Programme to help business owners ride the rollercoaster
Mar 10 2009 by Alun Thorne, Birmingham Post
A surfacing, drainage and civil engineering contractor from Streetly is one of the latest firms to see the benefit of the country’s leading programme for ambitious owner-managers.
Richard Morgan, managing director of RW Services, is taking part in the Business Growth and Development Programme at Cranfield School of Management. Like many owner-managers, who have been involved with BGP over the last 20 years, he is already seeing the value of outside input in improving his firm’s efficiency, operating performance and service to customers.
“When you are actively running the business, as so many owner-managers do, it is hard to find the time and level of expert input required to move forward and develop a robust and comprehensive plan,” he said.
“BGP is unique in its approach which involves you actively working with your team on exercises that leads to a rigorous review of where the business is, developing ambitious opportunities and sharing a vision for the future.”
Alan Pemberton, partner in charge of the Birmingham office of Tuffin Ferraby Taylor, a national firm of building and property consultants and Julia Willoughby, chief executive of Willoughby Public Relations have seen substantial improvements in planning, growth and management of their companies after participating two years ago.
WPR picked up the CIPR Midlands Outstanding Consultancy of the Year last November and Julia Willoughby credits BGP for providing a framework for further expansion.
She said: “After 15 years, we needed to move up a gear and the effect of BGP on our business has been tremendous. Owner-managed businesses are facing some tough challenges over the next year and I highly recommend this programme.”
Likewise, Mr Pemberton outlined the positive effects of the BGP experience for Tuffin Ferraby Taylor and his own personal development: “Prior to BGP, my time was mainly spent on fee-generation with very little time to plan for the future,” he said.
“For some time, I had recognised that I needed to set time aside for business planning but found this very difficult. Therefore, after discussing my particular situation with the programme director, Gerard Burke, my key objective was to use BGP as an escape route to plan for succession and, at the same time, develop a robust strategy for the future growth and development of TFT.
“The programme stimulates you to think about your business relative to your personal situation on a number of levels, with growth and development being much more than just increases in sales and profits. For owner-managers, personal goals are the key drivers and because BGP is centred on you, it’s what you make it.
“The philosophy of the thought-process, plan and modular format is quite simple. The counselling process and syndicate group support are essential to help you through the rollercoaster ride, as there are ups as well as downs.
“I can honestly say the whole process has been great fun and thoroughly stimulating with enhanced confidence in leadership skills and the objective was achieved with a succession plan which is now being implemented and a clear and robust strategy.”
Gerard Burke, BGP’s programme director, added: “The Midlands must be a great place for growing businesses as many of our past participants have businesses in Birmingham and the surrounding area and we are receiving an increasing number of referrals and enquiries from this area.
“BGP is designed specifically for owner- managers of businesses which have been trading for at least three years and have a turnover between £500,000 and £20 million. During the programme, through a robust and unique process, each participant develops their own growth strategy for their own business and a plan to implement that strategy.
“The programme is led by an experienced team who synthesise the best of current business practice and tailor it to the specific needs of owner managers. Everything in the programme revolves around the reality of the participants’ businesses and immediate implementation of the ideas is encouraged. The benefits soon follow.
“Each participant is challenged to recoup their fees during the 11-week period of the main part of the programme. Most achieve it easily, some spectacularly. Follow-up demonstrates that businesses grow their sales and profits more quickly than their peers and more quickly after the programme than they did before so, we know it works.
“In addition, participants build an amazing network of peers who face similar challenges of growth and development and are able to keep in touch and benefit from the BGP Forum, an online initiative.”
