North West Insider Update - 42 Under Forty Two

This months North West Insider magazine caught up with our CEO John Leach, former Insider 42 Under 42 alumnus, to ask those all important questions we want to know the answers to:

When were you in the 42 under 42?
I scraped over the line in 2007

What were you doing then?
The business was just a year old we'd won a few cracking pieces of consultancy business

What since?
We did really well to go on and win the Northwest Regional Development Agency's High Growth business support programme the following year.

And what are you doing now?
After the High Growth Programme ended I started something called the Winning Pitch High Growth Foundation with private sector support. We want to encourage entrepreneurs to take a more global approach and explore strategies to scale their business.

What's needed to make that happen?
If the UK is going to become the best place to set up and grow a business, then we need to look at great practice. The entrepreneurial capital of the world is the West Coast of the US, Silicon Valley. The UK has the expertise, knowledge, skills and talent to match any part of the world, so what's holding us back? We need to change our mindset, think big and learn from those parts of the world that just get on and do it.

How are you going to do that?
All our programmes of masterclasses and events aim to stimulate "big thinking". Next spring we're running a learning journey study tour to the US West Coast for a selected group of entrepreneurs. Some of the biggest brands on the planet will open their doors and share their stories of how to build a global business.

To download a copy of the article click here

In 2007 at the age of 42 John was also featured in the North West Insider. To see how things have changed click here