How it all began
From an early entrepreneurial streak to building businesses with an international reach
I have often wondered what some of my former teachers would make of the path my career has taken.
I was never particularly inspired by conventional academia, but from an early age I had an entrepreneurial streak and an instinct for spotting opportunities. As a teenager, the emergence of eBay fascinated me. I began buying and selling items online and quickly discovered that I enjoyed not only making a profit, but the whole process of finding something people wanted, marketing it effectively and building relationships with customers.
What began as a teenage interest ultimately provided the foundations for a career in business.
The beginning of Speedbird
In 2005, aged 18, I established Speedbird Promotions Ltd, supplying promotional merchandise and branded products to businesses and organisations across the UK.
The name “Speedbird” came from another lifelong passion of mine: aviation. It is the internationally recognised call sign used by British Airways and its predecessors, and seemed a fitting identity for a business founded by somebody whose fascination with aviation – and Concorde in particular – had begun in childhood.
What started modestly grew steadily. I learnt business by doing it: finding customers, developing supplier relationships, negotiating, selling, solving problems and, inevitably, learning from the occasions when things did not go according to plan.
That practical experience has shaped my approach to business ever since.
From promotions to industry
In 2013, I established Speedbird Supplies Ltd, taking my career into a very different field: industrial conveyor belting and associated products.
Although considerably more specialised than promotional merchandise, the principles of business remained much the same – understand the product, understand the customer and build relationships based upon knowledge, responsiveness and trust.
Speedbird Supplies developed into an increasingly international business, supplying specialist conveyor belting and components to customers around the world. Annual turnover grew beyond £2 million, with products exported to almost 40 countries and an overseas presence established in India to support our growing activity there.
Working internationally has given me extensive experience of different markets, cultures and ways of doing business. It has also involved everything from complex commercial negotiations and international logistics to manufacturing, quality control, procurement and the inevitable challenges that accompany running a growing business.
Growing through opportunity
Over the years I have also been involved in business acquisitions and other commercial opportunities which have broadened my experience beyond simply building companies organically.
Some opportunities have worked extremely well; others have taught me valuable lessons. I regard both as part of the experience of being an entrepreneur.
Running a business rarely follows a perfectly straight line. Economic conditions change, markets evolve, customers come and go and occasionally circumstances force you to rethink plans altogether. Learning to adapt – while retaining a clear sense of what you are trying to achieve – has probably been one of the most valuable lessons of my career.
Sharing that experience
Having started my first business as a teenager, I now have more than two decades of first-hand experience of entrepreneurship and business leadership.
That experience has increasingly led to opportunities to support and mentor others. I particularly enjoy working with people who have an idea, an ambition or an established business and want the benefit of another perspective.
I don’t pretend that there is one formula for succeeding in business. Much of what I have learnt has come from experience – including mistakes, difficult decisions and situations that no textbook could adequately prepare you for.
What I can offer is a practical perspective from somebody who has built businesses from the ground up, employed people, traded internationally, acquired businesses, negotiated complex commercial arrangements and experienced both the rewards and realities of entrepreneurship.
More than twenty years after starting out, I still enjoy doing business for many of the same reasons that appealed to me as a teenager: the people, the challenge, the opportunity and the satisfaction of turning an idea into something tangible.
And, perhaps much to the surprise of some of my former teachers, it has proved to be quite an education.