The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 41: Feb/March 2019 | Page 15

Business owners can learn how to tame tigers at growth summit Business owners looking to adopt a can-do attitude will get the chance to learn from renowned motivational speaker Jim Lawless at a major event this March. Jim, a business coach and author of the best-selling book Taming Tigers: Do Things You Never Thought You Could, will be the keynote speaker at the second South West Business Growth Summit on Friday, March 1, 2019. Jim has designed and implemented successful change programmes in bluechip companies including Apple, Barclaycard, John Lewis, Microsoft, and Virgin. In 2003 he proved his Ten Rules for Taming Tigers by becoming a jockey in 12 months – shedding 20kg... and learning to ride a horse. And in 2010, to test new Taming Tigers theories around mental toughness, he became Britain’s Deepest Freediver – the first Briton to dive below 100m on a single breath of air. The growth summit, organised by business trainers from across the South West, will be held at Bath Racecourse, and is aimed at owners of SME businesses from Bath, Bristol, Somerset, and Swindon and Wiltshire who are serious about growing their business and creating great results. “I took the British freedive record and became a jockey 12 months from first sitting on a horse – neither of which I had any business thinking I could do. I wonder what you think you have no business undertaking because of the way we view ourselves?” said Jim. “At the South West Business Growth Summit we’ll be looking at what actions you could take, which people you could collaborate with, what rules you could shatter, and what bold new steps you could take to enable you to move forward.” The summit will also include an interactive high-value workshop focused on over-coming limiting beliefs that inhibit business growth from Peter Rolliston, growth specialist Nigel Scott, and business transformation specialist Andy Walter – all from ActionCoach, the world’s #1 business coaching firm. Delegates will also hear from Joanne Rolliston, an Engage and Grow coach specialising in team building, and from Alison Clarke, a mind-set coach specialising in helping people to find their inner capacity for peak performance. “You will leave the day feeling inspired ready to take massive action both in your business and personal life with tangible actions to take,” said Peter Rolliston. The event is sponsored by CMD Recruitment, Morgans IFA, Together Money, BCMS, Minuteman Press, Towergate Insurance, South West and Business Finance. To find out more and to book your tickets visit: www.businessgrowthsummit.co.uk Who wouldn’t want to work with an ice cream company? By Paul Holmes, PCH Business Support I confess to being delighted when Swindon based Rays Ice Cream, asked for business support publicly last year and I was recommended to owner Hadi Brooks. 07715 008521 “Rays is innovative, developing new products - including high protein ice cream and a vegan ice cream range” This led to an ongoing relationship and the future looks exciting for this Wiltshire-based brand. Hadi had grown the business organically over a number of years and now has two shops, a new purpose-built kitchen and event units. With this additional capacity in place, she was looking for strategic support and planning to take the next steps and to evaluate the numerous options for further growth. Rays is a much-loved brand with a core following and, I have to say, the ice cream is astonishingly good. It is traditionally made using the best quality local milk and cream and the quality exceeds many of the best ice creams available. Rays is innovative, developing new products - including high protein ice cream and a vegan ice cream range. The challenge now is raising the awareness outside Swindon, to the region and well beyond. To show everyone the passion and love that Hadi and the team put into creating the ice cream. Working with Hadi, we initially spent time evaluating the company, re-establishing the aims and ambitions, defining goals and timescales, then developing the strategy: more stores? new products? events? online sales? developing the distribution? expanding resale outlets? developing strategic relationships? supermarkets? Developing strategic relationships topped the ‘effort v return’ evaluation and excited Hadi’s imagination – to distribute increased volume to a small number of select brands, each with their own outlets. The aim is to identify the companies that reflect the quality of Rays Ice Cream’s own products and work closely as strategic partners. All the planning rests on the ability to supply increased volumes and my experience in manufacturing and operations has become a significant aspect to the work. An expanded manufacturing and storage space will be followed by additional process equipment, efficiencies and throughput in 2019. This will ensure as each new partnership develops, supply and quality are already assured. It’s going to be an exciting year for Rays Ice Cream which will be available in more places and winning the accolades it deserves. “I am really excited about the plans we have to develop Rays Ice Cream in 2019. I have enjoyed working with Paul so far, he brings an informed third party view to the business which has been invaluable in helping me to create the strategy for Rays. I look forward to putting the plans into practice along with him,” said Hadi Brooks. For Rays Ice Cream, PCH Business Support is combining strategic planning and implementation; project management and delivery; as well as manufacturing and operational expertise. Are these areas of your business where you would welcome support? Or are there any other aspects of your company which need development? Feel free to contact me for a no- obligation conversation. E: [email protected] T: 0771 500 8521 For more info: www.pchbusinesssupport.co.uk THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2019 15