Business 17 December 2014

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RISE OF THE LIVING DEAD

How firm is growing fast thanksto zombies and monsters – p3

ARE YOU IN THE PICTURE?

Photos from Bristol Connectedand other events – p10, 11, 12

SELLING TEA TO CHINA

Herbal company that’s hot onits export markets – page 4

FASTEST INTHE WESTMeet the boss of Bristol’s fastest growing businessand find out how his company is growing so quickly

BIG INTERVIEW

172014DEC

– see pages 6 & 7

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2 We d n e s d a y, December 17, 2014 3We d n e s d a y, December 17, 2014 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

A HIGH-TECH house of hor-rors-style tourist attractionthat could draw thousandsof visitors could be built inBristol.

Slingshot, a Bristol based businessthat organises real world gameswhere hundreds of people are chasedthrough the streets by zombies, isbehind the project.

Called Hyde, it would be a per-manent attraction in which visitorsare wired so that their vital signs canbe monitored to see how scared theya re.

That data is then used to make thegame more or less frightening.

Players would move around an in-teractive maze from room to room,facing challenges in each one, like ascary version of TV show The CrystalMaz e. They might be asked to lowertheir heart rate or hold their breathfor a period of time to pass the chal-leng e.

Slingshot, based in St NicholasStreet, was formed six years ago bySimon Johnson and Simon Evanswho met at a networking event runthrough the Pervasive Media Studiosat the Watershed in the Har-b o u r s i d e.

They put in a successful joint bidfor funding for a project to developgames played in the real world.

Simon Johnson, 39, puts it: “T hekey thing is creating an experienceyou can go and do. Instead of seeingsomebody else experiencesomething, you are now doing it.

“It’s very cinematic. The sort ofthing you would see in a film but youare experiencing it rather than justw at ch i n g . ”

Simon Evans, 51, added: “As moreof our lives are spent in front ofscreens, people seem to value reallife experiences more, whether it’slive gigs, festivals or what we do.”

After a few years experimentingand honing their ideas, they nowhave a successful business model.

The main product is zombie game“2.8 hours later”, which this yeartook place in eight cities with about25,000 people taking part.

Next year, that will grow to 11cities and therefore more players,each paying around £50 a ticket.

The demographics are surprising,equally split between men andwomen. Until recently the 25-34 yearold age group was the biggest, butnow it’s 18-25s as the games becomemore mainstream.

The firm has grown revenue 100per cent each year for six years. Lastyear revenues were £603,207, for 2014they will be around £917,000 and nextyear the forecast is £1.4 million.

It now employs six people and isadding another five next year. Thebusiness has developed as it hasgrown, so the two Simons now step

� Graeme Higgs, below,from Bristol, has set up GoSail Turkey, selling cruiseholidays for younger people

Acco u n ts To u r i s m

One-off chanceto increasevalue of assetsCOMPANIES have a “one-off ” op-portunity to increase the value oftheir business assets due to animminent change in UK account-ing rules, according to charteredsurveyors Bristol-based SandersonWe at h e r a l l .

On January 1, 2015, UK account-ing practices for many businesseswill change to the new FinancialReporting Standard (FRS) 102.

When this happens, it presentsthe opportunity for companies toelect to use the principle of “f airva l u e ” to revise the balance sheetvalue of their property, plant andequipment assets.

Sanderson Weatherall partner,Roy Tubman, said: “When com-panies transition to FRS 102, thereis a one-off opportunity for them torevalue their assets at fair value.

“Essentially, this allows busi-nesses to effectively rebuild theirasset registers, particularly wheremachinery has been written downto zero but is still a valuable part ofthe company’s assets.”

Roy said that after transition tothe new standard, FRS 102 onlyrequires valuations to be per-formed with “sufficient regular-ity” giving further motivation tobusinesses to undertake valuationssooner rather than later.

“These changes represent an ex-cellent opportunity for Bristolbusinesses to boost the value oftheir balance sheets through theapplication of fair values,” hesaid.

“We have already undertakenfair value valuations for a numberof companies in the region and oneach occasion it has delivered asignificant uplift in asset values.”

Trave l

IT was in a moment of crisis whenGraeme Higgs decided it wastime to go into business for him-self. Working in the holiday in-dustry, he realised that when

things went wrong he was the onetrying to fix it for customers and nothis boss.

“I was able to run his business forhim and I realised I was making somuch money for my boss,” saidGraeme. “So I thought I could give it a

go. Now I’m realising it’s not soeasy!”

Despite any unexpected challenges,earlier this year the 37-year-oldlaunched Redfield-based GoSail Turkey with his wifeSu, 27. They are an oceanaway from most people’sview of a cruise, aimedat 20-somethings look-ing to see something ofthe world before settingout on their careersrather than those reach-ing the end of theirs andenjoying retirement.

“In this country we see cruisesoften as something for older people

but it’s not like that everywhere,”said Graham. “In Australia thesekinds of cruises are seen as

something of a rites of passagefor younger people.”

So the couple is trying toconvince Bristolians topluck up an Aussiesense of adventure andsign up. That and thefact that Bristol has dir-ect flights to Dalaman,

where the cruises sailfrom is an added bonus.“Imagine waking every

morning for breakfast and aswim in idyllic bays and cruisingalong the coast to a new destination

each day,” said Graeme.“The decks are perfect for sun-

bathing and jumping into the sea, thefood is excellent and there is a tenderboat included to shuttle you to andfrom all the sites such as ButterflyValley, the stunning Oludeniz beach,the charming fishing village of Kasand several ancient ruins.”

Plus there’s the bar and promise ofnightlife and parties.

The firm also organises specialistcruises for people who enjoy hiking,cycling and even yoga.

Wherever the journey takes him,next time there’s a crisis at leastGraeme knows he can rely on theb o s s.

C o n st r u c t i o n

Labourer cements trainee role at head office

Sausage restaurantlooking to expand� THE new owners of a Bristolrestaurant are looking to roll outtheir brand across other towns andcities.

Simon Quarrie has beenmanaging The Clifton Sausage foraround 10 years, and now he hasbought the business.

He and wife Joy, who is joininghim after working as a generalmanager for a national restaurantchain, have plans to open morebranches elsewhere.

Simon, 41, said: “We think this isa really strong concept - the idea ofa restaurant serving British food,with an emphasis on sausages, isunique. So many people say to us ‘Iwish we had one in Cardiff, Bath orCheltenham’. So we will be lookingfor the next place to open ourdoors.

“We may end up with two or threerestaurants, or maybe even six orseven in the long-term future.”

Fo o d

Play deadly game Could you helpsave the planet from zombies?

Assistant Editor (Business)Gavin Thompson

Call 0117 934 3336Email gavin.thompson

@b-nm.co.ukTwitter @gavin_thompson1

Get in touch

Advertising RobertRodgersonCall07828 941469Email ro b e r t . ro d g e r s o [email protected]

Advertising JaneChapman

Call 01179 343025Email jane.chapman

@b-nm.co.uk

back from running events and focuson designing the next one.

Simon Johnson said: “The scalingchallenges we face as a company arethe same as any other.”

The Hyde project is the company’snext project and has both Simonsvery excited. They’ll be launching acrowd-funding campaign in the newyear and looking to launch perhapsby the end of 2015.

And the founders would love tohouse their new attraction in Bris-tol, if they can get support.

“It might be in Bristol, if there is abit of strategic support from thec i t y, ” said Simon Evans.

Simon Johnson added: “Our busi-ness could only have happened inBristol. There are other businesseswe use here, designers video expertsand so on, which are world class andhave helped us grow.”

The Hyde project certainly fitsmayor George Ferguson’s vision forBristol as a fun city. Watch thiss p a c e.

Top judging panel forgreen capital awardsThe judges have been chosen forthe European Green Capital DigitalChalleng e.

The challenge is asking Bristol’sbrightest minds to develop newways that software can be used totackle environmental challenges. Itwill include a 48-hour hack fromFebruary 6-8. The judges werepicked for their range of skills andsome of them will also mentor thefinalists. They are:�Ed Parsons, geospatial technolo-gist at Google.�Siobhan Reddy, studio directorand co-founder of Media Molecule,creators of the award-winningLittle Big Planet franchise.�Bill Thompson, head of partner-ship development, BBC Archivesand Digital Public Space.�Tim Kay, director of KPMG En-terprise which is focused on sup-porting UK tech SMEs.� Nick Appleyard, head of digital atTechnology Strategy Board�Stephen Hilton, Bristol CityCouncil’s future cities director� And Sonny Masero, Bristol 2015’sInternational GreenTech Festivala dv i s o r.

The two-stage challenge will seeteams of developers together withdigital and environmental expertscompete for cash prizes of £50,000and £10,000. The aim is to stimulateinnovation in the development ofsoftware applications and games,addressing five environmentalchallenges: energy, transport, food,resources and nature.

Digital

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)[email protected]


IT support

Rapidly-growing IT company opens city officeWHILE many businesses werestruggling in the aftermath of therecession, one IT support companyhas been thriving.

Small business Netitude hastripled in size over the last 12months and, with much of its growthcoming in Bristol, has just openedits first office in the city.

The firm has grown from five staffto 15 and doubled its turnover, andhas no intention of letting up.

Managing director Adam Harlingsaid: “The region has really em-braced us, probably because wemake very precise promises withour service around our responset i m e s.

“We have worked really hard to

develop a local reputation we areproud of and we are not about toslow down in our expansionstrate g y.”

The firm previously had offices inMelksham and Frome but has nowopened one in St Philip’s.

Adam said the growing number ofinquiries from the city had been themain factor in the decision. Andnow the firm is looking to hire newstaff as it continues to grow.

Adam said: “We want to double insize again in the next year, so thereis plenty of work to do and we arealways on the lookout for talentedpeople who can be committed todelivering IT solutions, above andbeyond, for our clients.”� Managing director Adam Harling

LABOURER Lewis Richardson hasswapped his hi-vis vest for a shirt andtie after being fast tracked on anin-house training programme.

Lewis, from Horfield in Bristol, hasworked as a labourer on Helm Con-struction sites across the SouthWe s t .

His professional approach and or-ganisational skills caught the atten-tion of site foreman Kim Richingswho recommended him for transferto Helm’s head office in Pilning nearBristol.

Lewis, 31, joined the company inFebruary after 11 years’ work in thecare home sector.

He said: “One of my friends wasalready working for Helm and sug-gested I sign up as a general labourer.It was a bit of a shock to the systemgoing out on site after more than tenyears working in very warm care

homes! The company has a repu-tation for looking after its employeesand sets great store on diligence and

enthusiasm – and after eight monthsworking on site I was invited to moveto head office and join the in-house

commercial training programme.”Lewis will be working with senior

estimator Richard Haworth on arange of office-based responsibilitiesincluding estimating, quantity sur-veying and administration work.

Richard said: “The company be-lieves in breaking down traditionalcareer progressions, ensuring thatfurther training is available for allemployees regardless of backgroundand age.

“We are aiming to build the skillswe have within the company at alllevels, formalising qualifications andencouraging employees on to spe-cially targeted career paths.”

Helm Construction is presentlytraining five new apprentices whilefive site managers are on courses.

Two members of staff are also un-dergoing training for their HGV li-c e n c e s.

Oceans of opportunity C i tyfirm offering dream trips

� Lewis Richardson has moved from labouring to the head office

2.8 HOURS LATER

� Zombie game ‘2.8 hourslater’ returns to Bristol nexty e a r.

In the game, a rapidlydepleting number of livinghumans are left. Five yearsafter a zombie infectionbroke out, a devastatingdiscovery has been made; aweaker strain of the virus hasinfected our entire speciesand, as a result, no childrenhave been born in four years.

This street game seesparticipants join a resistancemovement as they attemptto locate the last remaininggroup of uninfected childrenleft on earth. The only way toprevent humanity’s extinctionis to reach them beforesomeone, or something, elsedoes.

The games will be held inBristol on September 3, 4, 5,11 and 12. Find out more atw w w. 2 . 8 H o u r s L a t e r. c o m .

� Simon Johnson and Simon Evans, founders of Slingshot the Bristolbusiness behind the ‘2.8 hours later’ zombie game

The couple have retained the 20staff who were already working atthe restaurant in Portland Street,and in the short-term they plan torevamp the menu, focusingespecially on the lunchtime offering,and do some refurbishment work.

“If you’re going to buy a businessthe most sensible thing to do is tobuy something you know,” saidSimon, a former chef. “I know all thestaff, all the equipment, the building,the suppliers and how the systemswork. That continuity and stabilityhas been really good.”

Joy, 38, has just given birth to thecouple’s second child, a daughternamed Joni, and Simon said thatbecoming his own boss gave themthe flexibility they needed.

“I have a young family and so itwas important that we secured whatwe are going to do for the future,”he said.

Simon and Joy worked withNatWest relationship manager PaulWilliams to secure a loan of£100,000 to buy the business.

Simon said: “When we werelooking at raising the finance Paulwas good at working through whatwe needed to do, and he kept meup-to-date with information.”

� Simon and Joy Quarrie of CliftonSausage with Paul Williams

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A HIGH-TECH house of hor-rors-style tourist attractionthat could draw thousandsof visitors could be built inBristol.

Slingshot, a Bristol based businessthat organises real world gameswhere hundreds of people are chasedthrough the streets by zombies, isbehind the project.

Called Hyde, it would be a per-manent attraction in which visitorsare wired so that their vital signs canbe monitored to see how scared theya re.

That data is then used to make thegame more or less frightening.

Players would move around an in-teractive maze from room to room,facing challenges in each one, like ascary version of TV show The CrystalMaz e. They might be asked to lowertheir heart rate or hold their breathfor a period of time to pass the chal-leng e.

Slingshot, based in St NicholasStreet, was formed six years ago bySimon Johnson and Simon Evanswho met at a networking event runthrough the Pervasive Media Studiosat the Watershed in the Har-b o u r s i d e.

They put in a successful joint bidfor funding for a project to developgames played in the real world.

Simon Johnson, 39, puts it: “T hekey thing is creating an experienceyou can go and do. Instead of seeingsomebody else experiencesomething, you are now doing it.

“It’s very cinematic. The sort ofthing you would see in a film but youare experiencing it rather than justw at ch i n g . ”

Simon Evans, 51, added: “As moreof our lives are spent in front ofscreens, people seem to value reallife experiences more, whether it’slive gigs, festivals or what we do.”

After a few years experimentingand honing their ideas, they nowhave a successful business model.

The main product is zombie game“2.8 hours later”, which this yeartook place in eight cities with about25,000 people taking part.

Next year, that will grow to 11cities and therefore more players,each paying around £50 a ticket.

The demographics are surprising,equally split between men andwomen. Until recently the 25-34 yearold age group was the biggest, butnow it’s 18-25s as the games becomemore mainstream.

The firm has grown revenue 100per cent each year for six years. Lastyear revenues were £603,207, for 2014they will be around £917,000 and nextyear the forecast is £1.4 million.

It now employs six people and isadding another five next year. Thebusiness has developed as it hasgrown, so the two Simons now step

� Graeme Higgs, below,from Bristol, has set up GoSail Turkey, selling cruiseholidays for younger people

Acco u n ts To u r i s m

One-off chanceto increasevalue of assetsCOMPANIES have a “one-off ” op-portunity to increase the value oftheir business assets due to animminent change in UK account-ing rules, according to charteredsurveyors Bristol-based SandersonWe at h e r a l l .

On January 1, 2015, UK account-ing practices for many businesseswill change to the new FinancialReporting Standard (FRS) 102.

When this happens, it presentsthe opportunity for companies toelect to use the principle of “f airva l u e ” to revise the balance sheetvalue of their property, plant andequipment assets.

Sanderson Weatherall partner,Roy Tubman, said: “When com-panies transition to FRS 102, thereis a one-off opportunity for them torevalue their assets at fair value.

“Essentially, this allows busi-nesses to effectively rebuild theirasset registers, particularly wheremachinery has been written downto zero but is still a valuable part ofthe company’s assets.”

Roy said that after transition tothe new standard, FRS 102 onlyrequires valuations to be per-formed with “sufficient regular-ity” giving further motivation tobusinesses to undertake valuationssooner rather than later.

“These changes represent an ex-cellent opportunity for Bristolbusinesses to boost the value oftheir balance sheets through theapplication of fair values,” hesaid.

“We have already undertakenfair value valuations for a numberof companies in the region and oneach occasion it has delivered asignificant uplift in asset values.”

Trave l

IT was in a moment of crisis whenGraeme Higgs decided it wastime to go into business for him-self. Working in the holiday in-dustry, he realised that when

things went wrong he was the onetrying to fix it for customers and nothis boss.

“I was able to run his business forhim and I realised I was making somuch money for my boss,” saidGraeme. “So I thought I could give it a

go. Now I’m realising it’s not soeasy!”

Despite any unexpected challenges,earlier this year the 37-year-oldlaunched Redfield-based GoSail Turkey with his wifeSu, 27. They are an oceanaway from most people’sview of a cruise, aimedat 20-somethings look-ing to see something ofthe world before settingout on their careersrather than those reach-ing the end of theirs andenjoying retirement.

“In this country we see cruisesoften as something for older people

but it’s not like that everywhere,”said Graham. “In Australia thesekinds of cruises are seen as

something of a rites of passagefor younger people.”

So the couple is trying toconvince Bristolians topluck up an Aussiesense of adventure andsign up. That and thefact that Bristol has dir-ect flights to Dalaman,

where the cruises sailfrom is an added bonus.“Imagine waking every

morning for breakfast and aswim in idyllic bays and cruisingalong the coast to a new destination

each day,” said Graeme.“The decks are perfect for sun-

bathing and jumping into the sea, thefood is excellent and there is a tenderboat included to shuttle you to andfrom all the sites such as ButterflyValley, the stunning Oludeniz beach,the charming fishing village of Kasand several ancient ruins.”

Plus there’s the bar and promise ofnightlife and parties.

The firm also organises specialistcruises for people who enjoy hiking,cycling and even yoga.

Wherever the journey takes him,next time there’s a crisis at leastGraeme knows he can rely on theb o s s.

C o n st r u c t i o n

Labourer cements trainee role at head office

Sausage restaurantlooking to expand� THE new owners of a Bristolrestaurant are looking to roll outtheir brand across other towns andcities.

Simon Quarrie has beenmanaging The Clifton Sausage foraround 10 years, and now he hasbought the business.

He and wife Joy, who is joininghim after working as a generalmanager for a national restaurantchain, have plans to open morebranches elsewhere.

Simon, 41, said: “We think this isa really strong concept - the idea ofa restaurant serving British food,with an emphasis on sausages, isunique. So many people say to us ‘Iwish we had one in Cardiff, Bath orCheltenham’. So we will be lookingfor the next place to open ourdoors.

“We may end up with two or threerestaurants, or maybe even six orseven in the long-term future.”

Fo o d

Play deadly game Could you helpsave the planet from zombies?

Assistant Editor (Business)Gavin Thompson

Call 0117 934 3336Email gavin.thompson

@b-nm.co.ukTwitter @gavin_thompson1

Get in touch

Advertising RobertRodgersonCall07828 941469Email ro b e r t . ro d g e r s o [email protected]

Advertising JaneChapman

Call 01179 343025Email jane.chapman

@b-nm.co.uk

back from running events and focuson designing the next one.

Simon Johnson said: “The scalingchallenges we face as a company arethe same as any other.”

The Hyde project is the company’snext project and has both Simonsvery excited. They’ll be launching acrowd-funding campaign in the newyear and looking to launch perhapsby the end of 2015.

And the founders would love tohouse their new attraction in Bris-tol, if they can get support.

“It might be in Bristol, if there is abit of strategic support from thec i t y, ” said Simon Evans.

Simon Johnson added: “Our busi-ness could only have happened inBristol. There are other businesseswe use here, designers video expertsand so on, which are world class andhave helped us grow.”

The Hyde project certainly fitsmayor George Ferguson’s vision forBristol as a fun city. Watch thiss p a c e.

Top judging panel forgreen capital awardsThe judges have been chosen forthe European Green Capital DigitalChalleng e.

The challenge is asking Bristol’sbrightest minds to develop newways that software can be used totackle environmental challenges. Itwill include a 48-hour hack fromFebruary 6-8. The judges werepicked for their range of skills andsome of them will also mentor thefinalists. They are:�Ed Parsons, geospatial technolo-gist at Google.�Siobhan Reddy, studio directorand co-founder of Media Molecule,creators of the award-winningLittle Big Planet franchise.�Bill Thompson, head of partner-ship development, BBC Archivesand Digital Public Space.�Tim Kay, director of KPMG En-terprise which is focused on sup-porting UK tech SMEs.� Nick Appleyard, head of digital atTechnology Strategy Board�Stephen Hilton, Bristol CityCouncil’s future cities director� And Sonny Masero, Bristol 2015’sInternational GreenTech Festivala dv i s o r.

The two-stage challenge will seeteams of developers together withdigital and environmental expertscompete for cash prizes of £50,000and £10,000. The aim is to stimulateinnovation in the development ofsoftware applications and games,addressing five environmentalchallenges: energy, transport, food,resources and nature.

Digital



IT support

Rapidly-growing IT company opens city officeWHILE many businesses werestruggling in the aftermath of therecession, one IT support companyhas been thriving.

Small business Netitude hastripled in size over the last 12months and, with much of its growthcoming in Bristol, has just openedits first office in the city.

The firm has grown from five staffto 15 and doubled its turnover, andhas no intention of letting up.

Managing director Adam Harlingsaid: “The region has really em-braced us, probably because wemake very precise promises withour service around our responset i m e s.

“We have worked really hard to

develop a local reputation we areproud of and we are not about toslow down in our expansionstrate g y.”

The firm previously had offices inMelksham and Frome but has nowopened one in St Philip’s.

Adam said the growing number ofinquiries from the city had been themain factor in the decision. Andnow the firm is looking to hire newstaff as it continues to grow.

Adam said: “We want to double insize again in the next year, so thereis plenty of work to do and we arealways on the lookout for talentedpeople who can be committed todelivering IT solutions, above andbeyond, for our clients.”� Managing director Adam Harling

LABOURER Lewis Richardson hasswapped his hi-vis vest for a shirt andtie after being fast tracked on anin-house training programme.

Lewis, from Horfield in Bristol, hasworked as a labourer on Helm Con-struction sites across the SouthWe s t .

His professional approach and or-ganisational skills caught the atten-tion of site foreman Kim Richingswho recommended him for transferto Helm’s head office in Pilning nearBristol.

Lewis, 31, joined the company inFebruary after 11 years’ work in thecare home sector.

He said: “One of my friends wasalready working for Helm and sug-gested I sign up as a general labourer.It was a bit of a shock to the systemgoing out on site after more than tenyears working in very warm care

homes! The company has a repu-tation for looking after its employeesand sets great store on diligence and

enthusiasm – and after eight monthsworking on site I was invited to moveto head office and join the in-house

commercial training programme.”Lewis will be working with senior

estimator Richard Haworth on arange of office-based responsibilitiesincluding estimating, quantity sur-veying and administration work.

Richard said: “The company be-lieves in breaking down traditionalcareer progressions, ensuring thatfurther training is available for allemployees regardless of backgroundand age.

“We are aiming to build the skillswe have within the company at alllevels, formalising qualifications andencouraging employees on to spe-cially targeted career paths.”

Helm Construction is presentlytraining five new apprentices whilefive site managers are on courses.

Two members of staff are also un-dergoing training for their HGV li-c e n c e s.

Oceans of opportunity C i tyfirm offering dream trips

� Lewis Richardson has moved from labouring to the head office

2.8 HOURS LATER

� Zombie game ‘2.8 hourslater’ returns to Bristol nexty e a r.

In the game, a rapidlydepleting number of livinghumans are left. Five yearsafter a zombie infectionbroke out, a devastatingdiscovery has been made; aweaker strain of the virus hasinfected our entire speciesand, as a result, no childrenhave been born in four years.

This street game seesparticipants join a resistancemovement as they attemptto locate the last remaininggroup of uninfected childrenleft on earth. The only way toprevent humanity’s extinctionis to reach them beforesomeone, or something, elsedoes.

The games will be held inBristol on September 3, 4, 5,11 and 12. Find out more atw w w. 2 . 8 H o u r s L a t e r. c o m .

� Simon Johnson and Simon Evans, founders of Slingshot the Bristolbusiness behind the ‘2.8 hours later’ zombie game

The couple have retained the 20staff who were already working atthe restaurant in Portland Street,and in the short-term they plan torevamp the menu, focusingespecially on the lunchtime offering,and do some refurbishment work.

“If you’re going to buy a businessthe most sensible thing to do is tobuy something you know,” saidSimon, a former chef. “I know all thestaff, all the equipment, the building,the suppliers and how the systemswork. That continuity and stabilityhas been really good.”

Joy, 38, has just given birth to thecouple’s second child, a daughternamed Joni, and Simon said thatbecoming his own boss gave themthe flexibility they needed.

“I have a young family and so itwas important that we secured whatwe are going to do for the future,”he said.

Simon and Joy worked withNatWest relationship manager PaulWilliams to secure a loan of£100,000 to buy the business.

Simon said: “When we werelooking at raising the finance Paulwas good at working through whatwe needed to do, and he kept meup-to-date with information.”

� Simon and Joy Quarrie of CliftonSausage with Paul Williams

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A SOUTH Bristol company isselling tea not just to Chinabut to India as well. And Ger-many, Denmark, the UnitedStates and Australia.

Pukka was formed in 2001 in theback bedroom of co-founder TimWe s t we l l ’s home and began export-ing in 2007.

Since then the international side ofthe business has grown is now morethan half the company’s £17 milliontur nover.

The reasons for exporting werecompelling. The UK herbal tea mar-ket is worth about £64 million aye a r.

“The markets in the United Statesand Germany are 10 times that size,”said Tim. So if the company wantedthe best chance to grow, exportingwas essential.

They started by selling to Den-mark, where there is an establishedmarket for herbal teas. But now theyhave moved into newer territories.

“Australia has just mushroomed inthe last year,” said Tim.

India is a growth markettoo. “Like in the UK thepublic is waking up to thefact there is more to lifethan green tea or blacktea,” said Tim.

“There is a market forinnovation. People wanthealthier and happier life-s t y l e s.

“And they are finding thatthey can get great tasting herbalproducts that help them feel good aswe l l . ”

But the goal for the coming year isto focus on growing in Germany andthe US, with the firm having ap-pointed an international sales dir-ector to lead that charge.

In other markets, Pukka workswith one distributor but because ofthe scale in those two, it instead uses

agents to work with several distrib-utors in order to get its products to awider audience.

The approach has paid off so far. Sixyears ago, Pukka was turning over

£2.3 million. Consistentgrowth of 30-35 per cent a

year has seen that rise to£17 million. And Timsays 70 per cent of thatgrowth has come frominternational trade.

The firm now em-ploys 75 people dir-

ectly, many travelling tosource and buy herbs and

work with suppliers.Without exports, the business

would be much smaller.And he urged others to follow on.“People get too daunted,” he said.

“Do some basic research to work outthe size of the market and potentialfor your products or services.

“If it’s significant, go out and getinvolved in local trade shows. Meetpeople on the ground and learn. Don’tbe afraid.”

A new leaf The Bristolfirm selling tea to China

First aid Pair breathing life intomarket for training lifesavers

A ‘se m i n a l ’ year for city office market

� Patrick Bos is anInternational TradeAdviser at UK Trade& Investment SouthWest, thegover nmentdepartmentdesigned to helpwith all aspectsof international trade. He tells uswhat his role entails and how hehelps local companies like yoursto expand overseas:

1. What does your job involve?Being an international tradeadviser (ITA) means I workclosely with SMEs and MSBs todevelop their export strategyand/or help them entering aforeign market. I helpbusinesses identify potentialmarkets, assist them withpricing strategy, open doors innew markets and develop theskills of the workforce.

2. What is your top tip foranyone consideringexporting? You need to identifythe best market for yourproducts or services and focuson one market at a time.Contact your local UKTI officeand arrange a meeting with anITA who can help you with this.

3. Which markets are offeringthe most opportunities at themoment? This really dependson the industry you are workingin and what kind of product /service you are selling. Howeverespecially for mid-sizedbusinesses, UKTI has developeda high value opportunitywebsite: w w w. g o v.uk/high-value-opportunities.

4. What is the most unusualbusiness you haveencountered? One guy I metwas a really wacky innovatorand created all kinds of newproducts; one of them was aglow in the dark ice cream! Thisseems to work really well forlarge corporate events.

5. Why do you enjoy your job?Helping experienced directorswith achieving their goals andthinking outside the box justgives me a lot of energy. I amalso a generalist ITA whichmeans I deal with all sorts ofcompanies and this pushes meto educate myself on variousindustries.

6. What do you do in yourspare time? I have two majorhobbies: travelling and surfingand the best thing is that youcan combine them and I amlucky my future wife also likesthe same things. So in the lasttwo years I surfed in Brazil,Indonesia, Ireland, Spain andUSA and in the coming year,Cook Islands are on the agenda.

� Contactp a t r i c k . b o s @ u k t i s o u t h w e s t . o rgor call 01275 370 944.

Ad v i ceRise in South Westexports welcomed� EXPORT expert Russell Joneshas welcomed a rise in the region’svalue of exports over the last yearwith cautious optimism, as newmeasures were announced to helpeven more local firms begin theirexport journey.

The latest trade statistics releasedby HM Revenue & Customs revealthat in the 12 months to September2014, annual exports from theSouth West increased by £116million to £13.7 billion.

The total annual value of exportsfrom the region in the year endingSeptember 2014 rose by 0.9 percent. The South West alsowitnessed an increase (0.7 per cent)in the number of exportingbusinesses in the last quarter, withover 3,820 active exporters.

The statistics show thatmachinery, transport equipment andmanufactured goods are the keyexport commodities for the SouthWest and that it remains one of onlythree regions with food in itstop five export commodities.

Further analysisreveals thatG e r m a n y,France andthe USAre p re s e n tthe topmarkets andthat therehas been gainin the value ofexports toSub-Saharan Africain the last quarter.

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI)Regional Director Russell Jones,pictur ed, said: “It is encouraging tosee that the region’s exports haveincreased in the last 12 months,along with a rise in the number ofactive exporters in the three monthsto September.

“While we have seen a slight dipin the value of exports during thequarter, I am cautiously optimisticthat we will see further growth overthe next few months.”

The figures were released aday after George Osborneannounced £20 million of additionalgovernment funding to help moresmall and medium-sized UKbusinesses take their first steps intoexporting.

� To find out more about the widerange of support services availablethrough UKTI to help your companysucceed overseas, please call01275 370 944, [email protected] or visitw w w. g o v. u k / u k t i

Chance to win £3k export support package as website launched

Inbetweeners helpfirm’s revenues rise� A COMPANY which helpsretailers sell more products hasseen its own revenue rise by 26per cent from £11.2 million to£13.8 million.

A big slice of that turnover camefrom eXPD8’s work on blockbusterfilms, making sure DVDs areavailable, appropriately stockedand promoted in storesnationwide.

Recently the firm, based inOrchard Street, Bristol, helpeddeliver the nationwide launch ofThe Inbetweeners 2 DVD earlierthis month.

Profits for the year were prettyflat, down slightly from £439,732to £427,441 as the companyinvested revenues back into thebusiness, growing the workforcefrom 1,000 to 2,500.

It recently hired another 600 staffacross the UK for the busyChristmas period.

Director Mark Thurgood, whofounded the business in 2003,said: “We have grown ourbusiness on the back of ourin-depth understanding andexpertise in the markets we servealong with exceptional customerservice. Our ever growing teamhave played a critical role inensuring that our customers meetthe demand of their consumers ins t o re .

“We are always looking to bringnew people into our fastexpanding business and we are inthe process of setting up anapprenticeship scheme with alocal college.”

Expor ting

Commercial property

Ret a i lHealth and safety



WHEN Carrie Britton and Cath-erine Dando are teaching firstaid, you can rest assured theyknow what they are talkingabout. The pair have been work-

ing as paramedics for the past 12 years.Two years ago the friends set up a business,

C Squared, giving first aid training to busi-nesses and other organisations.

“If we haven’t done it it’s not going toh ap p e n , ” said Carrie. “We did a course for anorganisation where we were asked can you doCPR in a wheelchair?

“They had been told no before. We said,ideally you’d have the person on the floor butif you can’t then anything you can do is betterthan nothing.

“We can teach you what you need to getyour first aid certificate but also what youneed in real life if anything happens.”

After setting up the business, based inRedland, without borrowing, they have bothkept up their day jobs and organised coursesaround their shifts.

But now they want to ramp up the businessand hope to eventually be able to employother trainers too.

Carrie, 35, and Catherine, 37, are bothguide leaders and have been running freefirst aid training for local Guide and Browniep a ck s.

Now they are offering the same service tolocal schools.

“Kids are really great to train because theyare excited about it,” said Carrie. “And chil-dren aren’t frightened to try. If they thoughtthey needed to do it, they would just give it ag o.

“Whereas some adults say ‘what if I hurtthem’ with CPR and I have to say, they’drather be alive with a broken rib.”

As well as being a worthwhile thing to do,the free sessions make business sense too.

There are calls for first aid to be included inthe national curriculum. If that happens, CSquared would be well placed to pick up someof that business in future.

Besides, much of the firm’s business comesfrom word of month.

Carrie said the feedback from courses sofar had been very positive.

“We try to teach why as well as how,” shesaid, giving the example of the recoveryposition which is to keep people’s airwayscl e a r.

The business came about after the pairboth felt there was a need for more firsta i d e r s.

“We see a lot of incidents where had therebeen first aider there, it might not have beenas it was,” said Carrie. “There aren’t enoughgood first aiders out there when they arereally needed. We thought, we can dosomething about that.”

� Schools interested in signed up forsessions should visit www.c-squar ed.co.uk.

B R I S T O L’S commercial property market isending the year on a high with the secondbiggest deal of 2014, and is on course to breakthe 1 million barrier for the square footage ofdeals made.

Parsons Brinkerhoff, a big planning, en-gineering, and program and constructionmanagement business, has taken17,000 sq ft at Kings Orchard, over-looking Bristol’s floating har-bour. The firm, represented byKnight Frank, is relocatingfrom Redland and has sub-letthe entire third floor from headtenant Bevan Brittan LLP. Theagents say it is the secondlargest office letting in Bristol sofar this year – the biggest being OvoEnerg y’s move to a 70,000sq ft site inRivergate, Temple Quay.

The Parsons Brinkerhoff move means thefirm can fit all its staff on one floor as well asproviding a good central location.

Catherine Collis of Alder King’s officeagency team, who secured the lettings withGVA, said it was the second similar sizedletting in the building in 2014, just overtaking

Tribal Group’s move earlier this year.“Bristol’s office market is on track to de-

liver annual take-up in excess of 1 million sqft, a level last seen in 2007,” she added.

Rob Stanley, director of property and fa-cilities for Bevan Brittan LLP, said: “We are

delighted that Kings Orchard is bene-fiting so strongly from the strong

performance of the Bristol officemarket. We have now secured32,000 sq ft of lettings this yearwith two of this year’s top tent r a n s a c t i o n s. ”

Meanwhile commercial prop-erty agency DTZ has hailed 2014

as a “seminal” year for the mar-ke t .Director Andy Heath said: “After

six years of depressed conditions, wehave seen a substantial uplift in activity.

“With a substantial level of take-up ex-pected in Q4, it will be the highest level oftake-up for many years.”

He added the biggest change had been atthe top end of the market.

“The most notable sea change has been theincreased levels of grade A activity.”

A NEW website has been launched byBusiness West to help and inspirelocal businesses to take on the exportchallenge. getexporting.info show-cases a range of companies fromacross the South West who all makeexporting look easy!

Those who log on in the next fewmonths also get a chance to take partin a short survey for the chance to

win an export support package worthover £3,000.

In the first couple of weeks sincegoing live the website has alreadyattracted more than 400 local busi-nesses who have explored the pos-sibilities of selling their goods orservices to new customers in des-tinations as far and wide as Mexico toFrance, Australia to Canada, and

India to South Africa. The website ispart of the wider #GetExporting cam-paign, by Business West, which isdesigned to encourage more busi-nesses to get into export for the firsttime or if already exporting, to exportm o re !

Sarah Hildersley, Regional Co-or-dinator, International UK BusinessNetworks part of Business West, said:

“The idea of the #GetExporting ship-ping container is to use an iconicsymbol of exporting to encouragebusinesses to reap the benefits ofinternational trade. We are doingeverything we can to support localbusinesses with market research,overseas contacts, training and moreto reach our target of 2020 South Westbusinesses to export more by 2020.”

� Sebastian Pole and Tim Westwell, co-founders of Pukka; below, one of their tea products

� CatherineDando, top,and CarrieBritton who setup a businessteaching firstaid skills

Part of the Local World group

With many years experience in fashion shows, we candesign and create your desired backdrop and shape thecatwalk while using creative lighting effects to producea show-stopping event.

Music

Lighting

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Staging your Fashion Showdoesn’t have to cost a fortune...

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A SOUTH Bristol company isselling tea not just to Chinabut to India as well. And Ger-many, Denmark, the UnitedStates and Australia.

Pukka was formed in 2001 in theback bedroom of co-founder TimWe s t we l l ’s home and began export-ing in 2007.

Since then the international side ofthe business has grown is now morethan half the company’s £17 milliontur nover.

The reasons for exporting werecompelling. The UK herbal tea mar-ket is worth about £64 million aye a r.

“The markets in the United Statesand Germany are 10 times that size,”said Tim. So if the company wantedthe best chance to grow, exportingwas essential.

They started by selling to Den-mark, where there is an establishedmarket for herbal teas. But now theyhave moved into newer territories.

“Australia has just mushroomed inthe last year,” said Tim.

India is a growth markettoo. “Like in the UK thepublic is waking up to thefact there is more to lifethan green tea or blacktea,” said Tim.

“There is a market forinnovation. People wanthealthier and happier life-s t y l e s.

“And they are finding thatthey can get great tasting herbalproducts that help them feel good aswe l l . ”

But the goal for the coming year isto focus on growing in Germany andthe US, with the firm having ap-pointed an international sales dir-ector to lead that charge.

In other markets, Pukka workswith one distributor but because ofthe scale in those two, it instead uses

agents to work with several distrib-utors in order to get its products to awider audience.

The approach has paid off so far. Sixyears ago, Pukka was turning over

£2.3 million. Consistentgrowth of 30-35 per cent a

year has seen that rise to£17 million. And Timsays 70 per cent of thatgrowth has come frominternational trade.

The firm now em-ploys 75 people dir-

ectly, many travelling tosource and buy herbs and

work with suppliers.Without exports, the business

would be much smaller.And he urged others to follow on.“People get too daunted,” he said.

“Do some basic research to work outthe size of the market and potentialfor your products or services.

“If it’s significant, go out and getinvolved in local trade shows. Meetpeople on the ground and learn. Don’tbe afraid.”

A new leaf The Bristolfirm selling tea to China

First aid Pair breathing life intomarket for training lifesavers

A ‘se m i n a l ’ year for city office market

� Patrick Bos is anInternational TradeAdviser at UK Trade& Investment SouthWest, thegover nmentdepartmentdesigned to helpwith all aspectsof international trade. He tells uswhat his role entails and how hehelps local companies like yoursto expand overseas:

1. What does your job involve?Being an international tradeadviser (ITA) means I workclosely with SMEs and MSBs todevelop their export strategyand/or help them entering aforeign market. I helpbusinesses identify potentialmarkets, assist them withpricing strategy, open doors innew markets and develop theskills of the workforce.

2. What is your top tip foranyone consideringexporting? You need to identifythe best market for yourproducts or services and focuson one market at a time.Contact your local UKTI officeand arrange a meeting with anITA who can help you with this.

3. Which markets are offeringthe most opportunities at themoment? This really dependson the industry you are workingin and what kind of product /service you are selling. Howeverespecially for mid-sizedbusinesses, UKTI has developeda high value opportunitywebsite: w w w. g o v.uk/high-value-opportunities.

4. What is the most unusualbusiness you haveencountered? One guy I metwas a really wacky innovatorand created all kinds of newproducts; one of them was aglow in the dark ice cream! Thisseems to work really well forlarge corporate events.

5. Why do you enjoy your job?Helping experienced directorswith achieving their goals andthinking outside the box justgives me a lot of energy. I amalso a generalist ITA whichmeans I deal with all sorts ofcompanies and this pushes meto educate myself on variousindustries.

6. What do you do in yourspare time? I have two majorhobbies: travelling and surfingand the best thing is that youcan combine them and I amlucky my future wife also likesthe same things. So in the lasttwo years I surfed in Brazil,Indonesia, Ireland, Spain andUSA and in the coming year,Cook Islands are on the agenda.

� Contactp a t r i c k . b o s @ u k t i s o u t h w e s t . o rgor call 01275 370 944.

Ad v i ceRise in South Westexports welcomed� EXPORT expert Russell Joneshas welcomed a rise in the region’svalue of exports over the last yearwith cautious optimism, as newmeasures were announced to helpeven more local firms begin theirexport journey.

The latest trade statistics releasedby HM Revenue & Customs revealthat in the 12 months to September2014, annual exports from theSouth West increased by £116million to £13.7 billion.

The total annual value of exportsfrom the region in the year endingSeptember 2014 rose by 0.9 percent. The South West alsowitnessed an increase (0.7 per cent)in the number of exportingbusinesses in the last quarter, withover 3,820 active exporters.

The statistics show thatmachinery, transport equipment andmanufactured goods are the keyexport commodities for the SouthWest and that it remains one of onlythree regions with food in itstop five export commodities.

Further analysisreveals thatG e r m a n y,France andthe USAre p re s e n tthe topmarkets andthat therehas been gainin the value ofexports toSub-Saharan Africain the last quarter.

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI)Regional Director Russell Jones,pictur ed, said: “It is encouraging tosee that the region’s exports haveincreased in the last 12 months,along with a rise in the number ofactive exporters in the three monthsto September.

“While we have seen a slight dipin the value of exports during thequarter, I am cautiously optimisticthat we will see further growth overthe next few months.”

The figures were released aday after George Osborneannounced £20 million of additionalgovernment funding to help moresmall and medium-sized UKbusinesses take their first steps intoexporting.

� To find out more about the widerange of support services availablethrough UKTI to help your companysucceed overseas, please call01275 370 944, [email protected] or visitw w w. g o v. u k / u k t i

Chance to win £3k export support package as website launched

Inbetweeners helpfirm’s revenues rise� A COMPANY which helpsretailers sell more products hasseen its own revenue rise by 26per cent from £11.2 million to£13.8 million.

A big slice of that turnover camefrom eXPD8’s work on blockbusterfilms, making sure DVDs areavailable, appropriately stockedand promoted in storesnationwide.

Recently the firm, based inOrchard Street, Bristol, helpeddeliver the nationwide launch ofThe Inbetweeners 2 DVD earlierthis month.

Profits for the year were prettyflat, down slightly from £439,732to £427,441 as the companyinvested revenues back into thebusiness, growing the workforcefrom 1,000 to 2,500.

It recently hired another 600 staffacross the UK for the busyChristmas period.

Director Mark Thurgood, whofounded the business in 2003,said: “We have grown ourbusiness on the back of ourin-depth understanding andexpertise in the markets we servealong with exceptional customerservice. Our ever growing teamhave played a critical role inensuring that our customers meetthe demand of their consumers ins t o re .

“We are always looking to bringnew people into our fastexpanding business and we are inthe process of setting up anapprenticeship scheme with alocal college.”

Expor ting

Commercial property

Ret a i lHealth and safety



WHEN Carrie Britton and Cath-erine Dando are teaching firstaid, you can rest assured theyknow what they are talkingabout. The pair have been work-

ing as paramedics for the past 12 years.Two years ago the friends set up a business,

C Squared, giving first aid training to busi-nesses and other organisations.

“If we haven’t done it it’s not going toh ap p e n , ” said Carrie. “We did a course for anorganisation where we were asked can you doCPR in a wheelchair?

“They had been told no before. We said,ideally you’d have the person on the floor butif you can’t then anything you can do is betterthan nothing.

“We can teach you what you need to getyour first aid certificate but also what youneed in real life if anything happens.”

After setting up the business, based inRedland, without borrowing, they have bothkept up their day jobs and organised coursesaround their shifts.

But now they want to ramp up the businessand hope to eventually be able to employother trainers too.

Carrie, 35, and Catherine, 37, are bothguide leaders and have been running freefirst aid training for local Guide and Browniep a ck s.

Now they are offering the same service tolocal schools.

“Kids are really great to train because theyare excited about it,” said Carrie. “And chil-dren aren’t frightened to try. If they thoughtthey needed to do it, they would just give it ag o.

“Whereas some adults say ‘what if I hurtthem’ with CPR and I have to say, they’drather be alive with a broken rib.”

As well as being a worthwhile thing to do,the free sessions make business sense too.

There are calls for first aid to be included inthe national curriculum. If that happens, CSquared would be well placed to pick up someof that business in future.

Besides, much of the firm’s business comesfrom word of month.

Carrie said the feedback from courses sofar had been very positive.

“We try to teach why as well as how,” shesaid, giving the example of the recoveryposition which is to keep people’s airwayscl e a r.

The business came about after the pairboth felt there was a need for more firsta i d e r s.

“We see a lot of incidents where had therebeen first aider there, it might not have beenas it was,” said Carrie. “There aren’t enoughgood first aiders out there when they arereally needed. We thought, we can dosomething about that.”

� Schools interested in signed up forsessions should visit www.c-squar ed.co.uk.

B R I S T O L’S commercial property market isending the year on a high with the secondbiggest deal of 2014, and is on course to breakthe 1 million barrier for the square footage ofdeals made.

Parsons Brinkerhoff, a big planning, en-gineering, and program and constructionmanagement business, has taken17,000 sq ft at Kings Orchard, over-looking Bristol’s floating har-bour. The firm, represented byKnight Frank, is relocatingfrom Redland and has sub-letthe entire third floor from headtenant Bevan Brittan LLP. Theagents say it is the secondlargest office letting in Bristol sofar this year – the biggest being OvoEnerg y’s move to a 70,000sq ft site inRivergate, Temple Quay.

The Parsons Brinkerhoff move means thefirm can fit all its staff on one floor as well asproviding a good central location.

Catherine Collis of Alder King’s officeagency team, who secured the lettings withGVA, said it was the second similar sizedletting in the building in 2014, just overtaking

Tribal Group’s move earlier this year.“Bristol’s office market is on track to de-

liver annual take-up in excess of 1 million sqft, a level last seen in 2007,” she added.

Rob Stanley, director of property and fa-cilities for Bevan Brittan LLP, said: “We are

delighted that Kings Orchard is bene-fiting so strongly from the strong

performance of the Bristol officemarket. We have now secured32,000 sq ft of lettings this yearwith two of this year’s top tent r a n s a c t i o n s. ”

Meanwhile commercial prop-erty agency DTZ has hailed 2014

as a “seminal” year for the mar-ke t .Director Andy Heath said: “After

six years of depressed conditions, wehave seen a substantial uplift in activity.

“With a substantial level of take-up ex-pected in Q4, it will be the highest level oftake-up for many years.”

He added the biggest change had been atthe top end of the market.

“The most notable sea change has been theincreased levels of grade A activity.”

A NEW website has been launched byBusiness West to help and inspirelocal businesses to take on the exportchallenge. getexporting.info show-cases a range of companies fromacross the South West who all makeexporting look easy!

Those who log on in the next fewmonths also get a chance to take partin a short survey for the chance to

win an export support package worthover £3,000.

In the first couple of weeks sincegoing live the website has alreadyattracted more than 400 local busi-nesses who have explored the pos-sibilities of selling their goods orservices to new customers in des-tinations as far and wide as Mexico toFrance, Australia to Canada, and

India to South Africa. The website ispart of the wider #GetExporting cam-paign, by Business West, which isdesigned to encourage more busi-nesses to get into export for the firsttime or if already exporting, to exportm o re !

Sarah Hildersley, Regional Co-or-dinator, International UK BusinessNetworks part of Business West, said:

“The idea of the #GetExporting ship-ping container is to use an iconicsymbol of exporting to encouragebusinesses to reap the benefits ofinternational trade. We are doingeverything we can to support localbusinesses with market research,overseas contacts, training and moreto reach our target of 2020 South Westbusinesses to export more by 2020.”

� Sebastian Pole and Tim Westwell, co-founders of Pukka; below, one of their tea products

� CatherineDando, top,and CarrieBritton who setup a businessteaching firstaid skills

Part of the Local World group

With many years experience in fashion shows, we candesign and create your desired backdrop and shape thecatwalk while using creative lighting effects to producea show-stopping event.

Music

Lighting

Live Camera Relay

Staging your Fashion Showdoesn’t have to cost a fortune...

Call us on: 01684 575832Email us at: [email protected] us at : www.aneventservices.co.uk

EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3


The Big Interview

WHEN Jason Sharpejoined Ovo Energy ascustomer service dir-ector, he was shocked bywhat he found.

It wasn’t that things were bad. Onthe contrary the firm has a customerservice record to be proud of. But oneparticular initiative made him gasp.

“Once a month we have a townhall,” he said. “In a lot of businessesthat aren’t call centres that’s easy todo. When I started on the MondayStephen (Fitzpatrick, Ovo’s founder)told me about it and said, ‘we justturn the phones off ’. I said ‘Oh myGod we can’t do that, what about thecustomer’.”

Once he recovered from the shock,Jason grew to cherish the idea.

“I really embrace it now,” he said.“If you go to any bank or shop some-times you’ll see a sign saying ‘shut forstaff training’ and that’s acceptable.So why isn’t it with a call centre too?Once a month we turn the phones offfor an hour and get everyone to talkabout what’s happening. We have 25minutes of presentation and 25

minutes of Q&A. At end of that we dosomething like pie and cider or beerand pizza. People really look forwardto it. We get a highly engaged work-force and good c a m a r a d e r i e. ”

It’s not the only thing Ovo does alittle differently. Yes, there’s popcornFriday and monthly fancy dress days.But the culture runs deeper thanmost call centres trying to motivatetheir staff with some enforced fun.

T here’s a lecture theatre, for ex-ample, in the firm’s new offices.There can’t be many call centres withone of those, but it reflects both therate of the company’s growth – so fastit needs a new office – and the way itvalues its people.

Everyone at the firm gets four daysoff a year for learning, and Jason,now managing director, says the firmdecided to build the lecture theatre,which has space for more than 100people, to facilitate that. “If peoplewant to learn a language or learn

WHAT HAS POWERED ENERGY FIRM TO RAPID GROWTHJason Sharpe runs Bristol’s fastest growingbusiness, energy company Ovo. Gavin Thompsonasks the managing director for the secret behindthe phenomenal success

has room for more than 900.“With a business like Ovo which is

growing phenomenally, we don’twant to grow our costs at the samer at e, ” said Jason. “We want to becomemore efficient. We want people to beable to go online and webchat.

“Most customers call their energyprovider in the first three months ofsetting up because as a customer youwant to build some trust and makesure these are the people you want todeal with. Once that happens, why doyou need to calls us? We can send you

My working day

Name: Jason SharpeAge: 43Place of birth: T h u r ro c k ,Basildon, EssexSchool: Cecil Jones HighSchool, EssexFirst job: Underwood’s theChemist (bought by Boots) –Sales – gave memy passionfor retail andcustomerserviceHero orinspiration:SteveJobs,pictur ed,i n n o v a t o r,e n t re p re n e u r,disruptor in themarket place, never gave up,perfectionist, tenacious.

Vital statistics

a renewal and click here to renew.Customers who manage accounts on-line get discount, we’re passing sav-ings on to them. We’re not sayingd o n’t call in an emergency but if wemake it easy for you, you won’t wantto call.”

As for the future. There’s growthleft in the energy market. But thatmight not be the end of it for Ovo.

Jason says: “We see ourselves as atechnology company that delivers en-ergy at the moment... and possiblyother things in future.”

Jason would also be quick to stressOvo is competitive on price too.

Ovo was recently rated number theUK’s 10th fastest growing privatecompany in the Sunday Times VirginFast Track 100, and top in the SouthWest. The nearest challenger in Bris-tol was the Loungers bar chain, some88 places behind.

Growth, of course, has its own chal-lenges. With getting on for 650 staff,the firm has outgrown its office in StThomas Street and next week movesto Rivergate in Temple Quay, where it

about finance, we’ll bring people in torun classes,” he said.

He joined the Bristol firm 15months ago, having been convincedby founder Stephen Fitzpatrick tobuy into his vision. That the cus-tomer service director was later pro-moted to MD is no surprise. Stephen’svision when he started the businesswas of how things should be done forthe customer. Jason is building onthat. He has introduced a systemcalled Rant and Rave, designed by acompany of the same name, that askscustomers for feedback.

“I love the idea that customersshould be able to tell you that you aredoing very well and if we’re not doingvery well we need to hear about it,” hesaid. “We try to build trust. It becameobvious when I worked at First Directthat the only way you build trust is bydelivering something consistently.Then people will become advocates ofthe business.

“If you’ve contacted us, immedi-ately afterwards you’ll get an email ifyo u ’ve emailed or a text if you’vecalled asking how did we do today?Score us out of 10 and give us yourcomments. That’s it, it’s not 20 ques-tions. But if you score us between zeroand three we call them back that dayto say, ‘we ’ve not done a great job,what can we do to put it right?’.

“And when we do get it right, theagent gets to know in real time wheth-er it was a good conversation, they gettheir score immediately and the teamleader can see that 10/10 and can say‘brilliant, well done’.

“Or if there’s an opportunity tolearn in that moment before the callhas gone and they’ve forgotten whathappened we can say ‘we could havedone that better, what do you thinkyou could have done?’. It’s real timefeedback, coaching and celebration.T hat’s really important.

“When we get a low score and callthe customer back, most go ‘blimey! Id i d n’t expect anyone to call back’. Soin the worst moment possible you areblowing their socks off.”

A lesson learned from Jason’s timein charge at bank First Direct is toempower call handlers – or customerservice agents, as Ovo prefers to callthem – to be able to deal with issues,rather than having to ask a man-a g er.

“Here 90 per cent of customers onlycall once so the agent has been able todeal with them from beginning toend,” he said. The firm gives staffdiscretion to, for example, send abunch of flowers or knock £10 of a billwhen they think it is called for.

“We recognised giving agents moreflexibility means they felt more em-powered, more in control of the con-ve r s at i o n , ” he said. “It means teamleaders aren’t caught up with ‘I needto ask my manager this’ and they canfocus on coaching and thinkingahead.”

The formula seems to be working.The five-year-old company now has425,000 customers, having grown 260per cent in 12 months.

New customers who didn’t come forthe service, might have signed up forthe green credentials, with 15 per centof energy on its standard tariff com-ing from renewable sources.

Jason Sharpe, Ovo

“When we get a lowscore and call thecustomer back, most go‘blimey! I didn’t expectanyone to call back’. Soin the worst momentpossible you are blowingtheir socks off

PLANE-maker Airbus hopes to make a stretchversion of its double-decker super jumbo theA380 in future.

The plane is already the biggest commercialaircraft in the skies and can carry up to 853passengers, dropping to 525 if you want firstand business class in the mix.

The prospect of an even bigger stretch ver-sion has been raised after an internal debateover the future of the plane became public.

Comments from the firm’s finance directormooted the possibility of halting production onthe giant plane.

The remarks prompted a 4.5 per cent slide inthe company’s share price and executivesmoved quickly to try to calm nerves.

Airbus president and chief executiveFabrice Bregier admitted the firm was lookingto reduce the costs of producing the A380,which has a list price of $414 million (£264million) making it by far the firm’s mostexpensive plane.

Cutting costs could mean the manufacturercan break even making just 30 a year.

But looking longer term, he said the companywould look to create a new engine option for theplane, which would make it more fuel effi-cient.

He went on: “I will tell you a secret. We willone day launch a stretch of the A380. This is soobvious that there is extra potential. And themarket is growing in size, and this aircraft willfind its place day after day.”

So far the A380 has 318 firm orders from 19customers, with Emirates by far the biggest.

The Dubai-based airline’s president TimClark told Reuters news agency that if Airbusupgraded the plane with a more fuel-efficientengine his firm could double its order, adding itwould hold the company to fulfilling all ordersalready taken.

The wings and landing gear systems for theA380 are designed in Filton, where Airbusemploys 4,000 people.

We’ll launch a stretch versionof A380, says Airbus chief

My downtime

Ae ros pa ce

You wake up at? 5.30amWhat do you have forbreakfast? Cereal and Fruit, witha comedy show puts me in agood mood for the day.What time do you start work?7.30amYour typical working day?Meetings and briefings. Planningand making sure I’m visible in the

office. I walk around the businessat least four times a day to speakto the team face to face.What time do you go home?7pmDo you take work home/attendevening functions? During theweek I live away from home butat the weekend I make sure thereis a good balance.

What’s your perfect weekend? Goingto the pub on a Friday night seeingfriends, seeing my wife, getting outwalking my dog.What’s your favourite book or film or

TV show? Big Bang Theory – it remindsme of my childhood.What are your hobbies (if any)?Walking the dog, music, reading, friendsand family.

BusinessGuide

Showcase your business in the

Sponsored by

Coming soon in January 2015

FIND OUT MORE 0117 934 3025

www.westerndailypress.co.ukprint • online • mobile

REACHING THEREGION’S BUSINESS

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S3


The Big Interview

WHEN Jason Sharpejoined Ovo Energy ascustomer service dir-ector, he was shocked bywhat he found.

It wasn’t that things were bad. Onthe contrary the firm has a customerservice record to be proud of. But oneparticular initiative made him gasp.

“Once a month we have a townhall,” he said. “In a lot of businessesthat aren’t call centres that’s easy todo. When I started on the MondayStephen (Fitzpatrick, Ovo’s founder)told me about it and said, ‘we justturn the phones off ’. I said ‘Oh myGod we can’t do that, what about thecustomer’.”

Once he recovered from the shock,Jason grew to cherish the idea.

“I really embrace it now,” he said.“If you go to any bank or shop some-times you’ll see a sign saying ‘shut forstaff training’ and that’s acceptable.So why isn’t it with a call centre too?Once a month we turn the phones offfor an hour and get everyone to talkabout what’s happening. We have 25minutes of presentation and 25

minutes of Q&A. At end of that we dosomething like pie and cider or beerand pizza. People really look forwardto it. We get a highly engaged work-force and good c a m a r a d e r i e. ”

It’s not the only thing Ovo does alittle differently. Yes, there’s popcornFriday and monthly fancy dress days.But the culture runs deeper thanmost call centres trying to motivatetheir staff with some enforced fun.

T here’s a lecture theatre, for ex-ample, in the firm’s new offices.There can’t be many call centres withone of those, but it reflects both therate of the company’s growth – so fastit needs a new office – and the way itvalues its people.

Everyone at the firm gets four daysoff a year for learning, and Jason,now managing director, says the firmdecided to build the lecture theatre,which has space for more than 100people, to facilitate that. “If peoplewant to learn a language or learn

WHAT HAS POWERED ENERGY FIRM TO RAPID GROWTHJason Sharpe runs Bristol’s fastest growingbusiness, energy company Ovo. Gavin Thompsonasks the managing director for the secret behindthe phenomenal success

has room for more than 900.“With a business like Ovo which is

growing phenomenally, we don’twant to grow our costs at the samer at e, ” said Jason. “We want to becomemore efficient. We want people to beable to go online and webchat.

“Most customers call their energyprovider in the first three months ofsetting up because as a customer youwant to build some trust and makesure these are the people you want todeal with. Once that happens, why doyou need to calls us? We can send you

My working day

Name: Jason SharpeAge: 43Place of birth: T h u r ro c k ,Basildon, EssexSchool: Cecil Jones HighSchool, EssexFirst job: Underwood’s theChemist (bought by Boots) –Sales – gave memy passionfor retail andcustomerserviceHero orinspiration:SteveJobs,pictur ed,i n n o v a t o r,e n t re p re n e u r,disruptor in themarket place, never gave up,perfectionist, tenacious.

Vital statistics

a renewal and click here to renew.Customers who manage accounts on-line get discount, we’re passing sav-ings on to them. We’re not sayingd o n’t call in an emergency but if wemake it easy for you, you won’t wantto call.”

As for the future. There’s growthleft in the energy market. But thatmight not be the end of it for Ovo.

Jason says: “We see ourselves as atechnology company that delivers en-ergy at the moment... and possiblyother things in future.”

Jason would also be quick to stressOvo is competitive on price too.

Ovo was recently rated number theUK’s 10th fastest growing privatecompany in the Sunday Times VirginFast Track 100, and top in the SouthWest. The nearest challenger in Bris-tol was the Loungers bar chain, some88 places behind.

Growth, of course, has its own chal-lenges. With getting on for 650 staff,the firm has outgrown its office in StThomas Street and next week movesto Rivergate in Temple Quay, where it

about finance, we’ll bring people in torun classes,” he said.

He joined the Bristol firm 15months ago, having been convincedby founder Stephen Fitzpatrick tobuy into his vision. That the cus-tomer service director was later pro-moted to MD is no surprise. Stephen’svision when he started the businesswas of how things should be done forthe customer. Jason is building onthat. He has introduced a systemcalled Rant and Rave, designed by acompany of the same name, that askscustomers for feedback.

“I love the idea that customersshould be able to tell you that you aredoing very well and if we’re not doingvery well we need to hear about it,” hesaid. “We try to build trust. It becameobvious when I worked at First Directthat the only way you build trust is bydelivering something consistently.Then people will become advocates ofthe business.

“If you’ve contacted us, immedi-ately afterwards you’ll get an email ifyo u ’ve emailed or a text if you’vecalled asking how did we do today?Score us out of 10 and give us yourcomments. That’s it, it’s not 20 ques-tions. But if you score us between zeroand three we call them back that dayto say, ‘we ’ve not done a great job,what can we do to put it right?’.

“And when we do get it right, theagent gets to know in real time wheth-er it was a good conversation, they gettheir score immediately and the teamleader can see that 10/10 and can say‘brilliant, well done’.

“Or if there’s an opportunity tolearn in that moment before the callhas gone and they’ve forgotten whathappened we can say ‘we could havedone that better, what do you thinkyou could have done?’. It’s real timefeedback, coaching and celebration.T hat’s really important.

“When we get a low score and callthe customer back, most go ‘blimey! Id i d n’t expect anyone to call back’. Soin the worst moment possible you areblowing their socks off.”

A lesson learned from Jason’s timein charge at bank First Direct is toempower call handlers – or customerservice agents, as Ovo prefers to callthem – to be able to deal with issues,rather than having to ask a man-a g er.

“Here 90 per cent of customers onlycall once so the agent has been able todeal with them from beginning toend,” he said. The firm gives staffdiscretion to, for example, send abunch of flowers or knock £10 of a billwhen they think it is called for.

“We recognised giving agents moreflexibility means they felt more em-powered, more in control of the con-ve r s at i o n , ” he said. “It means teamleaders aren’t caught up with ‘I needto ask my manager this’ and they canfocus on coaching and thinkingahead.”

The formula seems to be working.The five-year-old company now has425,000 customers, having grown 260per cent in 12 months.

New customers who didn’t come forthe service, might have signed up forthe green credentials, with 15 per centof energy on its standard tariff com-ing from renewable sources.

Jason Sharpe, Ovo

“When we get a lowscore and call thecustomer back, most go‘blimey! I didn’t expectanyone to call back’. Soin the worst momentpossible you are blowingtheir socks off

PLANE-maker Airbus hopes to make a stretchversion of its double-decker super jumbo theA380 in future.

The plane is already the biggest commercialaircraft in the skies and can carry up to 853passengers, dropping to 525 if you want firstand business class in the mix.

The prospect of an even bigger stretch ver-sion has been raised after an internal debateover the future of the plane became public.

Comments from the firm’s finance directormooted the possibility of halting production onthe giant plane.

The remarks prompted a 4.5 per cent slide inthe company’s share price and executivesmoved quickly to try to calm nerves.

Airbus president and chief executiveFabrice Bregier admitted the firm was lookingto reduce the costs of producing the A380,which has a list price of $414 million (£264million) making it by far the firm’s mostexpensive plane.

Cutting costs could mean the manufacturercan break even making just 30 a year.

But looking longer term, he said the companywould look to create a new engine option for theplane, which would make it more fuel effi-cient.

He went on: “I will tell you a secret. We willone day launch a stretch of the A380. This is soobvious that there is extra potential. And themarket is growing in size, and this aircraft willfind its place day after day.”

So far the A380 has 318 firm orders from 19customers, with Emirates by far the biggest.

The Dubai-based airline’s president TimClark told Reuters news agency that if Airbusupgraded the plane with a more fuel-efficientengine his firm could double its order, adding itwould hold the company to fulfilling all ordersalready taken.

The wings and landing gear systems for theA380 are designed in Filton, where Airbusemploys 4,000 people.

We’ll launch a stretch versionof A380, says Airbus chief

My downtime

Ae ros pa ce

You wake up at? 5.30amWhat do you have forbreakfast? Cereal and Fruit, witha comedy show puts me in agood mood for the day.What time do you start work?7.30amYour typical working day?Meetings and briefings. Planningand making sure I’m visible in the

office. I walk around the businessat least four times a day to speakto the team face to face.What time do you go home?7pmDo you take work home/attendevening functions? During theweek I live away from home butat the weekend I make sure thereis a good balance.

What’s your perfect weekend? Goingto the pub on a Friday night seeingfriends, seeing my wife, getting outwalking my dog.What’s your favourite book or film or

TV show? Big Bang Theory – it remindsme of my childhood.What are your hobbies (if any)?Walking the dog, music, reading, friendsand family.

BusinessGuide

Showcase your business in the

Sponsored by

Coming soon in January 2015

FIND OUT MORE 0117 934 3025

www.westerndailypress.co.ukprint • online • mobile

REACHING THEREGION’S BUSINESS

EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3


One of the highlights of thefinale to The Hobbit trilog yis 92-year-old actor Chris-topher Lee performingmartial arts more befitting

of a Shaolin warrior monk.Special effects, of course, but it

represents a point – that as the healthof our population improves our re-tired and elderly are more active,both physically and financially, thanever before.

Combined with the 1940s babyboom, decades of soaring propertyrises and, barring a couple of re-cessions, sustained economicgrowth, there are essentially a lotmore senior citizens around thesedays, and they are better off than everb e fo re.

The so-called ‘grey pound’ is be-coming increasingly big business.Sag a’s most recent research showsthat the over-50s are becoming re-latively more important in economicterms. Their analysis of the ONSFamily Expenditure Survey data

north, the company specialises increating mid-priced retirement flats.

At the moment the company has adevelopment in Fishponds, 62 unitsin Filton, one in Henleaze which isabout to start construction, one inPortishead which is all sold and an-other there which has just been com-pleted.

There is also a site in Nailsea andanother new facility in Thornbury, atwhich one bed flats start at around£200,000.

The company’s regional managingdirector Martin Young, said: “Bristolhas a population of around 450,000,with approximately 17 per cent of thatpopulation being over the age of 65. Soit’s a large target market for us as acompany. We’ve identified it as beingone of our main operational hubs andin the future I expect we’ll open asub-regional office here.

“We had one before the recessionand I can see that happening againbecause from the city we can not onlyservice the Bristol area but SouthWales as well.

“We are seeing the effect of the babyboomer coming through, there’s achange in the demographic and thepopulation is growing.

“We have a number of differenttypes of buyer. We have the people intheir 60s or 70s, who are effectivelydownsizing from a four or five bed

family house when their childrenhave left home and they are realisingthe liquidity in their biggest asset bybuying down. That’s the beginning ofthe senior living sector.

“But the sector runs the whole wayup to those with high needs and re-quiring high intensity nursing.T hat’s quite a big umbrella, coveringan age span running from 60 to 100.Retirement has become a lot moresophisticated and a very wide um-brella – you can’t have one-size-fits-allany more.

“The second step is Churchill, andt h at ’s the step that we focus on. It’s aneed-based product which is usuallyevent driven. So they might havealready retired and be in a bungalow

but something will have triggeredtheir need to come here.

“It may be one of a couple passingaway, or someone having a fall andbeing unable to drive, heating costsand tax bills become unsustainable,the garden becoming too much –these can all be drivers for either anindividual or a couple making thedecision.”

The company is thriving, havingsold 375 units sales last year, ex-pecting to sell 500 unit sales this yearand targeting 700 unit sales by 2017.

Last year Churchill turned over £90million and this year it will be £125million, with profits rising from £17million last year to £36 million thisye a r.

Mr Young said: “The market po-tential is huge and we’re currentlyonly tapping into a small part of it. Ifyou look at the numbers in Bristol forexample, there is 17 per cent of 430,000population who are potential custom-ers and that’s 73,000 people are over 65in the city. OK, they’re not all cus-tomers but a large percentage of themwould fall into our profile.

“T here’s potential for the businessto grow and be attractive to inwardinvestment and perhaps even a flot-ation at some point.

“For any company with our size,growth and performance, that sort ofthing is potentially on the horizon.”

As the demographics ofBristol change, RupertJanisch reports on howbusiness can benefit fromour ageing population

CAPITALISING ON THE GREY POUND

Martin Young

“Bristol has apopulation of around450,000, withapproximately 17 percent of that populationbeing over the age of 65.So it’s a large targetmarket for us as ac o m p a n y.

shows that the over-50s’ share of UKhousehold income has grown sincethe financial crisis and is expected tohit 49.9 per cent by 2018, up from just41.4 per cent in 2007.

In line with this increasing share ofincome, over-50s now make up a lar-ger share of household consumptionthan before the financial crisis andthe age group supports some 5.7 mil-lion jobs in our nation’s economythrough their expenditure, of whicharound 900,000 are youth jobs.

In Bristol, one example of a com-pany profiting from this ageing pop-ulation is Churchill RetirementLiving. Based in Hampshire but withdevelopments all over the south ofEngland and venturing further

Eco n o my

TO LET

Period Offce BuildingWestbury on Trym

BristolApprox 1,700 sq ft with parking

All enquiries:

[email protected]©LW

Women in Business

Height of fashion Designer labelbusiness growing in some style

IT STARTED as a one-womanband selling women’s design-er label clothes over the in-ternet but three years laterand Fashion Bloodhound is

going places, as is its owner26-year-old Grazziella Pinto.

Named as Young Entrepreneurof the Year at the Bristol and BathWomen in Business Awards 2014,Miss Pinto has had a very suc-cessful year and things look set tocontinue for the burgeoning en-ter prise.

Run from Miss Pinto’s home inBitton the firm allows womenwith unwanted ChristianLouboutin heels or a spare Dolce& Gabbana clutch to sell theirexclusive wardrobe.

Since its inception FashionBloodhound has grown signific-

antly and now employs one fulltime member of staff, as well ashiring three freelancers.

In 2012 it opened a temporarypop up shop in Milsom Place forthe Christmas period and nowruns regular showcase events inBath city centre where shopperscan look at the stock in person.

Fashion Bloodhound has at-tracted media attention from avariety of fashion publicationsand Grazziella winning YoungEntrepreneur of the Year hashelped to thrust the firm furtherinto the limelight.

She said: “Being self-employedand running your own business isincredibly hard work, not just forme, but for anyone that works forthemselves, so when I was nom-inated it felt amazing to be re-cognised for all the hard work I’veput in these past few years.

“Winning has been a highlightof my year and tops off a hugelysuccessful year for my team and I

at Fashion Bloodhound.”Since winning the award in

April Miss Pinto said the busi-ness had attracted new customersand sellers, and is enjoying in-creased brand recognition.

She added: “Business is thriv-ing, we’ve added to our team andhave seen sales increase at ahigher rate than we had fore-casted.

“If you’re thinking about en-

tering the Women in BusinessAwards then I’d say don’t hes-itate. It’s been nothing but a pos-itive experience for my businessand myself on a personal level.”

The Bristol and Bath Women inBristol Awards has 11 categoriesup for grabs including Young En-trepreneur of the Year, Mentor ofthe Year, Female Apprentice ofthe Year and Marketing Cam-paign of the Year.

Entries must be submitted byJanuary 16 and will then bejudged by an expert panel whowill draw up a shortlist of fi-n a l i s t s.

The winners will be revealed ata gala awards dinner at the Bris-tol City Centre Marriott on March19.

� To enter, sponsor a categoryor book tickets for the night, visitw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t . c o . u k / w i b a . Ifyou’re talking about the awardson social medial, use #wiba.

By Liza-Jane [email protected]

� Grazziella Pinto, director at Fashion Bloodhound

“ If you’re thinkingabout entering theWomen in BusinessAwards then I’d saydon’t hesitate. It’sbeen nothing but apositive experience.

The sponsors

THE CATEGORIES

Woman of the Year: A woman who hasmade a significant personal contribution tothe success of the established companythey run or in which they are employed.Young Entrepreneur of the Year: Awoman who has made a significantcontribution to the company they run, inwhich they are employed or theorganisation they have been promoted orfast tracked within.Mentor of the Year: The woman who hasdemonstrated the skills of being a mentorto male or female employees, who hasgone the extra mile in supporting acolleague or business and has made adifference to their life or business.Contribution to the Community,sponsored by The Mall CribbsCauseway: The woman who candemonstrate the difference she has madeto their community and/or Bristol and Bathover the last year (from Jan 1 2014 to Jan1 2015).Women in the Workplace Award,sponsored by PPC: A company whichhas demonstrated a flexibility andadaptability to the employment of women.New Business of the Year, sponsored byYour Street Gift Cards: Open to allbusinesses that have started trading sinceJanuary 2013 and principal trading base isin Bristol or Bath with eitherwoman/women owners or a female headof the company.Business of the Year: This award will goto the profitable business that either has afemale owner/s or a high percentage offemales on the senior management team.Award for Innovation: A business thathas introduced a new product, process,invention, idea, or design that has made asignificant contribution to the businessand has a female owner/s or a highpercentage of females on the seniormanagement team.Marketing Campaign of the Year: Anorganisation that has communicatedeffectively with its target audience (internalor external) over the past year, either aspart of an ongoing programme or aone-off campaign.Female Apprentice of the Year: A femaleapprentice who can show the impact shehas had on the organisation she works for,as well evidence of personal developmentand progression.Outstanding Contribution to Business inBristol and Bath, sponsored by UWE:The businesswoman who, in the opinion ofthe judges, has made a considerable,profitable and lasting contribution tobusiness in Bristol and Bath. This categoryis not open for submissions buthandpicked by the judges.

in association with

� Christopher Lee

EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3


One of the highlights of thefinale to The Hobbit trilog yis 92-year-old actor Chris-topher Lee performingmartial arts more befitting

of a Shaolin warrior monk.Special effects, of course, but it

represents a point – that as the healthof our population improves our re-tired and elderly are more active,both physically and financially, thanever before.

Combined with the 1940s babyboom, decades of soaring propertyrises and, barring a couple of re-cessions, sustained economicgrowth, there are essentially a lotmore senior citizens around thesedays, and they are better off than everb e fo re.

The so-called ‘grey pound’ is be-coming increasingly big business.Sag a’s most recent research showsthat the over-50s are becoming re-latively more important in economicterms. Their analysis of the ONSFamily Expenditure Survey data

north, the company specialises increating mid-priced retirement flats.

At the moment the company has adevelopment in Fishponds, 62 unitsin Filton, one in Henleaze which isabout to start construction, one inPortishead which is all sold and an-other there which has just been com-pleted.

There is also a site in Nailsea andanother new facility in Thornbury, atwhich one bed flats start at around£200,000.

The company’s regional managingdirector Martin Young, said: “Bristolhas a population of around 450,000,with approximately 17 per cent of thatpopulation being over the age of 65. Soit’s a large target market for us as acompany. We’ve identified it as beingone of our main operational hubs andin the future I expect we’ll open asub-regional office here.

“We had one before the recessionand I can see that happening againbecause from the city we can not onlyservice the Bristol area but SouthWales as well.

“We are seeing the effect of the babyboomer coming through, there’s achange in the demographic and thepopulation is growing.

“We have a number of differenttypes of buyer. We have the people intheir 60s or 70s, who are effectivelydownsizing from a four or five bed

family house when their childrenhave left home and they are realisingthe liquidity in their biggest asset bybuying down. That’s the beginning ofthe senior living sector.

“But the sector runs the whole wayup to those with high needs and re-quiring high intensity nursing.T hat’s quite a big umbrella, coveringan age span running from 60 to 100.Retirement has become a lot moresophisticated and a very wide um-brella – you can’t have one-size-fits-allany more.

“The second step is Churchill, andt h at ’s the step that we focus on. It’s aneed-based product which is usuallyevent driven. So they might havealready retired and be in a bungalow

but something will have triggeredtheir need to come here.

“It may be one of a couple passingaway, or someone having a fall andbeing unable to drive, heating costsand tax bills become unsustainable,the garden becoming too much –these can all be drivers for either anindividual or a couple making thedecision.”

The company is thriving, havingsold 375 units sales last year, ex-pecting to sell 500 unit sales this yearand targeting 700 unit sales by 2017.

Last year Churchill turned over £90million and this year it will be £125million, with profits rising from £17million last year to £36 million thisye a r.

Mr Young said: “The market po-tential is huge and we’re currentlyonly tapping into a small part of it. Ifyou look at the numbers in Bristol forexample, there is 17 per cent of 430,000population who are potential custom-ers and that’s 73,000 people are over 65in the city. OK, they’re not all cus-tomers but a large percentage of themwould fall into our profile.

“T here’s potential for the businessto grow and be attractive to inwardinvestment and perhaps even a flot-ation at some point.

“For any company with our size,growth and performance, that sort ofthing is potentially on the horizon.”

As the demographics ofBristol change, RupertJanisch reports on howbusiness can benefit fromour ageing population

CAPITALISING ON THE GREY POUND

Martin Young

“Bristol has apopulation of around450,000, withapproximately 17 percent of that populationbeing over the age of 65.So it’s a large targetmarket for us as ac o m p a n y.

shows that the over-50s’ share of UKhousehold income has grown sincethe financial crisis and is expected tohit 49.9 per cent by 2018, up from just41.4 per cent in 2007.

In line with this increasing share ofincome, over-50s now make up a lar-ger share of household consumptionthan before the financial crisis andthe age group supports some 5.7 mil-lion jobs in our nation’s economythrough their expenditure, of whicharound 900,000 are youth jobs.

In Bristol, one example of a com-pany profiting from this ageing pop-ulation is Churchill RetirementLiving. Based in Hampshire but withdevelopments all over the south ofEngland and venturing further

Eco n o my

TO LET

Period Offce BuildingWestbury on Trym

BristolApprox 1,700 sq ft with parking

All enquiries:

[email protected]©LW

Women in Business

Height of fashion Designer labelbusiness growing in some style

IT STARTED as a one-womanband selling women’s design-er label clothes over the in-ternet but three years laterand Fashion Bloodhound is

going places, as is its owner26-year-old Grazziella Pinto.

Named as Young Entrepreneurof the Year at the Bristol and BathWomen in Business Awards 2014,Miss Pinto has had a very suc-cessful year and things look set tocontinue for the burgeoning en-ter prise.

Run from Miss Pinto’s home inBitton the firm allows womenwith unwanted ChristianLouboutin heels or a spare Dolce& Gabbana clutch to sell theirexclusive wardrobe.

Since its inception FashionBloodhound has grown signific-

antly and now employs one fulltime member of staff, as well ashiring three freelancers.

In 2012 it opened a temporarypop up shop in Milsom Place forthe Christmas period and nowruns regular showcase events inBath city centre where shopperscan look at the stock in person.

Fashion Bloodhound has at-tracted media attention from avariety of fashion publicationsand Grazziella winning YoungEntrepreneur of the Year hashelped to thrust the firm furtherinto the limelight.

She said: “Being self-employedand running your own business isincredibly hard work, not just forme, but for anyone that works forthemselves, so when I was nom-inated it felt amazing to be re-cognised for all the hard work I’veput in these past few years.

“Winning has been a highlightof my year and tops off a hugelysuccessful year for my team and I

at Fashion Bloodhound.”Since winning the award in

April Miss Pinto said the busi-ness had attracted new customersand sellers, and is enjoying in-creased brand recognition.

She added: “Business is thriv-ing, we’ve added to our team andhave seen sales increase at ahigher rate than we had fore-casted.

“If you’re thinking about en-

tering the Women in BusinessAwards then I’d say don’t hes-itate. It’s been nothing but a pos-itive experience for my businessand myself on a personal level.”

The Bristol and Bath Women inBristol Awards has 11 categoriesup for grabs including Young En-trepreneur of the Year, Mentor ofthe Year, Female Apprentice ofthe Year and Marketing Cam-paign of the Year.

Entries must be submitted byJanuary 16 and will then bejudged by an expert panel whowill draw up a shortlist of fi-n a l i s t s.

The winners will be revealed ata gala awards dinner at the Bris-tol City Centre Marriott on March19.

� To enter, sponsor a categoryor book tickets for the night, visitw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t . c o . u k / w i b a . Ifyou’re talking about the awardson social medial, use #wiba.

By Liza-Jane [email protected]

� Grazziella Pinto, director at Fashion Bloodhound

“ If you’re thinkingabout entering theWomen in BusinessAwards then I’d saydon’t hesitate. It’sbeen nothing but apositive experience.

The sponsors

THE CATEGORIES

Woman of the Year: A woman who hasmade a significant personal contribution tothe success of the established companythey run or in which they are employed.Young Entrepreneur of the Year: Awoman who has made a significantcontribution to the company they run, inwhich they are employed or theorganisation they have been promoted orfast tracked within.Mentor of the Year: The woman who hasdemonstrated the skills of being a mentorto male or female employees, who hasgone the extra mile in supporting acolleague or business and has made adifference to their life or business.Contribution to the Community,sponsored by The Mall CribbsCauseway: The woman who candemonstrate the difference she has madeto their community and/or Bristol and Bathover the last year (from Jan 1 2014 to Jan1 2015).Women in the Workplace Award,sponsored by PPC: A company whichhas demonstrated a flexibility andadaptability to the employment of women.New Business of the Year, sponsored byYour Street Gift Cards: Open to allbusinesses that have started trading sinceJanuary 2013 and principal trading base isin Bristol or Bath with eitherwoman/women owners or a female headof the company.Business of the Year: This award will goto the profitable business that either has afemale owner/s or a high percentage offemales on the senior management team.Award for Innovation: A business thathas introduced a new product, process,invention, idea, or design that has made asignificant contribution to the businessand has a female owner/s or a highpercentage of females on the seniormanagement team.Marketing Campaign of the Year: Anorganisation that has communicatedeffectively with its target audience (internalor external) over the past year, either aspart of an ongoing programme or aone-off campaign.Female Apprentice of the Year: A femaleapprentice who can show the impact shehas had on the organisation she works for,as well evidence of personal developmentand progression.Outstanding Contribution to Business inBristol and Bath, sponsored by UWE:The businesswoman who, in the opinion ofthe judges, has made a considerable,profitable and lasting contribution tobusiness in Bristol and Bath. This categoryis not open for submissions buthandpicked by the judges.

in association with

� Christopher Lee

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In pictures Bristol Connected

Upbeat ‘People back out there doing deals’

SOON companies will giveworkers office allowances –similar to car allowances – sothey can go and find their ownplace to work.

Ru Laidlow, of Cube Real Estates,told an audience of more than 60businessmen and women, how hethinks the office market is changing.

Speaking at the Post’s Bristol Con-nected event, he said: “You don’t walk

Christmas cheer as Colliershosts party for city firms

In pictures Colliers International

COMMERCIAL property specialists ColliersInternational entertained guests from acrossthe city’s business world at a festive net-working event at Clifton Wine Bar.

Head of office Tim Davies welcomed guestsfrom a number of top Bristol companies in-cluding Thrings, Handelsbanken, OsborneClarke, Urbina, Santander, Wards, Foot Anstey,Castleoak, Firmstone Developments, Peter

Brett Associates, HSBC, Eagle Land as well asthe University of Bristol.

Tim said: “We are seeing increased activitywhich is boosting confidence across the citybusiness community and Colliers Internation-al enjoyed celebrating both the start of thefestive season and a successful year aheadfor the city’s property market with their cli-e n t s. ”

� Chris Dawson (Colliers) and Warren Reid (Thrings)

� Ben Meynell (Colliers) and LaurenceDungworth (Castleoak)

� Heather Rees (Base Architects) and MattWhiston (Peter Brett Associates)

� Emily Cooke (Colliers) Gareth Hughes (FootAnstey)

� Gemma Daly (Colliers) and Mark Halpin(Handelsbanken)


in, sit at your own desk from 9 to 5.The way people are interacting, meet-ing with clients and using onlinesocial portals is changing and there-fore the way people interact withtheir buildings is changing.

“The emphasis is now on what em-ployees want and you tailor towardsthem, rather than the companies.

“In the next 12 to 18 months you’llsee companies beginning to offer in-stead of a car allowance, an officeallowance. You’ll be able to go off andfind your own space.”

He said for office providers thatmeans being able to offer attractive,flexible environments as well as the

big spaces that larger companies like.The event took place on the emptysecond floor of 10 Templeback, a citycentre office where Cube Real Estateshas recently taken on the asset man-a g ement.

Ru added that the property marketwas moving again. “People are backout there prepared to do deals andlandlords are prepared to do flexibled e a l s, ” he said. “Business is back.”

The event was also used to high-light the Bristol Post and Bath Chron-icle Women in Business Awards.

Fiona Jordan, associate dean forexternal engagement at UWE’s fac-ulty of business and law, which is

sponsoring the awards, said: “50 percent of my students are women and Iwant them to have the same oppor-tunity to achieve as men. The realityis there is still a significant genderpay gap and significant underrep-resentation at very senior levels.

“But for me it’s equally importantthat it’s about the value of havingwomen involved.

“I went to the awards earlier thisyear and found it a really enjoyableand inspiring occasion. It’s reallypositive to celebrate female role mod-els successfully contributing to ourlocal economy.”

She said such awards were par-

ticularly relevant for women.“When we look at what men and

women want by way of professionaldevelopment, there are differences,”said Fiona. “Women value coaching,mentoring, peer support and thoseconfidence building activities.

“We think this is a fantastic op-portunity to celebrate achievementand showcase great female role mod-e l s. ”

The final speaker was Ellen Green,who shared how her business, TheBlue Badge Company, based in Mont-pelier, Bristol, had grown from a backbedroom to count Boots among itss t o ck i s t s.

GALLERIESGALORE

FOR MORE PICTURESCheck out our

website at

bristolpost.co.uk/business

� Guests at the Bristol Connected event held on the empty second floor of city centre office 10 Templeback Pictures: Dave Betts� From left, Stacey Butterworth, Sustain, Oliver Holtaway, Freelance PR, Ryan Legge andHelen Carpenter, Hayes Parsons

� Angela Belassie, PR The Write Way, Gemma Collins, Natwest/RBS, and Kathryn King, Artistry& Grace/Amway

� Bristol PostAssistantEditor(Business)GavinThompsontalks to RuariLaidlow ofCube RealEstate; below,guests at theevent

� Ellen Green, The Blue BadgeCompany

� From left, Alexandra McArthur, McArthur Marketing, Alison Wilmot, FindMe A Trade, Amanda Kerin, AJK Event Manager, and LindseySandom-Brown, The Bristol Bridge� Fitzroy Bonfield, Fitzfield Accountancy & Tax Services, Jon Gill, TLT LLP,

Ricky Killa, CSG, and Julian Cassell, CSG Computer Services.

� Fiona Jordan, UWE

� Dani Andresand SusanUzel, Spirit PR;right, guests atthe event

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In pictures Bristol Connected

Upbeat ‘People back out there doing deals’

SOON companies will giveworkers office allowances –similar to car allowances – sothey can go and find their ownplace to work.

Ru Laidlow, of Cube Real Estates,told an audience of more than 60businessmen and women, how hethinks the office market is changing.

Speaking at the Post’s Bristol Con-nected event, he said: “You don’t walk

Christmas cheer as Colliershosts party for city firms

In pictures Colliers International

COMMERCIAL property specialists ColliersInternational entertained guests from acrossthe city’s business world at a festive net-working event at Clifton Wine Bar.

Head of office Tim Davies welcomed guestsfrom a number of top Bristol companies in-cluding Thrings, Handelsbanken, OsborneClarke, Urbina, Santander, Wards, Foot Anstey,Castleoak, Firmstone Developments, Peter

Brett Associates, HSBC, Eagle Land as well asthe University of Bristol.

Tim said: “We are seeing increased activitywhich is boosting confidence across the citybusiness community and Colliers Internation-al enjoyed celebrating both the start of thefestive season and a successful year aheadfor the city’s property market with their cli-e n t s. ”

� Chris Dawson (Colliers) and Warren Reid (Thrings)

� Ben Meynell (Colliers) and LaurenceDungworth (Castleoak)

� Heather Rees (Base Architects) and MattWhiston (Peter Brett Associates)

� Emily Cooke (Colliers) Gareth Hughes (FootAnstey)

� Gemma Daly (Colliers) and Mark Halpin(Handelsbanken)


in, sit at your own desk from 9 to 5.The way people are interacting, meet-ing with clients and using onlinesocial portals is changing and there-fore the way people interact withtheir buildings is changing.

“The emphasis is now on what em-ployees want and you tailor towardsthem, rather than the companies.

“In the next 12 to 18 months you’llsee companies beginning to offer in-stead of a car allowance, an officeallowance. You’ll be able to go off andfind your own space.”

He said for office providers thatmeans being able to offer attractive,flexible environments as well as the

big spaces that larger companies like.The event took place on the emptysecond floor of 10 Templeback, a citycentre office where Cube Real Estateshas recently taken on the asset man-a g ement.

Ru added that the property marketwas moving again. “People are backout there prepared to do deals andlandlords are prepared to do flexibled e a l s, ” he said. “Business is back.”

The event was also used to high-light the Bristol Post and Bath Chron-icle Women in Business Awards.

Fiona Jordan, associate dean forexternal engagement at UWE’s fac-ulty of business and law, which is

sponsoring the awards, said: “50 percent of my students are women and Iwant them to have the same oppor-tunity to achieve as men. The realityis there is still a significant genderpay gap and significant underrep-resentation at very senior levels.

“But for me it’s equally importantthat it’s about the value of havingwomen involved.

“I went to the awards earlier thisyear and found it a really enjoyableand inspiring occasion. It’s reallypositive to celebrate female role mod-els successfully contributing to ourlocal economy.”

She said such awards were par-

ticularly relevant for women.“When we look at what men and

women want by way of professionaldevelopment, there are differences,”said Fiona. “Women value coaching,mentoring, peer support and thoseconfidence building activities.

“We think this is a fantastic op-portunity to celebrate achievementand showcase great female role mod-e l s. ”

The final speaker was Ellen Green,who shared how her business, TheBlue Badge Company, based in Mont-pelier, Bristol, had grown from a backbedroom to count Boots among itss t o ck i s t s.

GALLERIESGALORE

FOR MORE PICTURESCheck out our

website at

bristolpost.co.uk/business

� Guests at the Bristol Connected event held on the empty second floor of city centre office 10 Templeback Pictures: Dave Betts� From left, Stacey Butterworth, Sustain, Oliver Holtaway, Freelance PR, Ryan Legge andHelen Carpenter, Hayes Parsons

� Angela Belassie, PR The Write Way, Gemma Collins, Natwest/RBS, and Kathryn King, Artistry& Grace/Amway

� Bristol PostAssistantEditor(Business)GavinThompsontalks to RuariLaidlow ofCube RealEstate; below,guests at theevent

� Ellen Green, The Blue BadgeCompany

� From left, Alexandra McArthur, McArthur Marketing, Alison Wilmot, FindMe A Trade, Amanda Kerin, AJK Event Manager, and LindseySandom-Brown, The Bristol Bridge� Fitzroy Bonfield, Fitzfield Accountancy & Tax Services, Jon Gill, TLT LLP,

Ricky Killa, CSG, and Julian Cassell, CSG Computer Services.

� Fiona Jordan, UWE

� Dani Andresand SusanUzel, Spirit PR;right, guests atthe event

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12 We d n e s d a y, December 17, 2014w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

� BUSINESS people enjoyed anaccess all areas tour of the projectbuilding a supersonic car designedto break the 1,000mph barrier.

Access All Areas BusinessNetworking events run by BusinessWest are designed to be differentthan the norm. And the latest one, atthe Bloodhound Supersonic Car(SSC) took this concept to adifferent level – you could say it wasmiles better.

The Bloodhound SSC project is aglobal engineering adventure, usinga 1,000mph world land speed recordattempt to inspire a generationabout science, technology,engineering and mathematics.

More than 50 chamber memberswere captivated by the project withincredible background delivered bychief engineer Mark Chapman andsponsor Liaison Tony Parraman,who then took them on a tour of thetechnical centre.

Chamber member Berkeley Harris,from Sandler Training, said: “Havingattended numerous events as akeen networker, I really enjoy theBusiness West approach to ‘Accessall Areas’ events.

“I was fortunate enough to attendthe Bloodhound car event whichwas absolutely superb. ‘Made inBristol’ will once again be on themap in 2015!”

� Berkeley Harris, from SandlerTr a i n i n g

THE Bristol and North Som-erset branch of the Game &Wildlife Conservation Trust(GWCT) raised more than£15,000 for the charity at its

annual Gourmet Game Dinner.The exclusive dinner for 50 invited

guests was held at the Clifton Club inBristol, and featured four gamecourses comprising wild Scottish sal-mon, smoked venison, local pheasantand Wemmergill grouse provided bythe guests themselves.

The event also featured a silentauction of nine lots, which included asterling silver hawk brooch designedand made by Bristol jeweller Nig Bar-ratt and bottles of Chateau Lafitedonated by the Rothschild family.

Jerry Barnes, chair of the Bristoland North Somerset branch of theGWCT and chair of the landed estatesteam at the Bristol office of Smith &Williamson, which sponsored theevent, said: “This was undoubtedlyour best gourmet dinner to date, withthe finest quality game donated byguests and sponsors. Each dish wassuperbly hand crafted by the CliftonClub’s chef Phil Clench and histeam.

“On behalf of all the sponsors, I’dlike to thank our guests for theirgenerosity and for helping to raise aconsiderable sum to help the GWCTwith its research and other importantwork in the countryside.”

The dinner was sponsored by ac-countancy and investment manage-ment group Smith & Williamson, lawfirm Michelmores, Yapp Brotherswine merchants, Southfield Sportingand Bristol Private Office Services.

In pictures Bristol Gourmet Game Dinner

Food fo r thought Charity dinner raises £ 15k

Going behind the scenes of Bloodhound projectIn pictures Access All Areas

� Cathy and Ross Ancell � Sir David Wills and Andrew Nisbett

� Katrina Lintott and Sarah-JaneLongbottom� Lady Paula Wills and Jenny Dowdeswell

� Jerry Barnes, of Smith & Williamson, Delphine Barnes, of BPOS, Robert Lintott, of SouthfieldSporting, Teresa Dent, of GWCT, and Tom Hyde of Michelmores � Jerry Barnes, Michael Cannon and Michael Dowdeswell

� Julian and Lindsay Telling

Documents

Business 17 December 2014