Tell me a little about yourself and your background?

I am born and bred in Chester; I have 4 younger brothers, one of which has severe autism. I have a wife Sian and 5-year-old daughter Scarlett, family means everything to me, and I am extremely fortunate to have such a close knit family that supports each other through thick and thin. 

I have a strong background in sales and have worked in a number of different roles, ranging from B2C to B2B and even a stint in New Zealand. 

From my first sales role working at MBNA to Excel TM Group I have been fortunate enough to work with some great teams and under some wonderful leaders, of course there is the flip side of the coin where you don’t always get that and end up missing those great leaders and teams. I love sports but none more so than football and more importantly the most successful English football club - Liverpool FC.    

When did you first start in the entrepreneurial world? 

I would be lying if I said I’m an expert at being an entrepreneur, it was always something I wanted to do but it was always a case of figuring out what I wanted to do. I spent years watching videos and reading books from other successful entrepreneurs, I always found it fascinating and scary to hear about their stories of success and more importantly struggles when setting up companies. After years and years of telling (moaning) my wife Sian how I could do it better and how I could make an impact on the industry work she politely told me that it was time to do it! After receiving a lot of advice and guidance from friends who are already successful entrepreneurs, I decided that it was now or never and so in January 2020 – Excel TM Group was born. 

How did you found Excel TM Group? 

I had years of experience in construction, I had worked in construction lead generation, construction telemarketing and on live site projects. 

I knew the industry extremely well and had a fantastic database of contacts within my mobile, I knew all I needed was a laptop, my mobile and a whiteboard to get started. However, I had 2 of them and only 20p in the bank – I needed a laptop so a very good friend of mine and business mentor Paul Billington Dykes kindly lent me a spare laptop to get started. The 6th January 2020 will forever be etched in my brain as the day my life changed completely. 

For those that may not know what do you guys do, what is the vision and goal?

Excel TM Group specialize in construction specific telemarketing and lead generation, we work with any company or person that has a product or service that fits into the construction sector or built environment. We work with large global brands such as Dulux to smaller one-man bands who are just getting started, the concept is always the same – To build lasting relationships between both parties from the very start of the trial and further into our relationship. Our goal is to challenge the ways in which telemarketing is perceived, we like to challenge the “normal” way of working and make our own stamp on the market. People shouldn’t go to work and clock watch; micromanagement shouldn’t exist, and titles shouldn’t be important! Too many companies in this industry have focussed on being corporate and in turn lost focus on what’s been important from the start – The team!

What have some of the biggest challenges been so far? 

Naturally there have been a few but the biggest ones for me have been the passing of my nan 2 weeks after setting the company, it completely rocked my family. My nan was the glue that held the company together for so many reasons, I quickly realized that being an entrepreneur means you can’t take time off to deal with bereavement – you have to carry on. My nan was my biggest supporter and pushed me all the time to do better, not just for myself but others around me! I miss her every day but I’m also extremely grateful for the love and support she gave me and my family. Obviously, the biggest challenge was Covid, In March the whole country went into lockdown and Excel was only 2 months old! This meant we didn’t qualify for any form of grants or funding and I was on my own, at the time no one was sure how or when we would come out of lockdown so our clients existing and new had to pause all marketing….this was extremely difficult, but I didn’t have a choice and made the decision to worked completely free of charge for the clients that we had. 

I have a young family so I asked these clients to consider 2 things..

1. If I do a good job, then they would offer me a job at the end or
2. Carry on with Excel and support us when things die down.

I can proudly say that both clients are still with Excel today!

I believe you were nominated for the Service Industry Entrepreneur of the year award, how did that feel? 

It feels weird hearing that, I am still in shock! 

I am honored and flattered that I even made the finals at such a prestigious event, to even make it this far is an award in itself!  I have found myself suffering with imposter syndrome recently, I genuinely don’t feel like I deserve to be there! Some of the other finalists are fantastic and I’m extremely proud to be sharing this moment with them! 

It’s one of the scariest and proudest moments of my working life!

Mental health and wellbeing is also an issue close to you and your beliefs, why do you think it is so important especially in today’s world?

Yes, it is, I have suffered with mental health on and off since I was younger and for years kept it hidden away. The first thing I wanted to do was make sure my team always felt like they had a safe haven in work and knew they could approach me or my management team about any problems they had no matter how big or small! We live in a world where social media is everywhere, people constantly judge others and compare themselves, some people stay quiet and need help but can't find a way to talk – this is people of all ages – If any of my team need help in any capacity I will make sure that either myself or my management team are there to lend an ear and help with guidance. There are no egos at Excel, we are a group of people who work as a team and look out for each other whatever the situation may be. It is important that as a company and as people we communicate with each other, one thing that Covid taught us was that it is so important to talk and be there for each other, it shouldn’t stop when things go back to normal, it should be our way of working and way of life.  

What have you guys done to highlight it within your business? 

To highlight the issues that your team may have means you must communicate, listen, and understand. Since the company was set up, I thought it was important to have a few things in place such as an open door policy, paid counseling for the team, free days off on your birthday, bereavement holidays – this is when it comes to the anniversary of a loved ones death and you might need some time to visit a graveside or a few hours to gather your thoughts, or even a day if its needed. 

The Excel wellbeing package 

- £30 a month in vouchers to support the team on whatever they want. 

- One-month full paternity pay for men

- Funeral holidays – if a member of your family close friend passes away, you can attend the funeral and it won’t be taken off your holiday entitlement. 

And the most important implementation – Our head of people and culture. 

This role is one of the most important roles within Excel and is headed by Jennifer Hodgson – Founder and Managing Director or MODA PR. 

Jen is responsible for sitting down with our team once a week and speaking about issues they may have in or out of work, this is crucial to our growth and development at Excel and from this we learnt that our ways of working weren’t necessarily the right ones. We changed our incentives and how we reward the team, we understood that people were driven by different rewards and ultimately through changing our outlook productivity increased through the company. Our culture is one we are proud of and Jen completely understands that by constantly listening to our team we will continue to grow and develop in different ways, We shouldn’t assume that our traditional ways of working are always going to be successful - we need to learn and adapt. Spending time with your team is one of the greatest investments we can make."

What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs out there? 

I was recently asked this question by someone, and it completely caught me off guard! Like everything, it must be right for you! Entrepreneurship is one of the most rewarding and stressful processes you can go through. If you think that you will make millions straight away, then think again. It’s a tough slog that requires patience, motivation, and the ability to learn from failure. If you have an idea or a better way of working and want to take the bull by the horns then yes, I would definitely recommend entrepreneurship. However – if this sounds scary or sounds like you couldn’t do it then it might not be for you and if so, don’t feel disheartened! Success comes in many forms.