Tees Business Issue 37 | Page 119

FEATURE

Growth – Phoenix 2 Retail is just three years old but already employs 60 people directly and another 30 indirectly .

And as he speaks to Tees Business , he ’ s on the verge of a fact-finding trip to China – “ Most of the products come from China , so I want to see what the products of the future are going to look like , visit the factories and meet the owners .”

But he remains fiercely proud that his business was born and raised in Hartlepool – he went to Dyke House School , Rachael to English Martyrs – and he has no plans to change location any time soon , with offices now in Hartlepool and Peterlee .

He said : “ Everyone told me , ‘ Don ’ t start the business in the North-East – you need to be in Manchester or London .’ But I ’ ve shown it can be done . I don ’ t have all the answers . I ’ m learning on the job . But if you persevere , you can make a pretty successful business here .”

Reflecting on his business journey , Chris , 37 , says he “ fell into the industry ” about eight or nine years ago , ending up in London with Rachael when he secured a position with Juul .

They ’ d earlier run three nightclubs in Hartlepool , but that venture fell flat .

He says : “ We were young , and I don ’ t think any of my friends paid for drinks for the three years , but it was a good experience , and we learned a lot .”

But after a spell in the finance and insurance sector with Drive Vauxhall , Chris joined the vaping industry just as it was taking off .

He recalls : “ Rachael took a job for a finance company in the south as well , so we upped sticks and moved to London . But I think I ’ d been working for Juul for about a year when Rachael fell pregnant with our first child , and there were lots of changes happening in the company . “ I had an idea about creating a business that could take product to market for brands that maybe otherwise wouldn ’ t get the opportunity with big retailers . So , I don ’ t know if it was a good idea , stupidity or ambition , but we decided to both quit our jobs , move back home to Hartlepool and start Phoenix 2 Retail .”

Starting in that single Innovation Centre room , Chris set about turning his plans into action – getting several brands into big retailers , but by “ putting the category first ” rather than owning his own brand .

Starting in a Covid-hit 2020 with a halfmillion-pound turnover , subsequent yearend turnover figures have been £ 5m , £ 90m and £ 155m – with that £ 200m forecast for 2024 .

He ’ s also brought in experience to help the firm ’ s growth , including chief operating officer Dean Dawson and chief finance officer Mark Overton . Chris smiles : “ Rachael used to do all the finances on Excel – it sounds crazy now !” And while turnover ’ s important , Chris says it ’ s not the be-all and end-all .

He said : “ What does my CFO say ? Turnover is vanity , profit is sanity . Yes , the turnover number looks amazing , but it ’ s important to make sure we keep doing the fundamentals right , and that we ’ ve got a good , sustainable business – we try not to get carried away by those big numbers .”

But how has he done it ? “ I wish I knew ! It ’ s not until this type of conversation that you think , ‘ Yeah , that ’ s pretty insane ’. But I make the business honest . I ’ m 37 and while I ’ m still learning on the job , I ’ m also very honest with the customers and our partners – we ’ re developing and it ’ s about growing trust with the retailers .

“ I ’ m now starting to build out , so we ’ re launching Spain , Germany and Poland this year to grow the business again . But I never get carried away .”

He has a matter-of-fact attitude , too , about the tougher regulation changes the industry faces .

He said : “ We ’ ll manage those and make sure our customers are ready .

“ I ’ m not a fan of prohibition – that creates illicit or grey markets . I was invited to parliament to meet with MPs to talk about bringing licensing in and stricter penalties .

“ But I ’ m all for improved , stronger regulation . We want to be the voice of that . We introduced the industry ’ s first pre- and post-market testing programme . We ’ ve rolled out recycling solutions for the industries and we do 10,000 youth access visits every year to ensure our retailers aren ’ t selling to minors .”

Away from work , sons Cohen , three , and baby Caleb occupy much of his and Rachael ’ s time and energy . He also enjoys running and cycling , with a charity cycle from London to Belgium planned for September .

And , of course , he loves running a business that shows no sign of running out of puff .

He said : “ As long as everyone ’ s paid at the end of the month and we ’ re keeping on an upward path , that ’ s success for me .”

The voice of business in the Tees region | 119