“My greatest regret, turning down a stake in Manchester United Football club for £250,000.”    A lifelong fan of the club, Fred Done, of bookmaking giant Betfred confessed to this during an interesting one to one interview with Insider NW Editor – Michael Taylor – in Manchester on Monday night.  The Leaders dinner, an annual affair which brings together around one hundred and fifty leaders of regional businesses, is an event I enjoy each year.  Informal with a great audience of CEO level attendees.

Done, looking much younger than his age (mid sixties), spoke of the growth of the Betfred empire, which now has a turnover of £3.5bn+ via its network of 1350 sites.  He’s been in the betting game over fifty years, starting when he was just fifteen and now sitting on an enormous betting empire, including the recent acquisition of the Tote.

There’s a lot to appreciate about the Done brothers.  They started with nothing and have gone on to own multiple successful businesses in differing sectors.  Fred, is a really ordinary guy.  He spoke very plainly about his business, raising finance, the Tote acquisition and lessons learned.  There was no corporate speak, citing “top hats vs. flat caps” as one of his observations of the political nature of the Tote acquisition.  Here are some bullets I took from the interview: -

• The brand Betfred came out of a brainstorming session.  They got an employee to design the logo.  He compared that to the £5M the Tote spent on branding with an agency.
• Fred has “no plans” to retire.
• Bet365 is a business who he admires and feels is the industry benchmark for on-line gaming.
• Their on-line gambling business is growing at 80%+ CAGR.  Staff are based in Gibraltar due to taxation.  He said he would move the staff to the UK tomorrow if the tax environment for a global on-line gaming business were right.
• Money is out there for borrowing.  But you must prove your case.
• The journey to acquire the Tote took around 7 years from first idea to deal conclusion.  It took a huge amount of effort, advisory fees and political lobbying.
• Their initial valuation for the Tote was £150M.  Betfred eventually paid £265m.  He felt that profits could be increased by at least £25M per annum with liberated staff and more business focus, so was happy to pay the higher price.
• A lesson learned from earlier in his career was that he wasn’t aggressive enough and too parochial.  If he wasn’t sure, he walked away from a deal.  Now he says “If in doubt, do it!”
• He feels as ambitious now, as he did as a 21 year old and success for him in the next phase of his career is to make the Tote ” a business that I’m proud of.”

The Done brothers are highly influential in the region.  Fred is passionate about young new start businesses and has backed many, aswell as investing group spend in the region wherever possible.  His brother Peter, who runs an employment law and health and safety business called Peninsula, is very much part of the business too.  They are busy building a conglomerate of businesses.

If I were a betting man, I think that would be “odds-on” bet for great success.  Excellent fellow, excellent business, excellent evening

At Brother, we have a philosophy we call 141%.  It was derived from a campaign we ran promoting our A3 range of printers.   In short, if you put a piece of paper onto a photo-copier and enlarge it to A3, the enlargement ratio used is 141%.

As the campaign was targeted at small businesses, entrepreneurs and start-ups we began to think about what it takes to be successful.  Long hours, guts, risk-taking, doing extraordinary things, ambition, drive, energy.  Our “light on” moment was recognising that these people give more than 100% to be a success , they give it 141%.

We’ve taken this essence and used it to sponsor people that do extra-ordinary things.  One of those people is Paralympic cyclist Simon Richardson MBE, who fought back from an horrific road accident to go and win two gold medals at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic games.  

He was awarded the MBE in 2009 and has shown extraordinary mental strength and courage.  Today, he is recovering from another major accident which left him critically injured and showing that same gritty determination in his recovery.  We’re backing him all the way to get back to his pre-collision condition.

A forthcoming 141% sponsorship is around one of Britains most successful ever athletes – James Cracknell.  Just read his biog here and you’ll immediately know why he is a 141% person.  He’ll be attempting to break no fewer than four major cycling records on a tandem with Jerone Walters in the near future.  They are: -

1. Fastest time from Lands End to John O Groats.
2. Furthest distance covered in 12hrs on a bike.
3. Furthest distance covered in 24hrs on a bike.
4. Fastest time to cover 1000m on a bike.

That’s inspiring stuff.  Following this attempt, Cycling Commentator David Harmon and Professional Cyclist Magnus Backstedt will attempt to break the 25M time trial record on the same tandem bike, called Rocket2, sponsored by Brother under our 141% theme.

This bike is the most technologically advanced tandem ever built, made here in the UK by master framebuilder – Terry Dolan.  That’s another great fit for us – technology, effort and innovation.

When you have a key proposition, sponsorship’s come easily, they are aligned to your business objectives.  We can easily select whether a sponsorship does or does not fit because it has to demonstrate something over and above – not run of the mill.  It has to be 141% and show the sort of commitment that our customers show in growing their businesses.

So, when you see the 141% logo out and about, you’ll know that something interesting is going on and that the individual who has the logo on their back is going above and beyond.

If you want to know a little more, please go to www.brother141.co.uk.

Yesterday I attended an innovation conference in Manchester, with keynotes from two people coming at innovation from different angles.  For me, innovation is key – or at least the relentless drive to find new ways to do things, or creative ways to to problem solve.  It’s important to keep yourself up to date with the latest thinking and to listen to alternative views, so the conference, organised by Benchmark for Business, was a great opportunity to listen to two masters of their craft.

Business brain Kjell Nordstrom kicked off the morning session with a real macro level view of the world and some of it’s trends.  Nordstrom, tall and wiry, with a mandarin jacket, no socks and espadrilles – was an imposing figure.  You just had to listen as he spoke for nearly two hours, without notes, accompanied by a few visual aids about the new world order he foresaw, socially and at a business level.  Some bits of his talk which I thought interesting were: - 

• The world is now full of “liquid fear.”  That is, we are fearful, but there isn’t a specific threat, it’s a combination of many different things.
• We are in a time of “genuine uncertainty.”
• That capitalism should be renamed “innovism.”
• There are more women in Universities than me.  65%/35% split.
• 52% of the worlds populations live in cities.  By 2040 this is predicted to be 80-85%.  The City will be the new country.
• Creative Destruction is the new term for innovation.  Think i-Phone which blew apart the conventions of the mobile phone industry.
• China’s cost advantage is similar to an ice-cube in the desert.  It has a sell by date.
• De-learning can prove more difficult than learning.  Cultural reality of trying to be more innovative in your culture.
• USA will continue to dominate the world innovation stage as they have a “plug and play” economy. You can become an American in three to four years, regardless of where in the world you originate.
• Temporary monopolies is what you have to spend your time trying to design (capturing a market for a period of time with no competition).

In the afternoon, motivational speaker and innovation expert Chris Barez-Brown took the stage.  Barez-Brown, with a polar opposite style to Nordstrom talked of innovation in terms of unlocking people and your own capability to innovate. In a high-octane delivery, some of his key points we’re: -

•  Innovation should be as easy as going down a waterslide.
• You’re best ideas come when you are in your “alpha” state of mind.  That is, not busy doing stuff but in a more relaxed state.  My example of this is when I’m out riding my road bike, I do some of my best thinking.
• You have to be positive minded.  Don’t dismiss anything, even if it’s been tried before.  Conditions may well be different now.  Seek the value in new ideas.
• Speed is the key.  Momentum is a function of passion.
• Have some belief for your ideas.  No belief, then no momentum.
• Perception is as important as truth.
• You have to have a portfolio approach to risk.  Assume some elements of your portfolio will fail.
• Use external stimulus.  Break habits, go to different spaces, do new things.

Two very different speakers at different ends of the scale.  Nordstrom the superbrain and Barez-Brown the high-energy motivator.  They made for a contrasting day.  What was interesting, is that they were the only two speakers.  No forty-five minute keynotes, both speakers were on stage for a couple of hours, which meant you could go a little deeper into their philosophies.  This is in contrast to the “speed dating” type conferences which are becoming en vogue.

Overall the day was well worth the time investment.  I personally enjoyed listening to Nordstrom as I love the bigger picture view and future forecasting.  If some of the things he predicted come to life, then we’ve got some interesting times ahead.

Earlier this week I sat on a panel for Insider North West magazine – four leaders being interviewed in front of an audience of around a hundred.  Idea being we share our stories, which were all different, in order for the businesspeople present to draw down experience from.

As we got onto the audience questions, the inevitable question came about entrepreneurship being in your genes or something learned?  Sat alongside me was 25 year old entrepreneur – Kirsty Henshaw who won funding on Dragons Den for her additive free food range Worthensaws Freedom and Matt Ainscough from the Ainscough business dynasty, who now runs industrial machinery installation and re-location business Ainscough Vanguard.

Both entrepreneurs had different stories.  Kirsty had a tough upbringing in a poor family, yet had started a number of different small businesses before hitting the big time with her Dragons Den investment.  Matt, had been put into the business at a young age on the ground floor to learn the ropes the hard way, his family being very business focussed.

Aswell as running the current business which he purchased from his father, he has since also started other businesses too.  Then there was me, who has worked for employers for most of my working life, running a business entrepreneurially, but with other peoples money.

The observation I made was this.  Regardless of your background, some people have a flair for business and get on with it (pure entrepreneurs if you like), others might possess the flair, but may not have  had the social environment for them to flourish when growing up (potential entrepreneurs).    Kirsty is a great example of someone who had a tough upbringing, but had potential inside her to make a living off her own back.

Today, you can start a business in your home and access a global marketplace of people via on-line marketplaces (Amazon/eBay) or via social media or via your own website.  The tools have changed, the ability to trade has changed, and the social environment has changed.  TV broadcasts shows like Dragons Den, which encourage people to follow their dreams, initiatives like Start up Britain are equipping wannabe entrepreneurs with the tools they need to get trading.

So, perhaps the environment now is more conjusive to entrepreneuship.  More people with the potential – who may have remained hidden in 9-5 jobs – are stepping forward and learning the necessary skills to run a business.   Yes, you’re always going to get the big stories, Alan Sugar, Peter Jones, Duncan Bannatyne waving the flag, however there are hundreds of thousands of businesses started every year which may not be sparked by the next big idea, but ordinary people inspired by the success of others and the tools available who become brave enough to step up and start trading.

One observation I do have is that successful people always seem to have a story of adversity linked to them in some way. That is, an experience has driven them to do the things they do.   Whatever the answer, and I don’t think it’s definitive, the economy needs people who are prepared to take risks, start things up, follow dreams and create value.