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ISSUE SEVEN: AUTUMN 2014
STAIRWAY
TO HEAVEN
How a former model created a global skincare firm
LITTLE,
BIG PLAN
The tiny mobile device with huge potential
DESIGNS FOR LIFE
Property guru’s unconventional career path
REACHING FOR THE STARS
Airport boss on a mission to transform city’s fortunes
ISSUE SEVEN: AUTUMN 2014: WEST MIDLANDS EDITION
THE SURVIVOR
He fled Dubai after threats from unpaid suppliers. Now
Simon Ford is building a new life...and a business empire
BUSINESS NEWS: COMMERCE: FASHION: INTERVIEWS: MOTORS: EVENTS
WEST MIDLANDS EDITION
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BQ (Business Quarter) Magazine is gaining national
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leaders whilst giving focus to key national issues that
have a significant impact on the business landscape.
Its aim is to inspire, enlighten and empower, embracing
and reporting on regional business success wherever it
is found and to make a real contribution to encouraging
economic growth.
ISSUE TWENTY SIX: SUMMER 2014
BEST
FOOT FORWARD
Shoe company boss steps into new territory
ISSUE SEVENTEEN: AUTUMN 2014
Veteran business leader on creating
wealth and giving something back
RISING
STARS
Focus on two award-winning newcomers
The tiny sensors we take for granted
are a multi-billion pound business
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SCOTLAND EDITION
YORKSHIRE
BARN AND BRED
Software invented in a village outhouse goes global
BRAVE NEW WORLD
How intelligent cities will transform our lives
REACHING FOR THE STARS
SECRETARY TO BOSS
THE SURVIVOR
BURNING
DESIRE
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From humble beginnings to business guru
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ISSUE TWENTY TWO: AUTUMN 2014: YORKSHIRE EDITION
NORTH EAST EDITION
My simple premise – ask customers
what they want, then deliver it
ISSUE SEVENTEEN: AUTUMN 2014: SCOTLAND EDITION
ISSUE TWENTY SIX: SUMMER 2014: NORTH EAST EDITION
Anthony Thomson’s Atom Bank rewrites the rules
Bomb disposal expert and F1 engineer join forces
LITTLE,
BIG PLAN
WORLD VISION
Can business make the world fairer?
ISSUE TWENTY TWO: AUTUMN 2014
LIFE IN THE FAST LANE
DESIGNS FOR LIFE
TALKING SENSORS
THE FIXER
STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN
THE JOY OF GIVING
GAME CHANGER
Talent pool boost for North East businesses
MIGHTY
ATOM
IN THE FAST LANE
Former motor racing enthusiast
reveals his latest business venture
CHAMPIONING THE NORTH
BQ meets a man intent of transforming the region’s fortunes
The entrepreneur on a mission to save
lives with his revolutionary new fuel
YORKSHIRE EDITION
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MAGAZINE
ENTREPRENEUR
ENTREPRENEUR
BUSINESS LUNCH
WINTER 13
DESIGNS
FOR LIFE
REACHING
FOR THE STARS
who never set foot in the mountain region.
He must have had an amazing imagination
because people believed he had been to Tibet.
All of this triggered off my sense of inquiry. I’m
so grateful to my uncle. Although I had to wait
until the Maharishi arrived in 1967 by way of
George Harrison of the Beatles to get to the
next stage in my search.
Charlie Miller left Niddrie Marischal school
in Craigmillar and started as a male trainee
hairdresser at Bob’s in the West Port, working
alongside Joe Mooney. “Joe was my best-man
when we got married, he’s a great guy.” It was
a fabulous learning experience in the early 60s
at a time when the Tony Curtis/ Perry Como
flat-top hair-dos were in demand, and blond
heart-throb Illya Kuryakin, played by Scotsman
David McCallum, was the star of The Man
from UNCLE (Joe was the first to have this
look) and in those days Cossack, Brylcreem and
Vitalis were must-have accessories. It was here
that he learned the rudiments of ‘precision
cutting’, a key to his later success. A little
known fact is that men’s hairdressing used
hand hair driers for blow-drying before women
took to it in droves.
“Going into ladies’ hairdressing was an easy
transition because I was able to apply the same
thinking with my precision cutting. When
I saw Sassoon doing his famous geometric
cuts I realised I could do that too. The training
at Bob’s couldn’t have been better and I still
appreciate it to this day. Then I started my
own business in 1965 and looked after a wide
range of clients from the Mods who arrived
at the salon door on their Lambrettas to the
classic cut clients in their Rolls Royce and
E-Type Jaguar.
After a spell in Rose Street, with partner
Charlie Mearns in His Hair, a men’s hairdresser
above the famed ‘I Found it at Bruce’s’ record
shop [run by Bruce Finlay, another of Charlie’s
‘Gang Hut’ friends who went on to manage
Simple Minds], Charlie Miller decided to open
in a basement salon in Stafford Street at the
West End. He has been in that street for 40
years and with the Directors has opened
a further four salons within the city and
established a global reputation for styling
around the world.
Charlie was in the vanguard of the new breed
of exciting and entrepreneurial hair-cutters
LITTLE DEVICE
COULD BE BIG
LITTLE,
BIG PLAN
Professor Rick Hillum has developed a product
that could soon find its way into every
next-generation cellular handset and mobile
device sold across the world. Although it
only launched in August 2013, his company,
Smart Antenna Technologies (SAT), is already
in ‘active closing discussions’ to license the
technology to a household name customer.
It has also opened a silicon design centre in
Bath, almost doubled its staff, from 13 to 23,
and has won, or been shortlisted for, a clutch
of awards.
So what is this groundbreaking technology?
At the moment, mobile handsets need
a separate antenna to support each
communication technology – Bluetooth, WiFi,
GPS, GSM and 3G/4G. When 4G phones hit
the market, they’re expected to have up to six
narrow-band antennae operating on individual
band segments, which, explains Hillum, is
“highly inefficient in terms of cost and space
occupied in the device”.
SAT provides a single antenna solution – using
THE SURVIVOR
BUSINESS QUARTER | AUTUMN 14
£2.95
MOTORING
AUTUMN 14
Professor Rick Hillum has been running
university spin-out companies for a quarter of a
century, but his latest is the most exciting and
potentially lucrative yet. Ros Dodd reports
STAIRWAY
TO HEAVEN
AUTUMN 14
34
AUTUMN 14
a novel foil or printable antenna and control
chip to produce a compact multi-frequency
antenna. And instead of costing up to $18
per antenna, this foil or printable antenna
costs less than $1, thus potentially saving the
industry billions of dollars.
SAT uses software-reconfigurable hardware
that enables manufacturers to produce one
device for all territories, reduce costs and
streamline manufacturing and logistics.
“So you can see why the company has more
potential customers than staff and why we’re
having to hold customers off,” says Hillum.
“The reason customers are biting our hands off
is that the technology is protected by patents
– we have a significant number of applications
either filed or in process – and we are adding
even more functionality into the antenna to
take us into the future.”
If all goes to plan, we won’t have to wait
too long for the technology to hit the high
street. “By the end of 2015, this will be in a
customer’s product in volume production,”>>
AUTUMN 14
35
MOTORING
ENTREPRENEUR
52
BUSINESS QUARTER | WINTER 13
SPRING 14
SPRING 14
ENTREPRENEUR
MY MAGIC FORMULA
Dean Chudasama has built his impressive housing business on the back
of honouring commitments, helping partners and investing against the
flow of the market. Ros Dodd reports
LIVING UP TO
EXPECTATIONS
During the recession, as construction sites
stood abandoned and businesses were
brought to their knees by banks’ reluctance to
lend, one West Midlands property company
couldn’t build homes fast enough to satisfy
customer demand and banks were falling over
themselves to offer funding.
That company was Acocks Green-based
Damson Homes, and its year-on-year success,
even in the midst of deep economic gloom,
is down to a “magic formula” honed over
more than 25 years by its charismatic owner,
Dean Chudasama.
It’s a formula that is deceptively simple: an
uncompromising hands-on approach by
Damson’s core team – Chudasama, building
supremo Ray Sketchley and architect Parimal
Tanna – a fast turnaround (the average build
time is 17 weeks), great customer service and
creative marketing.
The company has also eschewed expanding
geographically in order to focus on the
relatively small area of south Birmingham,
north Worcestershire and north Warwickshire
that it knows like the back of its hand.
Since its launch in 2003, Damson has built
more than 120 homes – selling most off-plan
– and prides itself in finishing even the least
expensive to a very high specification (granite
worktops, Neff appliances and American
oak staircases are standard), with £200,000
Roger Hutton, a partner at
Clarion Solicitors, takes his
pregant wife and elderly father
for a spin in a Jaguar XJ >>
58
in association with
OVERCOMING
THE HURDLES
The issue: What barriers currently exist
for manufacturers in Yorkshire that are
preventing them from globalising and how
can we tackle these?
which all the departments were competing
against each other, it wouldn’t work. If you’re
going to have this idea of UK PLC, you’ve got
to invest in it.”
Colin Glass: “The HS3 link is very important
because, like it or not, Manchester is the
international airport but it’s a pain to get
there, so I think that link is very important.”
Mike Pickles: “I couldn’t care less. The big
issue is driving my business forward and it’s
not worrying whether there’s a link here,
there and everywhere. To me it’s just how
I get more business.”
Eric Hawthorn: “The point of connecting the
region is how it will impact on bringing inward
investment in.”
Mike Maddock: “It’s about creating a
strong platform so that we can trade with
SPECIAL REPORT | AUTUMN 14
ENTREPRENEUR
32
TAKING PART
Mike Pickles, owner, Really Useful
Products
Chris Lord, CEO, Bartuf Group
Eric Hawthorn, founder, Radio Design
Chris Black, managing director, Sound
Leisure
Enrico Vassallo, chief executive, Optare
Group
Colin Glass, founding partner, WGN /
non-exec director of Surgical Innovations
(amongst other firms)
Mike Maddock, co-owner, Performance
Engineered Solutions (PES)
Stephen Foster, business development
director, Mazars
Neil Williams, regional director,
Santander Corporate and Commercial
Banking
Charles Garfit, head of manufacturing,
Banking
In the chair: Caroline Theobald
Taking notes: Andrew Mernin, editor, BQ
Venue: The New Ellington Hotel, Leeds
BQ is highly regarded as a leading
independent commentator on business
issues, many of which have a bearing
on the current and future success of the
region’s business economy. BQ Live is a
series of informative debates designed
to further contribute to the success
and prosperity of our regional economy
through the debate, discussion and
feedback of a range of key business
topics and issues.
the rest of the world effectively.”
Chris Lord added that an element of tribalism
might hinder the notion of an interconnected
North that trades with the world. “If you look
at the South, nobody gives a damn whether
you live in Kent, Surrey or wherever because
you just bleed into it. There is without any
doubt whatsoever, this idea that ‘you’re
from the other side of the hill and I’m from
this side’.
Another challenge, said Eric Hawthorn,
is the time it takes to crack a new market
against the size of support funding available
to do so. He said: “My business can’t just pick
up business from the internet as it’s business
to business and I’m selling to global mobile
phone companies. It’s a really slow process
to enter new markets. It’s taken five years
MANUFACTURERS GOING GLOBAL
ENTREPRENEUR
AUTUMN 14
SPRING 14
DEBATE
A HOME-SPUN YARN
FROM THE CASTLE
to make any progress in India, for example.
So accessing the world is really hard but the
financial support we can get from government
for exporting is insufficient. So my challenge
is how do I take my business to the world
more quickly?”
One of the main inhibitors to exporting
Charles Garfit has witnessed among
businesses is a lack of confidence. He said:
“It’s all about giving people the confidence to
actually go out there and do something. You
can take the most erudite business people
who trade extensively around the UK, and
sit them down in front of somebody from
overseas and it all goes horribly to pieces.
So I think we can all help give people the
confidence they need to trade internationally.”
Eric Hawthorn suggested export networks,
such as that run by Leeds City Region Local
Enterprise Partnership, are a great source
of market confidence and insight. Business
leaders trading globally share their expertise
with their peers and help others tap into
territories they have already broken into. “If
you’ve got experience of a particular country,
and you had advisers that worked for you,
you could introduce other businesses to the
same advisers – which government bodies
are not allowed to do.”
Charles Garfit: “I’m a great believer that
stories really do educate. I think when you
understand what others have been through
to get to where they are, and some of the
horrors as well as the things that have gone
wonderfully well, that is invaluable.”
Neil Williams asked how businesses should
assess which markets to target their products
at in the first place.
Mike Pickles: “It’s a simple principle of low
hanging fruit. It can be any product from
buses to jukeboxes to plastic boxes to surgical
implements; it is simply about where the
marketplace for your product is. I find it’s easy
by just following the money. Which is the
biggest GDP? Which is the most likely to want
your product? Of course I do visit the country
to get an understanding of what opportunities
exist. But we find the easiest way to break
into a new market is through international
trade exhibitions.”
Pickles also highlighted why a patient
approach to exports is essential. “It’s all got >>
MANUFACTURERS
GLOBAL
BUSINESS
QUARTER GOING
| SPRING
14
SPRING 14
SPRING 14
SPRING 14
He is also a good example of how hard
work – in his case, juggling a full-time job
and part-time studying with buying and
refurbishing properties – is the best way
to succeed in business.
The foundations of Damson Homes were
laid many years ago. Born in Nairobi, Kenya,
Chudasama moved to the UK when he was
two and settled in Birmingham with his
Indian-born parents.
“My parents didn’t speak English and worked
in factories all their lives, but they drove the
message into me and my two sisters that we
would have an education and a life with more
opportunities than they had had,” he recalls.
His parents’ ambitions for their children were
realised when their son became the first
person in the family to get into university.
“They were very proud,” he remembers.
It was, however, a somewhat circuitous
route to the University of East London,
where he studied land management and
estate administration.
“I went through three years at Solihull College
and came out with nothing. A friend of mine
was working for Ind Coope at the time and
his job sounded really interesting: things like
negotiating the sale of part of a pub car park
to a developer. I asked him how he’d got into
it and he said he’d studied for a degree in land
management and estate administration. >>
Putting world-class expertise
to work in your business
27
BUSINESS QUARTER | SPRING 14
ENTREPRENEUR
Sir Jack Stewart-Clark is the owner of Dundas Castle, one of the most
perfect places for a wedding or corporate leisure day in Scotland.
However, Sir Jack had a distinguished career in business and politics
before restoring his historic home into an intimate hospitality venue with
five-star service. He talks to BQ Scotland editor Kenny Kemp about his
life and times
Here’s a bit of history. The siege and
bombardment of Edinburgh Castle by Oliver
Cromwell ended on 24 December 1650
when its governor Walter Dundas eventually
surrendered. Dundas, who had been a
Covenanter, decided to join Cromwell’s
Commonwealth side. Today, many Scottish
couples who celebrate their wedding vows in
the ancient Old Keep of Dundas Castle have
cause to be grateful for Walter’s submission.
For Walter Dundas’s own home was spared the
wrath of Cromwell and today the 15th century
Keep is now one of the most atmospheric
places to tie the marital knot. It’s a restored
tower with a vaulted medieval great hall,
steeped in Caledonian history. It’s where
Cromwell once stayed during his period of
religious warfare in Scotland which saw similar
strongholds razed to the ground.
The Auld Keep, built in 1416, and the more
comfortable adjoining country house built
in 1818 by architect William Burn – with its
manicured acres – is the home of Sir Jack
Stewart-Clark and his Dutch-born wife, Lady
Lydia. Dundas Castle is one of the great success
stories of up-market tourism and leisure in
Scotland and a credit to the vision of Sir Jack.
Sir Jack had several remarkable careers even
before undertaking the rebuilding of Dundas
Castle as this five-star venue, with its glorious
backdrop overlooking the Firth OF Forth.
After many years working abroad with thread
maker J&P Coats in Uruguay, Canada, Spain,
Holland, Portugal and Pakistan, the fluent
Dutch and Spanish speaker rose to the top of
the Philips electrical conglomerate in the UK.
Firstly, he became managing director of Philips
Electical, the consumer goods arm of Philips
in the UK and then managing director of Pye
of Cambridge, a public company but majority
33
26
[email protected]
www.birmingham.ac.uk/partners
26
SPECIAL REPORT |AUTUMN 14
ENTREPRENEUR
INTERVIEW
owned by Philips. He stepped out of business
in 1979 to become one of the UK’s first elected
European parliamentarians and rose to become
vice president of the European Parliament. He’s
an active octogenarian with a sharp-as-tack
memory and remains a strong pro-European.
He returned to Dundas in 1997 armed with
27 years of business and 20 years of political
experience.
While he has built Dundas Castle’s corporate,
leisure and wedding business from scratch, it is
Sir Jack’s personal touch which chimes so well
with guests. He puts much of the success down
to his staff, working to ensure that demanding
high-value events go off seamlessly. But the
Stewart-Clark family presence is an essential
aspect of Dundas’s intimate charm and this is
due in no small measure to Sir Jack’s wife Lady
Lydia, who has done all the interior decorating
in Dundas and has turned it into “the cosiest
castle in Scotland”.
“The leisure business has a reputation for quick
turnover of staff, bigger than almost any other
industry. I wanted to be absolutely certain that
I looked after our people and ensure that they
would stay with us for many years. Not only
are they paid reasonably well in comparison to
the rest of the sector, but they have jobs they
enjoy doing and become part of our extended
family,” he says.
It has worked. Lucy Scillitoe, the general
manager, has been with Sir Jack for more than
10 years, while the rest of the team, including
marketing manager Siobhan Leith, has been
together for a long time.
“It’s so important: you’ve got to look after the
people who are looking after the customers,”
he says. “In that way we can expect to provide
a first class attentive and caring service”.
Dundas Castle employs 20 full-time and
27
another ten regular contract people, including
the gardeners who keep the grounds looking in
tip-top condition for over 130 events a year.
“My principle is that the moment that you
come through the gates of the Castle and head
up the driveway, you’ve got to feel that this is a
special place that is cared for and looked after.”
He’s right. The rhododendron bushes are neatly
clipped and the tarmac without a pothole –
a rather rare occurrence in the environs of
Edinburgh. The drive ends as you crunch onto
specially imported gravel at the castle’s elegant
and imposing front door. “It has all got to be
kept to the highest standard. Even the brass on
the front door has to be buffed and polished.”
With its grand wood-panelled entrance hall, its
comfy sitting rooms and grand dining room,
Dundas is a magical place for a wedding and
a secluded venue for corporate customers. It
has 17 luxurious bedrooms and bathrooms
for overnight guests. There’s a fixed pavilion
marquee beside the lawns for bigger events
of up to 250 and a site for a grand marquee,
which will then house up to 1,000 people.
It wasn’t always like this at Dundas. When Sir
Jack and his wife started on the restoration
work, the house was riddled with dry rot and
required a fortune being spent to bring it into
watertight condition. Also the boat house on
the loch, which is now used for honeymoon
night, had been vandalised.
“I feel sorry for my parents in some way.
My grandmother lived here until 1938 with
her unmarried children. My parents moved
into Dundas after she died. However shortly,
thereafter, the RAF requisitioned the Castle and
my parents moved to Ravelston in Edinburgh
for the duration of the war.
Sir Jack’s father, Sir Stewart, died when he was
68. He had been a great sportsman >>
ISSUE SIXTEEN: SUMMER 2014
HEADS IN THE CLOUDS
The businessmen capitalising on the data storage revolution
STRIPPING
FOR ACTION
Golfing legend aims to market comic strip character worldwide
CREDIT WHERE IT’S DUE
Meet the woman at the heart of Scotland’s credit union success
THE
SURVIVORS
How a property giant weathered the economic storm
ISSUE SIXTEEN: SUMMER 2014: SCOTLAND EDITION
Delegates initially focused on some of the
challenges preventing Yorkshire manufacturers
achieving global success.
Eric Hawthorn suggested conditions at home
needed to improve to ease access to export
routes.
He explained that Yorkshire businesses needed
a faster route to Manchester Airport, the
closest long-haul flight hub, and backed the
proposed ‘HS3’ high speed link from Leeds
to Manchester.
“Just think what a functioning transport
system connecting Leeds, Sheffield and
Manchester would do for us internationally
and in terms of inward investment. We’d be
selling the whole region and its strengths,”
he said.
Mike Maddock agreed: “If you had a PLC in
59
properties fitted out to the same standard as
those in the £700,000 price bracket.
Not only does it have buyers lining up to
buy its properties, the company has won the
Chartered Institute of Building’s “design and
quality” award (nominated by Local Authority
Building Control) four consecutive times – a
feat no other developer has achieved. And
one of its developments, The Friars in Hall
Green, was the only residential build to be
shortlisted in the 2012 RICS Awards for Design
& Innovation.
“We have managed to buck the trend in the
property market by doing things differently,”
explains Chudasama.
The moment you meet the 48-year-old fatherof-two, you are immediately reminded of the
saying that “people buy from people they
like”. Chudasama is chatty – very chatty in
fact – and hugely likeable. It is evident, too,
that he believes in always conducting himself
honourably, whatever the financial climate.
“My reputation and the reputation of Damson
Homes are extremely important to me,” he
says. “I describe myself as being firm but fair.”
Chudasama is a good example of the
entrepreneur who sees an opportunity, grabs
it with both hands and takes care to learn
from it all there is to know so that he can take
the experience and plough it into the next,
bigger project.
CANCER DROVE
ME TO SUCCEED
Telecoms boss came back stronger after beating killer disease
SCOTLAND EDITION
£2.95
INTERVIEW
SUMMER 14
FUTURE IS
A CARBON
FREE ZONE
It’s this chicken and egg
situation... you won’t get
the vehicles without the
infrastructure but if you
put the infrastructure in
without the vehicles
you get slaughtered
in the press
Emerging
technologies are set
to transform not just
transport but the way
we power our lives,
as Peter Jackson
discovers talking to
Dr Colin Herron
MARVELS IN
MORPHSUITS
The Morphsuit is already a stunning global
success. The three founding creators are
now using this to build a market leading
position in the fancy dress category. They
have some great super powers literally
up their sleeve. Kenny Kemp meets Ali
Smeaton and Gregor Lawson, two of the
three entrepreneurs, in Edinburgh
40
If you start spotting Spider-Man in Glasgow,
the Iron Man in Edinburgh, and Captain
America in Aberdeen, rest assured you are not
losing your marbles. The chances are they will
be Marvel superhero fans wearing the latest
Morphsuits developed by the Scottish company
AFG Media. And with suits that have added
‘super powers’, this will surely take Morphsuits
into the stratosphere and beyond.
In case you have been living on planet Zog, the
Morphsuit is a tight-fitting, full-body garment
of spandex and polyester that has become
a fancy dress sensation. The core benefits
- apart from the fun they create - are you
can see through, breathe through and drink
through the suits. Among the crazy facts about
Morphsuits is the world record for drinking a
pint of beer through the suit is 6.3 seconds.
Gregor Lawson, Fraser and Ali Smeaton,
the three fun-loving founders of this global
phenomenon, are super serious about their
business. Neither wonder. The fancy dress
industry worldwide is worth an estimated
£3.5 billion and it is growing. Those who love
dressing up for almost any given occasion have
an insatiable demand for innovation – and that
is keeping the Morphsuit men focusing on this
big prize. The Morphsuit is already in a league
of its own but some tantalising developments
for the Edinburgh-based business are
attempting to keep it way ahead of the pack.
Sitting in the modern Edinburgh office of
AFG Media, near the former depot for the
city’s cable-drawn tramcars, there is a buzz
of activity. In the upstairs balcony, Ali and
Gregor are modelling some of their latest
creations, while downstairs the marketing
and administrative teams are helping keep
the vital social media chat up-to-the minute.
For Morphsuits is an innovative and impactful
business that has been propelled by the
power of Facebook – and Morph fans have
heard about a new range of licenced Marvel
costumes with ‘augmented reality’, which
will bring party-going ‘superpowers’ to mimic
Spider-Man, Iron Man, Wolverine, Captain
America and Deedpool. “We’re aiming to
be the first global brand in the fancy dress
sector synonymous with awesome costumes
incorporating smartphone technology,” says
Gregor Lawson, the bearded co-founder, after
returning to more customary jeans and T-shirt.
For four years, he explains, thousands of fans
have been clamouring for Morphsuits to follow
the success of their Power Rangers outfits and
go for Marvel superheroes, especially SpiderMan. But such characters are licensing golddust, and AFG Media have had to spend time
winning over Disney-Marvel.
“It was natural for people to ask for SpiderMan because he effectively wears a Morphsuit.
It’s a no-brainer. But when it comes to working
with a big company like Disney-Marvel, it takes
a long time to get the licence and sort out all
the legal work. Now we’ve done it and we’re
incredibly excited,” says Gregor.
It is very early days with Disney-Marvel but with
George Lucas’ Star Wars franchise also coming
into the fold, there are some eye-watering
41
prospects for Morphsuits, especially now that
they are endowed with Super Powers.
In the meeting room, Gregor and Ali [Fraser
is in a series of commercial sessions in
London] are delighted to demonstrate how
augmented reality is incorporated into the
Iron-Man suit - by using a smart phone to
identify a marker, Iron-Man appears to fire
a laser-like beam from his hands. The mock
‘electricity charge’ can then be screen-grabbed
and shared with friends who can ‘Like’ the
image. The ‘augmented reality’ Zappar works
with the free Morphsuits smartphone app
integrated with the costume and brings the
hero’s superpowers to life. Gregor then dons
a monster’s head made from latex, fixing
his iPhone into the head to create a moving
Cyclop’s eye. It’s brilliantly inventive and
generates hoots of laughter. It might well
generate piles of cash too.
This is the new world of the Digital Dudz’
Cyclops Masks and Zappar Codes helping to
bring superhero costumes to a higher plain >>
SPECIAL REPORT | SUMMER 14
5
34
SUNDERLAND: THE UK’S THRIVING AUTOMOTIVE HUB
SUNDERLAND: THE UK’S THRIVING AUTOMOTIVE HUB
35
Crystal ball gazing is one thing and making
the future happen is another, but at a site
in Washington one organisation is engaged
in both.
In 2009 the North East was officially
designated a Low Carbon Economic Area
in ultra low carbon vehicles and, a couple
of years later, Gateshead College set up a
subsidiary, Zero Carbon Futures, to further the
advancement of technologies surrounding low
carbon vehicles and examine the impact that
these technologies will have on homes and
cities in the future.
Based in the Future Technology Centre in the
heart of Sunderland’s automotive zone, the
company, which has 10 staff, is supporting
the regional drive to position the North East
as a leading European centre for Low Carbon
Vehicle expertise.
Zero Carbon Futures managing director Dr
Colin Herron explains: “One of our main
purposes is to scan the horizon for new >>
SPECIAL REPORT | SUMMER 14
MAGAZINE
DISTRIBUTION
BQ reaches an affluent and influential audience of
directors, owner managers, entrepreneurs and opinion
formers via its carefully researched distribution model.
7,500 copies are mailed on a named basis to a database that is constantly updated for
each area. The people on the database are in a position of influence within leading
businesses and include board directors of the region’s Top 250 companies and owner
managers of leading entrepreneurial businesses. A further 2,500 copies are distributed
to over 200 locations in each area of high executive footfall. BQ has become keenly
anticipated and is retained as an important reference document, offering limited but
exciting advertising opportunities that will expose your business products and services
to a large, unique audience of UK wide business decision makers and opinion formers.
DEMOGRAPHICS
BY JOB DESCRIPTION
HLM
CEO
OMB
MKT
YORKSHIRE
BY INDUSTRY
9%
71%
8%
12%
BY POSTCODE
AUTO
CH
CON
MAN
NE
RE
SS
TR
HLM
OMB
MKT
77%
19%
4%
AUTO
CH
CON
MAN
NE
SCOTLAND
RE
SS
TR
3%
2%
13%
26%
5%
7%
42%
2%
4%
13%
11%
9%
6%
15%
39%
3%
LS
HG
YO
BD
S
HU
S
EH
G
A8
D
FK
ML
PH
I
KA
CEO
HLM
OMB
NORTH EAST
MKT
2%
71%
24%
3%
AUTO
CH
CON
MAN
NE
RE
SS
TR
CEO
HLM
OMB
MKT
WEST MIDS
11%
74%
9%
6%
AUTO
CH
CON
MAN
NE
RE
SS
TR
9%
5%
11%
16%
4%
6%
47%
2%
4%
2%
9%
37%
4%
9%
28%
7%
43%
17%
15%
15%
10%
3%
DH
DL
NE
SR
TS
OTHER
B
CV
WV
WS
WR
DY
40%
36%
12%
3%
2%
2%
1%
1%
1%
9%
11%
45%
7%
24%
4%
44%
26%
10%
8%
7%
5%
Data complied for the distribution of BQ magazine by room501 2014.
KEY
CEO Chief executive officers. HLM Managing Directors, board level directors. OMB Owner managed business. MKT Sales & marketing.
AUTO AUTO: Logistics, haulage, freight forwarding, transport, automotive. CH CORPORATE HOSPITALITY: Events management, conferencing and banqueting,
catering, hotels. CON CONSTRUCTION: The built environment. MAN MANUFACTURING & INDUSTRY: Production, exporters. NE NEW ECONOMY: Pharmaceutical,
petro-chemical, bio-science, IT, centres of excellence, process industries. RE RETAIL: Department stores, independent retailers. SS SERVICE SECTOR: Business support,
professional services, local government, finance. TR EDUCATION, TRAINING & RECRUITMENT: Recruitment specialists, training consultants, universities, colleges
6
MAGAZINE
SPONSORSHIP
Business Quarter (BQ) is a leading business to business
brand recognised for celebrating entrepreneurship and
corporate success. The multi platform brand currently
reaches entrepreneurs and senior business executives
across Scotland, West Midlands and Yorkshire, providing
a unique mix of business news with commentary from
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7
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8
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9
MAGAZINE
BQ
2
BQ2 is a Special Report platform that is distributed with our
quarterly editions to focus on specific subject matters and
sectors of national economic importance. Consisting of 48
pages these reports provide economic insight on a range
of business topics with in-depth interviews and analysis
supported by first class photography and design. Each
special report provides limited and exclusive advertising
and sponsorship opportunities.
ENTREPRENEUR
In association with
AUTUMN 14
SPECIAL REPORT:
BUSINESS GROWTH
SPECIAL REPORT:
THE SUBSEA SECTOR
BOXING CLEVER
Family-run packaging
business owes success
to father’s values
MAS APPEAL
Firms praise Manufacturing
Advisory Service experts
POSTCODE PIONEERS
The data specialists
who exploited a gap
in the market
FROM JAM AND
BREAD TO SOME
SERIOUS DOUGH
C-STATE OF THE ART
New subsea centre could
be a game changer
STAYING ON TOP
How the region is
maintaining its edge
Worcester-based address data specialist Postcode Anywhere
processes millions of transactions every day – and for some of the
world’s largest brands, as co-founder Guy Mucklow explains >>
46
BUSINESS GROWTH
SIZES:
Double page spread Full page Half page Quarter page
47
SPECIAL REPORT SPONSORSHIP £
12000/£20000
£2100
£1200
£735
£420
Includes:
• Front cover billing
• Display advert on back cover
• Logo on welcome page
• Editorial feature
£2000
£1800
£2500
ASSOCIATE SPONSOR
PREMIUM POSITIONS:
Inside front cover Inside back cover Back cover
BUSINESS GROWTH
TRAPPINGS OF WEALTH
Dr Tony Trapp gives
a frank interview
£5000*
Includes:
• Logo on welcome page
• Editorial feature
THE FOLLOWING TOPICS WILL BE COVERED DURING 2014/15
• Digital manufacturing
• Energy
• Education and business
• Exporting for growth
• Science and technology
• Advanced engineering
• Access to finance
• Renewables and offshore
• Tourism and Leisure
If you have a sector you would like us to profile
please let us know.
*We can also be commisioned to produce bespoke BQ2 reports. Prices available upon request.
10
MAGAZINE
YEARBOOK
The BQ Yearbook 2015 like Business Quarter Magazine
comprises quality editorial comment, together with
essential reference information about the region, leading
businesses and organisations. BQ has firmly established
itself as a favourite read across the business community
and the Yearbook will provide the magazine’s regular
subscribers with a concise analysis and summary of the
year past and, more importantly, the year ahead.
Skilful design and astute use of colour will deliver an easy guide through the substantial
information sector by sector. Authoritatively written leads and briefings will capture
the events and issues of 2014 and set the scene for 2015. The publication fits easily onto
desks, and into pockets and briefcases, ever handy for instant reference.
bq-magazine.co.uk
bq-magazine.co.uk
bq-magazine.co.uk
new economy
overview
bq-magazine.co.uk
who’s who
Helen Ager
who’s who
James Allen
EXECUTIVE PARTNER
MAIN BUSINESS: Legal
MANAGING DIRECTOR
MAIN BUSINESS: Creative marketing communications
YEARBOOK 2014
DWF, Great North House, Sandyford
Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ND
0191 233 9700
[email protected]
www.dwf.co.uk
Vinay Bedi
David Armstrong
DIRECTOR
MAIN BUSINESS: Commercial management consultancy
Guerilla, 4 St James Street,
Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4NF
0191 261 9799
[email protected]
www.guerilla.co.uk
John Anderson CBE
Mark Armstrong
EVENT PRODUCTION MANAGER
MAIN BUSINESS: Audio visual & event production
CHAIRMAN
MAIN BUSINESS: Business space & consultancy services
DIRECTOR
MAIN BUSINESS: Insurance broking & risk management
North East Business and Innovation
Centre (BIC), Wearfield, Enterprise Park
East, Sunderland, SR5 2TA
0191 516 6200
[email protected]
www.ne-bic.co.uk
Todd & Cue Ltd, Kingfisher House,
Kingsway, Team Valley, Gateshead, Tyne
and Wear, NE11 0JQ
0191 482 0050
[email protected]
www.toddcue.com
NORTH EAST
Shelagh Alderson
Sandy Anderson
Dame Margaret Barbour
HOSPITAL DIRECTOR
MAIN BUSINESS: Hospital
CHAIRMAN
MAIN BUSINESS: Public and private sector Local
Enterprise Partnership for Tees Valley
CHAIRMAN
MAIN BUSINESS: Manufacturer & retailer of casual clothing
Spire Washington Hospital, Picktree Lane,
Rickleton, Washington, NE38 9JZ
0191 415 1272
[email protected]
www.spirewashington.com
UBS Wealth Management, 2 St James’
Gate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 7JH
0191 211 1015
[email protected]
www.ubs.com/uk
Richard Blackett
Katherine Aitken
Big Purple Productions Ltd,
Unit 36 Stella Gill Industrial Estate,
Pelton Fell, Chester Le Street, DH2 2RQ
0191 388 0988
[email protected]
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
MAIN BUSINESS: Wealth management
Armstrong Consultancy Services (ACSL) Ltd,
Wellington House, Westminster Business
Centre, Wynyard Business Park, Wynyard,
Teesside, TS22 5TB
+44(0) 1740 665 010 / +44(0) 793 902 8044
[email protected]
www.armstrongcsl.co.uk
DIRECTOR
MAIN BUSINESS: Independent financial advisers.
Portfolio management services, min. investment £70k
Blackett Walker Ltd, BW House,
2/3 Park Road, Gosforth Business Park,
Newcastle, NE12 8DG
0191 653 1025
[email protected]
www.blackett-walker.co.uk
Jonathan Blair
MANAGING PARTNER
MAIN BUSINESS: Law Firm
The life and soul of business.
Bond Dickinson LLP, St. Ann’s Wharf,
112 Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne,
NE1 3DX
0845 415 0000
[email protected]
www.bonddickinson.com
J Barbour & Sons Ltd, Simonside,
South Shields, Tyne & Wear, NE34 9PD
0191 455 4444
[email protected]
www.barbour.com
Tees Valley Unlimited, Cavendish House,
Teesdale Business Park, Stockton on Tees,
Tees Valley, TS17 6QY
01642 524 400
www.teesvalleyunlimited.gov.uk
Smart switch: Under chairman Geoff Ford, Ford
Engineering Group on South Tyneside, once heavily
reliant on shipbuilding, is now into the aircraft and
automotives industries, and doing well
NORTH EAST
Chris Alexander
The life and soul of business.
Sunderland Live, Sunderland
Software Centre, Tavistock Place,
Sunderland, SR1 1PB
0191 561 8412
[email protected]
www.sunderlandlive.co.uk
Innovation is the new mantra covering all aspects of business now, and the
burgeoning digital sector is just one area where it has a chance to take root,
says Brian Nicholls
41
Lee Andrews
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
MAIN BUSINESS: Events
Doing it Differently
Pamela presses on: Newton Aycliffe is seeing major
diversification in manufacturing also with a move
by Ebac into air source heat pumps, freezers and a
revival for the UK of washing machine production.
The firm, already renowned for dehumidifiers and
a market leader in European production of water
coolers, has added a factory to its estate
28
DIRECTOR
MAIN BUSINESS: Recruitment
Shawn Bone
Mike Baxter
CORPORATE FINANCE DIRECTOR
MAIN BUSINESS: Corporate finance
TAILORING MANAGER
MAIN BUSINESS: Retail
Solutions Recruitment, Yorkshire
Chambers, 112-114 Pilgrim Street,
Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 6SQ
0191 221 0402 / 0779 183 6143
[email protected]
www.solrecruit.co.uk
Psyche, 175 - 187 Linthorpe Road,
Middlesbrough TS1 4AG
01642 707290
[email protected]
www.psyche.co.uk
Cavu Corporate Finance,
City Quadrant, 11 Waterloo Square,
Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4DP
0191 255 7772
[email protected]
www.cavucf.com
THE UK’S PREMIER RETAIL DESTINATION
78
79
The ever accelerating pace of business makes instant access
Third Sector: Voluntary, charitable and other not for
to vital information more important than ever. room501
profit activities, all important to both job creation and
publishing continues to provide the answer both in print
the social ethic.
and online - whatever your business - with BQ Magazine,
Transport & Communication: From broadband and IT
the BQ Yearbook, website and digital daily news service.
to road, rail, ports and airports.
Coverage in each edition includes:
Money Markets: What is being done to support our
How the economy is progressing and what is being done
business community.
to sustain our momentum and improve our respective
Business Support: Opportunities for enterprise and
economies.
growth, and for the investor and entrepreneur. Available
Expert analysis: of the portfolio of share quoted
help from centres of knowledge.
companies, renowned for bettering the FTSE Top 100.
Exporting: Maintaining momentum and how to be
New Economy: Opportunities and hurdles to be crossed to
part of it
reach spring pastures of green, renewable and digital
Built Environment: Centres for business start-ups and
technologies, exciting prospects of biofuels, hydrogen,
growth. Developments in architecture, construction and
biomass, photovoltaics and wind in energy and fuel, as well
civil engineering.
as low carbon transport, pharmaceutical and process
Training & Recruitment: New opportunities. Workforce
chemicals, and life sciences.
development. Advancing skills and prospects and recruiting
Manufacturing & Offshore: The challenges ahead
new talent.
Small Business: Lifeblood of the economy, not always
Conferencing & Hospitality: Good venues for business
appreciated.
purposes.
Universities & Colleges: Education and nurturing talent,
Who’s Who: An extensive and illustrated guide to contacts
our entrepreneurs of the future.
in business, and those who deal with it.
11
LIVE
bqlive.co.uk, aggregates all our magazine editorial
interviews and multi-regional content onto a single website
for ease of reference. Regularly updated, bqlive.co.uk
allows users to choose when, where and how they read
their latest content, interweaving key features from the
magazine with additional online editorial compiled by
our award winning business journalists.
Users are encouraged to register on the site which can also be done via a LinkedIn login
to gain full access. Registered users gain the option to offer comment on articles, see
who from their network is also part of the BQ community and enjoy a seamless journey
by the delivering content which is relevant to their sector and interests.
bqlive.co.uk provides you with opportunities to reach tens of thousands of industry
executives and business professionals each month.
To target these key figures and ensure your business and brand is in front of the people
who matter speak with your account handler or contact us direct.
WEB
bqlive.co.uk
33,477 users
60,381 page views
Social media
Twitter 2,439 followers
LinkedIn 500 followers
The statistics above were collated on Thursday 4th December 2014
12
LIVE
ADVERTISING
Online Display Advertising showcases your business with
a full colour image and persuasive message to your
target audience. Online Display Ads give your business
prominent placement providing valuable exposure to
potential customers.
DISPLAY CAMPAIGNS
LIGHT WEIGHT
LEADERBOARD
10,000 page impressions appearing
for 1 month with the following adverts:
• Leaderboard
• Skyscraper
• MPU
£300 PER MONTH
MIDDLE WEIGHT
£400 PER MONTH
MPU
SKYSCRAPER
• Leaderboard
• Skyscraper
• MPU
• Article MPU
HEAVY WEIGHT
• leaderboard
• Skyscraper
• MPU
• Article MPU
£500 PER MONTH
ARTICLE
MPU
13
LIVE
ADVERTISING
Rich Media advertising is a form of advertising that utilises
an array of interactive digital media. It represents a
powerful creative opportunity, allowing your campaign to
deliver far greater impact. Rich Media campaigns can be
booked alongside a display campaign only
PAGE TAKEOVER
A page takeover is PAGE
whereTAKEOVER
the background
(also known
a “wallpaper”
or “skin”) and
What is as
a page
takeover?
leaderboard,
skycraper
and
MPU
slots on
A page takeover is where the background (also known as
the page
are used
to promote
your message.
a “wallpaper”
or “skin”)
and leaderboard,
skycraper and
MPU slots on the page are used to promote your message.
Takeover
advertising campaigns are highly
effective
at are
increasing
brand
visibilitytakeover?
and
What
the advantages
of a homepage
creating
impact.
A
page
takeover
means
that
Takeover advertising campaigns are highly effective at
increasing
brand visibility
and creating
impact.
the audience
you’re
targeting
WILL*
see your
advert because
it
uses
the
background
of the
A page takeover means that the audience you’re
targeting
WILL* see
because
it uses the
web page
as well
as your
theadvert
ad slots,
giving
you
background of the web page as well as the ad slots, giving
100% ofyou
the
marketing
space,
which
when
100% of the marketing space, which when combined
provides
a cohesive
for your
message. for
combined
provides
acanvas
cohesive
canvas
your message.
Home page - £500 per week
●
Regional
news homes
page
- £400
per week banner ad that grows in size when a users cursor is placed
Roll- £500
Over
Banner
is an
expandable
• Home page
per week
Entrepreneur
home page
- £400
week
over the banner
ad. This
adper
format
offers a highly impactful message to your target market.
• Regional news homes page - £400 per
week
●
●
●
●
Interview home page - £400 per week
Rollover banner - £70 CPM*
Success Story - £400 per week
Bookends offers you the opportunity to brand pages of the web site by leveraging traditionally
●
unused portions of the page. The bookends covers the left and right hand rails on a page
Insight - £300 per week
●
Bookend - £50 CPM*
●
*Cost per mille, the advertising cost per thousand views
As I See It - £300 per week
Life Style - £300 per week
After cursor interaction
Before cursor interaction
BOOK ENDS
ROLL OVER BANNER
Bookends offers you the opportunity
to brand pages of the web site by
leveraging traditionally unused portions
of the page. The bookends covers the left
and right hand rails on a page
Roll Over Banner is an expandable
banner ad that grows in size when
a users cursor is placed over the
banner ad. This ad format offers a
highly impactful message to your
target market.
Bookend - £50 CPM*
Rollover banner - £70 CPM*
14
BREAKFAST
Don’t simply accept digital media, embrace it and take
advantage of the extensive opportunities BQ Breakfast
can offer.
The indispensable companion to Business Quarter Magazine in print, BQ Breakfast
is a daily digital business intelligence and news service providing a comprehensive
overview of the days breaking business news together with features and news analysis,
business stories and events.
BQ Breakfast aims to inspire, enlighten and empower by reporting on national and
regional business stories at the start of each day, interweaving daily news with
additional online editorial compiled by our award winning journalists.
Reaching a targeted audience of affluent and influential business owners, directors,
CEO's and entrepreneurs across each region.
Sent at 7.30am each morning BQ breakfast reaches in excess of 33,000 business contacts
and businesses across North East England, Yorkshire, West Midlands and Scotland.
REGIONAL BULLETINS
DAILY
SUBSCRIBERS
EMAILS OPENED EACH
MONTH (AVERAGE)
LINKS CLICKED EACH
MONTH (AVERAGE)
North East
Yorkshire
9,653 8,481 46,461
17,664
4,760
1,767
Scotland
7,099 11,326
1,687
West Midlands
5,175 24,520 2,050
Total 30,408 90,590 10,872
15
BREAKFAST
SPONSORSHIP
BQ Breakfast sponsorship is an exclusive opportunity for 6
partners. Giving each partner exclusivity in their sector and
brand alignment to the regions daily news bulletin that
aims to inspire, enlighten and empower the regions leading
business people.
OPTION 1 - £600*
• Branding daily
•
20 adverts per month
•Leaderboard
•MPU
• Double MPU
•Banner
• Event listings
• 2,500 page impression banner
on bq-online.co.uk
OPTION 2 - £700*
(minimum commitment of 3 months)
• All of the above
• Insight article per month (see page 4)
*All costs are per month and subject to VAT
16
BREAKFAST
INSIGHT
Every Monday and Wednesday BQ Breakfast features
INSIGHT which aims to deliver intelligent and insightful
editorial which our audience of influential business
owners, directors, CEO's and entrepreneurs can utilise
to support the growth of their business.
INSIGHT articles feature a photograph and details
of the author, company and branding. The opening
paragraph of the article is featured on BQ Breakfast
with the full article and image hosted on bqlive.co.uk
with links to the partners destination of choice.
INSIGHT is limited to 8 partners, each receiving one
article per month.
MINIMUM COMMITMENT IS 3 MONTHS BILLED
AT £200* PER MONTH.
*Cost is subject to VAT
TECHNOLOGY IN BUSINESS
Every Tuesday BQ Breakfast features TECHNOLOGY
IN BUSINESS which aims to educate our audience of
business owners, directors, CEO's and entrepreneurs
on the advances and benefits of utilising technology
into their business.
TECHNOLOGY IN BUSINESS articles feature a photograph
and details of the author, company and branding.
The opening paragraph of the article is featured on
BQ Breakfast with the full article and image hosted on
bqlive.co.uk with full contact details and links to the
partners destination of choice.
TECHNOLOGY IN BUSINESS is limited to 4 partners,
each receiving one article per month.
AT £200*PER MONTH.
17
ADVERTISING
BREAKFAST
YOUR MONEY
Every Thursday BQ Breakfast features a YOUR MONEY
article which aims to advise our audience of affluent
and influential business owners, directors, CEO's and
entrepreneurs on how best to manage and grow
their wealth.
YOUR MONEY articles feature a photograph and details
of the author, company and branding. The opening
paragraph of the article is featured on
BQ Breakfast with the full article and image hosted on
bqlive.co.uk with contact details and link to the partners
destination of choice.
YOUR MONEY is limited to 4 partners, each receiving
one article per month.
EXECUTIVE RECRUITMENT
Every Friday BQ Breakfast features EXECUTIVE
RECRUITMENT which showcases a high profile vacancy
to our audience of business owners, directors, CEO's
and entrepreneurs who are looking for their next
career move or board position.
EXECUTIVE RECRUITMENT features details of the agency
or company promoting the position, branding and
contact details. Details of the position are outlined in
the bulletin with full details hosted on bqlive.co.uk
with links to the partners destination of choice.
EXECUTIVE RECRUITMENT is limited to 4 partners, each
receiving one article per month.
18
ADVERTISING
BREAKFAST
ADVERTISING
BQ Breakfast offers a number of display advertising
opportunities to reach our audience of affluent and
influential business owners, directors, CEO's and
entrepreneurs.
ADVERTISING OPTIONS
1 week (5 adverts) - £200*
2 weeks (10 adverts) - £350*
*Adverts are a combination of the below and would appear on no fixed rotation. Cost is subject to VAT
For a more bespoke package please contact your account representative
or email [email protected]
ADVERT SPECIFICATIONS
Leaderboard – 580px wide x 72px high
MPU – 180px wide X 150px high
Double MPU – 180px wide X 330px high
Banner – 380px wide X 46px high
All adverts must be supplied in the format of jpeg or gif with a maximum file size of 40kb
19
BREAKFAST
COMPANY VIEW POINT
COMPANY VIEW POINT offer an exclusive opportunity
to share your news with our audience of influential
business owners, directors, CEO's and entrepreneurs.
Only one COMPANY VIEW POINT is featured per week.
Articles feature a photograph and details of the
company and branding. The opening paragraph
of the article is featured on BQ Breakfast with the full
article and image hosted on bqlive.co.uk with links
to the partners destination of choice.
ARTICLES ARE FEATURED FOR 1 WEEK - £200*
20
ADVERTISING
EVENTS
LIVE DEBATE
BQ Live debates provide a highly successful way
of engaging with the business community to make
new connections, forge strategic business alliances,
influence policy and strategy and create direct business
opportunities. Live debate content can appear within BQ
magazine or as commentary in BQ2 Special Reports on the
same subject or within other bespoke publications.
Sponsorship of a BQ Live debate includes:
• Exclusive evening private dining dinner debate for up to 16 guests including
two sponsor representatives
• All venue, private dinner, and refreshment costs
• All event management including the invitation process
• Use of BQ editor to attend and write up debate commentary
• Full event photography
• Use of independent debate chair and all pre event research
• Six page coverage in-print in a BQ Magazine or BQ2 Special Report of choice or online
• Exclusive networking with prospects, stakeholders and partners
Sponsorship Investment £5,000 plus VAT
The quality of the attendees was excellent and the
discussions and their points of view were very interesting.
The evening flowed seamlessly and the debate very
informative. I am confident that we will develop good
relationships with most of the attendees and a couple
of them have already asked that I meet up with them
individually to see how we can help them. I think the
benchmark now has been set very high and I look
forward to being involved in the next one
Neil Williams, Regional Director Yorkshire Santander Corporate & Commercial Banking
in association with
BAND IT!
The issue: How can we all maximise the
opportunities created by superfast
broadband and tomorrow’s technology
applications to enhance the performance
of Yorkshire businesses?
While many councils have put technology
infrastructure investment on the back burner
amid tough financial conditions in recent
years, North Yorkshire County Council in
partnership with BT has been leading the
way in the rollout and promotion of
superfast broadband.
With 90% coverage by the end of 2014 in the
area, the end goal of full coverage is in sight –
albeit beyond a number of challenging hurdles
to overcome. With bodies like NYnet also
pushing in the same direction, North Yorkshire
has become the yardstick against which other
superfast-hungry local authority areas are
benchmarking themselves.
But here, and in the wider Yorkshire region,
there is still more to be done in terms of
raising awareness of just how superfast
capabilities could transform businesses for
the better. Whether that involves increasing
their global competitiveness or merely saving
on phone bills through VOIP technology,
BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13
opportunities are being missed and a change
of mindset is needed.
In public services there are also opportunities
to transform the lives of residents, while also
presenting sharp innovative companies with
new markets to tap into.
Influential figures from the tech community,
public and private sector and BT gathered to
discuss these and other burning broadband
issues in the stunning setting of Middlethorpe
Hall Hotel, in York.
THE DEBATE:
The discussion gets underway with a simple
question for the gathered BT delegates on
behalf of those yet to feel the benefits of
superfast broadband: ‘When will they get
their share?’
Trevor Higgins: “It’s a fact of life that the
government has allocated a certain amount
of money to provide superfast broadband
but people closely involved in it realise it’s not
44
TAKING PART
Howard Ferguson, owner, Maspin
House Garden
Richard Flinton, chief executive, North
Yorkshire County Council
Bob Gommersall, founder, BTL
Brian Greenwood, chief executive,
BBG Consulting
Tracey Watson, business support project
manager, Nynet Limited
David Shields, area director, Welcome
to Yorkshire
Simon Williams, regional chairman, North
Yorkshire, Federation of Small Business
Mark Fordyce, managing director,
York Data Services
Alastair MacColl, chief executive, BE Group
David Richardson, chairman, Bradford
Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust
Chris Farrington, sales and business
development director, Colour It In
Trevor Higgins, regional partnership
director, BT
Tom Keeney, regional director, Yorkshire
& Humber, BT
Alan Ward, head of corporate ICT
practice, BT
Andrew Mernin, editor, BQ Yorkshire
Magazine
BQ Live venue: Middlethorpe Hall Hotel,
York
topics and issues.
enough to provide 100% coverage. Currently
the money on the table has taken us to 90%
for North Yorkshire so that does leave 10%
of people suffering slower speeds. But there
will be more progress because one of the
conditions of the contract with North Yorkshire
County Council is that we will provide a
minimum of two megabits to anyone in the
(project) intervention area. Clearly we’d like to
do more than that and the question is what
can we do? We are already speaking to the
Government to see if they can release some
more funding.”
Richard Flinton: “One of the key points of
SUMMER 13
DEBATE
in association with
the North Yorkshire mantra is that we’ve got
your [BT’s] teams on the ground. So it would
be a terrible shame if there was suddenly a
new funding round once you’d moved out and
you had to start again and mobilise again”.
While Flinton and those representing BT
around the table were unable to state exactly
how much would be needed to achieve the
last 10%, he assessed that “it’s not a vast sum
of money”.
Bob Gommersall [whose organisation relies
on reliable and secure technology to deliver
e-assessment and e-learning programmes]:
“It’s a drop in the ocean really. It’s ridiculous.”
The conversation turns to the role lobbying
can play in pushing for the last 10% of
superfast coverage in North Yorkshire. The
importance of cross-party collaboration is
also cited.
Howard Ferguson: “I think in terms of
lobbying, there does seem to be slight mafia
between Julian Smith [Skipton and Ripon MP],
Julian Sturdy [York Outer MP], Nigel Adams
[Selby and Ainsty MP] and Andrew Jones
[Harrogate and Knaresborough MP] that’s very,
very powerful when it puts its mind to things.”
The question is put to the public sector
representatives around the table whether they
have as much responsibility as their private
sector counterparts to also lobby on the issue.
Richard Flinton: “We are speaking to
every minister who has a remit around
here. Whether it’s Defra [Department for
environment, food and rural affairs] or BIS
[Department for business, innovation and
skills], we’re doing the lobbying. We’ve even
had a session with William Hague [foreign
secretary]. The problem we’ve had with BDUK
is that North Yorkshire has been successful
but other parts of what the UK is trying to do
is not. Therefore it’s under enormous scrutiny
and pressure. And what we feel quite strongly
about is that areas that have been successful
should be rewarded and not held back
because other parts of the country have not
progressed at the right speed.”
Tom Keeney: “From a BT perspective, we’re
not shy about the fact that there are areas
that are more challenging than other areas.
There are some great examples where
North Yorkshire has really got it, understood
it and it’s really fantastic the way it’s going.
We now need to make sure we do that
across the board. Small businesses are
creating employment opportunities on the
back of this and that for me makes it an
obligation to [not] stop lobbying and asking
for this to happen.
Mark Fordyce, raises the point that
independent technology businesses like his,
York Data Services, are readily available to
help widen the reach of superfast broadband
opportunities in Yorkshire. “Companies like us
are very agile, very quick to market and have
different technologies we can use. We utilise
the Openreach network to get to the end of
the line. We can actually deploy to a whole
village with a cabinet next to a BT cabinet
for £15,000. So it’s a no brainer. The small
internet service providers (ISPs) have the agility
to do these things.” He adds that the work
done by BT in the last five years has made it
“very easy indeed” for ISPs to play their part
in the superfast coverage drive.
The group agrees that competition is a
powerful driver not just in pushing down cost
but also in fostering innovation.
Tracey Watson [representing NYnet, a public
and private sector venture helping to deliver
the next generation of broadband across the
county]: “Because of the cost of putting the
fibre out to the rural areas, you need some
sort of return on that and there’s a lot of
maintenance as well so you need the
numbers to take it up, which comes back
to our point about getting the message out
there to businesses as well as the consumers
– all you are really dealing with is people
and they live in rural areas. So getting that
message out to them about how we can help
them, how we can benefit them and their
businesses, rather than just making them
think we’re trying to sell them broadband
[is really important].” She cites the example
of one business her organisation worked
with which cut its phone costs by >>
We utilise the Openreach network to
get to the end of the line. We can
actually deploy to a whole village
with a cabinet next to a BT cabinet
45
BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 13
OVERCOMING
THE HURDLES
The issue: What barriers currently exist
for manufacturers in Yorkshire that are
preventing them from globalising and how
can we tackle these?
Delegates initially focused on some of the
challenges preventing Yorkshire manufacturers
achieving global success.
Eric Hawthorn suggested conditions at home
needed to improve to ease access to export
routes.
He explained that Yorkshire businesses needed
a faster route to Manchester Airport, the
closest long-haul flight hub, and backed the
proposed ‘HS3’ high speed link from Leeds
to Manchester.
“Just think what a functioning transport
system connecting Leeds, Sheffield and
Manchester would do for us internationally
and in terms of inward investment. We’d be
selling the whole region and its strengths,”
he said.
Mike Maddock agreed: “If you had a PLC in
21
which all the departments were competing
against each other, it wouldn’t work. If you’re
going to have this idea of UK PLC, you’ve got
to invest in it.”
Colin Glass: “The HS3 link is very important
because, like it or not, Manchester is the
international airport but it’s a pain to get
there, so I think that link is very important.”
Mike Pickles: “I couldn’t care less. The big
issue is driving my business forward and it’s
not worrying whether there’s a link here,
there and everywhere. To me it’s just how
I get more business.”
Eric Hawthorn: “The point of connecting the
region is how it will impact on bringing inward
investment in.”
Mike Maddock: “It’s about creating a
strong platform so that we can trade with
32
TAKING PART
Mike Pickles, owner, Really Useful
Products
Chris Lord, CEO, Bartuf Group
Eric Hawthorn, founder, Radio Design
Chris Black, managing director, Sound
Leisure
Enrico Vassallo, chief executive, Optare
Group
Colin Glass, founding partner, WGN /
non-exec director of Surgical Innovations
(amongst other firms)
Mike Maddock, co-owner, Performance
Engineered Solutions (PES)
Stephen Foster, business development
director, Mazars
Neil Williams, regional director,
Banking
Charles Garfit, head of manufacturing,
Banking
Taking notes: Andrew Mernin, editor, BQ
Venue: The New Ellington Hotel, Leeds
topics and issues.
the rest of the world effectively.”
Chris Lord added that an element of tribalism
might hinder the notion of an interconnected
North that trades with the world. “If you look
at the South, nobody gives a damn whether
you live in Kent, Surrey or wherever because
you just bleed into it. There is without any
doubt whatsoever, this idea that ‘you’re
from the other side of the hill and I’m from
this side’.
Another challenge, said Eric Hawthorn,
is the time it takes to crack a new market
against the size of support funding available
to do so. He said: “My business can’t just pick
up business from the internet as it’s business
to business and I’m selling to global mobile
phone companies. It’s a really slow process
to enter new markets. It’s taken five years
AUTUMN 14
to make any progress in India, for example.
So accessing the world is really hard but the
financial support we can get from government
for exporting is insufficient. So my challenge
is how do I take my business to the world
more quickly?”
One of the main inhibitors to exporting
Charles Garfit has witnessed among
businesses is a lack of confidence. He said:
“It’s all about giving people the confidence to
actually go out there and do something. You
can take the most erudite business people
who trade extensively around the UK, and
sit them down in front of somebody from
overseas and it all goes horribly to pieces.
So I think we can all help give people the
confidence they need to trade internationally.”
Eric Hawthorn suggested export networks,
such as that run by Leeds City Region Local
Enterprise Partnership, are a great source
of market confidence and insight. Business
leaders trading globally share their expertise
with their peers and help others tap into
territories they have already broken into. “If
you’ve got experience of a particular country,
and you had advisers that worked for you,
you could introduce other businesses to the
same advisers – which government bodies
are not allowed to do.”
Charles Garfit: “I’m a great believer that
stories really do educate. I think when you
understand what others have been through
to get to where they are, and some of the
horrors as well as the things that have gone
wonderfully well, that is invaluable.”
Neil Williams asked how businesses should
assess which markets to target their products
at in the first place.
Mike Pickles: “It’s a simple principle of low
hanging fruit. It can be any product from
buses to jukeboxes to plastic boxes to surgical
implements; it is simply about where the
marketplace for your product is. I find it’s easy
by just following the money. Which is the
biggest GDP? Which is the most likely to want
your product? Of course I do visit the country
to get an understanding of what opportunities
exist. But we find the easiest way to break
into a new market is through international
trade exhibitions.”
Pickles also highlighted why a patient
approach to exports is essential. “It’s all got >>
33
DEBATE
SPECIAL REPORT |AUTUMN 14
EVENTS
BREAKFAST LIVE
This complementary early morning event platform to BQ
Breakfast, the daily business intelligence and news service,
aims to further contribute to the success and prosperity of
our economy through the debate, discussion and feedback
of a range of key business related topics and issues.
Each event provides exclusive networking and debating opportunities whilst also
introducing the commercial sponsor to other key decision makers and contacts for
commercial benefit and return on investment.
BQ Breakfast Live provides focus on specific subject matters and sectors of national
economic importance and features a debate with a high-profile panel of experts together
with a keynote business speaker in front of an invited audience of up to 100 business
delegates. Published on-line via BQ Breakfast and the BQ website the events also stream
live on Twitter to engage the wider business community.
Sponsorship Investment £6,500 plus VAT
We were overwhelmed by the quality and number of
attendees at the event as well as the professionalism
of the BQ team. The format was so refreshing
compared to other early morning events and there
was a real buzz in the room. To hear true stories and
experiences provided everyone with a real insight
into sourcing investment funding for their business.
I would highly recommend the BQ Breakfast Live
format to anyone wishing to engage with a targeted
business audience over a couple of hours
Andrew Mitchell, Chief Executive, North East Finance
The aim of BQ Breakfast Live is to further
contribute to the success and prosperity DEBATE
of our economy through the debate,
discussion and feedback of a range of
key business topics and issues. These
events debate the views of our most
senior business leaders and policy
shapers with a view to passing on FINDING FUNDING
their opinions and sharing them with FOR ENTREPRENEURS
others to motive, inspire and influence
change. The aim of BQ Breakfast Live
is to further
contribute
to the success
“FINDING
FUNDING
and prosperity
of our economy. The
FOR ENTREPRENEURS”
aim of BQ Breakfast Live is to further
contribute to the success and prosperity
of our economy through the debate,
discussion and feedback of a range of
key business topics and issues. These
events debate the views of our most
DEBATE
BREAKFAS T
LIVE
BQ Breakfast has launched a series of BQ Breakfast Live forums to bring together
entrepreneurial people of North East business, in convenient and friendly
surroundings, to discuss and receive expert advice on major issues vitally affecting
them. The first BQ Breakfast Live centred on Finding Funding For Entrepreneurs.
Ninety people attended this joint presentation by the BQ Breakfast team, North
East Finance, and South Tyneside, Sunderland City and Durham County Councils.
The morning’s findings can be summed up as follows...
PROSPECTS RISE FOR SMES
A brighter funding horizon for aspiring
entrepreneurs of the North East is forecast.
At the BQ Breakfast Live forum dedicated to
finding funding, they were told how banks
are likely to become more supportive, how the
support of a major North East fund is likely
to be extended, and how more office and
manufacturing space is becoming available.
Craig Iley, managing director of business
banking at the soon to be launched new Atom
Bank, based in Durham City, said that often
only a figurative inch stands between winning
or losing a pitch to a bank for support.
He recommended: “Entrepreneurs, once
having made a close and objective study of
their bank, should sell their idea as if it was to a
sales customer they wanted to win.”
They have to be totally transparent about the
business and its key participants and explain
its workings in detail. They should ensure that
in association with
EUROPEAN UNION
Investing in Your Future
European Regional
Development Fund 2007-13
BUSINESS QUARTER
they, and their business are correctly positioned
in credit agency data by working with the
agencies behind it to ensure it is upto date and
accurate.
He says the British Business Bank, currently run
by the Department for Business, Innovation
and Skills, will be especially important for SMEs
over the next 20 or 30 years. Many more banks
besides the Big Four will feature, and switching
from one bank to another more amenable to
supporting a proposal should become easier.
Applications from new banks to operate,
already being considered, may result in a
broad move towards the German tiered model
ensuring small players are not squeezed out in
the bids for support and funding.
He said one problem for the banks in lending
now is that regulation is driving a lot of capital
into the housing market – both abroad as well
as in Britain – and the playing field for small
business and start-ups needs to be levelled.
02
LOCAL ENTERPRISE EQUALS PROSPERITY
Andrew Mitchell, chief executive of North
East Finance, which administers the £125m
Finance for Business North East programme to
drive growth in the region’s economy, says the
region has many new businesses emerging,
and funds may now be able to continue to
2020 and beyond.
The £125m fund (JEREMIE) has already
supported 600 companies with more than
£100m of backing over four years. This has
drawn £125m of private sector co-investment.
JEREMIE doesn’t deal with all the needs of
small business. Many small businesses have
specialised needs in financing – loans, overdraft
facilities and so on. “But we’re not badly
positioned here,” Mitchell says. “However, we
do need to do a lot more towards helping firms
to access finance, and help them to make the
most of that funding once it’s on board.”
He says small companies, if they need capital
to develop, will go where the money is. The
assumption has always been it will be down
to London or the South East. “Reality today,
however,” he says, “is that we are going to
have a strong independent-ish neighbour up
the road with money to spend and it will be
very pro-active in trying to attract small and
large businesses. So access to finance today is
crucial in terms of keeping small businesses in
the North East and South Tyneside.
“The way to do that is by making them feel at
home by providing facilities such as location,
funding, advice and support, whether through
financial service firms or mentoring or whatever
it might be. There’s a huge commitment
in South Tyneside, Sunderland and County
Durham towards supporting small businesses.
The start-up of Atom Bank in Durham shows
that the region can deliver in financial services.
We’ve invested more than £5m in South
Tyneside, for example, and attracted about
£4m more of private investment.”
These businesses form an interesting variety,
and many different types are starting to
emerge. “They’re important because small
businesses, as they grow, tend to stay put.
One of the region’s past problems has been
that large companies attracted, with very
honourable exceptions, tend to be mobile.
So whatever advantage the North East
had, whether in labour cost or land prices,
ceases to be advantageous since it’s relatively
easy for large multinationals and even UK
based companies to move their operations
elsewhere.”
Small business owners, on the other hand,
tend to buy locally, tend to work with local
professional service firms, pay taxes locally,
send their children to school locally and as they
get bigger – Sage being a classic example –
the owners and those who made money out
of those businesses tend to re-invest money
into the community. The multiplier effect is
incalculable over a long period. That is where
the wealth and jobs will come for this region.”
‘WE CAN PROVIDE YOUR SPACE’
Councillor Iain Malcolm, leader of South
Tyneside Council, stresses that South Tyneside
is open for business despite a £100m cut in
the funds it has had available since 2010. It has
been losing businesses through lack of office
space but hopes to promote officed businesses,
manufacturing and tourism, and has riverside
space for both offices and manufacturing
which council officers and developers are now
considering. He has invited expressions of
22
interest. “We don’t have enough SMEs and
start-ups,” he said. “Plenty of people want to
start their own businesses but a lot fall at the
first hurdle because in this area families have
tended to come from traditional industries like
coalmining and shipbuilding. There wasn’t an
entrepreneurial spirit. But I do see it coming on
South Tyneside.”
Working with Sunderland also, it expects firms
emerging along the A19 corridor to become
eventually as significant as Nissan has been
- through development of the international
advanced manufacturing business park north
of Nissan’s plant. The councils have the support
of both the Government and the North
East LEP on this. Work on the infrastructure
will start soon. The immediate aim is to
accommodate 5,000 jobs, growing to anything
up to 20,000 ultimately.
The audience at the BQ Breakfast
Live forum heard first hand at the
Quality Hotel, Boldon, how four local
entrepreneurs in sectors as varied as
dentistry and offshore health and safety,
overcame any difficulties of funding. Scott
Hopkinson (Moneygate Group), Craig
Huntingdon (Dentist Direct), Stephen
Lovely (For Sale Sign Analysis) and Richard
Pargeter (Green Marine Solutions) were
interviewed for BQ by Caroline Theobald
and also answered delegates’ questions…
FINDING THE CASH
Stephen Lovely, 25 years an entrepreneur, has
raised £20m and organised jobs for around
1,000 people in various SMES. His most recent
businesses are For Sale Sign Analysis and
Beyond Digital. He has used business Angel
Jeremy Middleton for 10 years, who has
been involved in both the businesses.
Craig Huntingdon spotted a gap in the
dentistry market, doing there what Spec Savers
and Vision Express do for the eyes, and Vets
for Pets have done in the veterinary sector. He
has raised £400,000 with NEL for dentistry
across the UK by franchise. Talking to banks
didn’t prove fruitful at first. The NEL helped
raise other significant capital which helped
get access to more than £2m from Yorkshire
Bank for acquisition of practices and expansion
of the business. The key USP is that most of
the dentistry can be done without a drill or
anaesthesia. As the franchisees appeared to
get a better deal his firm raised further finance
to reverse franchise. “We have used other
people’s money to prove the concept then
have gone out and raised our own finance,”
DEBATE
he explains. “The aim now is to move forward
with our own acquisitions.
Stephen Lovely got £10.25m in equity from
a bank early on. “Those were the days,” he
recalls. A low point of his property business
came when entrepreneur Jeremy Middleton
walked away from it at one point. A fund
manager insisted the business be put into
liquidation the same day. “We went instead
through a company voluntary arrangement
where we could park the debts and be
protected from them while continuing to
run the business. The business survived and
prospered.” Jeremy came back six months
later and said: “You’re still here. That’s
surprising.” And he rejoined, happily. “Being
stubborn is a key business attribute. The
biggest learning curve in that situation is just
to address it. Don’t put your head in the sand.
Talk to professionals who can help you. Deal
with the things you can deal with. I don’t feel
guilty. Some get into trouble along the way
but still succeed while others fail completely.
That’s the nature of being an entrepreneur.”
Jeremy despite his temporary departure helped
fantastically, and has funded various other
ventures at different times.
Richard Pargeter’s company maintains wind
turbines. It was funded a year ago by the
Accelerator fund of North Star Ventures. The
company was formed by a group of five in a
rising market, the offshore industry on the
rise. “We were at the right place at the right
time. We were training other businesses and
decided we could do it ourselves. We weren’t
businessmen so it was a vertical learning curve.
We wanted to go from the operational side
of windfarms to building software. We didn’t
know how to do it and obviously needed a
Plenty of people want to start their own
businesses but a lot fall at the first hurdle
because in this area families have tended
to come from traditional industries like
coalmining and shipbuilding
03
BUSINESS QUARTER
BUSINESS QUARTER
lot of investment to build the systems we
wanted.” Having access to funds meant they
could recruit a team, implement designs and
push forward with clients already on board.
“Funders definitely look for the return but
the final decision for us was the support, the
guidance and the mentor that came with the
funding. We got a non-executive director
and he has been invaluable in guiding an
entrepreneur who hasn’t done that kind of
thing before. He told us of strategies and how
to implement them, and how to work with
other businesses in supply chains and manage
risks as well that may arise when you’re setting
up with a supply chain as a new company…
not putting all your eggs in one basket, for
example. Learning from the mistakes of others
was really important to us.”
Scott Hopkinson is a non-financier in a
national finance advisory firm set up in 2007.
It received funding last year from North Star
and NEL. “I had come from a very big business
and had money from the start. We have three
non-executive directors on our board who
came on as part of an investment, helping to
oversee and to help us run the business. They
have been invaluable in helping us to grow,
and very supportive in terms of follow-on
money. So not only have they invested but
also continued to support and re-invest in the
business, which I think is key when you’re
looking for your money.” The first money came
from America, family money from Switzerland,
and now the two regional funds are involved
also. “Having people who are local backing you
makes it a bit more personal. Other investors
may investing for money, whereas North East
funders are helping you grow the business
within the local environment. All investors want
04
to do due diligence, want to crawl over the
books, see the model, meet the management
team, and understand what they do, what
they contribute. The management team and
the business model are the two key things for
investors. Is the business sustainable? Can it
Grow? You need those things lined up before
you go looking for money.”
Craig Huntingdon: “We had one model, then
tried another. Franchising for us seemed the
most obvious way to roll out our programme
as we looked to get practices of around
£400,000. Doing that quickly by traditional
methods would have been very difficult. So we
moved to a franchise model. We had looked
also at a joint venture model. Ultimately we
used proof of concept to attract additional
finance through the banks. It’s critical to
have good advisers. Getting that with the
funds from the North East too seemed a bit
of a mix in heaven. We had wasted a lot of
time speaking to people who weren’t really
interested in taking the concept forward. It’s
important with professional teams to test that
enthusiasm quite early. We did that by using
means of contingency. Ultimately we paid
something like 25% up front with the rest
on completion. That was the test of various
advisers we spoke to as we sought to find out
who was really enthusiastic.”
Richard Pargeter found that getting the
company established can take longer than
expected. “We didn’t know where to access.
We came across North Star by networking and
introduction. We looked around Sunderland,
Tyneside, Durham, starting off on the small
investment for growth just to get a website
built and some flyers and go to trade shows.
Engaging with one group that led to the
next, and it took a year or so of following the
breadcrumbs down the path and speaking to
people. It wasn’t easy to identify the different
groups. We didn’t come from a business
background. We were seafarers entering a
whole new discipline. It was difficult to identify
the different groups, and who was available,
and the different types of investment out
there.”
Stephen Lovely: “The market for raising
funds has developed and is a lot clearer now
than when I began. I had been a corporate
finance director for a big firm. You can get
EVENTS
MADE FESTIVAL
MADE celebrates the very best of British business. It has
become the must-attend annual event for entrepreneurs
since it was launched in September 2010.The festival has
become a major event in the entrepreneurial business
calendar attracting more than 3,000 leaders from business,
government, media and diplomacy to Sheffield for a weeklong festival of entrepreneurship. Think the Edinburgh
Festival for entrepreneurship or Glastonbury for Business.
MADE is delivered by BE Group, the parent company of
Room501 Publishing and BQ.
The event provides a national stage for sponsors and commercial support partners with
the UK press, TV and media in attendance together with VIP guests from across the UK. For
more information about MADE go to www.madefestival.com
MADE 2015 will take place in October 2015 at City Hall, Sheffield. To find out more about
the exclusive sponsorship and support opportunities available contact Bryan Hoare,
Director, Room501 Publishing at [email protected]
I found the mixture of personalities picked for the MADE
conference was a stroke of genius. Everyone from
the 16 year old school kid to the CEO of a 20 strong
business will have gone home with new inspiration,
ideas and focus. I really think there should be more of
these types of events all across the UK, subsidised by
Government, brands and education partners
Col Skinner, Profoundry, Manchester
Entrepreneur
MADE The
Festival: Sheffield
24 - 25 September 2014
Sheffield City Hall
Headline sponsor:
Paul McKenna
Success and happiness are not accidents
that happen to some people and not others. They
are created by certain ways of thinking and acting
Join me at MADE 2014
Book now: www.madefestival.com
Event Sponsors:
The Sheffield
College
Supported by:
Delivered by:
Partner Sponsors:
Proud to sponsor:
23
EVENTS
BQ EMERGING ENTREPRENEUR
DINNERS 2015
The BQ Emerging Entrepreneur Dinners are organised by
BQ Magazine in conjunction with MADE: The Entrepreneur
Festival 2015 as part of the MADE legacy whilst contributing
to the profile of MADE across the UK
The dinners each bring together 300 business delegates with featured and established
entrepreneurs from across the UK with the challenge of being accompanied by an
individual who in their view is representative of a next generation entrepreneur. The
dinners are held in Scotland, the North East, Yorkshire and the West Midlands prior to
MADE in October 2015. The dinners bring together up and coming business talent with
the aim of recognising a number of individuals who are capable of carrying forward the
entrepreneurial baton and to recognise their early contributions. Each dinner recognises
two emerging entrepreneurs who are accompanied by their voting entrepreneur to MADE
2015 where they will be recognised at the festival conference on Thursday 22nd October
with VIP access to keynote speakers and time with leading UK entrepreneurs.
Each BQ Emerging Entrepreneur Dinner across the UK has a number
of unique and exclusive sponsorship opportunities available.
• Headline Sponsorship £10,000 plus VAT
• Associate Sponsorship £5,000 plus VAT
• Wine Sponsorship £2,500 plus VAT
• Reception Drink Sponsorship £2,500 plus VAT
The 2015 dinner schedule has been confirmed as:
• North East: 12/02/15 Newcastle
• Scotland: 18/02/15 Glasgow
• Yorkshire: 26/02/15 Leeds
• West Midlands: 19/03/15 Birmingham
Winning BQ emerging entrepreneur awards of the
Year 2014 was an incredible honour that reflects the
hard work we have been doing at Geco Industries. The
award significantly raises the profile of Geco Industries
and being presented at the MADE festival adds to this
Lewis Bowen, Geco Industries
A MAJOR EVENT TO INSPIRE, MOTIVATE & SHARE BUSINESS SUCCESS
NORTH EAST
EMERGING
ENTREPRENEUR
DINNER 2014
In partnership with
Friday 6th June 2014,
Hilton Newcastle Gateshead
in partnership with
NORTH EAST EMERGING ENTREPRENEUR DINNER 2014
24
EVENTS
BQ SCOTLAND EXPORT
AWARDS 2015
The second BQ Scottish Export Awards will take place on
Tuesday 31st March 2015 at the Hilton Hotel, Glasgow where
400 delegates will celebrate the best of international trade
activity. Exporting and international trade remain high on
the Scottish Government’s economic growth agenda and
these awards are about recognising the excellence in those
emerging, wealth creating companies that are selling their
products, services and expertise in scores of overseas markets.
The dinner will continue to showcase success stories but more importantly, during the
lead up to the event, act as an exporting call to action to the Scottish business community.
The awards programme will also make a positive impact by profiling the winners during
their year of recognition thus extending the exporting call to businesses across Scotland
throughout 2015. The event will also provide an open and opportunistic environment
in which business leaders, entrepreneurs and owner managers can share export
experience, best practice and business intelligence for the benefit of others.
The event provides sponsors and commercial partners with a unique
environment to gain access to Scotland’s top exporting businesses and
the support network.
• Headline Sponsorship £15,000 plus VAT
• Award Category Sponsorship £5,000 plus VAT
• Wine Sponsorship £2,500 plus VAT
• Reception Drink Sponsorship £2,500 plus VAT
Scotland’s economy is prospering and outperforming
many of the other regions in the UK, thanks in no small
part to its export success. It’s encouraging that BQ
magazine have introduced these awards to further
support the progress in export activity. The excitement
on the evening was infectious
Eric Hagman CBE, Director, WA Baxter & Sons
SCOTTISH
EXPORT
AWARDS
2 0 1 5
JOIN US TO CELEBRATE
SCOTLAND’S EXPORT SUCCESS
BQ Scotland Magazine is delighted to announce the Scottish
Export Awards 2015
Nominations open Monday 6th October 2014 across a range of export categories.
For more information about the event including tickets and sponsorship opportunities
contact Bryan Hoare on 0191 426 6183 or email [email protected]
www.bqlive.co.uk/exportawards
TUE
31ST
MAR
2015
HILTON HOTEL
GLASGOW
25
EVENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMITS
The BQ Executive Summit series of events provide an
environment in which specially invited chief executives
come together to help shape the future of their sector with
representation from academia, local/national government,
professional and support services, the supply chain,
professional bodies and relevant member organisations.
The event schedule is shaped by a carefully selected ambassador panel representative of
the sector that will also take part in a summit debate in front of the invited audience.
The audience participates in three/four separate summit discussion forums looking at key
issues within the sector whilst also hearing from a range of keynote speakers. The summit
can also culminate with an optional Summit Dinner where the ambassador panel host
individual tables of guests during which a distinguished guest speaker will also address
the audience during dinner.
Output from the event is collated by BQ and published in a special Executive Summit
Manufacturing Report which is made available both regionally and nationally to the
sector and its stakeholders.
Each Summit provides a limited number of exclusive sponsor opportunities to reach its
highly targeted audience and sector summits on specific topics can be organised upon
request.
• Principal Sponsorship £15,000 plus VAT
• Summit Topic Forum Sponsor £5,000 plus VAT
• Dinner Sponsorship £3,000 plus VAT
EXECUTIVE SUMMIT
MANUFACTURING
sponsored by
BQ manufacturing
summit rEPOrt
26
ADVERTISERS
27
TESTIMONIALS
”Checking out what’s on the BQ breakfast service is an essential part of the daily routine.
Usually you will find that the team at BQ have been way ahead of the game in their
editorials too having identified and interviewed people who are destined to become
key players in our region”
Craig Iley Regional Director NE Santander Corporate Banking
”BQ provided seamless execution of our digital marketing campaigns. We were
thoroughly impressed by the quality of the platforms, service and the results from our
campaigns.”
Adam Balfour, Marketing Officer Teesside University
”Thanks again for recognising us - its the actions from organisations like yours that allow
us to 'stand on the shoulders of giants' so to speak - and every moment counts for us so
thanks!” :-)
Antony Pannuto, Managing Partner Carbon Cube Design
”Just a short note to thank you for pulling our BQ Live Debate together.
The quality of the attendees was excellent and the discussions and their points of
view were very interesting. The evening flowed seamlessly and the debate was very
informative. I am confident that we will develop good relationships with most of the
attendees and a couple of them have already asked that I meet up with them
individually to see how we can help them.”
Neil C Williams, Regional Director Yorkshire Santander Corporate Banking
”I've just picked up my copy of BQ - and what an excellent read! Moreover the whole
feel and appearance of the magazine does you great credit. A quality product. I hope it
continues to get the support it truly deserves. Well done! Warmest wishes.”
Bob Warman, ITV News
”I had some good feedback from someone I had lunch with today who spotted the
BQ breakfast piece. Thanks for your help.”
Mark Orton, Partner, KPMG
28

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