entrepreneurs 27


Photographs by Angus Thomas


get you there. There were tough life choices to make at those times, but you have to believe in what you are doing and I do all this for my little boy.


Who inspires you?


My parents – they had a fabulous hotel business in Perth, but when the local foundry closed no-one had any money and business dried up. My father would buy a loaf of bread and a packet of ham, and sell sandwiches out of the back of his car to make some extra money.


When we came back to Southampton, he sent out 300 CVs to hotels and restaurants but the only job he could get was as a night porter and he took it to provide for his family.


That‘s such a motivating factor for me, they are good honest people who went through highs and lows and, having seen what happened to them, failure doesn‘t scare me but it does make me more risk averse. Now I can give back to them, they fully deserve it and are extremely proud of what we have achieved.


Do you see yourself as an entrepreneur?


No – for me doing business is fun. You reach a goal but you always want to go further. The fun is in the chase and enjoying the challenge. Of course businesses will go through tough times but it‘s also incredibly satisfying.


How do you feel about winning awards?


I certainly didn‘t expect the Young Entrepreneur award and it‘s a real honour.


I


still view myself as the same person as I was at the beginning; it‘s the company that does a great job.


I‘m really proud of how much we manage to achieve every single day. When I started four years ago, a lot of it was just me, now we have a really successful team of highly-motivated individuals who share my vision of making sure we give people a really great customer experience.


We‘re competing with larger corporations for best broker in the UK and that‘s a reflection on our fab team.


How would you describe yourself? Passionate, honest, motivated. Why did you become a special constable?


I have a very strong moral compass and I wanted to help people. In this business you get a kick out of helping people and it was exactly the same in the police. As a special, you see a whole different world and I think it makes you a better person.


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – FEBRUARY 2016 Tell us about the charity work you do


We support a number of charities, including the Blue Lamp Trust, which promotes community safety in Hampshire, and Pensions for Paws, helping find new homes for retired police dogs. We always try to give back.


Where does the business go from here?


Money is not the main motivator for me now, I enjoy the success rather than the money.


This time last year, I was still the highest grossing adviser in the firm but I was working from 4am to 10pm and, with a three-year-old son, I didn‘t want to do that any more, so I‘ve stepped back a bit.


Having said that, we want to triple in size next year again and have just done a deal with the second-largest online estate agent which will fund another 30 mortgage advisers. We‘re committed to growing the mortgage offering to the police and we‘ve also recently launched Airline Mortgage Shop for airline employees and we expect that to grow significantly.


We deal with very high volumes of mortgages every month; we do a great job for customers and are one of the top-10 providers in the UK. I‘m also conscious that we work in a cyclical environment which is why we‘ve structured the business as well as we can, and we also have a very strong customer contact process through newsletters and social media. Our goal is to be a national company that is recognised for outstanding service.


What do you do on your time off?


My girlfriend works for British Airways and I‘m fortunate enough to get away regularly on trips and as I‘m currently training as a pilot on light aircraft. I try to fly every second week. If I ever did decide to sell the business, it would be to go flying and see the world.


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