KEEPING THE PASSION ALIVE

Owner-managed companies make up a huge proportion of businesses driving the UK economy

Many owner-managed companies are family businesses, but not all. Often set up by entrepreneurial people to put their ideas into practice and retain control, the owners will generally oversee all critical business decisions.

But how do you keep the enthusiasm flowing after the first flush of activity and success? When the business isn’t growing as fast as you want it to, or when you can’t find the skilled people you need?

Six bosses from owner-managed businesses across Oxfordshire discussed some of their issues with Business and Innovation Magazine and Oxford accountancy practice Shaw Gibbs in the lovely setting of Minster Mill Hotel on the banks of the River Windrush near Witney.

Round table participants

Peter O’Connell, Shaw Gibbs Managing Director

Steve Neal, Shaw Gibbs Head of Audit

Clifford Brown, Shaw Gibbs

Head of Corporate Finance

A top 100 accountancy practice with offices in Oxford and Marylebone, London Shaw Gibbs applies practical and innovative approaches to support clients’ business ambitions. Shaw Gibbs clients range from individuals to SMEs including owner managers and entrepreneurs.

James Axtell

Chairman of Symm & Co Ltd, the 200-year-old Oxford-based business which has built some of the city’s most iconic buildings across the last two centuries, from Oxford college buildings to stunning new residential homes.

Tim Walder

Co-founder and Chief Financial Officer at ZapGo Ltd, a high technology business founded in Oxford in 2013 to develop the next generation of batteries beyond lithium.

Managing Director at Bicester-based Nicholsons which offers garden design, construction, maintenance and forestry. Based on a 23-acre site at North Aston it also runs a garden and plant centre which is open to the public.

James Woollard

Managing Director at Witney-based Polythene UK Ltd. Established in 2007 the company is now the UK’s leading independent supplier of polythene products, including a growing eco range. In 2013, it moved to new carbon neutral premises.

Director of the Banbury-based Hawkins Group of Companies Ltd, an expanding construction company which manages commercial projects of all sizes from inception to completion.

Tagore Ramoutar

Co-founder and Managing Director at The Oxford Artisan Distillery (TOAD) established two years ago. The distillery uses sustainably grown organic grain from within 50 miles of the distillery. Its award-winning products are stocked in many wine and spirits retailers, including Majestic Wines.

ROUND TABLE: BUSINESS LEADERS

Personality, belief and investment in people

Success

What drives all these successful owner-managers is a total belief and commitment to what they do.

And this enthusiasm can’t help but spread across their workforces. All the businesses around the table invest heavily in staff, helping them improve their skills as well as recognising the importance of what used to be called the “soft” skills –communication and teamwork.

James Axtell at Symm pointed out: “Improving the communications skills of our teams who work on a project every day is important, because the person who sees the client most isn’t going to be me, but more likely our site manager.”

James Wollard agreed: “People buy from people. Customer service is first, second and third.”

Paul Hawkins added. “Once we have a customer, they invariably remain loyal if we give them good service.”