Entrepreneurs Forum

Scratch beneath the surface and you’ll find that most successful businesses are built on a mix of vision, passion, drive and determination.  However, challenges, mistakes and the fear of failure also play a critical role in shaping success – and more often than not, the key to making the right decision is a clear understanding of what not to do.  As Dreams founder Mike Clare said at one of our recent Forum open events, "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning how to dance in the rain."

 

So we’re confident that you would not want to miss the opportunity to learn from three of the region’s leading entrepreneurs who have lived through the tough times and are happy to share their personal experiences and the lessons they have learned from this recession and previous.

 

Facilitated by Chris Baxter, our respected panel will reflect on the challenges of the last 18 months and highlight the strategies they’ve implemented to survive and come out fighting. With a fine margin between survival and failure, understanding the market, assessing the risks and making the right decisions has been all the more important.

 

As with all Forum gatherings, this highly charged panel is guaranteed to stimulate some lively discussion which you’ll be able to continue afterwards, as you share a light supper with like-minded peers.

 

Plan your questions in advance and book early to make the most of more than a century of business experience.

 

This event will be introduced and facilitated by Chris Baxter, founder and Director of GENI, a business development company working with SME's across the North East

 

 

Before addressing forum members at our annual conference in May, furniture tycoon and executive chairman of DFS, Lord Kirkham said “the nature of the entrepreneur is that he or she can work whatever the environment.  I think that entrepreneurs are good enough and strong enough to look after themselves”

 

To whet your appetite for this event and to learn more from Lord Kirkham on how he has managed through two recessions please visit our EFTV channel by clicking here 

The most recent recipient of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Everest trekker and multi-award winning Anne Ganley is known across her native North East and nationally within her industry as a woman who epitomises the word “entrepreneur.” She has a heart of gold and a nuclear reactor as an energy source!

 

The Managing Director of the Thompson Building Centres group, Anne has taken a modest company from strength to strength, making it not only a market leader but also establishing a reputation for quality and good service. It’s not surprising that Anne has a string of accolades to her name.  A past winner of the prestigious Susan Dobson Award for Entrepreneurship, Anne is a former Sunderland Echo Portfolio Entrepreneur of the Year, The Journal regional Business Executive of the Year winner and has also taken the honours for her environmental work.

 

It’s not just in the North East that Anne has made her mark however, as she was also awarded three times the Builders’ Merchants Independent Achiever of the Year for work within her own industry – beating off competition from around the UK.

 

Having worked at every level in the business, from cutting up scrap metal to heading up the boardroom, this has given Anne an enviable insight into her company and a strong connection with all of her 160 staff.

 

She has always been a woman ahead of the game – evident by the fact that she is a passionate environmentalist and was dedicated to improving life for her local community long before it was fashionable to do so. For over 30 years she has watched her company grow to a multi-million pound, despite working in an industry which has often experienced massive highs and lows.

 

While Thompson’s headquarters has stayed true to its heartland in Hendon in Sunderland, the company has grown both organically and by acquisition, headed up by Anne and now has five branches across the North East.  In 2003, Anne decided to slightly diversify opening her first plumbers’ merchants branch of TAPS, this network has grown to seven branches within the North East and are looking to turnover £10 million this year.

 

She continues to be Managing Director of the waste management business, which contributes to the Thompson group of companies’ £32m turnover and in 2009 completed a management buyout to acquire the other 50 per cent of company shares, which leaves Anne in complete control and able to implement growth plans for Thompson Building Centres and TAPS.  Prior to the MBO, Anne had worked alongside her brother Albert Thompson for 25 years.  

 

Keith Miller is Group Chairman of Miller UK.  The business, housed in a state of the art 150,000 ft2 premises, had by 2007grown to a nearly £40m turnover company with 1000 staff worldwide, albeit turnover has reduced subsequently due to the economic downturn. 

 

Miller was founded in 1978 as a mobile welding and repair service for quarries, mines and open cast coal sites. Today Miller is primarily a manufacturer, employing 145  people in the UK and operating out of its main site in Cramlington in the North East of England as well as its Joint Venture casting facility in Northern China (where a further 400 staff are employed)and offices in the USA and India

 

Miller UK is recognised as a market leader in the development of quick couplers, buckets and attachments. This has only been achieved by the consistent investment in its current product, as well as the development of new products. In an ever-increasingly competitive marketplace, this investment and constantly striving for excellence is what differentiates Miller from its rivals.

Streamlining production and moving into Europe, Miller’s have benefited from mentors and advisors along the way. With this support, they embarked upon a world class manufacturing programme and have since implemented a comprehensive training programme throughout the business, tailored to the construction culture.

 

Speaking of the advice taken from Sir John Harvey-Jones in the early 90s – Keith is keen to do what he can to support other business owners.“When I started out in business my philosophy was to work hard, play hard and give something back. I’ve always been inquisitive, always wanted to learn more and emulate the success of others”.

Lorna Moran is Chief Executive and founder of Northern Recruitment Group, she began the business in 1976 and floated it on the LSE in 1997 and de-listed in December 2008.  The business’ current turnover is circa £20m.

 

Headquartered in Newcastle it operates throughout the UK delivering recruitment solutions across private and public sectors not least through its Recruitment Process Outsourcing business which has a portfolio of blue chip private clients and many central government contracts.  Lorna became North East Businessman of the Year in 1997, was shortlisted for the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman award in 1999 and was awarded the MBE for services to Employment Creation in the New Year Honours list 2001.

 

In 2000 Lorna had the vision to create the Entrepreneurs Forum engaging the collaboration of several leading entrepreneurs in the North East.  Lorna is currently Vice Chair of the Board.

 

Additionally Lorna is a member of the CBI Regional Council, Trustee of the Northern Rock Foundation and Chair for Joy of Living fund raising campaign for a new Maggie’s Centre in Newcastle.

Chris Baxter is a professional business coach and consultant who over the last 5 years has specialised in helping owner-managed SME businesses achieve their goals. Prior to starting his coaching business Chris spent almost 20 years working in operational roles in a number of the region's manufacturing businesses. Chris's clients have included ITPS, The Specials Laboratory, The Engineering Business, Zytronic, Owen Pugh & Company, Brulines, Imass, and CTC Marine Projects. Chris has also worked with some businesses that unfortunately did not survive: Econnect, CJ Garland, and earlier Durham Pine.

 

Since 2008 a number of Chris's client have been significantly impacted by the recession and much of Chris's work has focussed on helping his clients firstly to adapt and survive, and subsequently to stabilise, improve their competitiveness and then return to growth. Chris also has significant personal experience of surviving the recession as in June 2008 Chris saw around 90% of his business disappear as most of his clients reined in expenditure on discretionary projects such as business coaching. In 2009 Chris fought back by re-launching his business under a new name and brand - Good Enough Never Is Limited - an investment that continues to prove to have been a risk worth taking.

 

Chris's work includes 1-2-1 coaching with managers and directors, acting as a confidential sounding-board and advisor to business owners, and developing and delivering training programmes and change programmes that create business-wide change in areas such as performance management and culture. As well as being a professionally trained coach, Chris is also a trained and experienced facilitator often called upon to help his clients hold productive debates and make decisions that may have previously proved elusive.

 

Chris is also a non-executive director with AMD Specialist Coatings, a Gateshead based provider of specialist paint finishes to a variety of sectors including defence, sign-making, and oil and gas.

 

Attendance for Forum members is included in your membership package and costs £15 + VAT for members' guests.  Non-members are charged at £50.00 + VAT per person.  Please note that cancellations for guests, received within 48 hours of the event will be charged in full.

 

A light supper will be served following the main panel discussion, allowing further time to chat and ask questions with our panel members and event guests.