Tees Business LIVE
EVENTS
Shared view – Cocoon & Bauer ’ s Peter Turner ( left ), Double Eleven ’ s Kimberley Turner , Recruitrite ’ s Melissa Coutts and Vistech Services ’ Paul Heeran were the panellists for the Tees Business LIVE event at AV Dawson ’ s impressive Staithes building at the Port of Middlesbrough .
Tees Business LIVE
AV DAWSON , PORT OF MIDDLESBROUGH
How to grow quickly : Firms at Tees Business LIVE event outline their mindsets for expansion
PICTURES BY TOM BANKS
Representatives from some of Teesside ’ s fastest-growing firms told the latest Tees Business LIVE event about the mindsets they ’ ve adopted on their roads to expansion .
More than 80 people attended the lunchtime event at AV Dawson ’ s Middlesbrough HQ , The Staiths , where guests networked over lunch before hearing a four-strong panel ’ s thoughts on various business topics , including the challenges around fast growth .
And when it came to the mindset needed for rapid expansion , it seemed no two journeys were the same .
Melissa Coutts , MD of Darlington-based event sponsor Recruitrite , said “ passion ” was key to her firm ’ s success .
She told the meeting : “ No matter what clients and opportunities are put in front of us , we have that real passion to do the very best we can .
“ We have one of those jobs where you can do everything right but at the very last minute , because we ’ re dealing with people , things can change – people have lives , people ’ s needs change , you might have the perfect candidate lined up for somebody but they might get an offer from somewhere else or an offer to stay where they are , or they might just have changed their minds about it .
“ It ’ s making sure we have that resilience in place and to keep that high standard so that no matter what we do for people , we do the very best for them .”
“ Passion ” was also a key component for Peter Turner , MD and owner of Yarmbased interior design firm Cocoon & Bauer .
He said : “ We ’ ve grown because we have a passion for what we do . We have a passion for design – we just love getting that new job in and wanting to do a great job with it .
“ Whether it ’ s a tendering process or whether it ’ s doing somebody ’ s home that ’ s going to change their lives for ever , we just love that period where we understand the brief , we deliver it and we see the change in their persona of what they can be dealing with – whether it ’ s at work , in a hotel like we did at Rockliffe or a home .
“ That ’ s what helps drive us forward because we are always excited for the next job . It ’ s one of the reasons I set the business up , so I could have more control over doing design work .
“ But the rest of the team , they love their jobs too because they are passionate about design as well . We are fortunate that we do love what we ’ re doing .”
Paul Heeran , operations director at Middlesbrough-based security firm Vistech Services , said the firm ’ s mindset stems from MD Chris Taylor ’ s ambition .
He said : “ Chris says , ‘ This is what we want to do , Paul , how are we going to do it ?’ I have a fantastic team behind me as well , so I take on board what they feel and think .
“ Some firms say they haven ’ t got a plan , but we need to have one . We have a fantastic mobilisation plan – everyone ’ s involved in every part of that plan . We plan it out , we act , we do , we review – we ’ ve always followed that process and it works really well for us .”
But for 2022 Tees Businesswoman of the Year Kimberley Turner , the finance and commercial manager of Middlesbroughbased games development agency Double Eleven , the mindset was less structured .
She said : “ We didn ’ t plan for our growth at all – we just rolled with the punches .
“ We picked good games , we said yes to good opportunities and we ’ ve made sure we ’ ve done a really good job of everything we ’ ve touched because that last thing is always the door that opens the next .
“ So , no , we didn ’ t plan it – but I never thought we would be nearly 400 people in two different continents . I never thought we ’ d be working on the type of games we ’ re working on .
“ From a board perspective , yes , we have a plan – we tend to never look more than 12 months ahead because something will change , so there ’ s no point . But if you put all your effort into doing a good job of everything you do , the rest will come .”
Sponsorship opportunities for Tees Business LIVE events in 2024 are now available . For details , call 01642 450255 or email info @ teesbusiness . co . uk
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