I Tried to Fix This £10 Million Business

In this episode, host James Sinclair speaks with Paul Bleck, owner of Bartek Marine, an engineering company generating £10-12 million annually. Paul reveals that his biggest challenge is maintaining gross profit as the company grows, facing issues like rising operational costs and ensuring quality service amidst expanding demand. He has been involved with the company for 22 years, which has been in business for 38 years, and currently employs 65 people.

During their discussion, Paul outlines various challenges he faces, including building a leadership team, maintaining company culture with a remote workforce, and ensuring effective communication. He aspires to step back from daily activities to focus on strategic development, particularly looking into acquisitions of other engineering firms to ensure continuous growth. Paul also addresses the need for a more balanced approach in managing operational activities versus strategic leadership, currently spending 75% of his time on the former.

The conversation transitions into strategies to enhance gross profits, where Paul shares the importance of brand trust in driving higher pricing and sustainable profit margins. They also discuss methods to improve internal communication, especially with field-based engineers, and the significance of having a solid leadership structure to support business operations.

Lastly, James provides advice on how Paul can tackle these challenges, emphasizing the importance of ongoing communication, investing in good support staff, and the potential benefits of utilizing AI for operational efficiency. The episode concludes with Paul encouraging listeners to reach out if they're in need of marine engineering services through his company’s website.