Ray Perkins, MD of Anatune
“I’m the founder, owner and managing director of Anatune. We set the business up in 1996, and we’re in the business of building automated systems for chemical analysis.
“Before we started working with ActionCOACH, the company was still in start-up mode. We were quite dynamic, but also quite disorganised and very informal. We were not in a position where we needed to be if we wanted to continue growing the business. Without the involvement and help of Andrew, I think we would have struggled to grow with the informal structures that we had within the business at the time. All of the leading indicators were heading downwards and it was clear that we were in for a tough time. I was very receptive to anybody who could offer me assistance, because we were going to need it.
“Andrew came across as being very knowledgeable, very professional, and as someone who was operating from a level of significant business experience. He was someone who we had a lot of confidence in, and he could bring a lot of relevant skills and knowledge to us that we didn’t have.
“Once we started to work with Andrew, one of the first things we identified was that while we were strong in terms of the technical management of the business, we had real weaknesses in managing people – not just our staff but also our customers and suppliers. Being better at managing our staff meant that the relationships within the business improved dramatically.
“So a lot of the stresses and strains associated with managing the business actually went, once we got better at dealing with the staff in a sensible way. That helped, it took a lot of the heat and uncomfortable issues out of the scene. We were able to start to build a very strong team ethos. In the early days we didn’t even understand that was important, but now we understand that it is, and the things we have to do in order to maintain a strong team ethos.
“As a consequence, people like working here, and we have a reputation of being a great place to work, with people approaching us to be potential employees.
“I think the biggest boost we got was in 2014, when we won the ActionCOACH Business Excellence Award, which we got for excellent customer service. Customer service is something we’d learned to really focus on and I’ve got a team of people who are very good at it. To have that recognition from the outside really underlines the fact that they felt a real buzz from getting that recognition.
“As far as I’m personally concerned, with working with Andrew we’ve been developing the skills and capabilities of the management team. I’ve got a layer of management below me that are more than capable of running this business without my involvement. I am actively involved in the business, but last year I was able to do something I’ve always wanted to do – I took 5 weeks off and went off to New Zealand. I barely needed to phone into the office, and I got back to everything being under control… They’d even been good enough to empty my email inbox!
“I think working with a business coach is essential if you really want to get the best out of your own capabilities as a manager or an owner of a business. It’s just the same as in sports; if you want to be a really good golfer or tennis player, you need someone outside that can coach you to bring the best out of you.
“Over a period of years of working with Andrew, your personal performance and the performance of your company and your team will be lifted to a level beyond what you could achieve on your own.”
“If you’re considering employing a business coach, particularly of the quality of Andrew, just do it. Because you might not be able to work out the mechanism whereby your performance will improve, but improve it will. Over a period of years of working with Andrew, your personal performance and the performance of your company and your team will be lifted to a level beyond what you could achieve on your own.”
