This is a POD ONE production. For more information, visit podone.co.uk. This is the Business Village People podcast. Hello, I'm David Markwell and welcome to the Barnsley Business Village People Podcast. This is episode nine of series two. In this podcast, we showcase stories from the companies, service providers and staff at the Business Village in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. In this episode of Business Village People. The Business Village has a strong working relationship with enterprising Barnsley. They provide business support to companies looking to expand, develop, and flourish, as well as guidance and help for new businesses. Paul Johnson is a key account manager. We'll be finding out from him. How enterprising Barnsley can help companies win. But first, I'd like to introduce you to Capstone Foster Care, an independent fostering agency that supports hundreds of carers across England. One of their officers is based here at the Business Village. I've been along to have a chat with them. My name's Allison Dixon, and um, I'm a senior practitioner, uh, social worker, and I work for Capstone North. It's a fostering agency. We're an, um, independent foster agency who are employee, employee owned. So a lot of our, um, business and our money goes back into, um, supporting foster carers and families. Lots of events for children and families. So we'll have like a celebration day. We'll celebrate Eid. For example, we have Christmas events. We take the children to like Gulliver's or rather valley, the water park we've done in previous years. So it's basically we're, we're a small ho in Barnsley. It's a bigger organisation, Capstone North. But, um, we've got that kind of family feel. So how did Capstone begin? Began in 2009 as an independent foster agency, and then obviously it's evolved over the years and it's quite a big organization. Well, it's become bigger, but like I say, we've got individual hubs. And we are based here in Barnsley Business Centre, but we've also got Hobson, Bradford and Hull in Manchester and also in the south of England. How, how do you fit into the picture? So basically we work with a wide variety of local authorities from all over the borough and, um, it can be as far as far away as, as say, Bristol down south. And sometimes children move around for whatever reason. Um, so, so we work with all the local authorities and we receive referrals for children that need to be looked after and cared for. 'cause they're in, they're very vulnerable and they've been assessed by the courts to come into care. And I don't know if you're aware, but there's a national shortage of foster carers. So, and, and I think as well since COVID and the Pandemic, a lot of the spare rooms that people had. That they need for fostering. 'cause they need to have their own bedroom. Um, they've been used for offices, so then that's created, um, a bit of a problem. And so nationally it's very difficult, um, for children to be placed in area. So the area, so we, we try to kinda. Manage that and recruit foster carers, which every, every fostering agency and local authority is trying to do. What do you look for in a foster carer? Someone that's empathic, that's obviously got got, they need a spare room and a bedroom for a start. They have lots of training. Um, we like them to be holistic and [00:04:00] therapeutic in the approach. And their approach to parenting. We look for skills. It, it could be that they've maybe been, um, teachers or support workers or possibly worked in the care sector themselves. Um, a lot of our foster carers are like kinda middle aged, or they could be in their fifties. We also have some younger ones. And, and there's, it's a wide variety. Sometime we have short break foster carers, so they might just provide care for children on a weekend basis or for a week or just like on a short term basis. And then other short term carers could be, could be up to two years. And if the child settles, then it goes to long term. So the skills we need is, is basically to accept these children as part of your family. That's what we're looking for. They get fully assessed. It's called a Form F assessment, and it basically goes through that person's whole life and any previous relationships or so we, so we look for any kinda strengths, vulnerabilities, uh, that doesn't kinda count them out. It just depends. Um, obviously if they've got a criminal record for violence or something, then we wouldn't consider it. It just depends on the person. So it is like a really thorough assessment because we want to get the right people there. There are so many different kinds of fostering that you are looking for. Yeah, and we also do parent and child as well. And that could be both parents and a child or children or one parent and that's, that's a different, but they need additional training to become a parent and child foster care. So, so it's quite, it's quite wide and varied really. The foster enroll and, and every year the foster carers get like an annual review. They're assessed on a yearly basis. And, um, there's basically the team around the child. So it's not like any other [00:06:00] employment, if you like, that the class is self-employed. Um, and they get lots of support. Like I say, lots of training. We have fostering support, uh, meetings. They have monthly supervision with the supervising social worker. So foster carers have their own. So social worker. I've been looking at your website and there's some lovely stories on there, and one story that stood out to me, which again, is something that. I'd never thought of. Uh, it is a service that you provide to unaccompanied asylum seekers and there's a story on there, em, EM'S story. How do you provide the support for asylum seekers, unaccompanied asylum seekers who might not even speak English? Well, that can be a challenge in itself, and obviously we work closely with. Local authorities and, uh, interpreters if it's needed. Um, it might be that some foster carers speak more than one language, so they, they might [00:07:00] have, they might have the same language as the asylum seeker, so that's helpful. But if not, we use interpreters and we work with local authority. We look at community and how we can integrate them into. Um, society with, you know, with all the trauma and everything that, that, that brings with being asylum seeker. So how did you get into working in fostering? I started off working with teenagers for 10 years, which was interesting. I really enjoyed it actually. Doing what? Uh, working with young people that were leaving care, uh, 16 plus. So basically the age, the age group was from 16 to 21. And I worked in for, for children for, for 10 years. And then I decided to have a change of direction and looked at, um, fostering. And I've been in fostering social work since 2011 till present date basically. And I really enjoy it. Did you ever think you'd become a social worker? No, not initially. Uh, what did [00:08:00] you want to be when you left school? I didn't really think about it actually 'cause it was, obviously I'm a woman of a certain generation. I kinda left school and um, went with some friends to work in the Channel Islands for a summer and ended up staying for about 15 years. Um, and I worked initially in hotels 'cause there was lots of, um, restaurants and hotels and in Guernsey. And then I got into care with the elderly and did that for a while and then that sort of led me. Then I moved to England in 1992 and then I sort of was led down a different path and thinking. The quality of care for the elderly in comparison to the Channel Islands was very different, and so I, I decided to, to look in another direction and then decided to be a mature student and, and do some qualifications and got my degree and then it led me to social work. What did you really want to be there when you left school? I knew I wanted to travel. So how did you end up in, in Guernsey [00:09:00] jersey? Well, I, I was working in a factory. I left school, I think it was three weeks before my 16th birthday. But they paid me off the books 'cause they did back then and, and then they put me on, on the books obviously as soon as I, uh, my 16th birthday. And then there was, there was some, some friends, uh, that worked beside and they were saying, oh, we're up. We're, um, we won't belong now. We'll be off to Sey Summer's starting. And I, I was like, oh, what are you doing? And just ask some questions. Oh, we're gonna be working in the hotels. And started asking some more questions. I'm like, oh, I could do that. And they were going, you're too young. And I'm like, I'm old enough to work. Yeah. And it was literally one of those kinda spur of the moment I'm off. And I just went with them and, um, and I've not really looked back and, and I'm glad and I sort of left Scotland and it was much, much warmer in ey. Hang on a minute. You're from Scotland? I never spotted that. Which, which, which part of Scotland You're from? All of it. Um, Stirlingshire, a little town called Deni, [00:10:00] which is seven mile from Sterling. So, and my accents kind of diluted, obviously, 'cause I've been, I've been diluted, I've been away longer than I've mm-hmm. Than I lived there, if that makes sense. Yes, yes, yes, yes. So what's the situation like at the moment? Within the fostering sector? It's, it's really difficult because there's lots of children still coming into care, unfortunately, just because of the situations and there's not enough foster carers to go around. So we're desperately trying, working really hard to try and recruit new foster carers, um, and from all walks of life and, and different age groups. And, and that goes, that can be, um, they can be single foster carers, they can be same gender couple. Um, heterosexual shows. It's, you know, if they meet the criteria and they fulfill everything we need them to fulfill within the assessment, then they'll be successful. If anybody's listenin
This is a Pod One production. For more information, visit pod1.co.uk. This is the Business Village People podcast. Hello, I'm David Markwell , and welcome to the Business Village People podcast. This is episode eight of series two. In this podcast, we showcase stories from the companies, service providers and staff at the Business Village in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. In this episode of Business Village People, we meet Dave Moss from Property Projects Yorkshire Limited. His company identifies houses that need renovation. He secures investment to fund the purchase and the refurbishment and ultimately utilises their buildings as social housing. I also have a conversation with Gemma Edwards from Get Real Comms. Gemma's business career has taken her to many countries , and while living in Spain, she secured a job with William Hill Online Betting. Today she runs her own communication company here at the Business Village. In February of this year, everyone at the Business Village, both staff and tenants, was saddened to hear of the sudden death of Adrian Waite, the former chief executive of the Business Village. Adrian retired just over a year ago. Not long after we began this podcast, we knew we wanted to invite Adrian to share more about himself. He came on, we recorded it, and this is Adrian Waite in his own words. My name is Adrian Waite. I'm the Chief Executive here at the Business Village. I was born in Lisbon in Northern Ireland and spent a little bit of time in England before my mum and dad took me off to Australia when I was fairly small. And so my formative years were spent Sydney. I can remember walking off the plane when it arrived in Sydney airport the first time. I think I was five years of age. I've been led to believe that Australia was very, very hot, but we arrived in the middle of winter , and it was absolutely freezing. The next thing, I looked around and I couldn't see a kangaroo anywhere. In my junior years in Australia, I think it was very much juniors who were still sort of seen and not heard. So I can remember my first time on a tennis court was when the temperature was 40 degrees Celsius and there were no adults interested in playing at that temperature. My early introductions into sport were playing tennis when it was too hot for the adults and playing golf at 5 o' clock in the morning because the tee times were booked from seven for adults only. I wanted to be a pilot, but as my eye deteriorated. You had to be very good at physics. The eyesight and the physics killed my dream of being a pilot. I ended up becoming a geologist. I have a degree in geology from the University of Birmingham. I got offered a PhD at the University of Edinburgh to go and study the algal growth on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. But unfortunately, I lost my grant and , to cut a long story short, ended up doing a master's degree at Leeds University in engineering geology. So my first career was as a geotechnical engineer. So that's sort of halfway between geology and civil engineering. I am what's called the Lawn Tennis Association councillor for Yorkshire. So I sit on the advisory body, about 60 LTA councillors in total. We work alongside colleagues at the LTA and advise them on strategy. I was self-employed in the noughties. When the world fell off a cliff in 2008. I went from being very gainfully employed as a consultant to working about 20 hours a week. I thought I'd better try and find something else to do to fill those hours. I heard about a role in Barnsley, working on a specific project, working with the larger companies and helping them with taking advantage of public sector support. And I thought it would just be for a couple of years. I kept getting into different projects and Tim Milburn, who was the chief here, he retired after 22 years. I sort of knocked on his door and said, do you think I might be the type of guy the board is looking for? And he encouraged me to apply for his job and here I am. We're much more modern, I think, than nine years ago. We've invested a lot in future-proofing. So I'd like to think that, you know, some tenant who came and based themselves here would say it's a modern, forward thinking organisation I've come to be based at, but the infrastructure that's in place is going to be the right infrastructure for my business moving forward. So I look at things like broadband. I think we have the fastest speeds in Barnsley. I think the infrastructure we're putting in place. So, as things like artificial intelligence take off, my understanding is it'll require a larger bandwidth. We've already put those sorts of structures in place so people won't have to say, well, you know, we'll have to leave the business village because it doesn't have the facilities, the technology that we require. So I'd like to think that we're, you know, we're staying on top of the changing business world and hopefully accommodating the requirements of our tenants. This time next year I will probably have retired. There's a management team of four that runs the business village, but the four of us hopefully have set the village up for growth. We're very much focused on Net zero here at the Business Village. And that's not just, you know, objectives for the next couple of years. I mean , we're talking about 20, 30 years. I'd like to think that the new management team that take over when we've gone, there'll be some changes at the management level. Adrian Waite, former chief executive of the Business Village, who sadly passed away in the February of this year. Our thoughts and love are with his family . SA , my next two guests , both believe that running a business is not only about financial success, but it's also about what the company contributes to society. Gemma Edward is from Get Real Comms, which is based here at the Business Village. Originally from Scotland, Gemma has lived and worked in various countries around the world and she tried to explain to me what a company actually does. We are a people-first communication, end-to-end solution for business. So what that means, what's that mean? Well, what that means is that any type of communication internally in an organisation and also externally, so creating a reflection, a mirror image of what's going on internally for them to employer, brand from an investor relations perspective, esg, all of that, that's what my business does. I still got no idea what you're on about. So if you were an employee in an organisation, from the minute you start to engage with a company, whether it be on their social media page, their careers page, the first onboarding chat that you have, once you're successful in getting a career with that company, right way through your life cycle. So every internal communication, everything about performance management, everything about employee retention, all these different things, that's what I am involved with , and that's one of my biggest clients that I do that for. So give me an example. An example? Yeah. What would you do if a customer came to you, one of your clients, came to you and said we need this doing, what would it be? Well, for example, one of the clients I work with now and have done successfully for seven years, I am effectively their director of people shared services. So what I do is I handle all of their internal communications. So, let's say they have a massive revamp of performance management, which is an annual performance review. They want to look at one to ones with clients, like how their leaders engage and communicate with their team members, how they then create that in a culture, a workplace culture, successful and where all you're doing is driving entrepreneurial drive on each and every single team member. I then take that, take their ideas, what they want their deliverable and their outcome to be. I work back the way , and I create a great communications campaign. That harnesses everything to do with that, which is massive. It's a massive production to do. It's every employee interaction that there could be, whether it's just a conversation with a leader or a team lead or with their HR team; all of that is curated , and then it's encompassed and packaged into a campaign that they can reuse consistently. And that would be something that we would do. That's a service we would provide. Yes. So it's very wide but very specific as well. Yes, absolutely. At the end of the day when I say a people first culture, I truly believe one of the consistent things in my life has always been the psychology of speaking to people and making them feel good, paying it forward. So when a client may come to me and say, okay, so we need to roll out, let's say they are either expanding or they are reducing in size, how can we communicate this? This is what we want the result to be. And I will then sort of survey and canvass the people that they have. I'll speak with them, their teams, we'll do surveys, we'll look at all different types of results and you can see, okay, how is the best way to communicate. Communicate this in a kind, caring, compassionate way and the right thing to do. Sometimes, there have been situations where what a client would like to happen can't happen the way they'd like it to happen if they want a good result in the end, where their reputation isn't damaged. Whatever a move a company makes with a communication, if it's shared internally, it can go externally, and in fact it will. You need to wear about 10 different hats from a legal perspective, HR, newspaper reporter, all these different things. You need to make sure that when you're communicating, you are communicating in a positive way and that you're looking after your people regardless of what part of the life cycle they're in as an employee and making sure that they are looked after. And that's why I say it's a people first communication. And that's what I'm. So that's what you're doing now? Yes. How did
This is a Pod One production. For more information, visit Pod One. Co. Uk. This is the Business Village People Podcast. Hello, I'm David Markwell. And welcome, welcome, welcome to the Business Village People Podcast. This is episode seven. In this Podcast, we showcase stories from the company's service providers and staff at the business village in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Well, if you're ready, let's go. In this episode, we meet Karen Greenwood from Newable, a non-bank lender. Newable was founded in 1982 as the Greater London Enterprise by a number of London Borough Councils to help companies with funding. And today, they also have more than a finger or two in the business village pie as well. In the past, Karen has worked for banks and independent lenders and has provided funding ranging from 8, 000 to purchase a second-hand car to a multi-million pound deal. Which you'll hear about shortly. Here's Karen's story. I work at Newable Commerce and currently head up the credit and risk team. Newable Commerce was created 40-odd years ago by the London Borough Councils um, designed to service the SME market because they were underserved in many areas. So Newell has effectively three divisions, uh, workspace, advice, and lending, and it was designed to take in a One man band who needed an office for the day or a desk or a meeting room, give them advice on how to break into new markets, uh, how to achieve new customers, and then how to fund his work and capital. And we do exactly the same thing today from the little One man band through to businesses that turn over 10 to 20 million pounds. Could you help out a little Podcasting business in Barnsley? Quite possibly, we could help out a little Podcasting business in Barnsley. This One, we do have One caveat. So Nouveau Commerce is One of the divisions in Lending. We've been set up to help export in SMEs. Um, it's a part of the market we feel is very much underserved. In our advice division, we've had the International Trade Advisors in there. So we've got some experienced people behind the scenes that can help and direct, as well as things like DBT and UK Export Finance. Um, they're saying from our side, we look at finding different ways to find the right solution depending on what size of the exporting business is and what they're trying to achieve. So we've got some existing exporters and we've got some who are new to exporting. When I was reading the web page and the stuff that you sent through to me, it's straight out with the top of my head. How did you start in this business and why? Oh, goodness me. So I came through a traditional banking route many, many years ago, um, because I wanted to work in the small to mid market section. Didn't want to go into corporate banking where the big boys are because quite frankly, they're, they're really easy decisions to make. The difference is that we help the SMEs. Um, as I knew, but we're set up to help the SMEs, which really attracted me, um, into the job. Um, we've gOne from the last three years to no lending to offering under the recovery loan scheme and launching the growth guarantee screen, which is now replaced the recovery loan scheme. And we obtained our accreditation on UK export finance scheme. I'm very proud of that actually, because it took us two and a half years and we're the only non bank lender on the scheme. And the whole point is we are the Ones that's there to try and support the SMEs. Um, One of my favorites. Well, it's not my favorite, but it's One of my favorite to remind people of how desperate the need is for the SMEs is that SMEs in this country export compared to 44 percent in Germany. You know, we're supposed to be a nation of small businesses and the small businesses today become the medium sized businesses tomorrow and the big businesses thereafter. And I genuinely feel that they're not helped sufficiently by people with the expertise and knowledge, the ability to signpost and network people, or just understand what challenges they face. So this is why I came into it. And I absolutely love it. We've got 200 clients on our books in two years time. Um, we are the biggest lender by number of clients on the UK expertise. What finance scheme, which I say I'm very proud of because we can see we make a difference. We don't just provide funding which is used in day to day working capital. We've provided funding that's being used for recruitment for expansion for developing new products, a lot of green technology. So we really make a difference. I love it. What's the marketplace like for non bank lenders? Is it a particularly big market or? It's huge. So currently, as I said, we have 200 clients in our box in two years time, and we have huge growth ambitions. We've carried out research that we believe there's currently about 300, 000 SMEs in the UK that could actually be supported through our range of cash flow solutions. Can I just stop you there? If you even What did you say? 300, 000? 300, 000, And if you think, you know, our client base, we're scratching the surface and, well, not even scratching the surface. Um, and I find that quite frightening that it is a huge marketplace, probably One of the biggest issues NESME, the experts, have. Has to face is convincing people that they're a robust business and the exporting doesn't make them a higher risk. Um, you know, from outside, I look at an exporting businesses, far more robust, far more sophisticated because I understand the challenges that they go through. They have so many challenges. so much administration to deal with, they have to understand the rules and regulations in every single country. Um, and, and that amount of knowledge and expertise, it takes years to, to build up and actually fight your way through all of that to then actually be able to go and sell something abroad. So I've got a lot of respect and admiration for exports and SMEs. I really do. So what would happen if somebody knocked on your door and said, um, We need some help. What can you do for us? So we, we have a small team here. Uh, we have a small team currently of 14. And what would happen is One of the relationship managers at the front end would speak to the business, get to know them, understand what they're trying to achieve, understand what their challenges are and how they wish to face it. And particularly if it's from a lending side and a funding side. Work a solution to cover that challenge and hopefully get them to where they want to be. We've got a number of businesses that come to us because they're growing. They won a new contract and it's a step change. And the issue they found when they've gOne to the banks, if they can get them to talk to them, is that their previous financial history doesn't support lending them more mOney because they're not big enough. And that's where we come in, you know, we like to support the growing businesses. We look forward, we look at what their contracts are coming in, we understand what the cash flow is going forward may be, and we put together a solution that works for everybody. What's Newable's connection with the business village? So, Newable owns, uh, the Barnsley Innovation Centre, would you believe? Da da da da da da da! We'll get these windows cleaned, quite frankly. So our advice division, which I mentiOned previously, um, there's an agreement that predates myself being a Newable, this is how old it is, that, uh, apparently they set up the innovation centre with, uh, Barnsley Council and our advice division. And ultimately they effectively inherited the business village. So some of my colleagues, I believe, are based there and you probably see them walking around, um, day to day. Um, I'm obviously not a million miles away because I'm a Sheffield girl. But yes, so we actually own the premises and we own the business center. So, you know, if there's somebody that you want to talk to, if a member of the team or a member of the vice is not there, you know, quite happily pick up the phOne to myself or the rest of my team around the country. So tell me about the five values. that you work to? And what do they mean? Okay, so Nuble has its own set of values. Um, it's the values that we find that our clients tend to work to. So we reflect that from our side, you know, we've got things like dream big, you know, we want ambitious businesses. Going back to my point where we're talking about businesses, you've won a new contract and looking for funding. We want to help them take that step along the next journey on the way, I should say on their journey to go this One. Um, you know, again, trying to, you know, be experts in our field. This is why we set up Newbill Commerce and why we're focused on a particular area of the market. We know that we've got expertise in house and we know that we've got contacts elsewhere that can help us to support and guide the business or signposting to other people who've got that knowledge and support. Um, and so our values, they reflect what we do. They reflect from where we come from. Ultimately, and so from setting out to helping the smaller SMEs to achieve their emissions, to achieve their drives and do things in the right way as well. You know, where Newable is, um, it's often described as a very grown up business. And I think it is. We are a bunch of people that want to sit here, want to talk to you, want to understand what challenge you're facing. And we want to help you. We don't want to try and put you into a round peg into a square hole sort of thing. Thank you. We want to deal with you as an individual because every business is different. So how did you get into the game of finance and working for banks? Was it a dream when you were at school in Sheffield and you thought, you know, that's where the mOney really is. That's what I want to do. Or do I just want to help businesses? It wasn't my dream growing up. What was it? What was your dream? What was my dream? I e
This is a Pod One production. For more information visit pod one.co.uk This is the Business Village People Podcast. Hello, I'm David Markwell. Welcome to the Business Village People Podcast. This is episode six of series two. In this podcast, we showcase stories from the companies, service providers and staff at the Business Village in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Well, if you're ready, let's go! In this episode of Business Village People Two people who started working for themselves totally by accident. We meet a young chap who was set up as an estate agent, but not any old agent. Barnsley's first. Disclaimer. We think, but we could be wrong, there may be others. Your house is at risk if you keep the back door open. Disclaimer. Barnsley's first, possibly, personal estate agent. He reckons it's the future. I'll be asking him why. Also, we meet the motivational educationalist, teacher, author and humourist, who at times looks and sounds like a cross between Gary Barlow and and Jason Manford. His business, Create, Learn and Inspire, is based here at the Business Village. Time to meet our first guest. Owen Beasley has recently begun working for himself as a personal estate agent. Here's his story. You've got a lot of people out there, a lot of estate agents out there, that are more corporate and work on volume if I'm honest. And I think it's time now when the market is changing for estate agents, where there is that personal touch, that personal branding, where they're not working on volume and the work on your property and get it sold, because each property is different. Some will sell quickly, just because of what everything is and the price tag. Some will sell slowly if they're more expensive. And he needs a personal touch to make sure it all gets sold, because nearly 50% of properties that go on the market don't sell. And I want to put the time in to each property and get them all sold, rather than it being a flipper coin kind of thing. And that's what I bring to suppose the Barnes and Mac is. So what do you mean by personal estate agent, say how are you different? I'll take them from A to Z, so value the house, get it sold, go for all the legal process. Anyone rings me up, they've got my mobile number from 9am, 8pm, up until 9pm at night, they don't have to ring an office and be passed around the office as such, which you get a lot in the corporate side. And that's the personal touch I'll do with everything, basically, and that's that. So how did you get into estate agents, you can say? By accident, to be fair, I wanted to get into property and I was more interested in building a portfolio for the back of it for retirement. And I joined B-craft estates in One Will, and it's spelled from there, I covered the media side of it, enjoyed it. I always knew I wanted to score myself. So what you said you wanted to get into property, did you mean owning the property rather than just getting into estate agents, say, straight away? Yeah, I wanted to get into flipping properties and... What's that mean? So buy one, renovate it and sell it on for a profit, essentially. I just loved it, I saw the people doing it, I wanted to get into it, and I started off getting into estate agents, getting into an estate agent role, and I enjoyed it. And I felt, you know, there's potential for me to do this as well. Yeah. So yeah, that's how I kind of go into it, I kind of fell into it accidentally, I suppose. So what's the market like at the moment in Barnsley and South Yorkshire? There's a lot on the market, a lot more than other years, to be fair, there's a lot of choice, and I think that's two things. Buyers have too much choice, so sometimes property can sell slowly, but also on the other end, you've got interest rates that are not the lowest. I mean, theoretically, historically, it's not actually the eye. But at the same time, it stops people buying, but that's why a lot of people are selling, so you've got a lot of sellers, not as many buyers, but stuff is still moving, and, you know, the base rates dropped. That's brought more buyers to the market, and it'll continue to drop up by the end of this year. It's at roughly 4%. But it is moving, and there's a lot on the market, to be fair. And although, if you look at the property prices and you look at statistics and whatnot, across barns, stuff is still rising. People say, you know, prices aren't at the 2022 eye, but actually, it's not the prices, it's the timing. In 2022, you could sell an house in a day, in an hour, whereas it takes a little bit longer now, but you'll still get more than you would in 2022, because it's jumped about 4.5 cents instead. So it's still growing, and barns is actually one of the strongest markets across the country. Some people, some areas have dropped 8%, some have gone up 8%, in oil, and in the last 12 months, it's gone up 8%. It's crazy. I think that is. I think there's a lot going on in barns, so it's had a £200m investment into the town centre. In Hoiland, they've got the every, that's opened up, that's had a lot of jobs, I think that's supported the property market there as well. It's normally the east side of barns, and the south side of barns, that's been the strongest so far. When you look at it over the last 12 months, it's the more stronger market. That's probably gone up 5%, 8%, roughly in the area in the north of barns. You're looking at 3%, 4%, but I think the every, especially for Hoiland, has brought a lot of jobs to it, and it's bang on the motorway, and it's actually affordable in Ireland. Parts of S75, Tankers, Gorb and that side of town are quite expensive, so pushing the ceiling prices there is the hitting them. Whereas Hoiland is the next place I think it's going to kind of blow up. Okay, so how do you value a house? There's a number of things, so you look at comparable evidence, depending on the property, there can be a lot of comparable, so if next saw is the exact same size, the exact same amount of bedrooms, and it sold last week, then you know exactly what that property is going to be worth. Sometimes it's different, and you've got to dive into it and see what sold, even within half a mile, if it's a beautiful 5-bed detached, what a 5-bed detached going for in the market. And also, that street might have gone up a couple of percents since that last property sold. If it sold two years ago, it's comparable. You've got to factor in, well, properties have gone up 5%, 6%. You've also got to factor in how much is the renovation cost going to be if you are to, if it needs the renovation. Cost chances are, you're even going to get people who want to do the work, and there's not many of them, or you're going to get someone who's wanting to buy the house and do the renovation, so you've got to price it right, that there's actually money in it for them sometimes. But also, builders are going to be cheaper, so you always try to price it right, so everyone wins, but also you've got to bear in mind, you're going to price it as much as possible for the vendor, so they walk away with the money. Don't you ever really? So, yeah, that's the idea to value an house really in the short term, I suppose. So, what about you? Where are you from? How are you at Barnsley? Bread and butted? Yeah, at Barnsley, born and bread. From Adsley, actually. Obviously, I've only been doing personal estate agency for a couple of months now, and Adsley and, I suppose, S71, you know, Montbroughton, etc. That is my key area, I know it like the back of my hand, so I'm wanting to build a really good reputation up, because I feel like I can add a lot to the market there. There's no personal estate agent in Barnsley. There is some here and there, but not in that area, if I'm honest, and, you know, when someone's selling an house in that area, especially in Adsley, if someone comes to view it, I can tell them what's actually, you know, where the dog walks, I always say to clients, I'm trying to sell your house, I need to know everything. If I get someone who wants to view your house, I want to know why they want to view it. If they've got dogs, then they want to know about the dog walks, so that's like another thing I had that personal touch. I know the area, like the back of my hand, all the, you know, the dog walk area is basically. So, what three tips that really do work would you advise somebody that's about to put the house on the market to do to the house, or when someone is coming to view it, what three tips go on? Three tips. Invest in your estate agent. It might seem funny because I'm an estate agent, I want more money, but it's the truth. If you go with the likes of, well, what names names, your national estate agents where they'll say, you take the pictures, we'll put it online, etc. You're not going to get the best return, although they are cheaper. All it takes is, let's say, for example, an estate agent says, I'll pre-prope on the market for £1,000. I'll do it for £2,000. Some people look at that and think, he's double the price, but some people say, well, it's only an extra grant, and I've got faith in knowing, he knows the market, he knows it very well. You're sure that you might be able to get me £10,000 more than that online estate agent, so yeah, it might be double in this example, but if you get an extra nine grand, pay for itself. That's tip one. Tip two is, you want to present it well. Ideally, you want to be putting it on with nice photos. In summer, well, you know, trees, blossoms, etc. It looks a lot better than winter. So that's another thing. But also, what I like to do is prepare, if I'm not doing the viewings and let's say the vendors at home, I want to prepare them for those actually coming to view the house. So I go back to that dog analogy, you know, I've spoken with the person who's coming to view your house. What is it they want? Well, they've got free dogs. I'll tell that vendor, right? They've got free dogs. Make sure you tell them all these
This is a Pod One production. For more information, visit podone. co. uk. This is the Business Village People podcast. Hello, I'm Davey Markwell, and welcome to the Business Village People podcast. This is episode five of series two. On this podcast, we showcase stories from the companies, service providers, and staff at the Business Village in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Well, if you're ready, let's go. In this episode of Business Village People For some business, compliance requirements can be easily overlooked or forgotten due to the fact that the people are too busy actually doing the job. We meet a chap who accidentally created a website that helps hauliers stay legal. Also, a man who admits his management style is not to everyone's taste. So much so that his office is not even in the same building as his employees. Lee Pritchard took the plunge and set up his own business just as the first COVID lockdown began. In four years since, Lee has established an award winning company providing transport compliance to the haulage industry. Here's Lee's story. An interactive website, so it provides um, Features such as compliance guidance, there's industry news, um, there's networking opportunities, um, for various things. It keeps, uh, operators compliant with regulations, uh, connected with the industry. And we're developing it all the time, um, so it's one of those where we've just added, um, other features to it, which includes fleet management. Um, so, operators can send me their, um, service records, um, we upload that onto a fleet management system, so we can keep a close eye on them, make sure that they're, you know, they're, they're keeping legal and compliant. So it's, um, it's very interactive, um, but it is brand new. Um, we're, we're very sort of in its infancy, if you like. So we're adding new features, we'll, we'll keep on growing, and hopefully it'll, um, it'll provide a good platform for, for many operators in the future. So where did the platform come from? Did you create it or is it part of a franchise or? Yeah, it literally is. We, I created it, um, by mistake to be honest, and I will be honest. So originally it was a conversation with a website developer. Um, and I literally asked, um, could we upgrade in, you know, update our website? And we had a good chat for about two hours, which wasn't, you know, scheduled. And all of a sudden, we come up with this platform where it was like, Okay, we'll not So we do our current website, we'll create a new website. So we do have two websites. Um, one predominantly sort of telling everybody as a consultancy what we do. But then we have the Hawleyers Hub, which is obviously the interactive website. Um, so yeah, it was created by a mistake, but, but I love it and, and what it stands for. And, you know, we've got some good guys on there at the minute that are really seeing the benefits of it. Um, so, so yeah, that's, that's where it is. Well, it was a big mistake, but not a big mistake, if you know what I mean. Mistakes can turn out good, can't they? You know, you learn from them. Yeah, we love it. I mean, I do. And, you know, like I say, it's getting updated every day and we keep on top of it. Um, but I've had a meeting this morning and, you know. You know, a client's coming this morning. He just said, I'm loving it. You know, he's interacting with it because many operators, you see, and what we're finding is, is they're not transport people, so they struggle with a compliance side of things. And some of them are, you know, so run an operator license where they don't need a transport manager. So this kind of platform creates that kind of interaction where they can go onto it, find out what they need and they can book a call with myself as well. So it's, it's, yeah, it's, it's really good. I'm passionate about it. I love it. And, you know, especially when you see it helping people, that's, that's, that's what we're trying to achieve. Where did it all begin? What did you want to be at school? When I left school, um, I PE teacher. So that worked out really well, didn't it? You know what I mean? Um, yeah, I was always into sport when I was growing up. Um, bit of background in rugby league as well. Um, but yeah, I always wanted to do that. But kind of fell into this as you do. Um, you know, you find your way. Um, I mean, four years ago, I was a transport manager at a company. Um, but always sort of had the inkling of, What would it be like going on my own? Could I, could I do this? You know, um, You know, I had doubts, don't get me wrong, but been thinking about it for a while. And lo and behold, um, You know, I don't know what come over me, but decided to do it when COVID hit. Which I'm thinking, what on earth are you doing? And people did question it. Um, but four years later, here we are and I'm loving it. Yeah, I really do. Um, the variety is what we're after. You know, being on your own, you get into different things, you're seeing different people, different operators. Whereas when you're a transport manager, you're kind of stuck in the, you know, day to day, you know, same company, um, same office and things like that, which, which is fine, don't get me wrong, it's, there's nothing wrong with that, but I did fancy a change and, and I love what, I love what I do now, I really do, yeah. It is quite nice, isn't it, being your own boss and, and just Doing what you want without some monkey around your neck. That's it. Telling you, you've done it wrong, or this is what you should have done, or why hasn't it done. Yeah, and it is because what this gives me is to be able to focus on my own thing. I think it gives me that experience as well of when you're dealing with different businesses and different operators, you know, you're kind of educating yourself as well, so you never stop learning. But when you're stuck in, I suppose in one company, I was finding myself that you become very good at what you do there, if you like, but when you're seeing other industries within road transport, then you can sort of put your experience onto other people and help them. So I just love helping people. That's, that's the key. And, you know, I enjoyed, I used to do a lot of training with drivers and things like that and just helping drivers and stuff. And this is where we're at now. That's where the platform were built. Um, just trying to help these road operators just keep legal and compliant. Have you ever been a lorry driver? I have. I was a lorry driver. Um, I was, um, I was up and down the road. I did days, nights, um, tramping as we call it. So we stayed out on a night. Um, so, so yeah, so it was, it was good grounding really because obviously understanding drivers when you're training, when you're talking to them, when you're managing, um, transport, um, yeah, they've got a tough gig to be honest, they've got a tough job and on days like this where it's blustery and windy outside, I'm glad I'm stuck in an office today to be honest. So what kind of training do you provide for drivers or? Yeah, we provide a variety of different training. So we do bespoke training. Um, some of it's, um, daily walk around checks. Um, we do driver assessments. Um, we do load safety security for transport managers. Sometimes that's more consultancy. So going in there and just, you know, supporting them, just helping them with the legal and compliance side of things. So, um, we've got online training. So we have kind of bite size training that covers the intricacies of break testing with vehicles, um, drivers, hours and tachographs. So again, that's probably aimed at more your operators that are not Just general transport managers, but they're operators that know very, very good about what they do, but not sort of the legal and compliance side of it and the operator license undertakings. You've won an award recently, haven't you? We have, um, Transport Management of the Year, which we're delighted about, yeah, yeah. We've won it two years in a row. So it was Does nobody else apply for the award? That's what I was thinking, to be honest. I mean, I got a phone call this first time in 2023 and it was, it was just crazy because there were a couple of my clients put me forward and, and that was nice, you know, just kind of, it, it's kind of a pat on the back, really, to say, you know what, we're doing something right, you know. Uh, because we're such a small business as well, so you, you, you, you know, you don't really, Are you doing well? Are you doing okay? Um, but yeah, it was good. And then we, we won it again. And we got a nice gold trophy this time. So, we're doing all right, aren't we? Do you get to keep them all if you win it three times? We have. We've got it in the corner of the office. Um, so, you know, let's, let's hope that that's what we do again third year. What do you do, Lee, when you're not stuck in your lovely little office? What do you do in your spare time to chill? I don't have much spare time. Um, but I spend a lot of time with my family and I like, I do like, you know, getting in the gym and working out and it clears me out a little bit, to be honest. Um, and, um, and yeah, I'm into my sport. I do like my sport. What particular? Rugby League. Rugby League? Rugby League? Up and under? Yeah, been brought up on it, you know, I didn't have much choice to be honest, because my dad was a professional rugby league player. Oh, right. Who did he play for? He played for various clubs, he was at Doncaster, Halifax, had a time in France as well. Um, so, um, so yeah, I got sort of shoved into it. Yeah, no choice on that one. Not a choice, no. No, absolutely not. Do you actually have any vehicles? No. We don't operate vehicles. It's purely consultancy, training, and supporting those guys that do operate vehicles. That's all, that's all we do. We're not, we're not, we'll not go down that route, to be honest, because, like I say, I, these guys do a wonderful job and I'll let
This is a Pod One production. For more information, visit podone. co. uk This is the Business Village People podcast. Hello, I'm David Markwell and welcome to the Business Village People podcast. This is episode four of series two. This podcast showcases stories from the companies, service providers, and staff at the business village, in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Well, if you're ready, let's go! In this episode of Business Village People, we meet a woman who was more impressed with her education from a local college than the one she received from a tuition-paying university. According to the United Nations, the top five emitters of greenhouse gases are China, the USA, India, the European Union, and the Russian Federation. That accounts for about 60 percent of the emissions in 2021. We'll be discovering what help is available to you to reduce your carbon emissions in your workplace, with a little bit of help from the business village. Also, we meet the brand new members executive for the Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber of Commerce. It's time to meet our first guest. Laura Fish owns Fashion Toolbox, a company that is bridging the gap between traditional education and modernity and the ever-evolving world of fashion design. Fashion Toolbox is a little bit of a long story because it didn't start out as what it is today. It started out as an idea as part of my master's, and I was working in the fashion industry for a very, very long time. I think it was around 15 years. And when I got into the industry from university, I realized that there was a little bit of a skills gap, shall we say, and that I wasn't really prepared for everything that I needed to know within the industry. I've got to do a lot of learning on the job. When you say that, what do you mean? Because you've, you've just did a master's degree. Is that right? I did my BA first. Right. Okay. You've done your BA first. You've come out. ready to be working in the fashion industry, but you felt as though you were lacking certain skills. Yeah, I would say more like the technical skills. I did learn a lot. I learned a lot about fashion design and pattern cutting. But then when you're in the industry, industry. There's so many different roles that I felt like I wasn't even informed about, to be honest. And how did that make you feel? Because you've just spent three years and got probably into a lot of debt to come out and not be able to do the job you wanted to do. Yeah, I'm quite frustrated. I mean, I was, I did get into the job that I wanted to do, but I felt like there was a lot of learning on the job to do and a lot of upskilling, which was quite frustrating. Yes, obviously, after spending all that money, then it was a little bit of, I did courses here and there in my own time to learn, particularly in like digital skills, Adobe Illustrator is massively required within the industry. And I just didn't, I wasn't taught it. So I think I had one lesson while I was in university. So I taught myself, um, pretty much. And then, yeah, when I asked others, they felt pretty much the same way. They didn't have the skills. So when I worked in the industry for quite a few years, as I said, and then this became a real like passion project thinking there's all these people that haven't got the skills that we need to join forces and upskill. So when I went back to do my masters. I decided to focus particularly in fashion education and did a heck of a lot of research into the history of education, how it's evolved over time or not evolved. And I guess this is, um, I'm generalizing in a way because I looked majorly at the UK and the fashion education system here, but there are, um, other areas that Doing a lot more to support students and bring more innovation and digital skills on board, but within the UK I found that it was quite lacking and to be honest at that time so I built Fashion Toolbox, which was Originally, it was a podcast So I interviewed people. I'll have no more of that then, quite frankly. Yeah, so I interviewed people from the industry in various roles. Roles that hadn't really been discussed at university. I basically asked them what their role involved and tried to educate people from that side of things. And I wanted Fashion Toolbox to be a platform where people could come and learn and upskill. Okay, right. Let's just shut the back door a moment. Why fashion? Oh. And what were you like at school? I was a rebel at school. Were you? Yeah, I was, I was a rebel. I, um, got in trouble a lot. In what way? I think I probably got in trouble a lot for, uh, My appearance, more than anything, I think that's where the whole fashion thing comes from. How, how, how did you used to go to school looking like? Was it like Charlie Carolli or, or a punk or a rebel? Yeah, a rebel, I would say. Like, I, I, Emo? Wearing way too much makeup. Always dyeing my hair, which was not really allowed at school. My tie would be so undone. My skirt would be rolled up. Oh, gosh. So many pairs of socks that you can't even I mean, the fashions then were just ridiculous. So many pairs of socks. You could only wear one pair at a time. What, on your legs? Different hats. That's quite creative, though, I think. That's original. That's, that's, that shows Not when everybody's doing it. Yeah, but they get hung up about uniforms and stuff, don't they? I'm in two minds with it, because I can see some kids might not be able to afford, or the parents, to afford the latest designer gear that everybody's after. But also, I think it's a, it's a way of expression. Yeah, and, and, and And they put too many Gates, in the way. Oh, and then you set fire to the school. I didn't do anything like that. That's not what I've heard. I did once, um, go and I picked up a for sale sign from outside the house and stuck it outside the school. Okay. I think we'd better stop it now. So, which school is this, Kingston? Kingston, yeah. Yeah, okay. Anyway, you got over that. The seed had been planted for you to work in fashion. What happened next? So then I went to college. I went to Barnsley College and studied fashion on, I think it was a BTEC back then, a National Diploma, and learnt I'd say that probably my education at college was more informative than university, which is, um, yeah, it's not very good, but I learned a heck of a lot at college and, uh, really opened my eyes to what the industry would be like and what fashion was like. All of the, um, the pattern cutting and everything I just found fascinating. I've always been interested in that side of things and how something 2D can. make something 3D, which is probably why I'm so addicted to what I'm doing now. Tell me about Fashion Toolbox. What is it? While I was doing my master's, I came across a software called Clo3D, which is a digital fashion software. And as soon as I saw the software, I thought this is going to be the next big thing in the industry. Like everybody before had to learn Adobe Illustrator to get on. And with Clo3D, I thought, yeah, this is going to be the next software and I've 100 percent got to learn it. So I did. I learned that as well as doing my master's and made it kind of part of the whole fashion toolbox project. And thinking about how, um, Things would develop in the future in terms of both fashion education and the industry and then Fashion toolbox over the past couple of years has become a platform for it because I am majorly majorly Interested in sustainability as well So I like the tools like 3d fashion design can help companies save money reduce the carbon footprint and All by reducing sampling and, um, doing more like design iterations in real time. So, um, I decided that this was what Fashion Toolbox would become. But what is it? It's a I know it's a computer, uh, platform. Well, it's, it's a service basically. Fashion Toolbox is, is a service. I don't own the software. I utilize the software to provide the service. So I help people to upskill. Um, so I train people in the software so that they can use it either as individuals within the business or as students. Um, and then I also offer it as an actual 3D design service. So I will go into fashion companies and show them how it can help support their business, how it can help save them money and help them be more sustainable. But what do you do with it? What do you mean, what do I do with it? How does it, what can I achieve by using your services? Um, I suppose I'm asking, what does it do? You know, I've had a look at your website, and I think I understand it. Yeah. Basically, you've If I explain it this way and you tell me I'm right or wrong, you've created some designs, I'm assuming it's you, of different articles of clothing. Mm hmm. I can buy that off you. Oh, yes, yes, I've got a resource library on top of that. Yeah, yeah. And I can, put some material into the system and say what's it going to look like bang and it goes into a 3d yeah so that's all we're asking you as well as the services that i provide i also have a resource library on my website which people can download and use and they can add their they can Download these files, upload them into their own software, and they can add their own fabrics, their own textures, their own trims, and make their own garment, basically visualize it in 3D. Um, so that is a tool that I, it's a library that I'm constantly building. I've, I've got a ridiculous collection of manual patterns, probably over a hundred. 100 pieces that I've started to digitize in and I wanted to be able to make that available to the wider market. Are you going to develop the business? Do you want to grow it? Yeah, yeah, definitely. No, I don't. I won't. It's a good bus, David. That's it, I give up. You've talked me out of it. Yeah, I definitely want it to grow and to succeed, um, because I think that there is, there's a lot. In it there's a lot of passion behind it
This is a Pod One production. For more information, visit podone. co. uk. This is the Business Village People podcast. Hello, I'm David Markwell and welcome to the Business Village People podcast. This is episode three of series two. Here we showcase unique stories from the companies, service providers and staff at the Business Village in Balsey, South Yorkshire. Well, if you're ready, let's go! In this episode of Business Village People, we meet the mum who was so unimpressed with the quality of face painting her daughter received that she decided to wipe the wonky smile Off her face and do it herself. 14 years later, she's turned face, body and bump painting into a thriving business. We'll hear her story shortly. Working alone can be very isolating. That's one of the reasons the business village began its monthly creative collective. A place to share ideas, listen to guests and chat, and we'll get the full story of what happens at a Creative Collective session a little bit later on. Donna Godfrey's business started with a Well, if they can do it, I'm sure I could moment and has since become a thriving venture. A company has achieved so much success that she's even been invited to the United States to train people in the art of face painting. Here's Donna's story. I used to work in finance, so I was doing payroll for, oh my gosh, years. I just fell into it. But what I'd found was like, I would go into work on a Friday and then I'd be like bouncing around the office going, Yay, the weekend's here. And they were all like, Donna, it's month end, get serious. Do you know what I mean? I was like, I just don't feel like this is my place and I'm not kind of fitting in. Um, and then my daughter at the time just was into face painting. So we just queued up everywhere for it. And I thought, how hard is this? And bought a little cheap set and then. It's gone from there. Did she get a really dodgy face painting dump ones? Um, I think it, it varies where you go. Some places should have an hour. Well, I, I can do better than that. And we hear a lot of these stories with the students that come on my course as well and they get the same thing. They go somewhere and it's a bit naff and they go, how hard is this? I'm gonna give it a go. But then there is some people out there that's absolutely phenomenal. And like beautiful kind of artwork, so there's a huge variation in what you can kind of get. So what did you want to do when you were at school? When I was, when I was like primary school, I wanted to work at ASDA. That was like the huge aim. For some reason, I don't know why, but watching people kind of scanning, I was like, this is, We're going back some time. So like till then we're like high tech. Um, but in high school there was a period of wanting to be a fashion designer, which I never even went into. Um, and I don't, um, thank God I did. Cause I have no idea about fashion now. So, um, I didn't really kind of have anything specific. Um, I just, I did a lot of retail when I left school. I've worked ever since leaving school though, always worked. Um, so I did a lot of retail, worked at some car garages on receptions. Um, I've even worked in an egg factory. It was like one of my first ever jobs. So I've always worked. Go on then, what were you doing there? So it was a very thrilling job. Um, it was weekends and school holidays that I'd do it and I literally had to stand in this like booth with a curtain behind me and then eggs would come over the factory kind of belt and they would go there would be a light underneath and my job was literally to look for cracked eggs and you would pull them out and put them on the shelf if any were cracked and that was all day just doing that. Hated it. But I wanted money. That's all I was bothered about was the money. Your daughter had come back looking like Charlie Carolli, having her face done. And you thought, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do this meself. What did you do next? So I bought a little, um, Snazaroo set, which everyone can kind of get hold of from What? Sorry? Snazaroo. Bless you. You can get them from like, Amazon, um, eBay, uh, some like, the range sells them. It's like the, the main at home kind of face paint that's safe to use. So I'd bought a little set like that. And I'd painted my daughter at home and I painted her as a tiger and it wasn't actually half bad. It was, it wasn't, it wasn't the best, but it wasn't half bad. But it was more the enjoyment of it. It was, I thoroughly enjoyed painting her and her reaction, Kind of after being done, just, it gives me goosebumps now just talking about it. That's the main part of our job that I love the most, is the kids reactions and even adults reactions. And it was just, it was, I just loved it. So I thought I'm just going to carry on playing. I went online and then you find there's a massive world of face and body painting that you You know, you wouldn't know unless you were in the industry. So we, I followed a few other people, got a few different tips, just kept practicing. And then a princess party approached me, like a party company, and said, would you do face painting for us? And I said, well, I'm still very new, and they were like, no, that's perfect. Um, and I did all the parties for them, and just gradually got better and better, and then eventually was able to kind of do it on a much bigger scale like we are now. So how big is it at the present? There's only me, but we do subcontract to, gosh, probably over 20 face painters. And it's something that I'm really pleased that we do subcontract, because it still allows a lot of freedom for the subcontractors. So rather than bringing them in, um, kind of on an hourly rate, where it's much lower than what they could kind of get, uh, subcontracting, they can still charge their normal kind of fees to us. And it keeps the community kind of together. We're all sharing work, in a sense, and things like that. But there's just me, uh, that kind of does all the admin. And I keep saying I'm going to employ somebody and then I go, no, I'm not going to, because letting go of anything is so hard. So hard. But yeah, so I'll travel up and down the country now as well, doing all the training courses and things. I might drag a friend along with me now and again so I can enjoy a nice pint at the end of the day. The training course, but that's probably about it. And your training courses are all over the country, aren't they? And, in fact, into Europe as well, aren't they? We haven't gone into Europe yet. I get asked. I'm asked to do it in America, and I'm asked to do it in Ireland, and there's been a couple in, oh, somewhere in the Netherlands, where. And I need to sit down and try and work about logistics, like, there's a lot of gear that comes with us. It's not like just a couple of face paints. The, I have an estate car and that is rammed when we go on tour. So it's just figuring out how can I get all this equipment over there cheaply, and still not have, like, to keep the prices low for kind of the training. So it's, it's a possibility, a possibility. Tell us more about the courses that you run. So, I was approached about, about 8 years, 9 years ago, um, by another facepainter who wanted to learn. And I said, um, yeah, sure, I'll, I'll, I'll show you. And I'd got another lady who'd asked at the same time, so I thought, right, there's two people that want to learn. I wonder if I can get a few more and kind of do it as like a group thing. So I'd asked around a few kind of beginner facepainters I'd seen in the area. And I think I got a group of about, what was it, six that joined and we hired, um, a room in a pub in Wakefield and set that up and we did this training course. Since then, it's kind of gradually then, we'll, we'll go for another one and we'll try and advertise it. And then people were joining and now people were asking for like Scotland, will you come to Scotland? Will you come to London? Will you come here? Will you come there? And I was like, well, why not just take it on tour and we'll, we'll cover the whole UK. And so we teach up to 20 people. on a Saturday, 20 people on a Sunday, come home, clean it all, then go off again and teach another 20 on a Saturday somewhere else and we're all over the place. So how do you teach somebody to face paint? So, um, you have to go through start very basics, uh, with face painting, it's all about line work. It's a line, if you think of like a face paint, like a tiger design, the tiger stripes kind of on there. If you were to do very thick kind of lines, just very straight lines, it's quite dull and boring. Whereas what we're teaching is to vary the shapes and sizes of each stroke. So they look kind of thin going to thick, going back to thin again. They might have curves in them, things like that. Um, but it's a A lot of moving of the brush. It's not as simple as what it sounds. So we spend the first half of the class just focusing on that. One of the good things that we do in our course is at the beginning, I say, um, right, this is how the paints kind of work very quickly. Uh, you've got ten minutes to paint a tiger. So they've got no training whatsoever. They come straight into the course. They're all quite scared because they're in a room with all these other people. Um, so they have ten minutes. They have to paint a tiger however they think. And then later in the day we, I teach them how to paint a tiger using the techniques what they've learned. So we have a really good before and after tiger. And the reactions of the people when they do the after one and they put the pictures kind of together, they're like, wow, look what I've done in just a day. And it is really amazing what they can learn in just a day. And are the practicing, I can't even talk, I'm sorry, I've dried out, are they practicing on each other? No, so we use, um, the first cast I did was on each other, um, and I just found that what that meant was one p
This is a Pod One production. For more information, visit podone. co. uk. This is the Business Village People podcast. Hello, I'm David Markwell, and welcome to the Business Village People podcast. This is episode two of series two. Here, we showcase unique stories from the vibrant companies and service providers of the village. Based at the business village in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Well, if you're ready. In this episode of Business Village People, we meet a clothes designer who would not be doing what she does now if it wasn't for an old chuffer puffing about at a railway station. Plus, we chat to the Business Village's new chief executive, Martin Beasley. He was all set to join the RAF and possibly fly helicopters. But that dream ended when they found out he was from Rotherham. Hello? David? What? It was just a joke, Kevin. Yeah, I know. Okay. Okay. Bye. I've been advised to point out that the last bit is untrue. He wasn't allowed to play with the choppers due to a sports related injury. I just thought my reason was funnier. Time to meet one of the newest clients to join the many companies at the business village in Barnsley. In saying that, she's run her own designer clothing business in Barnsley since the late 1960s. Since then, Rita Britton has become renowned around the world as a straight talking business guru. A few years ago, she retired, but now she's back. I asked her why. I think it lasted, well, probably a month, but I was seriously thinking after about four days this is, this is a big mistake. I think me and my other half. Or I probably would have killed him for not moving his breakfast pots off the table and putting them in the sink. So yeah, I thought, get back to it. Worked since I was 15. You know, you can't turn it off like a tap. And the other thing that you can't turn off, talking of taps, is creativity. You can't, you know, you've only got to look, I was listening the other day to the playwright. It looks like David, David Hockney. What's his name now? Alan Bennett. That's it. And he was in Westminster Abbey. And, you know, he must be eight, what, eight, five, eight, six years old. And he, it's the same there, isn't it? Can't just turn it off. It's still there, it's still interested in who those people were in those graves and what their lifestyle was like. And it brings it to life for you. You know, you just think this is wonderful. And David Hockney, you know, I think in Yorkshire we're an incredibly creative people. I really do think, maybe it's to do with adversity, I don't know. But, um, When I used to work at the paper mill, which I did from being, what, 15, 16. And the girls there were incredibly creative. We used to go to jazz festivals at City Hall in Sheffield and, you know, it was just wonderful. So yeah, it were, it were great. I think creativity is knocked out of people as they get older. by organizations and businesses and things like that and they're frightened to actually have a go at making something or creating something or drawing or coming up with a creative idea. Yeah, I mean, I, I, I have come across that. But then on the other hand, um, I was working with a young student from Barnsley, but she's now working in London at Westminster College doing fashion. She came to see me in the shop and she wrote, a mother with her and she brought her work with her and then she, I looked at her work and I thought, you know, this is good. This is really good. And she wanted to work with one of the London designers, a designer called Simon Rocher. And one of my guys who used to work with me as an assistant buyer. Oh gosh, I could go on and on and on and on, couldn't I? He was from Glasgow, right? And he was a real Glaswegian, red hair, fiery temper, the old lot. He is now one of the most successful men in New York, James Gilchrist. He works for He's virtually second in command to, there's a source called Dover Street Market, I don't know if you've ever heard of them, but they are the most avant garde stores on the planet. And he works for them. So I sent her his work and he said, yeah, what, what, what she want to do? I said, she wants to go and do a placement with Simone Russia. Two days later, she got the placement. And I did it with a jewellery design and then I thought the jewellery was gobsmacking. I mean, no one could have sold it here. It was like, uh, It's at about 10, 15 grand. And I sent it to James and said, what do you think of this? It's now in the New York store. So I'm still, what I find is that the people that I trained, and what he said to the jeweler who went to the store to place their jewelry in, he said, if Ree says, listen, or look at it, that's exactly what I do. And I thought that was great because he's so loyal that if I say, look at this. So I do work with young people and people that I've worked with in the past, buyers. Um, I mean, lovely stories I have to tell. The first buying job he had with me was we went to Prada in Milan. And James had got red hair and very pale skin. And this was his first buying job. And we walk in there, because you can't help, if you come from Barnsley, you're Barnsley. Don't care where you are, won't show you. So I'm walking down to go to our table to buy. And the shelves there, and, On the shelf is a, is a, uh, uh, uh, a beret. And it's sequined. It's a sequined beret. And I turned round to James and I said, You know that beret, if we took that beret, we'd have to sell that for 800 quid. And he sat across the table and he's looking at me. And he went even whiter. And then he put his hand across his mouth because I knew he was going to be sick. And he made a dash for the toilet. And as he's dashing down the room, I went, James, not in the beret, for God's sake, not in the beret. And he, when he's setting on new members of staff now in New York, he tells them that story. He's incredibly loyal to me. So I still have, you know, Get a hell of a lot of respect from the younger kids. I mean, tomorrow morning I'm going, um, I'm going to Barnsley College to talk to the girl who's running the fashion department. So, I think I've still got things there, experience there that I can still pass on. And I think that's, that's great. And, and I suppose, you know, same with, I think that's great. I'm not saying I'm in the same range of Alan Bennett or something, but he's on TV and you sit and you listen to him because you know he's going to be interesting. You know it. So yeah, I've still got a spark there. I love the job I do. I love it. So tell me about your pots and pans at home and why it's turned you to get a unit down here at the business village. Well, to be honest with you, I've looked at how I've worked and where I've worked. I mean, I started off selling clothes in my gran's business. Back bedroom at home. I went to London, bought Mary Quant. Um, I'm one of the funniest, because I could tell you so many funny stories. I know, that's why I wanted to say that. I remember, I remember going to Mary Quant, and of course, oh Mary Quant, you know. And my dad, God love him, drove me there because, um, because I'd fallen down and broke my ankle. And, and bless him, he'd done night shift at Redfins. It then got in the car. At half past six in the morning, he drove me to London, he parked the car up and I had a nap in the car. I went to Mary Quant's and they got models walking up and down, they'd all got Vidal Sassoon haircuts. And they served as Tea and cucumber sandwiches with the crust cut off. And all I can remember thinking is, Bloody hell, they must be hard up for money. If all, If all they're going to serve is cucumber sandwiches. What will me gran think of this? And then me dad brought me home. And then he went on to do his night shift again. So why have you moved to the village? Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry, I'm digressing, yes. So, I suddenly thought, right, back bedroom, then we had Pollyanna in Market Hill, which was, I didn't realise it, you're in the middle of it, and it was gobsmacking. I mean, I talk about Dover Street Market. We were the forerunner of Dover Street Market. But for me, it was, it was a business, it was a job, and I wouldn't, I was never snobby about it. It was, it's coming from Barnsley, isn't it? How can you be snobby coming from Barnsley? Anyway, so then I had stroke. Heart attack, um, bloody hell, pneumonia. I mean, God threw everything at me. And I thought, I've got to do it a different way. And I, and I took a much smaller shop down George Yard, and I enjoyed that as well. We had a cafe on the ground floor, um, with a guy called Martin who did the cooking, who was superb. But then I suddenly realized that the heart has gone out of my chest. Going and parking your car and going into shops. It's gone out of it. And whether I like it or not, I have got to get an internet up and running. I've got to be able to add on all that we know. We've got the client base. We've got to sell. on the internet and come kicking and screaming into this century. And that's what I'm about to do now, but I still want face to face. And what I love about this place is that I'm surrounded with creative people. You've seen it today. And the client just walked through the door and taking it. I wouldn't want to be totally cut off, but I'm mean the middle of it, you know, I can see what IL's doing. What, and, and it's wonderful working with creative people. I mean, I've watched Azel over the last, she, I keep saying to her, she, you should be in a bloody Co. Don't swear. Don't swear. This is not broadcasting, not the bbc. You can say Knackers if you want to. Well, yeah, but, well, one. It's more on the BBC, a certain radio, and I've gone and apologized, but yeah, I mean, I said to Isley, you should be out there teaching kids in colleges because she's so bloody clever. Um, and then, you know, we're getting, I'm interviewing somebody on Tuesday that's coming in for a job who's c
This is a Pod One Production. For more information, visit podone.co.uk. This is the Business Village People podcast. Hello, I'm David Markwell, and welcome to the Business Village People podcast. This is Series 2, Episode 1. Here is where we showcase unique stories from the vibrant companies and service providers based at the Business Village in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Okay, let's go! In this episode of Business Village People, we meet the woman who set up her business on her twins first birthday. And now 20 years later, she's got the privilege of line managing her husband. And as for her twins well, they're going to have to fend for themselves. Plus, the Story of how circa 7,000 ambulances and control rooms across England, Scottish, and Welsh Ambulance Trusts are getting upgraded digital communication technology systems. All of these things are being delivered by a team based here at the Business Village, and we meet Dubai Bound Georgie Green. She's a PMO Analyst, working with the MDVS Team at the Ambulance Radio Programme. And talking of acronyms, FCS Associates is a consultancy practice with substantial expertise in public, private, charity, and society. sectors. The clients include Sheffield City Council, Barnsley Council and the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority. The business was set up 20 years ago by Rachel Fletcher, registered the company on my twin's first birthday. So it was a very bad mother and didn't do anything with them on that day because I was busy working. Uh, but I'd left my old consultancy company and decided that I'd stay. I don't know, I just wanted some better work life balance, and I thought, stupidly, that having my own business would provide that. I would say, since then I've been busier than ever, but equally, you're in charge of your own destiny, and you're in charge of what you want to do. And so that's why I like my job. Having my own business, because it allows me to do the things I like to do. Why consulted? How did you get into that? I just fell into it, to be honest. I was very lucky. So, when I left university, I was going to join the police. I'd got a training, a place on a training programme. I thought, that's fine. And then my dad found this very small advert in the local Sheffield Star. And, uh, they wanted consultancy. They wanted people to join a consultancy company in Sheffield that worked a lot with the European Commission. And my dad said, you like to travel, why don't you do that? So I wrote to them, got an interview, as you did back then, and got the job, and it was amazing. On the first day, well not the first day, the first week, I was travelling business class to London, going to meet some people. some, uh, people at that time who worked for the Ministry of Agriculture to talk about grants. And I worked there for ten years, I became MD, uh, really enjoyed it, did loads of travel, uh, did lots of work for the European Commission, I was, learnt a lot of stuff, you know, just worked with lots of different types of businesses on research, because I'd loved, I loved, I did a science degree, so I'd always had a love of science. And then, uh, I had twins and thought, can't really, or don't want to do this anymore. Want something different that will fit round my life. And, and so decided to set up my own business. And, uh, my brother said, sort of seemed to be family related. Never mind, I do get advice from others. But, uh, I was saying to my brother, I don't know what to do. And he said, well. You've done, you've run that business, why don't you set up your own, you know, contact a few people who you think you could work for and see what happens. And I was lucky, the first guy I got in touch with, he said, do you want a consultancy contract? Do you want a job? And I said, no, I'll do consultancy. And he said, set up a business and we'll give you a contract. And that was my first contract. And I worked for them for 18 months. And then that went on to lead to other things. And, and I'm still doing it. What would you describe is the role of a consultant? I think there's many descriptions, some positive, some negative. Um, I think it's listening, it's helping, it's supporting. I suppose it depends what you're consulting on. So when you're working with small businesses, which I do a lot of now, it's provide, and particularly small businesses who often don't have others to talk to. If you're senior in a small company, it might just be you, or you're in charge. So you can't show your insecurities. You have no one to bounce ideas off. And so I think being that person who they can talk to about what they want to do, where they want to go, and give some honest advice, because I am honest. I do, you know, I don't, I don't always say what people want me to say. say what I do think is right, which has worked for me so far, um, sort of, uh, but um, but no. So I think, I think it's listening. I think it's helping. Uh, and then consultancy we do more broadly for like the public sector. It's, it's reviewing initiatives. It's, it's coming up with ideas and, and I like that because I like thinking about things and then coming up with solutions, whether that might be a responding to a tender and coming up with a, a sort of, because it's creative writing. People never think this. They think when you're writing grants or, or writing public sector tenders, it's boring and it's not. It's, it's coming up with ideas of how you can do things and what you could create in the future. And that's what I like about it. So give us an example of a project that you might've worked on recently. Yesterday I met with a, a business in Barnsley, really nice. Um, nursery that, um, it's all outdoor provision for young children, which I think is really inspiring because, um, they are providing something which others aren't where the marketplace hasn't traditionally provided. So I think that's really good. And we've just had a series of meetings. We've talked about their growth plans. I've looked into what funding they can bid for, and I think that's important. Because people sometimes come and they'll say to me what grants are there? What's out there? And that's the wrong way around. It needs to be what do you want to achieve and therefore what do you need to do that? And funding is part of that. It's not the only thing, the grant funding. And so then it's helping them identify that that funding bid for it. And, and then just talk about implementing it and, and even just the future, you know, once they've done this, what about year two? What, what even is their long term sort of plan for, um, succession, which you wouldn't think about traditionally at the beginning, but it is important to think about that, to think where, where ultimately do they want to go with this business? Because if you see, If you set off in the right way, building the right structures, then the end point, you'll get there. Whereas if you just sort of, um, have no vision, no view of where you want to go, then often people just go around in circles and never really go anywhere. They're busy, they might be busy, very busy, but that doesn't mean they're achieving anything. How much is, in running a business, how much is luck and how much is hard work? I think there's a lot, a huge amount of luck. I absolutely do. Yeah, it's um, but you do make your own luck. Uh, you know, I've, I've always thought say yes to things and that's why I'm partly here today. I was thinking why did I say yes, but you, you do, you have to push yourself out of your comfort zone. You have to say yes, you know, because. You just don't know where things go, and one, and that's what I found in my career with the business. One thing leads to another, and if you, if you only take things that you're 100 percent confident with and comfortable with, then you'll stay there. Whereas if you just think, well, actually, I could have a go, and really, no one, I've realized, no one really knows what they're doing. You know, we all pretend, we all pretend that we really do, but you talk to lots of people, you know, and I talk to lots of business owners, and they'll tell you privately that they uncultivated. Confident and they, they, they feel very insecure about the, you know, the what they've done. And that's totally normal. And I think it's normalizing that it's okay to think that it doesn't then mean that it's, you should stop. Yeah. It just means that you accept that's how you feel. But just have a go. What's the, what I often think, what's the worst that can happen? And, and then the other thing I think to myself is how much, and this is maybe doesn't work well with podcasts, but how much do people really remember when you do some. So then at the end you'll think, oh I can't believe I said that. And then I think it's 20%. They only retain 20%. So I think that the 20 percent that they'll have retained will be good stuff. The 80 percent that I've messed up, they'll totally forget. So maybe I'm naive, but that's how I decide that I'm going to deal with it. Because otherwise you just never do anything. You just keep going round and round in circles. What plans have you got for the future for the business? I think at the minute we're doing lots of public sector delivery, which I'm really pleased and, and, and, um, what's the word? Really, it allows me to work with lots of different businesses, businesses that often can't pay us, which is really nice, because those that often can pay you don't always need, particularly with something like business start up, they're not the ones that need the help, because they can, they can access it already. So, uh. I really enjoy doing the work that I do for Barnsley Council and Sheffield Council and the Mayoral Authority because it allows me to work with people and to start them on that business journey. Next year, I mean certainly funding mechanisms will change so we have to keep up to date with that becau
This is the Business Village People podcast. Hello, I'm David Markwell and welcome to the Business Village People podcast. This is the podcast. This is series one, episode 12. This podcast showcases unique stories from the vibrant community of companies, service providers, dogs, and entrepreneurs at the business village here in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. We celebrate the success, encourage collaboration, and highlight the diverse businesses that call the business village their home. Finding previous episodes is easy. Just search for the business village people on your preferred podcast platform, and we should show up straight away. Click on the subscribe button and you'll never miss our episodes again. Okay, let's go. In this episode of business village people, we have the privilege of meeting Craig Burgess from genius division and delve into his unique approach to leveraging LinkedIn. Try. We talk to HR consultant Trudy Morris about the upcoming changes to employment law that may affect you. She'll also provide you with details of how you can receive free human resources advice here at The Business Village. Our first guest is Trudy. It's Craig Burgess from the Design and Marketing Agency, Genius Division. I asked him why the company chose the business village as its base. We were here before, and we liked it. Then we wanted a bit of a change, we moved somewhere else. And then we wanted a little bit of a change and came back here. Primarily because we like community, and there's been a hell of a lot of change here. It's renovated, been renovated a hell of a lot. It's totally changed since we last came. It's a much nicer place to be now versus Seven years ago or something like that when we were here tell me about genius division. How did it start? What's the same? Well, we started 14 15 years ago now in James's back bedroom when there were just two of us I've always wanted to run an agency so as James and We both got a thousand quid together and we lived at home with parents at times We both have a thousand quid and we said should we quit as jobs and we did and then every month since then for 15 years We've basically said well when we run out of money, we'll just go get a real job And it hadn't happened yet. That's genius division. So what were you doing before you got into this game? So I were a graphic designer and a web designer. So were James. In fact, James was more famous than me. He used to design Arctic Monkeys websites. So he used to work for Arctic Monkeys. But we've both been tinkering with websites, branding, design, etc, etc. Since we're both about 15 years old or something. Much older than 15 years old now, um, and we just always wanted to run his own agency We had we thought we could do it better. You know that Bolshee Teenager young 20s thing we thought we could do it better than everybody else and can you yeah, we're not bad What have you learned over the years that you've been working for yourself? What I'm trying to say is I went to a The meeting where you were talking, you were talking about customer services, and sometimes it's important to not work with certain people if it doesn't feel right, and I just wondered where all that came from. Well, when you work for yourself, you quickly realize that every bad client you have is a lesson that you should learn. And when at that talk you were talking about, where I was specifically talking about how to handle clients, and not necessarily bad clients, but how to handle clients better, it all just comes from bad experiences. And not wanting to repeat those bad experiences with other clients, you know what I mean? So I, I think when you, when you're running your own agency, when you're running your own business, that your first job is not the job that you advertise that you're doing. So I, you know, I call myself a, a graphic designer to my mum and dad because they don't understand what I do for a living. My job as a designer is not my first job. My first job is actually, you know, doing a good job for clients, customer service and dealing with customers, because if you don't have customers, you've got no work, you've got no money. So it all just kind of. Came from that you know knowing that you have to do it You have to do a good job because that's how you get more business And that's really how we've grown genius division over the last 15 years We've literally done no marketing until very recently and it's all been doing a good job for a good client Them telling somebody else And then them telling somebody else, et cetera, et cetera, for 15 years, and it's, it's gone alright. What are the current trends at the moment in digital design? Well, we're gonna have to talk about AI, aren't we? Because that's the thing that everybody's getting their hands on. Specifically, shout out to EBT. Uh, it's the latest new hot thing. And, you know, I saw this repeat, well, I didn't see this repeat, because I am a little bit younger. That I probably sound when design started becoming a commercial thing when we used to call it commercial art computers came around particularly apple macintosh And everybody were crying the death of a designer at that point Everyone's going to do it on their own computer And ai is now doing that for a lot of a lot of creative industries not just design not just websites So people are now writing their website content with ai people are writing job applications with ai people are People Making images with AI. I mean, they just launched Sora the other day, which you can make video now. You just type a couple of commands. Please show me a Ferrari driving down a country lane in a rainy England and it makes a video and it's pretty damn impressive. So, AI is the, you know, AI is the thing that everyone's talking about, but I don't see it as a particular Threat to what we do because people come to creative agencies for ideas. And the problem with AI is that you already have to have the idea in your head. You already have to know that you want a car in Rainy Britain, in England at at some point in 13th century. If you don't know that, you still need to come to an agency. And also you don't want it to look like everybody else's stuff. So AI certainly is the thing. That's the hot topic on everybody's lips at the minute, but. I'm not scared of it. Well, I'm not. I, I mean, I'm, I'm quite dyslexic and, and it's really helped me a lot. I, I, I write things initially, then I bang it into someone else and say, well, wordily, actually. I use wordily a lot, which I've discovered. And for somebody like myself, it is absolutely fantastic. Absolutely brilliant, you know, and I've got no fears about it because as you've said, you've got to have that initial thought, that initial kind of creative spark to, to, you know, even think about what words you want or what, what can you see in your head? And I've got. I've got no problem with it. I noticed on your website, one of the jobs that you've got advertising, it's a don't use chat, GPT, will know, how, how, how do you know people have used it? Because it looks very generic, um, so basically you can use it to scan a job ad and then write a job application. Then it's basically I've not thought of that. Chuffy now, fire. All them years crying. So it basically just says stuff like, Oh, I'd really love to apply for a job at Genius Division, and based in Barnsley in the UK, with your seven employees, and one female, and, you know, like that, basically. So you can just read, you can read it and you know it. It doesn't sound human, obviously because it's mostly robots writing it, and I think that's the big differentiator with AI. Right. That it, it removes that human touch. It's alright if, like you, you've written something already, and you're using AI to polish it up, because ultimately a human wrote it. But if you're starting from the beginning, where it's all written by AI, or created by AI, it's like that Uncanny Valley thing. You know, the, the way that animation, they purposefully make animation not look like humans, because people know that it isn't a human. And I think, in truth And instinctually people know that something written by A. I. is not A. I. At the minute, although I listened to a guy who'd recorded a podcast with A. I. the other day. Was it a good podcast? Well he'd used it, he'd done it as a test. Basically, so he uploaded four hours of his own podcast that he'd recorded to an AI model and then he spat out a 15 second, um, example of what it can do and I couldn't tell the difference. What does worry you in your game? Well, to find new work, to find new work, to somewhat grow to some extent because that's how people see quote unquote success. And obviously we're coming out on the other side of a recession, even though we've been in a recession a long time but they were just calling it a cost of living crisis. So all those kind of things make you worry. So constantly you're thinking where's next job going to come from and things like that. But that's why I've kind of started pushing marketing. Because for 15 years, like I said, we've never done anything. And now for the first time ever, I'm actually trying to do something. I know it sounds cheesy to say I don't really worry about anything. But I think. If you have that attitude as a business person, that you are worried about these things, or at least you show it to people, you give off kind of a desperate vibe. And people can detect it when you're going for work. If you're desperately trying to find your next client, they can detect it. And somehow, I often find they don't want to work with you at that point. You have to just understand that industry, like all others, is ebbs and flows, and you just have to You have to ride it, basically. That sounds really cheesy, doesn't it? No. Yes, it does. How do you deal with, like, the stuff I see on LinkedIn? It just does my head in. Because it's like a different wor
This is the Business Village People podcast. Hello, hello, hello. I'm David Markwell and welcome to the Business Village People podcast. This is season one, episode 10. The Business Village is a community of companies, service providers and entrepreneurs. And this podcast It's all about their stories. We celebrate success, encourage collaboration and showcase companies who operate at the business village here in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. And you can find other additions of the business village people podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts from. Just search business village people and we should pop up and then press subscribe. That way you'll never miss another episode. OK, let's go! In this episode of Business Village People, we discover how buying a touring caravan has resulted in one man owning four Volvos at the same time. I'll introduce you to the woman who can sell you French real estate, a luxury car, teach you how to achieve Grade A on the piano and save the environment. And that's all before lunchtime. Plus, you don't need pure imagination anymore. The business village has won its very own golden ticket because there's a real, proper chocolate factory opening on site soon. And I'm sure that'll put a smile on every officer's wonker. This is the Business Village People Podcast. Some breaking news now for you, and the Business Village is set to lose another of its leadership team. Jonathan Noble, the site's management accountant, has finally decided to put the abacus away and snap the end of his quill off. By the end of June, Jonathan Will have retired, giving him more time to polish his Volvos. It means I'm looking after sending out the bills and getting the money in. I do like to think of it as more than just that. Getting to know the people is the main thing. Finding out if they have got problems and if there is a problem can we help with it. Working with the whole team of course. We support people and that's, that's what we give. We give more than just a business unit to people. How did it all start for you? In finance, I started with Barclays Bank many moons ago, and then moved into accountancy. My bank manager was just sitting on their jobs and wouldn't, didn't want to budge. So I went into accountancy because my father was an accountant. Moved from practicing to working for companies. I enjoyed far more, instead of auditing, actually working inside a company and trying to make a difference. It's a very difficult thing to do, uh, but a few times where you go into a business. Try to understand what, what they do and then gradually change it into something that's working a bit better. Did you always want to work in finance? No, not particularly. I set off, I was going to go to, in those days it was a polytech in Bristol, to do charter surveying. But I got the job back. And in those days you got a job and, and drifted into it and that was the way it went, yeah. Do you regret not becoming a chartered surveyor? Not particularly, no. I've, uh, had a much chequered career, seen all sorts of things. I can't just say isn't the, isn't the boring, uh, existence that people think. There's a lot, it's all to do with the people. Yeah. Yeah, I've seen the good and the bad and the ugly, I think, the way, on my career path. So we're in January now. Is this a busy time of the year for you? It's getting busy, yes. Um, from various reasons. Um, you're coming up to your year ending in March. Um, tax returns are all due by the end of January, so there's a couple of days yet for people to bring you up and say can you help with your tax return. Desperate for a bit of help, that has happened. The worst people are your friends, of course. So, yeah. It's, it is a busy time. Um, and with my eye on the future now, I'm looking to try and make sure everything's ready and in place before I depart. Well, let's just say that you're retiring, you're not thinking about doing anything else, are you? Uh, work wise, I don't think so now. I'd like to go to China and see my son in China. Generally riding my mountain bike, playing music and doing as much of that as I possibly can. And are you looking forward to that? Very much, yes. Um, there's lots of things to do. Um, I've already seen a job list starting at home. Um, there's plenty of things to do, and we have a very old house, which is always in need of repair. Um, but yeah, we're hoping to take it a bit easier, but do a bit more travelling. And now we're, now my mum's in her home and being looked after. Um, we should be far more free to, uh, to do this sort of thing. Yeah, it's quite tight, morning, noon and night, basically. Where do you fancy going? Oh, just, well, we'll start somewhere warm, I think. I think we're probably going to See if we can get to Corfu in, uh, not long after, uh, I retire. My sister's got a place that, uh, they hire over there. So we're probably gonna go with them. Somebody told me that you've got a keen interest in motorcars. Yes, I do. One particular brand? Yes, I've got a few Volvos, yeah. How many? At the moment four. Why Volvo's? It was, it all came about when we decided we'd do caravanning. Um, and we urgently needed, found, found a really nice caravan that had no tow car. Uh, ended up having to buy something to pull it. A caravan which in those days was basically a Volvo. And from there on, uh. That was it. Stuck to Volvo. They're dependable, reliable and safe, so. And, uh, the odd one with, they're quite, uh, fun to drive as well. They aren't a slow car, really, if you can buy the right one. Are you actually from this part of the world, from Barnsley? Absolutely Barnsley, through and through. Bread and buttered? Yeah, bread and buttered. I was born at the Jessop in Sheffield. Oh, hang on a minute. It doesn't come with that deed harness. It was a cesarean. I think that's the only place. They did them in that, in that year, 1954. That was, uh, it was quite a new thing. And yeah, first house was Holbart Lane, uh, two up, two down Gardner's Cottage. Stone flag floors. I don't remember it all, but my mum tells me all about it. And then an outside privy. Yeah. Then just around the corner to Westville Road and then up to Pogmore up in Taylor Lane, and then, uh, and then got married and lived at Hardsley. And now we're just off Huntersfield Road, so Arlesley's been the furthest out of town I've ever got. So yeah, yeah, my sister escaped the Cotswolds, but yeah. So what are the plans for the future for you? Are you gonna still keep hand in business, or is it I can't see it, I'm, uh I've had enough of the deadlines. Life led by deadlines, it's, I've had long enough of that. I want to, uh, I definitely, I've got a neighbour who plays lots of guitars. He's done the lot and, uh, he's just bought yet another new guitar. So, uh, he's a, he's a, he's a guitar teacher as well. But, uh, I'd like to spend a lot more time doing meals a year. Never miss an episode of the Business Village People podcast. Simply subscribe and follow from wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you. Calling all grade A wonkers. You'll be pleased to know that the Business Village has its very own chocolate factory about to open. And it's just not about producing chocolate. It's about engaging children with engineering, production, and taking ownership of the creative process. I've been for a look around the factory and met up with its owner, Jamie Ashpole. We are building a chocolate factory, which is all about getting kids involved in engineering. We'll create a pack chocolate's grown, how it's farmed, and then how it's processed. Then they'll learn about what machinery, uh Is used in the production of chocolate. And then they'll design a bar as a class, send us the designs, we'll create a 3D mold, and then, uh, they'll come across and make it, it's a heck of a piece of equipment we've got in front of us. It looks like a, I was joking when I came here. I said it looked like a giant barbecue. Tell me what it is. So the, the, the chocolate process, we start off with liquid chocolate, about forty two, forty five degrees. We then call the chocolate down, uh, and every. Chocolate is different. So we have multiple settings that we run with and then we slightly reheat we create crystals within the chocolate that when you snap a bar, it goes with a snap and it's the crystals that create that. So we've got tempering and then the long barbecue looking machine that you're referring to is the cooling tunnel. So what we have here is a mini Pilot plant, but effectively the likes of Mars Cadbury's Nestle all have the same sort of equipment, but there's is obviously considerably bigger than ours. And how did you get into the chocolate business? Basically, what was working in the food industry and have been working in the food industry for about 20 T three years started in the dairy industry and traveling the world, um, repairing machines, installing the machines, and then had enough for travel. And then I was offered an opportunity with a German company. Um, and that was 13 years ago. I started with those guys and then had the opportunity of starting up my own company. 11 years ago, uh, JJ8PAC. Um, that's what I did. So, um, we've grown ever since year on year. We've got a small team and we work for the likes of, you know, Cadbury's, uh, Thorntons, CSM, Barry Calabell, all of the companies that most people have never heard of, but they contract PAC for the likes of us. Costco, Starbucks, et cetera, et cetera. Wow. And all this is coming from South Yorkshire. It is. Yeah, absolutely. And did you set out as an engineer or a food person or did it, was it like a collision? No, I, uh, my, my first summer job was actually creosoting fences on the landfill site. Um, and where did it all go wrong? I know. No, I basically, I went to work for a company called Packaging Technologies, um, who made, um,