Author: sabc-admin

Matt Brown – MB Productions Ltd

Date: 2 March 2016
Time: 7.45am for 8am start
Venue: The Scores Hotel, St Andrews

When Matt was growing up he was always told that if you didn’t make a million by the time you were 25 you never would! So Matt did better than that he made a million and lost 2 and a half before he was 23!

Matt’s background is in video production, he started his first business when he was 17 and built it up from just himself to a staff of 95 within 3 years. He had major private investment, 2 bars, a venue in the centre of Edinburgh 2 art galleries and a production company.

And in the 6th year of his entrepreneurial endeavours Matt was nearly bankrupt and had to start again.

Since then Matt has filmed in over 50 countries, some examples of his work are filming with the MOD following emergency medivac soldiers out of Afghanistan, chemical tank cleaning in the outback of Australia, spending literally weeks with the top comedians across the world – being stuck at the top of a 200ft crane in the middle of the Sahara to name but a few.

He has won a Scottish Bafta and numerous other awards and nominations and he’s only been shot at twice.

But most importantly he has re-built a production company and is doing what he loves and that to make films. He wants to share some of his stories, some of the successful things he did and also explain why everyone in the world should be using video!

 

Passion for science, technology & 4 Ps has driven Kevin’s success

Serial technology entrepreneur turned business angel Kevin Grainger was the latest successful business person to share ‘My Story’ with members of St Andrews Business Club at its December breakfast meeting.

The element which stood out in all his ventures since he started his first company 19 years ago was his passion for science and technology.

After graduating from St Andrews University in with a Physics degree (as well as meeting his wife there), Kevin switched to the field of software and worked at Ferranti on the Tornado jet’s navigation system before moving to Newell & Budge, where his skills in sales and marketing were used to great success for many years.

In the summer of 1996 Kevin took the decision to set-up Company Net – www.company-net.com – with Neil Francis. They’d identified the opportunity and value in database-driven websites and quickly grew it into one of Scotland’s most successful e-business consultancies. Kevin was responsible for the technical direction of the business as well as generating sales and managing major accounts.

Within two years of setting it up, Kevin and Neil sold 75% of the business to their biggest client, Burmah Castrol, in a cash deal. When Burmah Castrol was subsequently acquired by BP in 2001, the pair regained control of Company Net via an MBO backed by Edinburgh-based venture capital house, Caledonian Heritable Investments. It later exited the business.

In 1999 Kevin established a ‘spin out’ from Company Net called The Knowledge Business – to sell and support a unique e-learning software package, initially developed for one of Company Net’s clients. Kevin grew The Knowledge Business over the subsequent years and it has recently been reintegrated into Company Net as its eLearning business practice.

Over his final years at Company Net, Kevin worked on a part-time consultancy basis as an eLearning Account Manager responsible for its largest customer, the NHS. Over a period of six years he oversaw the introduction of one of the largest national e-learning programmes in Scotland, predominantly aimed at the prevention and control of Healthcare Associated Infections (HAl).

Kevin and Neil sold Company Net to its employees five years ago. It continues to develop and thrive and is one of those rare beasts – a profitable Scottish internet software business as well as a UK Microsoft Gold Partner.

In the world of bricks and mortar, Kevin has built up and manages a commercial and residential property investment portfolio invested in Fife and Edinburgh.

Most recently Kevin has established the EOS Technology Investment Syndicate in St Andrews with the help of Club President Alistair Lang and local ‘business angels’. It has invested in three high-growth start-up businesses. Kevin has also taken on a number of non-executive positions with technology companies with aggressive growth targets.

Speaking about the world of angel investing, Kevin explained that investors are typically looking for “big exits” of at least 10 times the value invested in return for taking on the high risk nature of the investment.

As a result, angels are looking for businesses with 4 Ps:

1. People – who understand their market and product intimately and with whom investors can enjoy good rapport.
2. Product – the right product at the right time. Kevin gave the example of the Sinclair C5 as the right product at the wrong time.
3. Potential Market – this needs to be globally scalable.
4. Potential Exit – ideal ventures should have identified their potential exit as well as growth strategy.

Kevin added that good legal advice on issues such as intellectual property (IP) and legal structure is critical.

Asked what he enjoyed most about what he does now, Kevin said the variety of businesses he now works with.

Members showed their appreciation in the usual manner.

EOS Technology Investment Syndicate’s website is at https://www.eos-tech-investors.com

On 28th October 2015 Malcolm Wood spoke about Revolutionising Commercial Food Waste Disposal at our breakfast meeting at The Scores Hotel.

A new invention, thought up by a Fife businessman, is set to revolutionise the way chip shops, restaurants and food processors stop their waste going down the drain – and at the same time help them avoid hefty fines.

Malcolm Wood, of Ballingry-based fruit and vegetable wholesaler Ivan Wood & Sons, believes his Eco Peel Tech filtration system will help any business that puts fruit or vegetable peel down the drain meet strict new Government legislation coming into effect in Scotland next year.

The patent pending under-sink system took two years to develop and works by blocking micro starch and protein from up to 125kg of food waste peelings before needing to be emptied. The resultant waste can then be sold as animal feed or bio-mass fuel, providing businesses with an additional revenue stream.

Malcolm said: “The average chip shop peels 10 x 25kg’ of main crop potatoes a day; that equates to around 420kg of waste main crop potato skin and starch that ends up down the drain a week. On January 1st businesses that fall foul of the new Waste (Scotland) Regulations will be fined £40k if they are found putting more than 5kg of food waste down the drain per week. That is a huge difference, and why we think there is a massive market for the product.

“Starch not only solidifies in drainage pipes, it also smells and businesses spend hundreds of pounds each year removing the build-up. One local chip shop, who had problems with their drains for 26 years, was spending £500 annually to clear them. Since installing the Eco Peel Tech system its drainage issues have been fixed. We believe each unit will last for up to 30 years which means, for that business alone, there’s a potential lifetime saving of £15,000 plus they avoid steep fines.”

He added: “It’s a very exciting time for the business which was set up 45 years ago. In the past we have invented a few products to meet our own needs but have never taken anything to market until now. After representatives from SEPA, Scottish Water and Zero Waste Scotland were left amazed when they saw waste, sludge and dirty water entering and then clean water that can be recycled coming out of the Eco Peel Tech system, we knew we’d hit upon something that could have a huge impact.”

With help from Business Gateway Fife, Malcolm was able to apply for the patent for his device and put in place plans that will see the machines, which are made in Glenrothes from stainless steel and brass by Fife Fabrications, sold throughout the UK and Eire as well internationally.

He said: “Last year I went to Business Gateway Fife for advice on patenting, exporting and traceability as, although I have been in business all my life, these were areas I’d never had to think about before. My adviser, Lynne Baillie put me in touch with the right people straight away. Her help has been brilliant. We now have three distributors ready to take the product to market in the UK and Eire. There has also been interest from as far afield as Singapore, Australia and the UAE.”

He added: “The potential global market for Eco Peel Tech system is massive. There is no other system available that does what this can. Historically planners in major cities never anticipated the volume of restaurants or people that now populate them. The resultant food waste is causing massive drainage problems, problems our machine has the potential to alleviate.”

Lynne Baillie, Business Gateway Fife said: “Already Malcolm’s product has picked up two awards – the Fife Business Awards 2015 ‘Success at Innovation’ and a VIBES award in November – and is a finalist in this year’s Innovate Scotland Award and one of three finalists in the innovation category at this year’s Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards. These accolades recognise the potential positive impact the Eco Peel Tech system will have both on the environment and the food processing industry as a whole. We are delighted that our advice has helped him bring the machine to market, and will continue to work with Malcolm to ensure the company fulfils its global potential.”

For more information on the Eco Peel Tech system visit: PeelTech.co.uk