The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 36: April/May 2018 | Page 29

IN PROFILE
When did your relationship with
Excalibur begin?
It was actually some time ago. James and I met when I
worked with Vodafone and we have a lot in common. I’m
the son of an Army officer and he’s the son of a vicar and
we found we share many of the same ethics in life and
in business. I actually became a non-executive director in
2013 before becoming CEO. James still wants involvement
in Excalibur however he wants to pursue other interests
and trusts me to take the company forward into the future.
Share a little of your background
Peter Boucher
Excalibur
Peter Boucher is the 47-year-
old chief executive officer of
Excalibur in Swindon which
provides telephony and IT
solutions to small and medium
sized businesses across the
UK. He lives in Winchester
with his wife, three children,
two dogs and five chickens
and has a clear vision for the
future of this £8million turnover
company. He’s taken the helm
at the company from the now
chairman – James Phipps.
As I said, I’m the son of an Army officer so Wiltshire and
Hampshire have been a big part of my life – particularly
Wilton. I have admiration for the military and the way in
which soldiers respect each other regardless of rank. I went
to Cambridge University to study geography and then had
various roles including selling drinks to corner shops as a
sales person – I learned very quickly that having a degree
from a posh university is not a passport to success.
I have run my own business previously, however when
I had a family I decided to go down the corporate route
as part of a ten-year personal plan to have some security
for them and I had a fantastic time working for Vodafone.
This included working in Budapest. However, when the
ten years were up, I started to consider doing other
things. I even worked for Addison Lee in London just as
Uber was beginning to make its mark in the city. Excalibur
became part of my life as a non-exec director and when
James approached me about becoming CEO as part of a
management buy-out, I jumped at the chance as I already
knew the business and agreed with their ethics.
What are those ethics?
To partner, to be together, to serve and to learn.
My wife’s grandfather wrote the John Lewis partnership
agreement – and I admire that model and the way in which
that brand values its team. Excalibur strives to do the same.
This year we’ve been named FSB Employer of the Year
and we’re in the Sunday Times Top 100 employers for the
second year running, so we’re doing something right!
At Excalibur we don’t have staff, we have partners. We
have partners who understand the goals of the business
and work together to achieve them. We value our staff and
we want them to develop and grow – and why shouldn’t
they expect that? We spend so much of our lives working
– why wouldn’t we want to work in an environment which
values and looks after us? Where we actually matter?
If we hit our targets, every partner will benefit with a
financial reward. Indeed, we’ve got a ‘Wall of Dreams’
where partners have shared what they will do with their
reward – every partner will get the same regardless of job
role. The range is huge – from a dream holiday, to a dream
car, to raising money for charity. That wall alone reflects the
ethos of Excalibur.
WORK - MEET - EVENTS - CAFÉ
Charity and community are also a huge part of our ethos.
A business, in my view, cannot just be a business. It’s
about people and being part of a community. In March we
held a charity event to cycle around the world in 80 days
– all from our office in Swindon. Staff and anyone in the
community came into the office and cycled a mile (or more)
on bikes we installed to help us achieve that goal. From this
we donated a pound a mile to be shared between regional
charities focussing on mental health.
We’ve also made a commitment to staff – subject to a
few ts & cs - who raise money outside of work for charities
of their choice – that for every pound they raise, we’ll give
them £2. We want our staff to give back to the community
too and we will try to support them in doing so.
What are your business goals?
Our goal is to scale up the business through natural organic
and careful acquis ition of businesses with a similar ethos
and by being excellent at what we do. Currently we have
a turnover of about £8million with profits at about £1.3m.
We aim to double that business over the next three years
and triple it in five years. We currently have about 60 staff
and we are all invested in and working towards those
goals.
Won’t this take you away from being
a local business?
All businesses are local to somewhere, however big or
small. Big brands often forget this important fact – we
don’t and we won’t. We are proud to be based in Swindon
and we are proud to be a regional company. When we
consider acquisitions, we’ll look at that community ethic
very carefully. Our aim is to look to about an hour’s radius
of Swindon and I often refer to our potential reach as the
‘4Bs’ - having a brand which reaches Bristol, Birmingham,
Bracknell and Bournemouth.
What else are you involved with?
It’s been great. If I had my time again I would have done it
sooner. I pinch myself that I’m finally doing what I wanted
to do. I feel there are unlimited possibilities, the internet
isn’t going out of fashion and there’s so much more to
come.
I have a few regrets in life – that I didn’t spend
some time in the Army and that I didn’t read history at
Cambridge (which was my real passion).
This role now is what it’s all about for me, this is it for
me, this is what I will do for the rest of my career.
@ExcaliburCom
For more info:
www.excaliburcomms.co.uk
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THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2018
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