David Parkin sees a Dragon in Hull and misses out on Monaco glory

I HAD to drive to the end of the M62 to see the light this week.

Before this revelatory journey I would have bet money that the Institute of Directors in Yorkshire would have struggled to have got significant numbers to one of its events.

I hesitate to mention the IoD, as previous comments about the organisation haven’t been received particularly well. But given I plan to be positive – and I’m meeting new regional director Natalie Sykes for a coffee on Monday in the spirit of entente cordiale – hopefully I should be ok.

The East Yorkshire IoD lunch at the KC Stadium in Hull attracted 298 people on Monday lunchtime.

Judging by the gleaming 4x4s and executive saloons packing the car park, every big hitter in business in Hull and East Yorkshire was there. I don’t think the organisation could currently atttract that kind of audience to an event in West Yorkshire.

But IoD East Yorks chairman Richard Tuplin has had the benefit of running the show for three three-year terms unopposed.

Given that record, you don’t turn down an invite from Richard.

He’s like a cuddlier version of Vladimir Putin.

But if you want to see the benefits of consistency, contacts and plenty of goodwill, he had it in that room.

Richard’s time at the helm is coming to an end and he’ll be a hard act to follow. He will I’m sure, give his successor plenty of support, while he also runs the successful Insurance Partnership business.

He stressed the positives about Hull and East Yorkshire and there is a feel good factor over there and a ‘can do’ approach that is hugely enviable.

The guest speaker was Dragons’ Den star Theo Paphitis. I like him because he is a proper entrepreneur, not all mouth like Deborah Meaden or a nervy fashionista who never appears to dare to invest like Kelly Hoppen.

He is refreshing to listen to – honest, straight talking and funny. Not all entrepreneurs possess the ability to articulate their views.

“I’m not going to tell anybody anything that is going to change their life,” he said before his speech.

He was in Hull thanks to IoD member Sarah Longthorn, whose Wedge Welly business – rubber boots with a fashionable heel that women love in preference to traditional wellies – he invested in when she appeared on Dragons’ Den.

Could Sarah be the next chairman of the IoD out east?

“No, she’s got a business to run – and I’m an investor!” said Theo over lunch with a smile.

Introduced by former BBC presenter Blair Jacobs (yes, his hairdo, voice and smooth presenting approach live up to the name), who said of the serial entrepreneneur: “From iron mongery to lingerie, he’s had a hand in them all.”

Well, I laughed.

That was a reference to Theo’s Boux Avenue underwear chain. He is particularly proud of it as it was the first business he started from scratch, unlike others like Rymans, which he invested in.

Outside was a shiny silver Range Rover with the numberplate ‘Boux’. And when I say silver, I don’t mean standard silver – it looked like it had been sponsored by Bacofoil.

Back inside the KC Theo was telling the audience that his first job as a 16-year-old filing clerk at a Lloyds brokers in the City of London hadn’t been very successful.

“Who the f*** hires a dyslexic boy to do the filing and then bitches that they don’t have anything in the right place?”

But life has improved somewhat and they only thing he will predict is when he will stop work.

“I have set my retirement date – when I die.”

And while many of his DD investments have been a success, Theo reflected on one that him and fellow Dragon Peter Jones invested in on a Sport Relief show.

“The bloke nicked the money and f****d off. He got four months.”

Theo appeared to have most business people’s view of politicians.

“Nick Clegg, who doesn’t know whether he is Arthur or Martha,” he proclaimed to gales of laughter.

He also endeared himself to the audience at Hull City’s home by remembering the highlight his time as chairman of Millwall.

“Getting to the FA Cup Final – you lot know what that’s like,” he said to nods all round.

Asked his views of BBC TV show The Apprentice, featuring his friend Lord Sugar, he said simply: “It’s Big Brother – put them all together and make them do tasks. I call him Lord Sid James, he looks just like him.”

And what is his approach to business?

“Everyday I think of the positiveness I am going to get out of that day, however difficult the previous day, week, year has been. There have been days when I’ve got up and wondered how the hell I’m going to pay the payroll.”

And the future?

“The kids out there will achieve more than we will achieve. I meet graduates and if I was as bright when I was their age, I would have been dangerous!

It’s a positivity we can all learn from and share.

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A PRESS release arrived yesterday with the information that Tracsis, the Leeds-based technology provider for transport operators

has won an award at Santander’s Breakthrough 50 awards.

Founded 10 years ago, it now has almost 200 staff, revenues of £17m and seven offices in the UK, four in Australia and ambitions in the US market.

The PR man almost breathlessly imparts the fact that “this is a huge achievement for the Yorkshire firm that was established with minimal revenue and no employees in 2004”.

Isn’t that how every business starts life – with no employees and minimal revenue?

The secret to success is not to end up like that.

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ONE of the most impressive business dinners I have ever attended was the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards dinner

for the Northern region at Leeds Town Hall in 2001.

It wasn’t just the imposing venue, the lobster starter and fillet steak main course washed down with sumptuous wines that make me remember the evening.

It was the who’s who of Northern entrepreneurs who attended the event. I chatted to JJB Sports founder Dave Whelan and Yorkshire technology whizz Peter Wilkinson at the drinks event after as well as James Somerville, co-founder of Huddersfield-based creative agency Attik before selling it to Japanese advertising giant Dentsu.

James is now based in Atlanta and the design mastermind for Coca-Cola. He’s the guy behind all Coke’s World Cup branded drinks cans you’ll see this summer.

Peter Wilkinson had won the technology entrepreneur award at the event and Dave Whelan had been named Master Entrepreneur on the night.

After chatting with Wigan Athletic owner Whelan, Wilko informed me that he now knew the difference between a plain entrepreneur and a ‘Master Entrepreneur’.

He said he had to rent his holiday home in Barbados, while Dave Whelan owned his.

I’ve been going to the Entrepreneur of the Year (EoY) event off and on ever since. And while the epicurean delights on offer might not be as opulent, the entrepreneurs attending are still the real deal.

Aware that the worldwide EoY final is hosted by EY in Monaco, I believed that I had an unwritten agreement with the accountancy

firm that should a Yorkshire entrepreneur get to the final, I would be there as a guest to see it. Admittedly this agreement was sealed quite late at night in the bar after one of the award ceremonies.

Unlike a lot of things said in bars late at night, I remembered this conversation.

And this year, for the first time, Yorkshire’s home grown business dynamo James Lambert, who built up R&R Ice Cream into a European giant, is in the worldwide final.

And what do I see?

EY have taken the Yorkshire Post to the event instead.

The yachting cap, blazer and cravat have been packed away for another year. The next time they appear is likely to be aboard a pedalo off Bridlington.

Have a great weekend.

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