, it was its first conference in 2011 which brought together 78 exhibitors and 1,286 delegates.

That gained some serious traction and the word started spreading...

“Last year we had 175 exhibitors, 4,000+ delegates, 900 exhibition staff, a bucket load of journalists and a couple of TV crews,” says Geoff Shepherd, who co-founded the organisation with business partner Sat Mann in 2009.

“We’ve created the biggest business-tobusiness event in the North of England in just three short steps.”

In all, 14,000 individuals have attended a Yorkshire Mafia event and, collectively, they have registered 132,000 times for events.

At this year’s Buy Yorkshire conference, meanwhile, registered delegates surpassed the 5,000 mark.

Such numbers are perhaps what prompted a key figure inside social media empire LinkedIn to relay his amazement at the achievements of the organisation at a recent event.

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

Shepherd, whose background is in running recruitment consultancies, says: “We were told we are the most productive group on LinkedIn. One of their regional directors for northern Europe said ‘this is astonishing what you guys have done to get 14,000 people together in a small part of the world’.

“I was a very early adopter of LinkedIn in 2003, in fact I was the 38,014th member and one of the first 100 people to ever post a job on it.”

Against the backdrop of the demise of publicly funded support functions like Yorkshire Forward, The Yorkshire Mafia has risen through the corridors of social media to fill certain gaps for business support, unintentionally in many ways.

“If you look at the group today we get dozens of requests for support, advice, signposting, investment, partnerships and new suppliers – all that kind of stuff which is free and is given gladly – so it’s quite unusual in the respect that it’s not taxpayer funded and I’m not sure there’s anything else that holds such numbers.

“On a national level traditional support structures for businesses have been decimated.

The Yorkshire Mafia has gone to some way to filling the gap.

“This would have been done by government agencies once upon a time and if they were done effectively then there wouldn’t be a need for The Yorkshire Mafia.

“One of the things we want to do is turn what

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used to be really weak words in business, like help, sharing, support, all that community stuff, into really strong words as they underpin everything that we do.”

So quickly has Shepherd’s mob come to power, that it is now contemplating expanding its patch into other regions.

“We’d like to branch out, with a Manchester, Midlands and North East Mafia. The North West Mafia actually already exists and has about 800 members and eventually we’d like to link these groups all together.”

Talks are ongoing with public and private sector parties in the North West, which is likely to be the first area the group expands into.

However, Shepherd admits this was never the long term plan, rather a natural progression following the last two years of growth.

“It’s a case of having hold of something that’s alive and when you try to contain it in a rigid strategy, it becomes difficult to manage. I’m not going down the route of reverse engineering a mission statement into the business and claiming this was always the plan,” he says.

Yorkshire Mafia – or YM as Shepherd calls it - was born out of the frustrations he experienced as a business owner in the recruitment sector.

“We’d work all week in our offices, emailing people overseas, getting on trains to London and we’d walk past hundreds of people who didn’t know who we were and we didn’t >>

SUMMER 13

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SUCCESS STORY

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

SUCCESS STORY

know who they were. We needed to change that but the mechanisms to do this at the time were things that didn’t really appeal to us. Networking and the dark art of selfpromotion, they work, but getting up at six in the morning and swapping referrals over breakfast isn’t really my kind of thing.

“I wanted something which was sales free with a kind of ‘giver’s gain’ mentality. We

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couldn’t find one, so we created one.”

Strangely for a business group with some pretty heavyweight leaders within its ranks, the golden rule is “no selling”.

“Everyone’s encouraged to buy things through the group but the whole idea is that if we all buy then you don’t need to sell.”

The group started in 2008 and didn’t take long to start building momentum within

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the business community.

“We didn’t do a lot with it initially and after the first year there were about 800 people in the group. “Then in December 2009 we said let’s get together for a beer and kick a few ideas around and 60 people turned up so that’s when the light bulb came on. It didn’t really take very much effort to get those 60 people to turn up. So how could we grow it and build on it.

“So we went from 60 to 120 to 150, 170, and now 200 to 300 for our regular monthly networking evenings.” In the early days, Shepherd says there was a lot of intrigue, as well as suspicion, in the marketplace and he believes some initial members were there on a spying mission.

“But probably symptomatic of British culture, the bigger we’ve got, the more criticism we’ve hit. When we were an enthusiastic amateur there was probably more support for us.

“Now I think some people don’t know how to take us; perhaps we don’t talk their language directly, but we will continue to learn more about the demographic of our members and present our group in terms other bodies may understand better.”

The Yorkshire Mafia does emanate a certain swagger and sense of fun (the genuine rather than the forced, corporate kind) that perhaps sets it aside from other business groups dealing with equally large numbers.

In a show reel on its website, a supposed sniper scans the Leeds skyline in a helicopter before locking his sights on two Mafia bosses staring villainously over the city Ok, so it’s Shepherd and Mann, and the sniper is a product of some clever editing, but you get the picture – and thousands of other business people ‘get it’ too.

“I think if Chambers of Commerce had never existed and were created today they would probably look more like us than the way they are now,” Shepherd says.

Marching to a different beat to other groups they may be, but like every weighty business networking group it recognised the benefits of a good conference. The planning for the first one began in 2010 and it was delivered the following year. “The ultimate aim of the YM is to positively affect the trading position of members in relation to each other and >>

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SUCCESS STORY there’s nothing quite like a conference to do that. It was a runaway train really.”

As part of further developments at the group, it recently set up its own collective buying initiative, YorBuy. It offers small businesses big business prices for a range of things, including stationery, insurance and even petrol, with one deal promising 3p off the price of a litre of fuel. Consultations within the group are ongoing, sourcing where members are keen to see costs reductions and acting accordingly.

“We’re presenting The YM as a buying entity, consolidating its potential buying power and presenting it to large suppliers to negotiate big business prices for small businesses. It’s going well and we’re looking at moving into utilities. If you can remove the inefficiencies for suppliers and present them with a unified market then it makes sense for them to adjust their pricing accordingly.”

Another item on Shepherd’s ‘to do’ list is to set up a software development centre of excellence. Through his links within the Yorkshire Mafia, plans are afoot to partner up with technology giants, including Microsoft, to create a facility capable of turning out up to 80 highly trained software developers each year. “We’ve already got some technology partners who’d assist us in terms of the provision of classroom learning.

At the moment we’re trying to work out the commercial model but what we want to do initially is take young people either pre or post university and give them world class training in areas where there’s a real skills shortage.

So we’re offering them the chance to train for really highly paid jobs skills that could take them anywhere in the world.”

One stumbling block may be the approximate £250,000 of investment needed to get it off the ground, but he says: “We have some partners and we have a plan”.

Meanwhile, being able to connect thousands of bright business minds together brings other wider benefits too, like the ability to apply real force behind good causes.

Among them is Skill Will, which Shepherd founded on the back of funding from business angel Rachel Hannan and Key Fund.

It was set up in 2012 to link professional and business volunteers with local charities and

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SUMMER 13

I think if Chambers of Commerce had never existed and were created today they would probably look more like us than the way they are now social enterprises that need assistance – clearly an organisation that can tap into the goodwill within the massed ranks of The Yorkshire Mafia. Shepherd says: “One of the great things about bringing 14,000 people together is that we can add some good intentions and some real drive and will to get things done. It’s early days for Skill Will. It is a start-up but we want it to stand on its own feet and we’re not looking for handouts.

“The YM since day one has stated it’s as much about helping the community as it is about helping other businesses help each other.

When we go home and we sit on our sofas, we all live on the same streets, we’re all in it together. So I don’t think there’s a need to necessarily separate charities and good causes away from the business world, but for some reason they are separated.

“An example of what we do is a recent event in Wakefield where we got 50 businesses and

34

50 charities together to explore commonalities and ways of helping each other.”

Big business events, though, are what Yorkshire Mafia is best known for and following this year’s conference, Leeds Business Week 2013, which runs from 23 to 27 September, is Shepherd’s main focus.

“We used to have it but it stopped. I don’t know why these things come and go but we’re a big fan of trying to do something big on a shoestring.

“We’ve gone for a minimum of 50 events across the city. There isn’t really an awful lot of cohesion so wouldn’t it be great if, for one week, we could actually all push the same message, do the same thing, forge new relationships, especially between people who’ve maybe been a bit wary of each other?”

Wishful thinking perhaps, but if anyone can do it, the mafia can. n

SUMMER 13

COMPANY PROFILE

Demystifying the complex marketing process Boutique Media makes sense of the customer journey, a journey increasingly complicated by the ever changing digital landscape Boutique Media is an independent and entrepreneurial media communications agency. We create, implement and manage compelling integrated communication strategies across on and offline platforms.

Essentially, we are what you might know as a media planning and buying agency of old. And we are old; formed in 1986 but trading as Boutique since 2011 we’ve been there and done that whilst always staying ahead of the curve. Employing the brightest young’s minds and marrying this with the agency heritage of offline media buying means we’re experienced at the same time as embracing technological developments and the growth of digital marketing and in turn manipulating our business to suit the client’s needs.

Over time the agency has evolved and is now a truly integrated agency with an offering that is unrivalled outside of the network agencies.

The best way to understand our offering is to consider your customers conversion path. They no longer see an advert and visit a store. They see an advert and google it. They compare you with your competitors, read reviews, ‘like’ brands and #follow them. They engage with your business online (your website really is the face of your business), are influenced by word of mouth and of course have high expectations on service, price and product. Eventually they purchase; online and/or offline (we call this Ropo – research online, purchase offline) Complex? Well, frankly yes it is. You’ll no doubt agree that your market is also intensely competitive. Every market is.

What we do is help businesses understand their customer’s journey and create compelling advertising campaigns that reach their target audience in the most cost efficient manner possible.

Boutique is an independent business and that matters. It means we’re free from the politics of networks, have shorter lines of communication, can demonstrate a greater employee retention

Simon Bollon, Managing Partner of Boutique Media

We help businesses understand their customers journey and create compelling advertising campaigns that reach their target audience in the most cost efficient manner possible rate to the industry average and importantly that independence creates a flexibility that means we are focused on our clients businesses, not our bottom line; that bit takes care of itself. We believe the only way to make our business better is by delivering outstanding, quantifiable results for our clients and having been there and done that, we avoid the adequacies of the biggest agencies.

Our Directors have worked in the biggest agencies and have managed the biggest, most recognisable brands including Asda, Skybet, DFS, CSL and that means we really do know what works.

We’re also entrepreneurial and that’s important.

It creates an internal culture of ambition, results and progression. The best businesses don’t fail and

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our aim to be the biggest (and best) independent agency outside of London drives both the directors and employees, all of whom want to be part of a success story.

We also work with entrepreneurial clients with whom our culture is well matched. Xercise4Less, One Call, Trust Deeds of Scotland are all examples of clients we started working with in the last 12 months that can demonstrate entrepreneurialism and with whom we share a common culture and common goal of success.

Recruitment is a critical part of our business. Our assets are our people, their minds, experience, passions and expertise in their chosen area.

Our people set us apart and our position in the market means we attract the brightest and most intellectual minds.

Essentially, we marry the best of both worlds; the service levels, approach and assiduity you would expect from a Boutique business and the scale, resources, strategic thinking and buying power associated with the UK’s largest agency. We think our offering is compelling and we know it’s unique to the market.

We’re a Leeds based business but have clients the length and breadth of the country (internationally too). The client spend ranges vastly from a local retailer spending £10,000 to FMCG brands spending over £2m but the commonality between them is that they all receive a boutique service married with outstanding results.

Simon Bollon Managing Partner. simon@weareboutique.co.uk Twitter: @boutiquemc Tel: 0113 3948993

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

SUMMER 13

£50m business park planned, transformation at press site, 18th Century hotel upgraded, more shopping for Shipley, a 1,000 properties commission, law firm relocates, and minster offers appeal >> Park plan for Selby A planning application to build a £50m business park which would create 2,500 jobs has been submitted to Selby Council by property developer The Glentrool Estate Group.

It aims to transform a 90-acre site at Sherburnin-Elmet into a business and employment park next to the Sherburn Enterprise Park, which lists Debenhams, Sainsbury, Optare and Eddie Stobart among its occupiers. Glentrool director Jeremy Nolan said: “We are tremendously excited by this development. The success of the adjacent Sherburn Enterprise Park has underlined the potential of the location, both in terms of the labour force and transport links.

“Our plans for this site will lead to significant and much-needed inward investment in the area, both during the construction phase and when it is occupied. The Proving Ground development will provide modern business accommodation, fit for the 21st century, which will contribute a welcome boost to the economy of the Selby district.If approved detailed applications for specific parts of the site could be submitted this Autumn with the opportunity for work to start on site in 2014.

>> Flats for students Plans have been announced to build 350 student flats on the site of the York Press offices.

S Harrison Developments, the York based development firm who is submitting the proposal, said it would bring a £35m boost to the local economy, creating around 200 construction jobs over the next two years and 20 new permanent jobs upon completion.

>> Oulton Hall upgrade De Vere Hotels has invested £600,000 into revamping its Yorkshire venue Oulton Hall, the 18th century country manor house hotel.

As well as upgrading a series of rooms

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

targeted at the corporate market, improvements to WiFi and connectivity the 20 ‘Chambre Unique’ rooms are part of the group’s overall strategy to boost its offering to business clients at the four star hotel, located between Leeds and Wakefield.

Director Sean Boyce said: “The innovative ‘Chambre Unique’ upgrade is an exciting development. Guests will be able to enjoy the comforts and amenities of a deluxe hotel room, without spending a great deal more.

De Vere has identified a need for choice within hotel accommodation and seek to cater for those needs.”

>> Superstore plan GMI Developments Ltd has submitted a planning application to City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council for the development of a brand new 80,000 sq ft food retail store in Shipley, West Yorkshire which upon opening could create up to 350 new jobs for local people, with maybe an additional 100 construction related jobs generated during development.

Following recent public consultations, plans have been submitted for the food superstore, a separate café/restaurant, a 12- pump petrol station and 364 covered car parking spaces on a prime Otley Road site owned by Network Rail and DB Schenker Rail (UK). The site, which dominates the gateway to the town, has been cited as an integral part of the council’s aim to regenerate this part of Shipley and to improve pedestrian linkage between the neighbouring station and the rest of the town centre.

To further meet the council’s regeneration goals, the planning application includes an additional long stay car park for users of Shipley railway station, an improved pedestrian link with pedestrian crossings between the station and Shipley centre and additional cycle links.

It is hoped the development will encourage more shoppers into the town and enhance job prospects and opportunities for local businesses.

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As well as bringing a significant amount of investment to the town and delivering hundreds of new full-time and flexible part-time jobs, if successful the planning application would greatly improve customer choice in Shipley where there is currently only one supermarket.

>> Law firm commits Commercial law firm Lupton Fawcett Lee & Priestley has taken up a 6,000 sq ft space in the Synergy Building on Bank Street, Sheffield, moving from its previous home on Solly Street in the city.

Managing director Richard Marshall said: “This reaffirms our commitment to the South Yorkshire region and the space is capable of matching our ambitious growth plans.”

The new offices provide more space for the firm’s expanding team, a dedicated reception area and meeting rooms.

>> Colliers exclusive Colliers International has secured the exclusive mandate to represent Rentokil Initial plc in the UK and as its preferred real estate provider globally, acting on over 1,000 property assets across the world including 190 in the UK. The firm will provide a full range of services including acquisition, disposals, property management, strategic consultation, valuations, rent reviews, lease renewals and building surveying.

Rentokil Initial is one of the largest business services companies in the world so winning the mandate to represent them on an exclusive basis is a significant opportunity for Colliers International.

The approach to cross-country working means the firm is able to respond to Rentokil’s specific needs in the countries where it has a major presence and ensure a consistent service across all of the company’s brands.

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COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

>> Broad Gate and broad coverage Multinational giant Capgemini has agreed a deal with Highcross to take 25,390 sq ft of space at Broad Gate in Leeds.

The office, located on the fifth floor and signed under a ten year lease, will be a base for Capgemini’s financial services division in the North of England.

Following this latest letting, the 300,000 sq ft mixed use city centre building will be 90% occupied.

Capgemini will have capacity for about 300 staff in its new office, with 160 moving from its current smaller office space in Leeds and other locations in the North East, to meet growing demand for its services.

Highcross associate director Iain Taylor said: “We have now let more than 100,000 sq ft at Broad Gate in the last month, leaving just 28,000 sq ft of office space available.”

Eamon Fox, director at DTZ who acted for Highcross, said: “The letting to Capgemini adds to an already impressive occupier line-up within the building.”

>> Global giant arrives The Leeds office of CBRE, the world’s largest commercial real estate firm, has launched its new base on the 6th floor of Toronto Square in Leeds.

Key members of the property community joined the 60-strong team to see how their new office at Highcross’ flagship scheme will suit their innovative approach to the working day.

CBRE showcased how the new space has been specially-designed to encourage a more fluid way of working with staff hot-desking to enable open communication between departments and the creation of break-out areas for staff and clients.

Richard Sunderland, managing director of CBRE’s Yorkshire offices, said; “The move has kick started a much more forward-thinking way of working for CBRE Leeds. We have welcomed several new divisions in recent months and all staff are really geared up and motivated to embrace this new way of working. As a crucial regional centre with a

strong client base, it is imperative that we continually identify ways to support our hard working teams by providing the best working environment and also that we work in the most effective way for our valued clients.

>> A minster appeal Developer Rushbond has agreed to sell the Grade-II listed St Leonard’s Place commercial building in York for redevelopment. Until recently it was used as the City of York Council’s principal offices, but its prime central location near the York Minster will help with its new start as a hotel. Stewart Lewis, director of Ambiance, said: “This was a unique opportunity to acquire a stunning building at the heart of the city’s major attractions.

“York has a proven pedigree as a visitor destination and we are excited about

developing an iconic hotel that creates a new chapter in the special history of St Leonard’s place.”

The refurbishment will see the building transformed into a flagship hotel for Ambiance. Work is due to start in spring of next year and will take place in partnership with Harcourt Capital and Hotel Land & Development.

Jonathan Maud, managing director of Rushbond, said: “Ambiance Hotels plan to operate a high quality, luxury hotel that represents further investment into this part of the city, supporting its fabulous array of cultural attractions.”

>> £90m retail purchase The Light entertainment and shopping attraction in Leeds has a new owner following a deal reported to be worth around £90m.

Legal & General Property (LGP) has bought the centre from AEGON UK Property Fund, which is headed up by specialist investment group Kames Capital.

Kames previously said it was looking to sell off a 50% share in The Light but later LGP confirmed the deal was for the whole.

>> Two handle deal A £2.75m price tag has been put on Granary Wharf House off Canal Wharf in Leeds, with the 20,805 sq ft property’s disposal being handled by commercial property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) and Allsop.

Granary Wharf is a business, leisure and residential location and is home to a number of major occupiers including Zurich, Imagination Technologies and Rensberg.

Its south bank location is set to be boosted with the introduction of a new southern entrance to Leeds Railway Station, which will provide direct access to and from Granary Wharf.

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

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BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

SUMMER 13

>> Under new owner

>> KPMG goes green Work has begun on a new 60,000 sq ft office building in Leeds for KPMG being developed by Muse Developments following a landmark funding arrangement with British Steel Pension Fund.

The building - designed by Scott Brownrigg - is the first of three proposed around a new area of green public realm, which will provide the first public green space in Leeds for years, and a focus for both the immediate business users and the wider community within the city.

Leeds City Council are developing the new public realm themselves which is expected to be completed in Spring 2015 in time for KPMG occupying the building later that year.

At a groundbreaking ceremony at the site, Matt Crompton, joint managing director at Muse said: “The start on site at Sovereign Street demonstrates what can be achieved by the public and private sectors when working in partnership. We are very proud to have worked closely with both Leeds City Council and one of the city’s major occupiers - KPMG is delivering this first phase of significant regeneration to the area”.

Chris Hearld, KPMG Leeds senior partner added: “These very first visible signs of our new home in Yorkshire mark the start of a seriously exciting phase of the development, which comes after a good deal of planning.

“It represents a significant investment in the region by KPMG, reflecting our confidence in, and ambition regarding, this marketplace.”

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

The Balmoral Hotel in Harrogate is under new ownership.

The freehold of the hotel, situated close to the International Centre on King’s Road, was acquired for an undisclosed sum from HRH Group Ltd. The business has remained open during the transition and continues to trade for leisure and business guests and as a private event venue.

The 23-bedroom four-star hotel is situated in a building that was originally three townhouses dating back to 1841.

The property was converted into a luxury hotel in the 1970s by a former chef to the royal family and has operated as a hotel and restaurant for over 30 years.

>> Shipley to Leeds Online reputation management company Ignyte has shifted its Yorkshire HQ from Shipley to Leeds, with Colliers International letting a 2,400 sq ft office suite at The Calls Landing.

Colliers secured a lease agreement at £14 per sq ft for the office suite on behalf of landlord Citu.

Jonathan McGrael of Colliers International in Leeds said: “The Calls Landing is a landmark building in Leeds which is very suitable for Ignyte and its business.

“It is situated in a prime location, popular with the creative sector, and just a few minutes’ walk from the city’s retail core and benefits from overlooking the River Aire.”

Other tenants in the building include McGrath O’Toole, Liquid Recovery and Aspect.

>> Offices to retail Former ground floor offices in Leeds city centre have been transformed into retail spaces by interior fit-out company Waterhouse.

Yorkshire-based Waterhouse has converted the space at 8 St Pauls Street for WH Smiths and Patisserie Valerie.

This new addition to the professional core of the city centre features a new Planarglass

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reception as the dramatic entrance to the retail space.

Paul Thompson, contracts director at Waterhouse, said: “The refurbishment will not only create space for two exciting retail additions to the local business community but also incorporate a dramatic new entrance to the office building.”

>> Riverside change A civil and structural engineering consultancy has been enlisted to advise on the proposed redevelopment of Warehouse Hill at 20-24 The Calls in Leeds.

The site is the last significant one left for development along the River Aire and owner Commercial Development Projects (CDP) of Elland is proposing to build 77 apartments alongside retail and office provisions.

JPG has advised on the structural elements for the refurbishment of an existing building and the construction of two new reinforced concrete framed buildings.

The plans remain within the existing massing and heights of the current detailed planning consent for offices.

2B Architecture has also been appointed to design the scheme with ID Planning advising on the planning application

>> Twin benefit move Sales and marketing business Europlus Direct has snapped up new offices near Leeds Bradford Airport on the back of a new funding package from HSBC. The site will also be home to Europlus Direct’s founder Jim Hart’s sister business - multilingual recruitment and language translation company One Global.

HSBC has supported the acquisition of the 6,100 sq ft site, located at Airport West, via a £450,000 funding package. The deal was led on behalf of the bank by international commercial manager Liam Penfield.

“The move to 2 Airport West has two core benefits; it gives us the capacity to grow and it also sends out a message to our international clients that we are focused on the overseas markets and we are flexible and accessible,” said Jim Hart.

SUMMER 13

>> History for sale A prominent and historic hotel in York has been put on the market by agents Colliers International. The Groves on St Peter’s Grove is believed to be the only William Pentey designed building remaining in private hands in the city and is on the market for £2.25m for the freehold business.

Peter Bean, hotels director at Colliers International in Leeds said: “Buyers have a rare opportunity to acquire one of York’s largest and best B&Bs. A full refurbishment was completed in 2012 and the business has responded exceedingly well as one would expect given the marvellous facilities and superb location in this internationally famous tourism city.”

The Groves dates back to 1896 when it was originally built by William Pentey for a Leeds tobacconist who wanted to expand his business in York by using the River Ouse to deliver to customers.

>> Industry perks up Yorkshire and Humber’s industrial property sector is on the up according to the region’s industry leaders that came together for its biannual property forum dinner.

PwC expects output to grow nationally at six percent a year from 2012 to 2015. However the North remains cautious with tentative signs of growth after 2014.

While property experts are confident they are seeing positive results in the region for industrial units, the sector is still carrying some major difficulties.

Construction has borne the full brunt of declining output during the recession, due to a greater reliance on public sector work and a

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

more significant decline in the housing market.

The region has also missed out on a lot of the larger infrastructure and public nonhousing work that has been concentrated in London and the South East, particularly with the Olympics.

While public sector construction is expected to continue to shrink, there is likely to be growth in infrastructure construction in the North East which will be boosted by projects such as the long term Metro upgrade in the North East, EON’s Humber Gateway and the proposed River Tees clean coal plant.

Andy Ward, senior office partner, PwC Sheffield said: “The outlook remains undoubtedly difficult with output in Yorkshire & Humberside still expected to marginally shrink by 2014. Though it does appear that a corner has been turned with a decline in construction slowing and some sectors starting to look up.

“It is a shame that industrial is such a small proportion of our overall construction output as it is currently experiencing the highest growth.

“We are seeing the market resigned to the new normal with current conditions here to stay in the near term. Strategies for all organisations to cope with these new market dynamics need to be rapidly thought through and executed.

“These may include targeting new geographies within the UK and the emerging world. Many of the key distributors in Western Europe are focusing on this approach at the moment.”

PwC hosts the Yorkshire & Humber property forum dinner every six months, which sees regional leaders in the sector come together to discuss issues and market conditions.

Attendees included: Henry Boot Construction, Nabarro, Park Lane Properties and Arnold Laver.

>> Team of the year The Yorkshire office of international property consultancy Knight Frank was named the Agency Team of the Year at this year’s Yorkshire Business Insider Property Awards.

The awards, held at Rudding Park Hotel in Harrogate, were attended by 750 of the

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region’s leading property professionals and raised money for The Variety Club children’s charity.

Knight Frank’s Yorkshire division has offices in Sheffield and Leeds covering the entire Yorkshire Region and is responsible for 159 commercial lettings totalling more than 1.7m sq ft and 37 commercial property sales of almost 2m sq ft from March 2012.

Peter Whiteley, partner at Knight Frank in Sheffield – which is this year celebrating 25 years in the city, said: “It has been a challenging year for the property industry in Yorkshire, as elsewhere, but we have been involved in 45% of all office transactions across Sheffield and Leeds over the past 12 months and managed to put together some important deals in a difficult market.

“We were delighted to win this prestigious award, especially as it was voted for by a committee of property professionals.”

>> Plevin buys brown A 50-acre brownfield site at Crow Edge in South Yorkshire has been acquired by wood production firm Plevin.

The site was formerly owned by Wavin – a manufacturer of pipes and plastic fittings – and will be transformed into a £5m waste wood recycling centre.

Mike Dove, partner of Leeds-based property consultancy Dove Haigh Phillips, which advised on the deal, said: “The Crow Edge site has been used by our clients Wavin, who are part of a global business, for the manufacture of clay pipes and related products for over a century.

“Our client’s ownership extended to over 130 acres together with 870,000 sq ft of buildings. Today the northern sector of the site forms a core part of our client’s UK operation of clayware manufacturing warehouse and distribution. The southern sector of the site involving 50 acres and including 500,000 sq ft of older buildings was surplus to requirements.

“Plevin were a natural purchaser by virtue of their industrial use and ability to use this facility and existing infrastructure alongside Wavin.”

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EVER ONWARD Since selling his pharmaceutical empire for US$88m five years ago, Yorkshire entrepreneur Graham Leslie has been working through a long and varied shopping list of angel and capital investments.

Andrew Mernin steals a rare window of his time to talk about his new fund, his route to the top and why money is not the motivator for true entrepreneurs

Graham Leslie’s investment strategy is simple.

“I back jockeys. That’s the secret. You can come to me with a great idea but if I don’t like you I won’t back you.”

And there’ve been a few jockeys who’ve charmed him into taking a punt since he amassed his fortune in the pharmaceuticals business.

He founded Galpharm International in 1982, along with his son Craig and steered the company to success as the UK’s biggest supplier of non-prescriptive medicine, before selling to the Perrigo Group for US$88m in 2008.

He’s achieved much else in business besides this, like helping to create the world’s first green-field 25,000 seat stadium for football and rugby in 1991. Now known as the Galpharm Stadium it employs over 130 full time staff and is the home of the Huddersfield

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Giants rugby league team and Huddersfield Town AFC. He’s met and dined with two American Presidents, been adviser to the UK’s All Party Health Select Committee, served as the first regional ambassador for The Prince’s Trust and, more famously, as chairman of Huddersfield Town AFC. He was even British hairdressing champion 1964. Little wonder, then, that there’s a book about his life in the pipeline –

a biography rather than an autobiography.

“I don’t like talking about me unless it inspires people to set up something or change direction in a company,” he says, before explaining he’s just returned from Canada where he’s been inspiring change among budding business leaders there.

But in the latest chapter of his life, investing in and advising entrepreneurs across Yorkshire and elsewhere in the UK is what has kept him

I back jockeys. That’s the secret.

You can come to me with a great idea but if I don’t like you then I won’t back you

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busiest since selling Galpharm.

“I ended up with all this money that I didn’t know what to do with. I honestly didn’t know anything about money.

“Real entrepreneurs do not understand the real value of money. They don’t have it on a pedestal. A lot of people who are ambitious have it on a pedestal and it can be their motivating driving force but I think for genuine serial entrepreneurs it’s a means to an end and it represents someone saying ‘well done’.”

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“With all this cash, I looked around and decided to invest in various companies.

The trigger point was somebody in London who said ‘you’ve done a fantastic job in pharmaceuticals but so what?’

“So I decided to look at various companies and test myself and see what I was capable of doing. The first two failed.”

But, six of the eight major investments he made in the aftermath of Galpharm have been successful. Earlier this year he also joined forces with marketing and business specialist

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Patrick Allen and finance expert Richard Smith to launch One Degree Capital, a consortium of funding sources aiming to provide the backing to help businesses across Yorkshire grow and succeed. It set out a £25m fund it plans to invest into the regional economy over the next three years, by backing up and coming businesses.

We meet in Leslie’s office in the sparkling new £12m 3M Buckley Innovation Centre (BIC) at the University of Huddersfield, where he serves as a visiting professor of >>

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ENTREPRENEUR enterprise and entrepreneurship.

Since the Galpharm exit, his shopping list has been long and varied. He initially invested in an equine product – a move which failed because “the damn thing didn’t work. We got it dead wrong”.

Then there was an investment in a business based around a kidney dialysis-related product.

“That was a very clever product and idea but it just needed so much funding,” he says of the business which failed after struggling to crack a market dominated by healthcare giants.

“It’s important to mention these failures because the other six I backed I got dead right. Sometimes you get them wrong and nothing’s guaranteed.”

Among the six successful vehicles that followed was Crest Medical – reportedly the largest first aid and occupational healthcare products business in the UK – and the related operation, Crest Logistics, which was formed in 2010 and won its first order of £9.8m soon after. Leslie remains chairman of this business.

Others include Farrar Construction, a joint venture currently developing a housing portfolio and Set Visions, a photography studio business which has a 3,000 sq ft space for lifestyle shoots and commercial product shots.

Then there was forensic science business Axiom.

“Have you ever tried to get money out of someone you’ve just bombed,” Leslie says, recounting the time the training and consultancy business won a Libyan contract just before the Gaddafi regime was overthrown.

“Libyan forensic scientists and the police force were here being trained when we decided to eliminate the ‘gentleman’. That’s not the best business model to set your business on. But they stayed here and we were able to deliver a very well trained forensic science team for the good of their country.”

Leslie is also chairman and backer of mother and baby products business Babyway International, which is run by his son Alex and exports to a number of overseas markets.

In all, Leslie reckons these post-Galpharm interests have a combined group turnover of around £32m and a 7.5% profit level.

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Fact file Galpharm, the pharmaceutical empire Graham Leslie set up in 1982, began life in a shed on Firth Street in Huddersfield and rapidly expanded, relocating first to Brighouse and then to purpose built premises in Dodworth on the outskirts of Barnsley.

The business was pioneering in lifting restrictions on which pharmaceuticals could be sold making them more freely available and accessible both in pharmacy and grocery outlets.

It is credited with saving the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds per year in both time and cost.

The firm blossomed into the UK’s largest licensed supplier of OTC and Healthcare medicines for both branded and private label customers and the largest in the world when it was subsequently acquired by the Perrigo Group in 2008 for US$88m.

In 1989 Leslie was elected to the Board of Huddersfield Town football club at a time when rugby league and football were in decline in the town. He served as chairman of the football club for a short time and determined to help the club and community by securing the future of football and rugby in the town.

In 1991 Leslie was elected the founder chairman of the Kirklees Stadium Development Company, and together with the then Leader of the Council, Sir John Harman created the world’s first green-field 25,000 seat stadium for football and rugby. Now known as the Galpharm Stadium it employs over 130 full time staff and is the home of the Huddersfield Giants rugby league team and Huddersfield Town AFC. Leslie’s charitable works include mentoring to business students at the University of Huddersfield, where in 2006 he was awarded and Honorary Doctorate of Business Administration. He is founder and creator of the “Ball of Balls” charity for prostate and testicular cancer research via the Orchid Trust. He is a supporter of many organisations and charities including the Prince’s Trust and has funded a number of community projects.

Until 2008 Leslie served on the Governments all party Health Select Committee, advising on national health policy.

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As well as providing vital funds to businesses, though, Leslie is also a source of great entrepreneurial expertise, having done what he calls his “apprenticeship” in a career that has meandered in many directions on its route from hardship to success.

“Some kids today set things up in their bedroom and they’re flying in year two and that’s technology.

“But for the majority of people, you’re in for a marathon, not a sprint and it’s important that you serve this apprenticeship.”

Leslie has certainly done that, taking in many experiences of working life to formulate the view he has today on what it takes to build success in business.

“I’ve had lots of nine-to-five jobs, I even had a brief career as a footballer as a reserve with Middlesbrough FC, then I became a hairdresser and was British champion at 18 and was later head hunted by Schwarzkopf cosmetics company before I told the truth about a certain colleague and they sacked me.”

That was at the start of the 1970s at a time when Leslie – who was born in Essex to Glaswegian parents and raised on a Teesside council estate from the age of five – found himself in the dole queue in Huddersfield.

“The dole was a fascinating experience.

I learned a lot about the inequalities of people’s lives, how people are very clever and manipulative to work the system to suit themselves, and about those bureaucrats who didn’t want to know the reality. I also learned I never wanted to be on the dole again.”

After applying for 30 jobs without success, his 31st attempt took him to Winthrop Pharmaceuticals. He eventually left after the company rejected his idea for a new business

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opportunity in pharmaceuticals. “I put some plans forward for a company which they said were rubbish so I went off and thought I’d have a go on my own.

His initial motivation was purely to “pay the mortgage” with the plans that became Galpharm and he ultimately made enough money to do this many times over.

Leslie is keen to save the finer details of his career – such as how he dined with two American Presidents – for his book and is much keener to talk about the ‘now’ rather than ‘then’. The hour we have together just isn’t long enough to journey in detail past his other milestones, like life at the helm of a football club or in advising the Government on key healthcare policy.

Unsurprisingly for someone in high demand for his entrepreneurial expertise – and capital – he’s pressed for time. Immediately after his meeting with BQ he’s off to sign the papers on a brand new investment which he’s clearly excited about.

Under the One Degree Capital umbrella, he’s been busy this year backing a number of rising businesses.

Alongside the funds on offer to these enterprises, there is also the added incentive of potentially tapping into the resources of the 3M BIC in Huddersfield.

“We’ll go into a company and analyse it. They may be wishing to sell it or grow it and we work out where we can help them through connections into the market place.”

Companies backed this year include Go Dine, a restaurant booking website, The Lazy Camper, which sells camping kits for festivals, and retailer Direct2Mum, another business run

by Leslie’s son Alex and generating revenue of £1m from online retailing this year.

Some kids set things up in their bedroom and they’re flying in year two. That’s technology. But for the majority you’re in for a marathon... and it’s important you serve that apprenticeship

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At One Degree Capital, Leslie is flanked by chief executive Patrick Allen, former marketing director of the Co-operative Group, where he helped to take the brand from outside Britain’s top 100 to number 24 in two years and number six in the retail brand sector.

Also on the One Degree Capital team is Richard Smith, who serves as acquisitions and investment finance director and formerly worked at Andersen Corporate Finance, dealing with mergers and acquisitions.

More recently, he was at Yorkshireman Lawrence Tomlinson’s LNT Group, where he managed the sale of more than £100m of care home assets.

As well as backing up and coming businesses, the trio is currently plotting an assault on the roadside filling stations market.

Leslie says: “We’re aiming to open between 20 and 30 in the next three years, making it a £40m-a-year turnover business. These would be rural filling stations in areas that don’t fit the profile of the big supermarkets, which work on footfall. We will work more on community service [provision].”

In the meantime there are many other interests in Leslie’s life to keep him busy, in business and in charity.

There is also his passionate dabbling in the music world.

“It’s my wedding anniversary today. We got married in Ripon Cathedral two years ago and I wrote the music that was arranged by my brother Hugh to be played in the Cathedral after we got married. “I’m not classically trained. I played the drums in the boy’s brigade in the 1950s and 60s and picked up guitar when I was 32. I was bored, had just got divorced and a guitar’s shaped like a woman anyway,” he laughs.

“My brother does all the arranging, I just come up with the lyrics and the themes and he thinks I’m fantastic because I’m not constrained by being classically trained and I think he’s awesome because he can read the dots and sit down anywhere in the world as a concert pianist and play any piece of music.”

With Leslie showing no signs of slowing down in business, or life in general, perhaps the author of his forthcoming book is already planning volume two. n

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in association with

BAND IT! The issue: How can we all maximise the opportunities created by superfast broadband and tomorrow’s technology applications to enhance the performance of Yorkshire businesses?

While many councils have put technology infrastructure investment on the back burner amid tough financial conditions in recent years, North Yorkshire County Council in partnership with BT has been leading the way in the rollout and promotion of superfast broadband.

With 90% coverage by the end of 2014 in the area, the end goal of full coverage is in sight – albeit beyond a number of challenging hurdles to overcome. With bodies like NYnet also pushing in the same direction, North Yorkshire has become the yardstick against which other superfast-hungry local authority areas are benchmarking themselves.

But here, and in the wider Yorkshire region, there is still more to be done in terms of raising awareness of just how superfast capabilities could transform businesses for the better. Whether that involves increasing their global competitiveness or merely saving on phone bills through VOIP technology,

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opportunities are being missed and a change of mindset is needed.

In public services there are also opportunities to transform the lives of residents, while also presenting sharp innovative companies with new markets to tap into.

Influential figures from the tech community, public and private sector and BT gathered to discuss these and other burning broadband issues in the stunning setting of Middlethorpe Hall Hotel, in York.

THE DEBATE: The discussion gets underway with a simple question for the gathered BT delegates on behalf of those yet to feel the benefits of superfast broadband: ‘When will they get their share?’

Trevor Higgins: “It’s a fact of life that the government has allocated a certain amount of money to provide superfast broadband but people closely involved in it realise it’s not

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Taking part Howard Ferguson, owner, Maspin House Garden Richard Flinton, chief executive, North Yorkshire County Council Bob Gommersall, founder, BTL Brian Greenwood, chief executive, BBG Consulting Tracey Watson, business support project manager, Nynet Limited David Shields, area director, Welcome to Yorkshire Simon Williams, regional chairman, North Yorkshire, Federation of Small Business Mark Fordyce, managing director, York Data Services Alastair MacColl, chief executive, BE Group David Richardson, chairman, Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust Chris Farrington, sales and business development director, Colour It In Trevor Higgins, regional partnership director, BT Tom Keeney, regional director, Yorkshire & Humber, BT Alan Ward, head of corporate ICT practice, BT Andrew Mernin, editor, BQ Yorkshire Magazine In the chair: Caroline Theobald BQ Live venue: Middlethorpe Hall Hotel, York BQ is highly regarded as a leading independent commentator on business issues, many of which have a bearing on the current and future success of the region’s business economy. BQ Live is a series of informative debates designed to further contribute to the success and prosperity of our regional economy through the debate, discussion and feedback of a range of key business topics and issues. enough to provide 100% coverage. Currently the money on the table has taken us to 90% for North Yorkshire so that does leave 10% of people suffering slower speeds. But there will be more progress because one of the conditions of the contract with North Yorkshire County Council is that we will provide a minimum of two megabits to anyone in the (project) intervention area. Clearly we’d like to do more than that and the question is what can we do? We are already speaking to the Government to see if they can release some more funding.”

Richard Flinton: “One of the key points of

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the North Yorkshire mantra is that we’ve got your [BT’s] teams on the ground. So it would be a terrible shame if there was suddenly a new funding round once you’d moved out and you had to start again and mobilise again”.

While Flinton and those representing BT around the table were unable to state exactly how much would be needed to achieve the last 10%, he assessed that “it’s not a vast sum of money”.

Bob Gommersall [whose organisation relies on reliable and secure technology to deliver e-assessment and e-learning programmes]: “It’s a drop in the ocean really. It’s ridiculous.”

The conversation turns to the role lobbying can play in pushing for the last 10% of superfast coverage in North Yorkshire. The importance of cross-party collaboration is also cited.

Howard Ferguson: “I think in terms of lobbying, there does seem to be slight mafia between Julian Smith [Skipton and Ripon MP], Julian Sturdy [York Outer MP], Nigel Adams [Selby and Ainsty MP] and Andrew Jones [Harrogate and Knaresborough MP] that’s very, very powerful when it puts its mind to things.”

The question is put to the public sector representatives around the table whether they have as much responsibility as their private sector counterparts to also lobby on the issue.

Richard Flinton: “We are speaking to every minister who has a remit around here. Whether it’s Defra [Department for environment, food and rural affairs] or BIS [Department for business, innovation and skills], we’re doing the lobbying. We’ve even had a session with William Hague [foreign secretary]. The problem we’ve had with BDUK

is that North Yorkshire has been successful but other parts of what the UK is trying to do is not. Therefore it’s under enormous scrutiny and pressure. And what we feel quite strongly about is that areas that have been successful should be rewarded and not held back because other parts of the country have not progressed at the right speed.”

Tom Keeney: “From a BT perspective, we’re not shy about the fact that there are areas that are more challenging than other areas.

There are some great examples where North Yorkshire has really got it, understood it and it’s really fantastic the way it’s going.

We now need to make sure we do that across the board. Small businesses are creating employment opportunities on the back of this and that for me makes it an obligation to [not] stop lobbying and asking for this to happen.

Mark Fordyce, raises the point that independent technology businesses like his, York Data Services, are readily available to help widen the reach of superfast broadband opportunities in Yorkshire. “Companies like us are very agile, very quick to market and have different technologies we can use. We utilise the Openreach network to get to the end of the line. We can actually deploy to a whole

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village with a cabinet next to a BT cabinet for £15,000. So it’s a no brainer. The small internet service providers (ISPs) have the agility to do these things.” He adds that the work done by BT in the last five years has made it “very easy indeed” for ISPs to play their part in the superfast coverage drive.

The group agrees that competition is a powerful driver not just in pushing down cost but also in fostering innovation.

Tracey Watson [representing NYnet, a public and private sector venture helping to deliver the next generation of broadband across the county]: “Because of the cost of putting the fibre out to the rural areas, you need some sort of return on that and there’s a lot of maintenance as well so you need the numbers to take it up, which comes back to our point about getting the message out there to businesses as well as the consumers – all you are really dealing with is people and they live in rural areas. So getting that message out to them about how we can help them, how we can benefit them and their businesses, rather than just making them think we’re trying to sell them broadband [is really important].” She cites the example of one business her organisation worked with which cut its phone costs by >>

We utilise the Openreach network to get to the end of the line. We can actually deploy to a whole village with a cabinet next to a BT cabinet

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£1,000 per month after upgrading to superfast. Such businesses are sceptical about the benefits of superfast, she says, until they see the real savings and benefits it can bring.

“So how do we get that message out to businesses without people thinking it’s a sell?”

Richard Flinton: “We’ve invested in a number of individuals to go round to raise the profile and explain what makes broadband worthwhile, rather than just putting fibre in or cables in and take-up not actually improving.”

Howard Ferguson says people are interested in it, having witnessed a recent launch event which attracted decent numbers. “What I found most interesting was that the average age of people that signed up as trailblazers to trial it I reckon was about 70.”

He also says he is increasingly coming across retired people who are showing a greater interest in superfast broadband.

Moving to the other end of the age scale, what role do children have in this, asks Caroline Theobald.

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Tom Keeney: “Children are absolutely pushing for this. Going by my kids and their friends, they are talking about it. They can’t play video games and do the things as fast as they want to do without it.”

Brian Greenwood: “I think the games in particularly are the things that are going to drive the market place.”

Mark Fordyce: “Technology always grows to fix the new mould and as we expand, technology expands into it. It used to be about one householder getting the lion share of what’s coming in, but now we’ve got smart TVs accessing the internet, you’ve got gaming

going on in kids’ bedrooms. So it’s about multiple users.”

David Shields: “Is there some way we can utilise younger people and the younger market to get more people using superfast broadband and everything associated with it?”

Brian Greenwood: “I think we certainly need transformational projects. I remember a few years ago a brilliant initiative utilising broadband technology in one local authority.

The chief executive told me he wanted to utilise broadband in social care because ‘90% of my carers’ time is spent driving from one place to another’. Why can’t we use the technology to bring the carer into the home and make massive productivity in that area?

This was years ago and now virtual reality to bring granny into the home for tea for social interaction is imminently doable isn’t it.

But we’re still not doing it. If you really start thinking about it from a public sector point of view and taking big projects and driving them out into the community, these holes get filled very quickly. And that will drive business.”

David Richardson [who earlier said he was interested in seeing how superfast can help grow the capabilities of tele-healthcare within the NHS] says: “There are a growing number of people who are quite able to move around their house but sometimes just need a little bit of care. But we have this constant procession of district nurses and various other people. If you had the technology where the occupant could notify a control centre just to say, ‘I’m getting out of bed now or going to the toilet’ and then a system that would be activated if they tripped or fell, for example, you’d save so much money using just technology. It’s not 24 hour surveillance, just choosing when someone watches, such as when carrying out a task like boiling a kettle. It would save care workers, social workers and nurses. It’s kind of

Is there some way we can utilise younger people and the younger market to get more people using superfast braodband and everything associated with it?

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creeping along but we need a step change.”

Bob Gommersall: “Well it’s interesting how these things go. Disruptive things like that tend to go slower than you expected and then suddenly they lift off and we’ve seen this in education and training and I think the same thing is going to happen in care. One of the things we’re looking at is the idea of a ‘smoking chimney’. In the old days, if the chimney was smoking you knew that granny was ok. So we are looking at ways of making sure the kettle’s been turned on and normal things are happening. What’s quite clear is people are not happy with the alarm concept, they are happy that we are monitoring them that they are OK. It will pick up very quickly.

Mark Fordyce: “It’s a mindset thing as much as a technology thing. Until you get this mindset change in terms of a pattern that will work in care, technology will follow.

Because it’s already there. Something has to change in the mindset before technology can adapt to it.”

Tom Keeney offered the example of how internet shopping took off after initial scepticism, to explain how mindsets might change in the future to enable broadband to play a bigger impact on people’s lives.

“At first nobody spent money on the internet and now we do it without thinking. So that’s the mindset change that social care, healthcare might see. You’ll get a tipping point, like that one Christmas when internet sales went through the roof. Sometimes private sector trends pave the way for public sector ones.”

Bob Gommersall: “What you find with these types of things is that when the price comes down so much they just get the credit card out and pay for it themselves because they can’t be bothered to wait for the local authority to do it. And I think that’s what’s going to happen in care and health.”

Gommersall’s company is currently experiencing growth because what he calls the “digital natives” – those who have grown up using the internet - have reached an age of around 30 where they are the decision makers.

“There all kinds of organisations that are able to make decisions and say we want it to happen in learning or health. So this is what’s driving it.

“They are only 30 at the moment but give them another 10 years and they’ll be running most British industries so, by that point, it really will have taken off. We need to get the [technology] infrastructure in place because it is going to be used.”

Alastair MacColl: “What interests me about these issues is that, you wonder if people are having similar discussions in Brazil, China or parts of Europe. I think that’s a massive issue because our ability to go to market with a small digital business or a construction company that’s developing new products or something like that, is going to run up against stiffer competition unless you enter that market at a reasonably early stage. I think that’s the mindset we need to have. How do you sustain the progressive investment that’s already been made and accelerate it to target key sectors and some of these big flagship opportunities?

Alan Ward: “It’s like the concept of data gravity where you’ll see businesses coming round in a particular sector quite often driven because there’s data and expertise there.

So how do you start that snowball here in

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Yorkshire? In Boston it’s pharmaceuticals.

What’s York going to be famous for?”

Alastair MacColl: “You might have, as we do at the moment [in North Yorkshire], an approach that goes right across the patch which is necessary and good and very worthwhile at generating results. But you might just choose one or two key areas to say, ‘we’re really going to put a lot more weight behind those areas because the dividend is so huge.”

Mark Fordyce: “I think infrastructure players and ISPs need to sit down with the punters and publishers and have that process where we’re educating each other. You don’t want to be in a position where you’re building a bigger swimming pool and you’re just putting more water into it because you can. You need to be educating about the fact that you’re building technologies that can utilise that delivery mechanism better. So it’s an education process about how we can utilise what we have in the best possible way to allow innovation to happen.”

Tracey Watson: “In terms of a culture change, people have been talking about >>

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businesses being adapted and trying to stretch out to consumers. We’re actually finding the opposite in some cases, in that it’s surprising how many people we go to see that don’t yet use internet banking with their business for example. They use it personally but for some reason, not for their business, so it is an educational thing.”

The conversation moves to focus on small businesses and what opportunities there are for them by getting more involved in superfast broadband. Talk of the pressing need for a culture change continues however.

Simon Williams: “It’s amazing how many businesses say they can’t get superfast broadband because they are not with BT. So it’s the education that they can actually get it through other suppliers. And that’s not there.”

Mark Fordyce adds that there is a lot of misinformation in the market from unscrupulous ISPs which is hindering this education process.

Alastair MacColl: “It takes a while for the message to take hold and it has to be a sustained effort.” Mark Fordyce agrees, especially, as he explains, for some businesses even an extra £20 a month for a significantly higher broadband offering is a turnoff.

Trevor Higgins: “The easy bit is sorting the infrastructure. The difficult bit is actually driving demand in the marketplace.” He goes on to praise the work of the local authority in North Yorkshire in getting the case across for superfast broadband and generating passion in areas like Ripon – which suffered from poor connectivity in the past – among residents and businesses around the issue.

“My suspicion is that North Yorkshire is going

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to have fantastic take up.”

Tracey: “There is still some misunderstanding out there that you actually don’t have to do anything to get superfast broadband. When they get a flyer saying fibre has arrived they don’t realise they actually have to proactively go out and do sign up to get it. A lot of people have said ‘we’ve got it in our area and I can’t see any difference’.”

Simon Williams raises the point that some of the language used by service providers to push superfast could be more relevant to businesses and the benefits they can feel from it, rather than just households. “I want to know how it’s going to work for me.”

After Howard Ferguson explains the role his local village newsletter has played in raising the awareness of and interest in superfast broadband. Publishing expert Chris Farrington says the answer to pushing broadband may transversely lie in a traditional medium: “How do people find out about broadband? It is through the printed word.

Just think of the number of schools and businesses that use printed newsletters,” he says.

BT must reach out to their customers’ offline as well as online, he adds.

“It’s amazing how unaware they are.”

Brian Greenwood: “I don’t think the medium is the issue, if you want something you’ll find out about it on whatever medium. I think the problem is trying to sell technology to people who don’t buy technology. They buy benefits the technology gives them, so the focus needs to be on benefits, not the technology.”

He draws parallels between superfast broadband and the case of 3D TV - a technology struggling to take off because people don’t really fathom exactly what the benefits are of it. “They are selling the technology and not the benefits,” he says.

“What is my business going to get out of it?”

Alastair MacColl: “But it is a pretty complex market and not one size fits all.

But I think business organisations have to take some responsibility to generate interest and galvanise that momentum. I think it’s starting to happen but I do think the message has to be very carefully targeted in quite a complex market.”

Caroline Theobald suggests that there may be important lessons to learn from those around the table that have disruptive technologies, in terms of getting their message out and challenging old ways of thinking.

There is some misunderstanding that you don’t have to do anything to get superfast broadband. When they get a flyer saying fibre has arrived they don’t realise they have to go out and sign up

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Among them is Bob Gommersall: “I knew 30 years ago this was going to happen as soon as the micro-computer came out.

I’m convinced what’s driving it is just the youngsters growing up with the internet and becoming decision- makers.”

Tom Keeney, having seen how highly his own children regard fast internet capabilities, believes this trend will continue. “But I think there’s a bit of a gap and I don’t think we can wait on young people coming through. I think it’s a leadership challenge to accelerate that.”

Bob Gommersall: “If we don’t sell services to the world, they’ll sell them to us and it is about getting in there first. We need to persuade more people to get in there and start using it. The great thing about it for small businesses is that it’s just as easy for a small business to get in as it is for a big business to get in.”

Of course, social media has its own important role to play, says Alan Ward: “The way things take off is virally.” The audiences interested in superfast may be a reflection of the mediums used to promote it, he poses.

Mark Fordyce: “If we don’t get it right, what’s going to happen is, like we are seeing in Australia and America, is that the large content providers are becoming the infrastructure providers of tomorrow. Google is going to outrun all you guys and they’ll come here at some point and they will build it.

Large organisations like BT need to be looking at these young innovative companies that are going to harness this technology. Partner with these guys and ride the train with them.”

As the debate draws towards its conclusion, a call goes out for any other business. David Shields points out that there has been no mention of one of North Yorkshire’s biggest industries, farming, and how it might benefit from superfast broadband: “We are already working to promote a lot of the activities and workshops. One of the biggest industries in North Yorkshire is farming. That’s a whole area that still needs to be cracked.” Tracey Watson interjects to say that her organisation, NYNET, does have an upcoming event aimed at tackling just that issue.

What about local enterprise partners – what role can they play following the demise of regional development agencies (RDAs)?

Delegates admit LEPs have picked up the baton of promoting superfast, alongside councils and the private sector, but they are doing it with a much reduced budget than was previously afforded such activities.

Alastair MacColl: “RDAs had this big single pot to play with and I think local authorities have tried to step into the breach in their efforts for economic development with things like broadband and there is a growing coalition gathering around them and the LEPs. But in the longer term, with a government that’s tended to be less interventional in terms of supporting business, what happens? How do you get together the necessary funds to make things happen? Do you have to move towards the model where you’ve got an LEP that has to be a major player in that area or do you have businesses that have some sort of enlightened self interest in the project in some way contributing in that? I think at some point there’s almost a new commercial model [developing] to underpin some of the development of these projects that really in the past would have had central government investment. I’m not proposing that but I think what we have at the moment is still developing.”

Mark Fordyce: “From our perspective it’s about joined up thinking and shared knowledge. Where there are gaps they are not funding gaps, they are knowledge gaps.

It’s about getting together and not being seen as competitors, but coming together for the common good. I would love to sit down with BT and work out an area that isn’t commercially viable for them because there isn’t the critical mass, but it’s worthwhile for us. And we sit and work out a solution together as a partnership. That’s the sort of thinking that’s needed.”

Richard Flinton: “If the reality is that, for a small amount of money, we could finish off the rest of the 10% but that money is not forthcoming, then we just need that flexibility and innovation from partners around the piece saying what they’ll be prepared to do.

BT is part of that, we are part of that and others are too and maybe we just need that collective thinking.”

Hopefully debates such as this can only encourage that. n

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DEBATE

We need to plan for the benefits and opportunities that fibre broadband brings The importance of effective, reliable, fast communications has never been so vital.

Communication is the cornerstone of a successful community, helping it to build new skills and knowledge, as well as encouraging the creation of new businesses and jobs.

To underpin this, BT is working to enhance the broadband network across the region.

Its ongoing commercial roll-out of superfast fibre broadband will bring more than 1.4 million homes and businesses around Yorkshire and The Humber within reach of the new technology by the end of Spring 2014, as part of a £2.5 billion UK-wide investment programme.

In the areas of the region where it’s not commercially viable for a network provider to invest in faster broadband, BT is keen to further invest and work with the public sector to bring faster services to the more difficult to reach areas. Superfast North Yorkshire is one such project which builds on BT’s commercial investment so that 90 per cent of North Yorkshire homes and businesses – some 365,000 premises – will have access to broadband speeds of up to 80Mbps by the end of 2014. North Yorkshire is the first county in the UK to successfully deploy Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) funds and has already made fibre broadband available to more than 23,000 homes and businesses – it’s a great example of what partnerships can do.

BT can work with other local stakeholders to develop plans to extend next generation broadband to even more parts of the region. But building a new, future-proof infrastructure is only part of the challenge facing the region. Exploiting its many benefits to the full often requires key cultural changes and courage. It’s vital the public and private sectors continue to work together to facilitate this because the rewards are many.

Tom Keeney, Regional Director, Yorkshire & Humberside, BT

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BUSINESS LUNCH

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BUSINESS LUNCH

INTRIGUING PINTS

The backer behind one of the world’s most famous crime fiction festivals, held here in Yorkshire, has its own tale of intrigue to tell, as Andrew Mernin discovers over lunch with champion brewer Simon Theakston It was the sort of sticky day that sidelined this old town every once in a while. Thirst sharpened by the baking heat, I sloped up to the bar and ordered the usual.

Meanwhile, like bubbles in a case of club soda, questions rose up in my mind. What was about to go down? What was that intoxicating smell? And just why was a brewer so entangled in the murky world of crime? Or rather crime fiction? The target arrived, the tape slid to record and the interrogation began...

“It’s such an old brand, we wanted to find a different way of positioning it,” says Simon Theakston sat across the table in The White Bear Hotel, which is filled with the sweet smell of traditional brewing.

“When the crime festival came along people wondered what on earth we were doing getting involved but there are some really good connections and good reasons for it.”

The Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival has been backed by the brewer for 10 years now and Simon has witnessed its blossoming into an event with truly global pull – for both writers and their army of fans.

“It’s completely unusual as a vehicle for sponsorship,” he says, but at closer inspection, the link between Theakston ales and crime yarns is perhaps not so obscure.

The ‘Peculier of Masham’ pictured on its most popular brew, itself has close connotations with crime and punishment.

It’s a tale Simon – an avid fiction fan - retells with pleasure, meandering from the crusades to heroics from the Knights Templar and the rise of bandits hidden in wooded Yorkshire.

The very short version is that, with Masham given to York Minster in mediaeval times, it was difficult for the archbishop to travel to rule over the town, especially with highwaymen

waiting to pounce on passing tax collectors.

And so a peculiar court was set up in Masham to keep law and order.

This year’s festival runs from 18 to 21 July in Harrogate and will bring the likes of Ruth Rendell, Lee Child, Jeanette Winterson and Ian Rankin to the town along with visitors from all over the world.

Theakston has marked the occasion with the creation of its own concocted poison, A Shot in the Dark.

“Anything that helps boost tourism in the area must be worth supporting. But also the crime festival appeals to people overseas and Old Peculier has historically had a large following particularly in the US, from where a lot of people come to the festival. So it also allows us to promote the brand to a wider audience.”

It’s been ten years since the company set up

by Simon’s great-great grandfather Robert Theakston in 1827 was brought back into the family after years of being managed by outsiders.

“The brewing industry in Britain has gone through periodic upheavals and there was terrific consolidation in the 1980s so we’ve been victim of various takeover battles.”

The company was bought by Blackburn based brewer Matthew Brown plc in 1984, which was in turn bought by Scottish & Newcastle

(S&N) in 1987. Theakston’s Carlisle brewery was closed and some brewing was transferred to Tyneside.

“Over the years my brothers and I recognised that S&N had acquired other entities like John Smiths and we could see the emphasis was moving away from Theakston. It was at that point that we started to realise a potential opportunity to take Theakston’s back.”

An approach was made in 2001 and, 18 months later, negotiations began.

A much publicised chapter in the fabric of Theakston’s back story is the creation of the Black Sheep Brewery, also in Masham. Paul Theakston – Simon’s second cousin, with their grandfathers being brothers – left his post of managing director at Theakston’s in 1988 and set up Black Sheep.

It was a stormy time for the business but any rifts in the family have since dispersed, according to Simon.

“It’s nearly 30 years ago now so it’s part of our history. It’s part of our rich common history that we both went through this and the outshot is that Paul runs Black Sheep and we run Theakston’s.

“I’m sure that my great grandfather would be immensely proud of the fact that two of his great grandsons run entirely independent brewing companies >>

The challenge for the industry is to ensure pubs operate in a way relevant to modern Britain. I’m absolutely confident about the long-term future of the pub trade

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BUSINESS LUNCH

in his home town of Masham.”

The deal to wrest back control of the business from S&N was finally completed in 2003.

“Our father lived long enough to see the return of the company back to the family.

He died in 2005.

“We had to build a business case that said, if we were to take back Theakston’s, why would it be any better than it is at the moment.

“The arguments came down to the fact that the control of a family business by members of the family injects a passion that is difficult to replicate in a large plc and with that passion comes focus and focus leads to investment in brands and support and promotional activities.

“Our business plan was predicated on new brand development, investment in the brewery, increasing marketing support and all of the conventional tools that are available to any business that wishes to grow.

“And that is what we’ve done. We’ve implemented our plan and our first 10 years

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have pretty much gone according to plan and we’re very, very excited about the prospects for the future.”

Highlights in those 10 years include the development of the Masham brewery which paved the way in 2009 for the return of brewing Theakston Bitter in the town. A growing global footprint has also emerged.

“In 2003 the international side of Theakston was fairly limited and so when we took it back we recognised a future opportunity for expanding the availability of our brands in the wider geography across the world. We’re now exporting to at least 18 countries throughout the world.”

The US has been a particularly fertile market for the firm, driven in part by a heightened thirst for craft ales.

“For generations the US market has been dominated by major international brewers to the point where there are only five or six major companies.

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“But I think what we’ve been doing here in Britain, brewing for generations, and showing the infinite variety of flavours, tastes and styles, has prodded American consumers into broadening their appreciation of beers of a different kind and style.

“This has lead to a massive growth in craft beer where consumers are being delighted by the variety of flavours tastes and styles of a new style of beer and it’s becoming incredibly popular.

“So when students of the subject investigate it to see where it originated from, their search brings them back to the UK and to ales like Old Peculier.”

As well as the US, Simon says the group is also making good progress in Brazil and has just sent its first consignments to Japan and China.

Europe remains patchy, he says, with Germany “dominated by thousands of strong brewers”.

A perhaps surprising pocket of interest in Masham-made ales has appeared in Italy.

“It’s really catching on there. It has a wonderful heritage of wine and food which is central to their cultural activities. The thing about English ale which is dramatically different from lager is that there’s so much going on in a glass of bitter in terms of profile; the presentation, taste and sensation of drinking it. They have a culture that appreciates the taste of English ale.” And what of Theakston’s home market?

“It’s fair to say that the UK beer market has been in long term gentle decline since 1979.

Gone are the heavy industries of coal and ship building which were the backbone of brewing industry output and today beer drinking is much more about a pleasure pursuit rather than a life essential.

“Within that gentle decline though, we’re seeing a resurgent interest in traditional beers and that plays straight into our hands.

“I’m not naive enough to think this will go on forever but right now it’s all about traditional cask conditioned beer. As a consequence I’m pleased to say we’re enjoying the benefits of one of those upturns in the great cycle.

“People like authenticity, provenance and natural ingredients. Also the world is getting smaller and consumers across the world have far greater access to brands on an international basis than they ever did before and so, without being overly dramatic about it, the

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world’s our oyster for the British brewing industry right now.”

Pub closures are the yardstick used to measure the state of the UK market and a report from the Campaign for Real Ale published in May showed that 26 pubs were shutting in the UK each week, compared to 18 a week a few months earlier. The Government says it is doing what it can to arrest the decline – cutting beer duty by the equivalent of 1p a pint in the March budget, doubling small business rate relief and reducing corporation tax to 20% - all of which it says will support

BUSINESS LUNCH

small community pubs. At the same time, bigger pub chains are finding new areas to exploit, evidenced by JD Wetherspoon’s motorway service station plans. Incidentally, Simon thinks this is a “marvellous” idea.

“Just because you’re on the side of a motorway doesn’t make you any more likely to have a drink there than in a pub by the side of the road.” But the plight of the community pub is an issue close to Simon’s heart.

He’s chairman of the not-for-profit organisation, Pub is the Hub, which advises rural pubs on

A bit of all white The White Bear Hotel is a pretty handy lunching spot for Simon Theakston, given that it’s a Theakston pub and is attached to his family’s brewery – physically as well as in business terms.

Five years ago, redevelopment at the site, which was formerly part of the brewery, saw it transformed into a 14 bedroom hotel and it is now also blossoming into a conference and wedding venue.

When BQ paid a visit on a sunny day in early summer, it was easy to see why a growing number of businesses are using it for their annual management meetings.

“Because we’re eight miles from the A1 we are sufficiently off the beaten track, but not too hard to get to. In my experience those people who have meetings here find it so calm and quiet that they feel incredibly reflective and creative so they can really get into the bones of their businesses without the distractions of telephones or traffic.”

The venue recently hosted its first wedding fair and Simon sees this as a growing market.

The pub and restaurant menu delivers everything expected of a quality country ale house, and is bursting with locally sourced produce.

Simon, who usually only has time for a sandwich here in the working week, chooses the Dales lamb shank washed down with a pint of Theakston Best Bitter.

I have teriyaki salmon which is delicious and suitably portioned for a summer’s afternoon.

Instead of dessert we close our meeting over a pint of Theakston’s. As if Simon would have had it any other way.

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broadening their services. It aims to encourage the matching of community needs with additional services that can be provided by the local pub.

“The death knell of the pub is premature,” he says. “The historical impact suggests that because we lost all of these big industries, then people no longer have to go to the pubs nowadays. But pubs today are more about recreational services and the pub population is bound to reflect that.

“In my view, pubs are very much part of what we do today and they’ll be very much part of what we do tomorrow. Pubs are one of the few places where people feel completely comfortable.

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re a duke or a dustman, you can go to the bar with a pint of beer and it’s a wonderful place to meet – and there’s no question that the old half pint may make you relax a bit and able to engage.

“Invariably that’s a really important role – particularly in a society where people are consumed by personal experiences on computers, consoles, smartphones and in messaging rather than speaking.

“The challenge for the industry is to make sure pubs are operating in a way that is relevant to modern day Britain. But I’m absolutely confident about the long term future of the pub trade. You ask people coming from overseas on holiday, in a list of the first things they want to do here, the traditional pub will feature highly in that.”

For now Simon is left to ponder the long term future of the family business and the issue of succession looming large in the background.

“My ambition is to pass our family company on to the next generation. My brothers and I have eight children between us and I want to find the next generation but they are all a bit too young yet and, like any father, I wouldn’t want to map out a career for my children.

“But being a member of the family always brings a passion which is difficult to replicate.”

Meanwhile the Theakstons have “absolutely no plans” to sell the business. “It’s taken a long time to get it back,” says Simon.

Good job too. Letting one of Yorkshire’s most traditional brands get swallowed up by a corporation again really would be a crime. n

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

SUCCESS STORY

SUMMER 13

WATCH THIS SPACE

Hard graft, a few risks along the way and some forward thinking has helped to cultivate a technology success story in a rural corner of the LS district. Andrew Mernin meets Blue Logic’s Dave Helm to find out more

Hidden at the end of a 100 metre tree lined path, behind hedgerows down a country lane somewhere near Leeds, is the unlikely home of one of Yorkshire’s fastest growing IT firms.

Blue Logic, at Bramley Grange – a stately home converted into a technology hub – is enjoying a growth spurt and is now plotting expansion into new territories and product areas.

With a 50-strong team and some fairly heavyweight clients on board today, it’s hard to imagine that just six years ago the business consisted of a computer and telephone in a room without even a desk or chair. But this is how it began. Dave Helm, having just left a well paying job, sat on the floor and worked the phone frantically as he set about drumming up clients for his new business.

Helm, like fellow Blue Logic director Chris Ambler, and some other members of the team, previously worked for Yorkshire IT group BCS, which later became part of TSG following a takeover.

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Having decided to go it alone in business, Helm recalls: “Myself and Chris [Ambler] raised the money to set up the business ourselves and remortgaged our houses. It was quite scary when I was seeing money going out of the business for equipment and furniture and I was thinking, ‘there’s no money coming in yet’. I had to try and turn things around pretty quickly.

“It was a bit crazy to be honest. I was speaking to as many businesses as I could, trying to become a trusted partner of companies with a

customer base we could market into.”

An entire career spent in IT had given Helm a broad range of skills which shaped the services his new business was offering.

“I’m an ex-engineer from old really and moved into an account manager role halfway through my career and learned how to sell the consultancy from a consultant’s point of view. Engineering wise I had done it all from fixing printers, monitors, PCs and laptops, moving on to doing migrations and installing servers.” >>

We look at the market and whether it’s worth doing something in-house or piggy-backing on a relationship with someone to give better rounded sevice

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SUCCESS STORY

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SUCCESS STORY

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I thought, had I made a wrong decision? I had left a comfortable job and was earning good money.

But then I landed five contracts in one day

The first real breakthrough for the business came two weeks into its trading life.

“I was starting to get bit worried, with my mortgage on the line, and it got to that point where I thought, had I made a wrong decision? I had left a comfortable job and was earning good money. But then I landed five contracts in one day. The contracts involved looking after the clients’ whole computer networks, whether that was the server, the

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network, PC, internet and emails. I was basically supporting their whole business from an IT point of view. I did the work myself initially so I was selling, buying [hardware and software], commissioning it, installing it and supporting it.”

By the time Chris Ambler had joined the business, it was starting to find its feet and by the end of the first year had a small team of six. It even had its first acquisition under its

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belt, having bought a firm called Premier IT out of liquidation for a cut-price £12,000 deal.

“Turnover wise we’d have been happy if we’d done about £300,000 to £400,000 in the first year. We actually did £650,000,” Helm says.

“In the second year, because of our reputation, more and more people started contacting us and it got to the point where we were saying ‘no, you’re too big’ to £200m turnover businesses who were asking us to deal with contracts worth £20,000. We told them we could manage them the following year, but not then with our team of six.

“I think it’s important to be honest in situations like that. Otherwise your reputation goes down, and you can end up spending all your time trying to fire-fight because you’re not ready or you don’t have the backing to do something good.

“What I was most surprised about was the fact that I had customers whom I’d been dealing with from being 18-years-old telling me they want to be on board and see what we could offer.” Part of Helm’s motivation to set up in business initially was his frustration with an industry in which policies and procedures often hindered customer service delivery. Since those heady early days, the company has established itself as a sizeable force, covering IT support, installation, business software, web services, networks and electricals. Helm attributes much of the company’s success to the firm’s carefully

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constructed team. At the end of last year, turnover was at £3.5m and next year is expected to rise to around the £4.2m mark. In the next five to 10 years, the firm is hopeful of building up a 100-strong workforce and soaring past £10m annual turnover. As well as its office in LS14, the company has a site in Hull, which opened six months ago.

“There are only two or three major IT companies in Hull but there are some really big organisations. So we see a lot of potential in that market.” Looking forward, the company is keen to gain a foothold in Manchester – a strategic location that would open up other parts of the country. The first thing we’ve got to do is master and dominate in this space but we are looking to cover the whole M62 area which at some point might mean we have a Manchester office. That would give us really big coverage when you think two hours north and two hours south covers Nottingham to the

SUCCESS STORY

Welsh border up to Newcastle and across. That would definitely allow us to get to £10m.”

National coverage, meanwhile, is being enabled through Blue Logic’s involvement in a network of IT businesses which allows the firm to tap into the resources of others. Should a client need some on-site assistance at its London office, for example, Blue Logic can oblige using the resources of fellow members of the consortium. In terms of new markets, Helm outlines “the cloud,” disaster recovery and business continuity as areas bringing new opportunities to the company. He says: “One thing we do not do is jump into new markets.

We try to stay close to our competitors and we’ve found a lot of them have spent a fortune trying to put in new solutions that have hampered their growth in other areas.

“So what we try to do is look at the market and whether it’s worth doing something in-house or piggy-backing on a

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relationship with someone else to give a better rounded service.

“An example of this is with hosted services.

We’ve seen companies pushing their clients into the cloud but they’ve been too early to adopt the technology and gone in too quickly, resulting in customer dissatisfaction.

“So we’ve researched the market and found a really good hosted provider that specialises in just doing that.” Since its inception, the business has made three acquisitions, and more could follow as it looks to realise its growth plans. “We’re always looking to acquire new businesses,” says Helm.

“We’re also looking to get into the enterprise space to deliver a fully managed service. We wanted to become the complete IT team for clients so we would have one of our guys there full time. That space is looking particularly good at the moment and we’ve already got some high level customers.” n

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

TEXEL ON WINE

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MONKS CLICK ON Lindsay Texel, partner at Squire Sanders tells us that taste impresses as monastic skills mount It is a poorly kept secret amongst my friends, family and clients that my drink of choice is always a Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region of New Zealand. That is if Champagne isn’t on offer…

However, an opportunity to sample and review a sparkling white and sparkling rosé was one I couldn’t turn down, if only in the hope that I could be tempted away from the comfort zone of a bottle of Cloudy Bay. The lovely people at Lewis & Cooper did not disappoint, providing a bottle of Saint-Hilaire Blanquette de Limoux Brut 2010 and a New World Chilean Santa Digna Estelado Rosé.

The information on the Saint-Hilaire back label piquéd my interest before I had even opened the bottle declaring Saint-Hilaire Blanquette de Limoux to be the world’s oldest sparkling wine, created by the Benedictine Monks of the Abbey of Saint-Hilaire over 450 years ago; more than 100 years before the first Champagne. Ever the lawyer, I felt some further research was necessary to properly appreciate the history of the wine. From an area of southern France in the Pyrenean foothills, just south of Carcassonne, Limoux is a town at the centre of this area and for centuries has lent its name to the local sparkling wine. In 1531, the Benedictine Monks were producing a still wine made from the Mauzac grape and stumbled upon bottles going through secondary fermentation. The appellation of Blanquette de Limoux was born and it is still made in the same traditional way.

There was a very satisfying pop when the cork was removed, and the wine was very lively once poured. It smelt quite zesty and had a fruity flavour of apples and pear. Light and

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crisp, to me it was just as good as a quality non-vintage Champagne and very drinkable.

The monks have clearly moved on in their marketing practices though as the wine now has its own Facebook page. I had no hesitation in clicking “Like”!

Turning to the Santa Digna I was surprised to find that this was part of the world renowned Torres family vineyards. Associated normally with the Spanish wines they produce, the Chilean label is signified with a Llama rather than a Bull. This too has an interesting history being the first sparkling wine made with 100% “Pais” grapes, Chile’s oldest varietal, dating from the 16th Century. According to the back label, the “Pais” grape was historically grown by a large number of small farmers but when the first French vines were introduced to Chile in 1850 was then forgotten in time until it was recently discovered for making top quality wine. With a “Fair for Life” certification on the front, each bottle of sparkling “Pais” consumed today helps to create demand and, as a result, better conditions for the winegrowers of Chile.

The Santa Digna is refreshingly dry, with a crisp flavour, plenty of red fruits and great bubbles.

Pale rosé in colour in a simple yet elegant bottle, sipping it evoked memories of sunshine and holidays. No mean feat given that I was tasting it on a grey day in June.

This wine is extremely versatile. It would be just as much at home as an aperitif or with cold meats and tapas. It is a wine to share however much you would prefer to enjoy it all to yourself!

New Zealanders may not be happy but I think I may have just broadened my wine drinking horizons! n

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The wines provided were Saint-Hilaire Blanquette de Limoux Brut 2010, priced at £12.99 per bottle, and New World Chilean Santa Digna Estelado Rosé, ask in store for price. Both available at Lewis & Cooper, which has stores in Northallerton, Harrogate and Yarm. www.lewisandcooper.co.uk

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TEXEL ON WINE

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MOTORING

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Sleek yet muscular

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MOTORING

BMW640d Gran Coupe review by Dave Paterson, Partner and Corporate Lawyer at Blacks Solicitors LLP

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BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

MOTORING

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I was delighted to be asked by BQ to test drive the BMW 640d Gran Coupe but I must admit, not being a car connoisseur, I was a little hesitant when I was told that I would have to write a review. However, within five minutes of driving the BMW 640d Gran Coupe my hesitation disappeared and the performance and feel of the car made the task of writing this review much easier.

I currently drive a Volvo XC60, which after receiving advice from my wife, we chose for comfort and safety. The Volvo is a great car but obviously not in the same class as the BMW 640d Gran Coupe. However, I have been fortunate enough in the past to have driven a TVR Tuscan and an Aston Martin Vantage so I have had some experience of driving more powerful cars.

When BQ told me that I would be test driving a BMW I must admit I was a little bit disappointed. I knew I would be reviewing a “high end car” and being a subscriber to BQ Magazine I had seen other reviewers get the pleasure of reviewing a Porsche 911 and Aston Martin DB9 (amongst others). However, my initial disappointment quickly dissipated once I saw the car I was to test drive “in the flesh”.

The BMW 640d Gran Coupe really is a fine-looking car and I was pleasantly surprised by how many lingering looks the car got. The BMW 640d Gran Coupe is a seriously impressive machine in terms of looks and driveability with its elongated shark like nose and long and low chassis giving it a sleek yet powerful, even muscular appearance.

Make no mistake about it, the BMW 640d

Inside you have the comfort and space of a large saloon but are as close to the ground as in most sports cars

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Gran Coupe is a large car but its size does not detract from the enjoyable driving experience it provides. The bucket style/sports front seats are extremely spacious yet do not compromise the space of the passengers seated in the rear.

Four adults more than comfortably fitted in the car for a journey across the M62 from Leeds to

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Manchester. From a practical perspective the BMW 640d Gran Coupe has a very large boot albeit, (as our friends with children who had in mind fitting a pram in the boot pointed out), the opening to the boot is disproportionately small to boot space itself.

The BMW 640d Gran Coupe I drove was the

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elite model and top of its range. It had all the ‘mod cons’ including; heads up display, 10” screen for sat nav and on board computer display (split screen functionality), climate control, sunroof and surround view cameras.

All in all the cockpit is beautifully designed and executed with a spacious raised central console, which was initially mildly daunting with the joystick and all the dials and controls, but after a few minutes familiarising myself with the controls they were very easy to get to

grips with and straightforward to operate. The heads up display, whilst at first a little unusual, is a very good addition to the overall driving experience especially whilst used in conjunction with the sat nav.

Now to the performance of the car. The BMW 640d Gran Coupe is full of elegant power and was a real pleasure to drive. The TVR Tuscan I’d driven previously had “raw power” and was a totally different driving experience altogether.

The BMW 640d Gran Coupe has all the power

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MOTORING

of the TVR Tuscan but with a refined elegance and control to it. Inside the car you have the comfort and space of a large saloon but are as close to the ground as you would be in most sports cars, serving to enhance the driving experience further. On the motorway the BMW 640d Gran Coupe was an extremely comfortable and smooth drive and on overtaking the response of the car was instantaneous – a very powerful car.

Over the weekend, we took the car to the Dales to see how it performed around narrow country lanes and, whilst I obviously didn’t push the car too hard, the BMW 640d Gran Coupe impressed upon me the car’s handling which was superb.

The BMW 640d Gran Coupe is not a cheap car but then again, cars of this quality never are.

However, you do get a lot of car for your money and a lot of power in the engine.

The BMW 640d Gran Coupe was an absolute pleasure to drive and giving the keys back to JCT600 Bradford was extremely difficult. The BMW 640d is now on my Christmas list!

If you’re thinking of buying a luxury saloon or coupe then you should seriously consider the BMW 640d Gran Coupe. n The car Dave drove was the BMW 640d M Sport Gran Coupe, OTR £75,755.

Supplied by JCT600 Ltd, 99 Sticker Lane, Bradford, BD4 8RU

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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 raises sail at all any more, 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 >>

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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 the future 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 the future - 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

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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 is 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.

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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-builder 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 priorities. 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 the 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 -

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“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 a 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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SUCCESS STORY

SUMMER 13

BEND IT LIKE IVAN

Sheet metal work and fabricating specialist Steeltech Kinetix is turning heads across the North of England from its vantage just within the Yorkshire border, as Victoria Gibson reports If you’ve ever been to Manchester Airport you will probably have seen the huge signs directing you here or there, the big blue walkway between Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 made out of steel with lights down the centre and glass panels, a feature that took 10 weeks to design and fit. Or perhaps you noticed the queuing balustrades as you were checking-in.

Alternatively you may have visited the Trafford Centre in Manchester, bought a burger from Burger King in the North, or even a loaf of Warburton’s bread?

The list is endless. One way or another, chances are, you’ve unknowingly “experienced” Steeltech Kinetix.

“Generally speaking we are stainless steel and sheet metal workers and fabricators, doing everything from an ash pan to a conveyor system, a washing machine, or staircase,” explains managing director, Ivan Booth.

The company regularly repairs and fits various parts in the Trafford Centre – including making the massive signs over the road and will be working on them again in the near future because they’re changing the road systems.

They also installed a separating machine in both the North branches of Burger King and the Warburtons bread factory in Blackpool.

Booth continues: “If I had them in one pile they’d get forgotten about so I spread them out. I’m old, although I don’t feel it, the memory is going so I’ve got to write things down or be able to see it,” Ivan is busy clarifying the huge amount of papers cascading on and around his desk.

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“These are all quotes to do today. I work out what materials we’ll need, get a price for those and then it’s experience that tells you how long it’s going to take to make and fit.”

A lot of Steeltech’s contracts are with well-known names or places such as the airport, Glaxo, British Sugar and many more, “They’re all great jobs, but they can be quite sporadic.”

The warehouse is located just on the edge of West Yorkshire and Lancashire in a market town called Todmorden.

“I set up Steeltech in 1990 and I’ve been based here 21 out of the 23 years. The first place was a little unit in Robinwood Mill. So we started life there and grew very quickly, we’ve outgrown this place, but we’ve learnt to live with it.”

Having spent over 50 years working in the industry, Booth is plotting his retirement within the next two years, to be replaced by current works manager Dominic Stuart.

In the meantime his readied replacement will continue to learn vital lessons working

alongside Booth. The warehouse is huge and filled with various intimidating machines such as metal benders; a hydraulic brake, large guillotine plus big heavy plate boxes so that the team can make metal squares easily, and lots more. Boy’s toys, if you will.

The team tend to excel in mild steel, stainless steel and are experienced in metals such as brass, aluminium, makralon and HD polymers.

At the moment they are busy creating and building a glass chamber designed to extract dangerous fumes as people work inside it, as well as making platforms to support machinery and workers on the rigs, providing them with a base that enables them to work on a safe area while they’re repairing the rigs.

Stuart says: “We’ll go on location, design it, then come back here and make it and then go back and fit it. They are massive pieces of equipment so we’ve got to go to them, maybe even on-site. We’ve got one to do but then there’s anywhere between 30 and 50 to do after it. The stuff we get asked to do and make, structural buildings”. >>

One of our fortes is that we can bend. We’re small enough to satisfy peoples needs. We don’t necessarily get the recompense but we do get recommendations for it

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SUCCESS STORY

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SUCCESS STORY

Some of the company’s products are in New Jersey, America, and further afield. Ivan says the telephone is always ringing and he spends a lot of the day sorting other people’s problems out, people who are quite often ringing up for an order and can’t find their paperwork. Plus, he might get a phone call in five minutes asking him to go and measure something.

Steeltech takes an idea from the customer and puts it onto a piece of paper, plays around with it and then liaises with them. Stuart says: “When the customer is happy with the design we do a proper drawing by CAD on the computer and then make it. We use a lot of glass, which we buy in – it’s a specialised job, we can’t do it as cheap as we can buy it. But we can do anything.”

Indeed, they’ve been involved in producing various pieces of equipment for medical professionals, such as high-rise tables, and had a long-standing contract with Johnson

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and Johnson Medical.

However, of late, Steeltech have been very busy with fancy spiral staircases. “High-value ones that go in multi-million pound houses, we’ve done a lot of them over the last 12 months and it’s something I’d like to expand on but I don’t have the time or money to invest into it,” says Stuart.

Not only do they produce your “normal, run-of-the-mill” orders for huge companies, there’s also the bespoke side of the business.

Booth says: “A man had a problem with a heron taking his fish so we designed a balustrade to go around his pond, because the Heron won’t lean forward and it’ll walk into water but won’t land directly in it if it doesn’t know how deep it is. We made the rail so that it can’t lean into the water and is just far enough away from the edge but close enough so the bird can’t land on the inside. It looks good and it’s a deterrent for children.”

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Also, a designer once walked into Booth’s office put a cardboard box on the desk and took out a lace cloth. “She said ‘I’m going to put this cloth over this box and how it falls, I want you to make me a steel table that looks like it’. I told her ‘no problem’ and that table was made of 3mm mild steel. We cut holes in it where she wanted them for the pattern of the cloth and we formed the corners like it flows, just like the cloth did over the table. It took three or four days but once you’ve done the first part of it you know what you’re going to do, for example the other three legs.”

It becomes apparent that this is not an unusual occurrence, as Booth continues, “Just the other day a gentleman came through the door with a piece of metal in his hand that was unintentionally broken into two pieces with a hole in the middle. He said ‘Can you make me one of these?’ I said ‘Yeah come back tomorrow.’ It’s only 3 inches long and ½ an

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SUCCESS STORY

Schools don’t educate kids about sheet-metal work. If you don’t do it in school, how do people know what they can do with their hands?

inch wide with a hole in the middle. I don’t know what he wanted it for but he was stuck without it.

“We can make anything that a customer wants out of metal. By hook or by crook we’ll make it. We can put our heads to anything. You know what’s funny? It’s that people don’t know we’re here. Lots of people here,” Booth says pointing to the floor, “don’t even know we’re here and we’ve been here 23 years.”

Booth set up the company with a business partner, breaking all the records for the first five or six years, until his partner decided he wanted out so Ivan bought him out and has had sole ownership ever since.

He puts Steeltech’s annual turnover at a steady £600,000 - £750,000 for the last five years, a drop since the recession. Before it was regularly just £25,000 short of one million pounds.

“At the moment there are 12 of us, we have

had 18 at the height, but we took a bit of a hit when the recession came. It hit us big-style, Balfour Beatty got knocked down quite a bit and we were doing a lot of work for them.

They got hit so, so did we. But we’ve just got a big job in for them so hopefully it will come good.”

“I’ve been in business 23 years and one lad has worked with me for 22. They’re all long-time serving people. Chris my foreman has been with us 16 years, Glen has been with us 17 years, and one or two 12 years or so, the shortest is two years and that’s because he was a new starter and lived quite far away.

“We’ve also had a few apprentices, Chris and Glen started as apprentices. My son trained here and it was always my intention to have an apprentice every year, but it never worked out that way. You couldn’t get the kids from school. Schools don’t educate them about sheet-metal work. If you don’t do it in school

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how do people know what they can do with their hands? They just try to push them into computers; we’ve got the same skills as anyone with a computer, possibly even more! We should be paid more!” Booth says laughing.

Everything is very last minute, which seems to work for the team. Stuart says: “One of our fortes is that we can bend. We’re small enough to satisfy people’s needs. We don’t necessarily get the recompense for it but we do get recommendations for it.”

With Booth set to retire, he will soon have much more time on his hands to indulge his passion for motorbikes.

“I’ve always been into motorbikes. I have two, a BSA B40 Trials bike and a BSA Gold Star 500.

I’ve got a picture - I always have a picture of my bikes with me. The Gold Star was £300 when they were brand new in 1956, but they are a wanted thing. It’s a classic, now valued at £15,000.

“I just ride it locally on the road for pleasure and I’m a marshal at the Manx Grand Prix at the Isle of Man. They did use to race the Gold Stars there; unfortunately they’re not fast enough now. They’d struggle to get 100mph lap in one of these.

When he does hit the open road post retirement, though, he says he’ll do so knowing that he’s left the running of the company in good hands. n

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ENTREPRENEUR

STOKING THE ENGINE

Once a dark art practiced in the shadows of more traditional marketing methods, search engine optimisation is now booming and dominating the budgets of the world’s biggest brands. The rules of the game are changing fast, however, and only those who can adapt to Google’s drive for transparency and quality will thrive. Andrew Mernin meets Search Laboratory founder Ian Harris to discover how his Leeds firm is surging ahead globally despite the changeable climate Ian Harris is so confident in growth in his business this year that he’s already booked a Christmas party venue for 200 staff, even though he only employs around 150 currently.

It may seem a little early with summer barely begun but venues for sizeable groups are at a premium in the festive period.

And Harris is adamant that this year’s growth targets will be achieved.

He is founder of Search Laboratory, the Leedsbased digital marketing business with a forte for languages. It has grown from scratch in 2005 into a £6.5m-a-year firm with a list of global clients on its books. By next year it expects to hit £9m-a-year turnover.

“It’s relentless at the moment in terms of orders,” says Harris in one of his two Leeds offices. Finding a parking space at The Old Chapel on Shadwell Lane is near impossible – perhaps a sign of a premises bulging at the

seams of an ever-expanding workforce.

The other office at Chapel Allerton, Harris says, is already full up and work is currently underway to expand into an adjacent property.

A number of factors are driving the company’s rapid growth.

Around 70% of business comes from search engine optimisation (SEO), and the bulk of the remainder from pay-per-click (PPC). SEO in particular remains on an upward spiral, and those that have mastered the shifting dynamics of the field as implemented by Google, are flying at the moment. In fact Leeds has become something of a hotspot in the SEO industry, with Epiphany and Sticky Eyes the two other large players based in the city.

What in part has fuelled success at Search Laboratory, is its speciality for multilingual services.

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With German, French and Czech nationals among its legion of foreign language-speaking employees at its Leeds HQ, the firm is working some major brands as they tap into new markets overseas.

Search Labs started life at Harris’s home in Moortown in 2005 after he spotted an opportunity in his day job at Leeds-based languages services business The Big Word.

As technical director of the business he witnessed the sheer volume of investment being pumped into translation by businesses and decided to tap into a combination of this and the emerging digital marketing sector, a niche unspotted by others at that time.

“It was a risk giving up my career. I had to stop the mortgage and put the house on the line and looking back I didn’t really know anything about SEO or PPC. But I knew the multilingual thing was a niche that people wanted.” >>

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ENTREPRENEUR

Alongside SEO services, the company also had in its arsenal a clever system enabling clients to manage their PPC campaigns targeting foreign language markets.

Its success since its launch can also be attributed to Harris’s unintentionally perfect timing.

Against the backdrop of sweeping changes in Google-land at the time, the mid-noughties proved an optimum time to enter the market.

“If you started five years before that and were doing PPC, Google would give you kick backs. If you spent £100,000 on your clients on PPC, Google would give you £10,000 back, for example.

“Many companies built their businesses around that model but that all stopped in about 2006. When it all changed and the kickbacks stopped, we weren’t reliant on them anyway.

“So there was a bit of a clear-out at that time.

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Also, SEO at that time was very spammy and there was lots of trying to cheat Google, but over time Google has got better at clearing it out and many businesses have struggled to deal with that. But if you started around the time that we did, despite the fact it was harder without the kickbacks, you were built right for the future.”

The company initially grew organically to the point of having a team of around 20 but, with Harris running the group as well as selling, the firm took on its first sales professional – a move which kick-started the business.

“Not long after we took him on he won a couple of flagship clients. We got a few well known names and that suddenly opens doors.

With SEO at the end of the day clients need proof that you can do what you say you’re going to do. Three years ago is when the growth started taking off. It just shows no sign of relenting. Everybody wants to be

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number one on Google.”

Today clients include Debenhams, which Search Laboratory is helping to crack the German market, and ASOS – the runaway internet success story which is one of the UK’s largest online-only fashion retailers.

The second client it won in its first year of trading, a New York apartment letting business which was keen to access the Japanese language market, also remains a client today.

Crucial in achieving success for Search Laboratory has been its ability to adapt to the constantly changing rules of the SEO game.

According to Harris, the “spammy” days are over as Google attempts to drive the web back to its intended purpose – to provide genuinely useful and interesting content. No longer do underhand “gaming” tactics like buying web links work in Google’s eyes.

“We don’t want to ring up bloggers and pay

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ENTREPRENEUR The percentage of retail spend in the UK that’s done online, as opposed to in shops, is far ahead of anywhere else

them to use an article, we want to say, ‘look, we’ve got this client here with a fantastic piece of content your readers would love and we want them to link to it naturally’.

“We are just helping clients do the stuff that they don’t understand that helps Google value them for what they are as supposed to, not to get some bloke in a shed to number one for ‘dresses’ in a search.

“It’s not about trying to make things look natural, it’s about actually doing things naturally. SEO is still a dark art [for some companies] and people can blag it but we’ll tell clients exactly how we’re going to do it and why it’s going to work. There is actually a science, that’s why we’re called Search Labs. If people are being aloof about what they are doing for you, they are probably not doing anything.

“It’s all about having a decent website that says what you do and some decent content on there that shows you’re a thought leader in that industry and then, in terms of Google signals like inbound links, it’s about making sure that happens in a natural and ethical way.” This increased focus on more transparent practices across the industry has led it into new territories which is blurring the boundaries between marketingbased professions.

“We say SEO is merging with PR because

[content] now has got to be a quality story.

You can’t fabricate an interesting story. If it’s fabricated it doesn’t go very far and people don’t read it. So it’s merging with top quality PR really.”

So are the PR firms running scared of the SEO giants?

“The smart ones will embrace it. What we find is if a client has a really good PR company and we work together that actually works really well.

“But we do get a lot of pushback from PRs telling us not to contact their pet journalists.

They should be embracing it, though, because we can learn the PR stuff but many of them don’t know about SEO.” Over time since its inception, the makeup of the workforce behind Search Labs has changed considerably.

“In the beginning we had mostly PPC people who are maths graduates. We then added SEO people, of which there are two kinds, the analytical technical ones and the others we call content and online PR. The technical ones are the analytical maths people and the content and online PR people are from English and journalism backgrounds and that’s the biggest team in the company now”. Maths is still the dominant force in the business, however, as maths graduate Harris says: “If you cut us through the middle we talk

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maths at every level. No-one can do a campaign review with me and fluff the numbers.”

In terms of expansion, the company has pondered opening additional overseas offices in the past and continues to do so.

“We could do it but at the moment there’s so much business here. Every time we seriously take a look at opening offices overseas, we look at the options of the US and Europe or a partnership model with a Chinese company.

They are being seriously kicked around as ideas and the first move would probably be within a year.”

The US may well be a lucrative market, but it can potentially be served best from the UK, as Harris explains: “The percentage of retail spending in the UK that’s done online as opposed to in shops, is far ahead of anywhere else in the world. That makes the UK a very competitive online market so what you find is we’re actually leading the way in the UK in terms of SEO. “Also traditionally Americans don’t do languages very well so we’re a bridge to Europe [for them] and are pretty well placed here.”

Well placed indeed, save for the impending shortage of car parking spaces that’s looming as staff numbers continue to rise. n

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BIT OF A CHAT

SUMMER 13

with Frank Tock >> On a wing and a prayer Entrepreneurs, so the stereotype goes, are dedicated, determined and not scared of taking a risk or two. Another lesser talked about skill is the ability to wing it. The art of the blag is a common thread that pops up in the early days of many an enterprise – whether it’s bedroom software designers pretending to be global empires with a London address or one man bands hiring Bentleys to drive to their next sales pitch. Such cheekiness certainly served H2K founder Hazel Barry well in the beginning stages of her business. The Bradford lass was sent to sell pens and pencils to a swanky hotel in Manchester. A short while later she walked out with an order for a range of toiletries products that didn’t even exist.

But, not only did she fulfil the order, she also used it to create the foundations of what is now a globally successful toiletries empire.

Well played indeed.

being, whereas Del drove a three-wheeler, Leslie can be often seen pulling into the 3M Centre in Huddersfield in his classic red Ferrari.

entrepreneurs not to make mistakes in the first place. It’s about active support and a lot of teaching from the beginning.”

>> In the book

>> Doug says no to mentors

Serial entrepreneur and investor Graham Leslie, who backs numerous Yorkshire businesses, is having a book written about his remarkable life. The writer involved has an extensive back catalogue of biographies of the rich and famous – including David ‘Del Boy’ Jason, Cliff Richard and Rod Stewart.

Leslie may seem an odd one out among those mainstream luminaries but hidden parallels exist. Like Cliff and Rod, he too composes his own music with the help of his classically trained brother. And, like David Jason’s best known character, he too is a bit of a dreamer, with an opportunist spirit. The difference

Mentoring remains high on the agenda for many an enterprise driving organisation.

Most people who’ve achieved success in business have had an influential figure who at some point has led them in the right direction.

So what’s not to like about mentors? Quite a lot actually, former TV dragon Doug Richard told BQ sternly recently. “There are many different ways to help a young business, and although mentoring is very much the flavour of the month right now, it’s probably bottom of my list of start-up essentials. You have to realise that not all mentors are worth having,” he said. “I think it’s more important to teach

I think it’s more important to teach entrepreneurs not to make mistakes in the first place.

It’s about active support and a lot of teaching from the beginning

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

>> Stirring stuff They say deal making is an ultra-tough profession requiring rhino-thick skin and a fiercely competitive spirit. Surely then there would be a few bloodied noses and stray elbows should Yorkshire’s corporate enemies ever meet on the rugby field. But perhaps fearing the worst, the organisers of a recent corporate rugby event opted for touch rugby rules, in which tackling is outlawed. DTZ Leeds (pictured) were the victors and ultimately lifted the Wooden Spoon Corporate Touch Rugby competition at Moortown Rugby Club. The firm beat off competition from the likes of WM Morrison, KPMG, DWF, Baker Tilly, Michael Page, Grant Thornton and Ernst and Young. Arranged by Ernst and Young and Wooden Spoon for the 5th year running, all entrants paid £250 each for entry to the competition, raising vital funds for charity.

80

BQ Breakfast Insight, news and analysis to help grow your business Brought to you by the BQ editorial team

BQ Breakfast, the only way to start your day.

Register now to receive our free daily service for entrepreneurs and business leaders across Yorkshire To register send an email to register@bq-breakfast.co.uk with the subject line ‘Yorkshire’ and your name, company and email address

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 editor@bq-yorkshire.co.uk and please put ‘BQ events page’ in the subject heading

JULY

8 Sheffield Networking Lunch, Aston Hall Hotel, Sheffield (12pm).

Call 01423 525 622 or email lorraine@themetclub.co.uk.

2 Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce Ask the Marketing & Sales Expert, White Rose House near 28 York Pl, Leeds (9am).

Email events@yourchamber.org.uk or call 0113 247 0000.

13 Enhance Your Brand Reputation, Hotel Du Vin, Harrogate (8.30am).

Call 01423 525 622 or email lorraine@themetclub.co.uk.

3 Met Connect - Get Connected - at The New Ellington, Leeds (8.30am).

Call 01423 525 622 or email lorraine@themetclub.co.uk.

3 Business Lunch in York, York Pavilion Hotel, York (12pm). Preregister.

14 Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce Marketing on a Shoestring, White Rose House near 28 York Pl, Leeds (10am).

Email events@yourchamber.org.uk or call 0113 247 0000.

20 Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce Ask the Marketing & Sales Expert, White Rose House near 28 York Pl, Leeds (9am).

Email events@yourchamber.org.uk or call 0113 247 0000.

3 Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce Marketing on a Shoestring, White Rose House near 28 York Pl, Leeds (10am).

Email events@yourchamber.org.uk or call 0113 247 0000.

20 Business Lunch in Leeds, Park Plaza, Leeds (12pm). Call 0113 247 0000.

4 Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce Pure Networking, White Rose House near 28 York Pl, Leeds (7.30am).

Email events@yourchamber.org.uk or call 0113 247 0000.

5 Bank of England Financial Stability Report Seminar, KPMG LLP 1 The Embankment Neville Street, Leeds (10.45am). Call 0113 247 0000 to reserve your place.

9 Property Forum Leeds, Addleshaw Goddard Sovereign House, near 8 Sovereign Street, Leeds (5pm). Email events@yourchamber.org.uk or call 0113 247 0000.

9 Drinks at The Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Headingley Carnegie Cricket Ground, Leeds (6pm). Book online at theyorkshiremafia.com.

10 Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce Introduction to PR, White Rose House near 28 York Pl, Leeds (10am).

Email events@yourchamber.org.uk or call 0113 247 0000.

20 Powerful Ways to Attract New Clients, Leeds Club, Leeds (8.30am) Call 01423 525 622 or email lorraine@themetclub.co.uk.

21 Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce Introduction to PR, White Rose House near 28 York Pl, Leeds (10am).

Email events@yourchamber.org.uk or call 0113 247 0000.

28 Search Engine Optimisation and why it’s important, White Rose House near 28 York Pl, Leeds (10am). Email events@yourchamber.org.uk or call 0113 247 0000.

29 The 5 secrets to boosting your sales & marketing results using social media, Rutland Hotel, Sheffield (8.30am) Call 01423 525 622 or email lorraine@themetclub.co.uk.

September

10 Business Lunch in Leeds, The Malmaison, Leeds (12pm). Call 0113 247 0000.

5 Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce Pure Networking, White Rose House near 28 York Pl, Leeds (7.30am).

Email events@yourchamber.org.uk or call 0113 247 0000.

11 York Networking Lunch, Hotel Du Vin, York (12pm). Call 01423 525 622 or email lorraine@themetclub.co.uk.

6 Learn How to Market Your Company, at the New Ellington, Leeds (8.30am).

Call 01423 525 622 or email lorraine@themetclub.co.uk.

11 Doing Business with the Baltics and Beyond, Eversheds LLP Bridgewater Place Water Lane near Leeds (9.30am). Call 0800 052 8156 or email info@ee-yorkshire.com.

10 Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce Ask the Accountancy & Finance Expert, White Rose House near 28 York Pl, Leeds (9am).

Email events@yourchamber.org.uk or call 0113 247 0000.

16 Macedonia. Gateway to Asia, Eastern Europe and the Balkans, Addleshaw Goddard, Sovereign House, Leeds (11am). Email katy.raife@yourchamber.org.uk.

10 Business Lunch in Leeds, Headingley Carnegie Stadium, Leeds (12pm) Call 0113 247 0000.

17 Search Engine Optimisation and why it’s important, White Rose House near 28 York Pl, Leeds (10am). Email events@yourchamber.org.uk or call 0113 247 0000.

12 York Networking Lunch, Hotel Du Vin, York (12pm). Call 01423 525 622 or email lorraine@themetclub.co.uk.

17 We Are International Export Network Event, Deloitte near 1 City Square, Leeds (4pm). Call 0845 034 7200.

18 Met Connect - Get Connected - at The New Ellington, Leeds (8.30am).

Call 01423 525 622 or email lorraine@themetclub.co.uk.

24 Met Connect - Get Connected - Hotel Du Vin, Harrogate (8.30am) Call 01423 525 622 or email lorraine@themetclub.co.uk.

23 Leeds Business Week, register online at leedsbizweek.com.

30 Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce Ask the Accountancy & Finance Expert, White Rose House near 28 York Pl, Leeds (9am).

Email events@yourchamber.org.uk or call 0113 247 0000.

August

24 Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce Ask the Digital & Media Expert, White Rose House near 28 York Pl, Leeds (9am).

Email events@yourchamber.org.uk or call 0113 247 0000.

26 Gerald Ratner Dinner, Hilton Hotel, Leeds City Centre (7pm) Call 01423 525 622 or email lorraine@themetclub.co.uk.

1 Drinks at the Courtyard at Harewood House, Leeds, for Yorkshire Day (6pm).

Book online at theyorkshiremafia.com.

1 Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce Pure Networking, White Rose House near 28 York Pl, Leeds (7.30am).

Email events@yourchamber.org.uk or call 0113 2470000.

6 Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce Ask the Digital & Media Expert, White Rose House near 28 York Pl, Leeds (9am).

Email events@yourchamber.org.uk or call 0113 2470000.

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13

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.

82

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