Adam's Story

“Nine years ago, not long after I started my business, I was fortunate enough to have a business coach as part of the Growth Accelerator Program which was running at the time. That was when I met Shirley Mansfield.

“At that time the business had a revenue of £100,000. I had one member of staff, some contractors and two key areas of operation.

“I worked with Shirley on a plan to get to £250,000 turnover. I still have that business plan today, as I kept it in the bottom draw of my desk. A reminder I guess of where we started.

“Following the business coaching with Shirley, we had a big decision to make; which one of the 2 revenue streams were we going to focus on to get the biggest return on our investment. I remember that we made the decision sitting on a bench in the park and the company hasn’t looked back.

“Shirley had a big impact on our early growth stage and the lessons learned then have been replicated year on year. There are now 35 staff and we turnover in excess of £6,000,000 by delivering great products to a growing number of new and repeat customers.

“Over time we’ve developed our own patent-pending products which we’ve launched in international as well as domestic markets and our business continues to go from strength to strength.

“As we approached our 10-year anniversary it was time to re-engage with Shirley under the Innovate to Succeed program and take the business into the next decade. A number of challenges remain as the business transitions and accelerates its growth curve by capitalising on these new products. Having Shirley work with me again has proved to be a great sounding board for me. She has a cool head, clarity and a focus on doing the very best for my business. She has that knack of seeing the obvious or the simplest way of doing something which I may have overlooked. Her questions, just like before, are those that make me pause before answering…. Her black book of excellent experts means she has been able to introduce me to additional experts who’ve given me some exceptional advice that will make a positive impact on the business.

Adam Pressland CEO Blue Chyp Ltd