OUR PANEL
Paul Aisthorpe Managing director
Jonathan Finch is a Lancashire-based business leader who specialises in helping clients grow their revenue streams. He is founder of Big Presence, a lead generation agency designed to help organisations start conversations with their target audience.
@scale_ability1 scale-ability-ltd
Amy Blundell is centre manager at Cotton Court in Preston. In her role she oversees overall operations and is involved in creating and implementing strategies for the growth and development of the business centre.
REFLECTIONS OF JUDGING THE SUB36S
Whilst driving to the Sub36 Issue selection meeting, I reflected on my own personal achievements before turning 36.
Paul Aisthorpe is an accomplished business mentor and coach who has worked with more than 200 organisations across the North West on an independent basis or through regionally funded programmes.
I realised that at 35 years and five months old, I started my first director role. I thought about how I got to that point and those key factors in achieving success.
I had always worked hard, always craved new learning and had often put myself on training courses. I took some professional qualifications in 2002 which became critical to becoming a director.
Annette Weekes is managing director of a group of Lancashire based engineering companies. A member of the LEP board, she has been a director of East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce since 2013 and is on the Pendle Vision board.
Martin Hill is working across the LEP’s City Deal and Growth Deal project portfolio to help ensure the benefits of these once-in-a-lifetime investments are retained within the local economy through job creation, apprenticeships and local procurement.
SUB36 - MAKING THEIR MARK Alex
Niamh Aitken
Managing director, Woodside Designs
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Alex founded Blackpool-based Woodside Designs at the age of 24 to undertake a variety of bespoke handmade joinery projects. He has brought together a workshop equipped with both traditional and modern machinery as well as a spray shop facility to apply coatings. Alex has staffed his company with a young workforce, inspiring them and training them up to become the next generation of joiners and craftsmen.
Allen Sales and marketing director, IoT Horizon
23
Niamh has helped raise the profile of Rawtenstall-based IoT Horizon, an ‘internet of things’ and digital transformation specialist. She joined as sales manager and was rewarded for her results with promotion to director just a year later. She champions the county’s digital sector more broadly, having presented at the Lancashire Innovation Festival, and is also a supporter of women in the tech sector. Perhaps more impressive still is that all these professional accomplishments were achieved side-by-side with her academic work, while completing her business management degree at UCLan.
Continued on page 20
LANCASHIREBUSINESSVIEW.CO.UK
My line director was an advocate of learning and development. This meant that new ideas I developed from courses were supported and regularly discussed in one-to-ones and appraisals. He acted, as any mentor would, eager to learn what I had learned and support new initiatives that would support business growth.
I read… a lot. And I learned what other successful businesses from outside the industry were doing. When meeting with peers at consortium and other events within the industry I learned what was working for them. Regularly speaking to suppliers about product developments also allowed me to understand how they tackled business challenges from HR to leadership to handling operational roadblocks.
Beyond achieving the first directorship, the learning didn’t stop. The method changed but the thirst for challenge and personal development did not. As my career progressed coaching and mentoring became a more regular feature in my personal development. Some formal and paid for and some informal and equally important.
As I assessed the Sub36 candidates, I considered their own personal development journey and what they had been doing to challenge themselves. How will peer learning, coaching and mentoring play in their future success?
For more information please visit
www.scale-ability.co.uk
or call 01524 220354
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