PROFILE
TEES UP !
Name : Jo Davies Age : 48 Born : Teesside Lives : Marton , Middlesbrough
Organisation ( s ) & Job title ( s ): Previously HR and manufacturing manager Tata Steel , HR director SSI and now managing director , HR Alchemy
When I was at school , I wanted to be … in a band . But I was painfully shy and couldn ’ t sing or play an instrument , so it wasn ’ t meant to be !
The best business decision I ever made was … starting up my own business after being made redundant . I found the job opportunities presented to me afterwards just didn ’ t give me the fulfilment I needed , and after I started my own business , it just felt right .
The worst business decision I ever made was … underselling my services when I first started the business . I was just so keen to help everyone out and get the business moving .
The best part of my job is … apart from working with my incredible team , it has to be working with so many different clients across the region – I can be dealing with headteachers one minute , then gamers the next .
The biggest downside of my working life is … never being able to switch off . Even on holiday I am answering work calls and emails , but such is life when you own your own business .
If I could change one thing about myself it would be … to be less controlling , and to be able to switch off my phone and emails more often !
Four words to describe me are … Tenacious , hardworking , loyal and honest .
My business mantra is … keep things simple . I find many companies over-complicate issues and then wonder why it takes so much effort to fix them .
My greatest achievement is … I loved being shortlisted for the Tees Businesswomen Newcomer award , I was truly humbled by it after being in business for such a short time .
The advice I ’ d give to business start-ups is … get yourself a solid set of commercial terms and conditions from the start and agree your payment terms upfront with clients . At the start of HR Alchemy , we had a large local client who owed us a substantial sum and didn ’ t pay us for almost five months – we almost went under as a result . The biggest mistake the owners of new businesses make is when they declare their employees are like family and they don ’ t need HR support . I ’ ve seen the negative fallout from this so many times , sadly . The Tees region ’ s a great place for business because of the incredible talent that lives and works here – the recent Tees Tech Awards was a fine illustration of this .
62 | Tees Business