EDITOR’S COMMENT & CONTENTS


CONTENTS 4


THE BUSINESS ZONE News, views and case


studies from SMEs around the country


12 14


OPENING SHOTS Financier Andrea


Reynolds highlights four things SMEs need to do ahead of Brexit


OPENING SHOTS Any business starts with


deciding on the right strategy, says Professor Stelios Kavadias


16 18 24


26


INSIDE TRACK Blair Collins-Thomas on


how his company fared when it decided not to replace its CEO and instead became a collective


COVER STORY Colin Boden takes us


under the bonnet of Morgan, one of the most illustrious marques in British motoring


SAFE HARBOUR Gavin Wraith-Carter,


managing director of Hitachi Capital Business Finance, sees his role as guiding small business through the storm


GUIDE TO GROWTH Tech billionaire Elon


Musk tells staff to keep meetings short and sweet. Steve Duigan brushes up on his meeting etiquette


29 Summer 2018 • £4.99 +


ARE YOU BREXIT-READY? Andrea Reynolds on what SMEs


should be considering in terms of readiness when it comes to trade and financial management


THE SOLUTIONS LAB The best advice from


experts in the business world STARTS WITH GETTING THE RIGHT


DELIVERING GROWTH SME STRATEGY


www.smeweb.com How the Morgan Motor Company became an icon of British business HISTORY ON WHEELS A CENTURY OF


OUR YEAR WITHOUT A CEO Blair Collins-Thomas explains how


the company he works for adopted a ‘flat organisation’ and became stronger, together


THE SOLUTIONS LAB Specialist advice from the experts


on early retirement, R&D tax relief, employee experience, finding new markets and business insurance


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Editor SME daniel.evans@publicationsuk.co.uk


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T


he title of the evening ahead - Preparing for a Post-Brexit World – may have sounded slightly dystopian


but the mood in the room at Henry Wood House was optimistic, to say the least. The event was hosted by entrepreneur John Stapleton who kicked us off with a pretty straightforward question: Should the UK’s withdrawal from the EU be seen as an opportunity or as a threat? From a political point of view,


the answer very much depends on whether you are a Brexiteer or a Remainer. However, from a business perspective, the answer is less clear-cut. As John said: “The opportunity versus threat argument in a business context is about being prepared versus not being prepared and the evidence is that the majority of businesses in the UK today are not adequately - or not at all - prepared for life in a post-Brexit world.” As all good entrepreneurs know, every


change presents an opportunity so personal feelings surrounding the EU must take second place to the need to fire up your business. John again. “As far as I am concerned, the real opportunities [around Brexit] lie in being prepared - being better prepared than you were before, and being better prepared than the other guy. The real


BREXIT OFFERS NO OTHER OPTION


risk, on the other hand, lies in the attitude that says: ‘Let’s wait and see.’ Unfortunately, that attitude is the one shared by most in UK industry today. Attitudes like ‘Let’s see how it turns out’ or ‘I’m confused by what it is, and I need to get back to running my business and doing my day job’ or ‘Hey, it may not even happen – what’s the point of wasting so much time on something that may not happen’? I believe that we as entrepreneurs need to embrace the opportunities and possibilities that will be there.” Now I know John sounds


like he may have spent too much time in the Scouts but he’s right. Big businesses – like Siemens and Airbus – may take a broader view on Brexit


(although, if you believe Brexiteers like Jacob Ress-Mogg, it’s the Chancellor Philip Hammond who is the driving force behind the flurry of businesses warning of the consequences of a hard Brexit) but that should not be the primary focus for people who run SMEs in the UK. Entrepreneurs need to put personal


feelings aside and focus on the opportunities coming our way as we take our seats for EU departure. It’s going to be a bumpy ride but those who are better prepared will have the greater chance of success.


www.smeweb.com


SME 3


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