360 DEGREES
Prime exporters
For a South West health food retailer, export has created a £100,000 revenue
stream that has reinvigorated its business. David Parsley reports
O
kay, let’s be honest. Times are tough. Global markets have taken a bashing of late and, with recent riots in cities throughout England, there is plenty to feel downhearted about. And when it comes to UK exports there has also been some unpalatable news, with the Offi ce for National Statistics producing fi gures that show a £1.2bn, or 4.8 per cent, fall in goods being sold by UK fi rms overseas. So, that’s the facts, or so it may seem. What the fi gures don’t show is how resilient UK business owners really are. How they adapt to this barrage of bad news and look to adapt their products, strategies and methods to create success. Our politicians are not denying times are going to be hard for a while longer, but it is during these times that the true spirit of the UK entrepreneur becomes more apparent than ever. I’m not talking showbiz entrepreneurs, the Dragons in the Den or Lord Sugar’s latest Apprentice. Even more than disappointing fi gures, these entertainment shows don’t show the true picture of the UK entrepreneur. In recent months, one business has hit my radar and I’ve been taken with its passion, determination and ability to adapt to changing times. Greenlife is a health food store based in Totnes in Devon. It celebrated its 21st birthday this summer, looking back on its journey from humble beginnings on a market stall to the stalwart of the local high street it has become. To look at the Greenlife store you could be deceived into thinking it’s just a medium-sized local health supermarket, but it’s more than that. Founded by husband and wife Mike and Jamie Sermon, the business has become a global success in the health foods sector. While the Sermons would freely admit they were slow to jump on the internet retailing bandwagon, the past few testing years have led them to look to world markets for their growth. Now both eligible for bus passes, they are, it appears, years from selling up for retirement. Their business is, in many ways, their life. It’s something that marks the true entrepreneur out. They may not have
a TV show or peerage but, like hundreds of thousands of other business owners, they have seen ups and downs before. They adapt to them and survive, bigger and stronger every time.
The latest downturn made the Sermons take a long hard look at their website. They came to the rapid conclusion that it didn’t offer much at all. So they brought in some web expertise and, three years ago, began the transformation. Now
greenlife.co.uk is becoming an increasingly important contributor to the business, expanding from selling a few pounds worth of products a month in the UK to almost £100,000 a year worldwide. Sure, it’s not the millions or even billions of the likes of some of our major manufacturers, but it’s £100,000 more than three years ago and it’s paying wages and acting as a useful buffer against challenging times at home.
From almost no visits to 150,000 online customers a
year, Greenlife is a prime example of however local you think your business may be, there are seven billion potential customers on the planet that may want what you’ve got. For the Sermons, the thought of exporting was unthinkable when they started the business in 1990. Now it would take far less time to list the countries they haven’t exported to than the ones they have, with Singapore, the US, Ireland, France and the Philippines among its overseas buyers. For me, tumbling stock markets, euro bailouts and the
offi cial fi gures tell only one side of the story. Outside of the headlines, there remain people in the UK with an attitude that proves the doomsayers wrong. The Sermons are just one example. Having won Retailer of the Year at this year’s Natural and Organic Awards, Greenlife’s brand has become recognised as something both it and the UK can be proud of.
So, don’t always believe the hype. There are opportunities if you take the chance to consider them. And if a couple who could have retired and claimed their pension some years ago are still scooping national awards, why can’t you? ■
50 | springboard |
www.ukti.gov.uk
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