Andy and Laura own and run Two Chimps Coffee in Oakham. They specialise in freshly roasted coffee and bringing people together.
This video shares their growth story and how ActionCOACH Rupert has been spurring on Andy and Laura to move forward, readdress their work-life balance and reap the rewards of business growth.
Josh Bishop is the Managing Director of EPM Engineering based in Corby. They are specialist production engineers who support the nations manufacturing processes, one example is the production of food. One of their clients is a large brand bakery where EPM maintains and improves their bun production machinery. EPM also has large manufacturing clients in car parts, waste management, and construction.
Josh initially worked with EPM’s former business owners at a different company for 9 years, then went to work for them as a Business Manager for EPM 7 years ago. When the owners wanted to sell, it was a natural progression for Josh to purchase the business from them and in February 2020 he became the official owner. The timing wasn’t great (just as covid pandemic was starting to take hold) but this didn’t deter Josh from wanting to grow and take the business forward. Josh employed the services of Business Growth Specialist Rupert Turton and there have been significant changes, both personally and for EPM.
RISA (UK) Ltd is a female-owned and female-led import/export business and putting it simply, they are ‘Great with Freight.’ In April 2021 they won the coveted prize of Best Import / Export Business at an event attended by Lord Alan Sugar, thousands of other successful entrepreneurs, and their business coaches.
Sara says…
“Seeing first-hand the level of service that some companies were providing drove me to start a freight business that would be different; offering a super-efficient, high ‘Waitrose level’ of service in freight was both innovative and welcomed. 19 years later most of these clients are still with me today.
ActionCOACH has also helped with RISA (UK) Ltd’s success, predominantly because Angela has kept me sane! She is the voice of balance I needed during the difficult times which has helped me to keep my ship on an even keel.
Thanks to Angela’s support, I have been able to continue planning and driving my business forward without letting factors such as Brexit or Covid consume all my focus. It’s also down to Angela that I won Best Import/Export Business at the Biz X Business Excellence Forum in 2021.”
Rob Bright started BTT comms in 1995 and in 2007 he also set up a sister company. BTT Comms provides quality Telecoms, IT & Networking Solutions, and a host of broadband services to businesses and their remote workers. Typical customers of BTT Comms are food supply chain services, the NHS, and hospitality.
Rob says….
“The businesses were growing nicely (by an average of 35%) so we were doing really well from that perspective, however, I found I was doing things the hard way. I really needed to work on team aspects, new systems, in essence, I needed to work smarter not harder!
One of the key challenges I faced was work-life balance and not being able to say no! There was little room for family time or time to focus on me and my health. Like many other business owners, I tended to be the broom, sweeping up tasks after people which impacted greatly on my time and well-being.”
Nick Hamilton runs Barnsdale Gardens in Rutland, which showcases 38 individual gardens all designed and built on organic principles.
The gardens are complemented by the Chelsea Gold Medal award-winning nursery and the excellent Helenium Tea Room serves everything from tea and cake through to full meals which are very popular with the Rutland locals.
Nick is a great client of ours who truly loves gardening and is a recognised international expert in horticulture. Nick opened Barnsdale Gardens more than 25 years ago and wanted help from us to build on the solid foundations he had put in place.
Nicks says…
“ Coaching has made me look at my business in a different way. ActionCOACH has helped massively, my results are a lot better and our mail order business is doing 1000% more than the previous year.”
Beccy was working in managed serviced centres, doing policy work and project management. She had a moment in her life where she simply decided that she needed to focus on what she loved. In October 2021 Beccy’s business won Digital Business of the Year at the Kettering Awards Ceremony and was also a runner-up for Best non-profit at the Biz X Excellence Awards in 2023.
Beccy says…
“Although I was aware of business coaching and knew what it was, I truly never thought it would do anything for me! I recently completed a Master’s Degree, and it was this that really got me thinking. I was investing time and money to improve my voice and further my understanding of my industry, so why wasn’t I investing in improving business too?
I met Rupert at the Kettering Business Network where he explained how ActionCOACH helps local businesses. Having coaching was at this point was in the back of my mind and it was later that I wanted to find out more. During a BNI meeting, I also met Rupert’s wife and fellow business coach Angela and we discussed Rupert’s style of coaching and it was then that something clicked, I knew it was exactly what I needed to kick me into action.
Working for many years running marketing for FTSE 100 companies, Stephen found the internal red-tape and policies of working in large companies too restrictive for his ideas. The only way forward was to strike out on his own. The result is his business can find opportunities in customer data and provide his clients customer relationship programmes that work for them, their way, without simply having to use a one size fits all solution!
Stephen says…
“I hadn’t been considering support, I was too consumed by doing and not putting enough time into thinking. Something had to change. Not only in my business but on a personal level too.
A few green shoots were coming through in my business that I wanted to nurture, but I needed accountability and direction to make them grow. I would find myself procrastinating, doing non-essential things, running out of time, or simply too tired at the end of the day to focus on my ideas.
My overall aim to have a business that can run without me being there 100% of the time so I can spend more time at home. My vision is to be home for my daughter when she gets home from school, not have a second thought about taking holidays and having relaxing stress-free weekends with my family. This is a big goal and I just didn’t know how I was going to get there. Then Angela came along and all that changed.
Kaz Saunders is one of the Managing Directors of the family-run business ‘Elite Home Support,’ which is based on the Northamptonshire/Leicestershire border. Elite Home Support has been established in the local community since 2018 and the team has over 25 years of experience working in health and social care. They can assist you in all areas of home help and pride themselves on going above and beyond to provide the best care possible to their clients.
Kaz says…
“I was completely bamboozled by word business and what it all meant as I had limited experience of running a business. Krissy my business partner is very business-minded whereas I wasn’t, so I felt I needed to learn more.
Has it improved my work-life balance? Yes, definitely! I was often taking work home to finish it off during evenings and weekends. This was one of the main reasons I signed up Angela to help me. I just didn’t know what to do for the best, and I wanted my family time back. It’s been really good having a person outside of my business looking in. Now I get the same amount of work done in a much shorter amount of time, no more working evenings or weekends for me!”
Kate Brown is a chartered accountant with over 20-years’ experience. Having worked with individuals and businesses of all sizes, she has been based in Northamptonshire since 2001 and enjoys working with local clients and businesses across the country.
Kate says…
“I qualified as an accountant back in 1995 and it was once I had children that I decided I wanted to start my own practice. 2001 was the turning point for me, I became fed up with traipsing to Milton Keynes all the time, and I really just wanted to spend more time with my children. So, I left KPMG where I worked, and struck out on my own. 20 years on and my Kate Brown Accountant business is thriving, my longest client has been with me for 20 years!
I have a tendency to undervalue myself and my worth. One of the main issues was my confidence and work-life balance. A change of mindset and taking action to make changes was definitely needed, as well as knowing what direction I wanted my business to go in.
I sort of knew what business coaching was and had thought about it, but I had never taken any action. It was when I met Angela at an ICAEW annual conference in Market Harborough (we were at the same table) and we got talking, that I realised I needed guidance. As Angela had run her own accountancy practice, I knew she was the right coach for me, and it was a natural progression for me to sign up for 121 coaching with her in Feb 2020.”
Jessica Shailes is the owner, MD & Head of Digital Marketing at Ideal Marketing. Ideal Marketing is a full-service marketing company that was already an established business when Jess purchased the business in June 2019. The transition from working for the company to owning and directing it was a huge leap.
Jessica says…
“When covid hit, businesses we worked with had to reign in their spending which meant I had to put my team on furlough. I had no idea how to navigate what was going on and needed help on what to do next. I needed an objective person who was outside of the business to talk things through.
Having had coaching before, I realised that this time I needed a more structured approach. I liked the look of the ActionCOACH methodology so having business coaching with them really appealed to me. With a clear vision for my business, came fresh opportunities but also tough decisions had to be made. Being able to talk things through with Angela gave me an outside perspective, made me think about things in a different way.”
