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Manufacturing County Durham
Defining Moment

Throughout my career I’ve tried different things and have never underestimated the value of luck or being in the right place at the right time. By chance I met someone who wanted a dehumidifier. He asked me if I had one and I designed a dehumidifier… read more

Mistake To Avoid

The biggest test is, will they pay for it? We’ve made some big mistakes with this. One of the first dehumidifiers I designed was one that with the use of a kit, it was also a mobile cooler so people could use it all year. I don’t think we ever sold one… read more

Mistake To Avoid

I used to think in the early years that I didn’t plan enough. I was constantly drawing out these long term detailed plans. Then while on a course at Durham Business School I was told, you don’t want to plan more; you’ve got to be responsive. Do things… read more

Secret

You need to have a long term view on where you want to go as a business, but remember to always to work in the short term. I can only do today’s work so that’s what I do. Never do today that which can be left till tomorrow. And if all else fails, lower… read more

Secret

I believe that loads of people will go to their graves not realising they could be very good entrepreneurs. The institutions we’ve got discourage some people who could be entrepreneurial because they say they’re not academic enough. In my experience,… read more

Pearl Of Wisdom

One of my favourite sayings is ‘fail often and fail cheap’. Try things, and if they fail, let them fail; don’t keep trying things that are lost causes.… read more

Pearl Of Wisdom

Anyone who runs a business reasonably well will occasionally run into trouble, the only way to avoid it is to work well within your limits and that means you aren’t utilising your assets. A successful entrepreneur will be able to dream, but also have the… read more

Challenge

The biggest challenge in business is identifying what customers value, and what they don’t. It’s more difficult than it sounds. Actions speak louder than words, so market research and focus groups can be useful, but people don’t always do what they say… read more

Challenge

Getting the right people can be hard. Teaching is all about learning; you’ve got to get someone who wants to learn and you can’t teach someone who doesn’t. I can encourage them, but the desire to succeed has got to come from within them. People have… read more

Success

The people who you work with are so important. What gives me huge satisfaction in running a business is seeing employees fulfilling their potential, someone who’s been challenged. Sometimes you have to give people more than they can handle and let them… read more

Aspiration

In my opinion, you either want to grow a business or you want to make money for yourself; the two things aren’t really the same.… read more

If we can you can challenge 10