BEHIND EVERY SUCCESSFUL SCALE-UP IS AMBITION AND DEDICATION

Every successful scale-up business has a boss with drive and ambition. We meet three bosses who have grown their abilities thanks to investing in developing exceptional leadership skills

Simon Kershaw Managing Director, SK Heating and Cooling, Gloucester

Simon launched his business in 1993, as a 25-year-old self-employed man-witha-van. “I’d worked in the industry for seven years but always wanted to work for myself.

“I wanted my family to have a secure home and it helped that my wife did all the paperwork and accounts, alongside juggling the responsibilities of supporting our young family.

“Now the children have grown up, we want to be recognised as leaders in refrigeration, air conditioning and heating. We want to be recognised as the company to call in Gloucestershire and surrounding counties for delivering a quality job.”

The company has grown significantly. “My wife still supports me and the business in accounts and quality control, but we now employ 40 people and have multiple contractors working for us.”

“The business grew last year more than expected. We are now turning over around £4 million and we aspire to grow at the pace of what we can deliver”

No one gives you a rule book when starting a business, Simon admitted. “Most grow organically, with reactive rather than proactive management and that is what we were doing.

“But as we got bigger, I found it difficult to delegate and was getting involved in everything.”

QuoLux’s LEAD course changed his approach. “I began to empower our managers to take control. After all that’s what I was paying them for – and what they wanted.

“I also put them through LEAD, and this has encouraged others within the business. We’ve got a great atmosphere internally and they are much more involved in running the business.

“In the last five years the business has undergone a massive change. I’m proud of our management team and staff who are now the core of the business, rather that it just being about me.”

But the benefits of training weren’t immediate. “It’s taken four or five years to embed the learning to drive change and growth – like cooking breakfast for a family then learning to cook for two rugby teams – they have totally different dynamics,” said Simon.

“Last year the business grew more than expected. We are now turning over around £4 million and aspire to grow at the pace of what we can deliver.”