“I know the support we’ve had has led to an increase in sales.”
What do you do when your business tips over the £1 million turnover mark? For Top Gun Group’s Chris Smith, the answer was simple: get some help to target £5 million.
Far left Chris Smith (MD) , Markkus Pemberton , William McDonald , Tom Mason
Hitting one million turnover was a bit of a tipping point for Chris Smith, the man behind Top Gun Tools & Fixings, the Blackpool-based power tool, fixings and fastenings specialist, and Prestige Hardware & Doors, and architectural ironmongers and door supplier specialising in both B2B and B2C.
“You get bigger. You take on more staff. Turnover increases. And you start to look at different things you want to do,” he says. “But you realise you’re leading your team as a sort of accidental manager. No one tells you how to structure or build a company. No one teaches you to manage people or be an operations director.”
To explore ways of addressing that, Chris attending more networking events, through which he connected with Blackpool Growth Business Academy’s Nikki Hesford. She explained the fully funded (by the UK Government's Shared Prosperity Fund) support available to help scaling businesses in Blackpool. It’s fair to say Chris seized the support with both hands.
Sales-driven mentoring “was a bit of a game changer. We were given sales techniques we could pass down to staff on the trade counter, and we got lots of tips and techniques for analysing data, setting key performance indicators (KPIs) and targeting customers more effectively.
“The mentoring also made me realise that I wasn’t mad,” Chris adds. “It gave me confidence that I was onto something and that my ideas were good ideas.”
Further support followed from Blackpool Growth Business Academy’s Mick Cox (“he’s absolutely top tier”), who worked with Chris to develop a Growth Action Plan to create clarity on the next steps of growth. A leadership and management workshop with John Woodruffe proved insightful not just for Chris but for his “right hand man” Markkus Pemberton.
Chris also received marketing support and advice from Blackpool Growth Business Academy leader Nikki.
Tooled to tender
“One of the things Nikki and I quickly agreed on was the potential for the business to reach £2 million turnover very quickly and then target £5 million. But when you target larger businesses, as we need to, you need to have a set of standardized policies and terms, and you need a unified brand. We didn’t really have those.
“Nikki put us in touch with somebody within the networking group about a rebrand, and through them we’ve updated our logos and we’ve achieved a brand unity across Top Gun and Prestige Hardware.
“Then we’ve reworked all our account application forms, purchase order forms, invoicing — basically how we do orders — and we've developed step-by-step instructions for staff so that as we expand everything in simpler and more structured.”
Bigger premises, better results, smaller carbon footprint
It’s not always easy to draw a clear line between support and business results. Chris doesn’t have that difficulty. “Since we started working with the Blackpool Growth Business Academy, I know the support we’ve had has led to an increase in sales and the appointment of another member of staff,” he says.
“We’ve taken on the unit next to us and by the time anyone reads this we should have exchanged contracts. That will double our capacity so we can continue to grow both B2B and B2C parts of the business.”
Yet a growing portfolio of larger clients brings with it increased scrutiny. As organisations expect their supply chain to operate as sustainably as they do, Chris knew Top Gun Group needed to up its carbon reduction game. Fortunately, it was a cause to which he was already committed, and help was at hand from another Blackpool Unlimited source: Blackpool Net Zero Business Academy.
“I’ve got young children and you want to set an example. We already recycle and have a couple of electric vehicles. And it was clear that if we want to work with larger clients we need to operate in a more sustainable way.”
Nikki introduced Chris to the Blackpool Net Zero Business Academy, who found that a large proportion of the business’s carbon footprint comes from emissions attributed to purchased electricity. Chris and Academy agreed that Top Gun’s focus should be on measures to reduce electricity consumption and increase energy efficiency.
The Blackpool Net Zero Business Academy is now helping Chris to source solar panels for on-site renewable electricity generation to reduce reliance on the National Grid, while also helping Top Gun to procure funding for solar PV installation.
Sights set on a successful future
Where would Chris be if he hadn’t contacted Blackpool Growth Business Academy? “I'd have carried on making a good living out of what we’re doing,” he says, “but the possibilities of where we can go now — and we’re still only in the initial stages of it — are incredible. Without the Blackpool Growth Business Academy, we’d have missed out on all of that.”
We ask Chris whether he would recommend Blackpool Growth Business Academy and Blackpool Net Zero Business Academy. It turns out he already has.
“I’ve already recommended the academies to my business neighbour and a couple of his team have already been on courses. It really has made a massive difference. The people I’ve met have been fantastic. I couldn’t fault it.”
Top Gun Group is based on the Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone, the town's largest business park which is becoming one of the premier business destinations in the North West. Based five minutes from the M55 motorway, the Enterprise Zone is already home to over 200 businesses and a range of national and international companies specialising in manufacturing, aviation and food and beverage. Blackpool Council is also currently expanding the site and creating new spaces for businesses to grow onto.
Growing and scaling your Blackpool enterprise? Access fully-funded support from Blackpool Growth Business Academy and find help to decarbonise your business with Blackpool Net Zero Business Academy.
