FWB Park Brown hosts inaugural North East England Scale-Up dinner with Coutts in Newcastle

Café 21 on Newcastle’s Quayside provided the location and we were joined by a number of the North East’s rapidly growing businesses and brilliant entrepreneurs, as well as critical supporters of the scale-up ecosystem.

Jaclyn Needham, Director of FWB Park Brown, kicked off the discussion and introduced the speaker for the evening – Mark Dixon, Executive Chairman for United Resource Management – who talked candidly about his own experience running Promanex for 15 years, from start up to sale to Costain for £18.8m in 2011. Sharing tales of raising funds, running a business ready for sale and how to detach from your ‘baby’ post sale, as well as when to hook yourself into another project. An entrepreneurs passion never stops!

Mark offered practical advice for navigating the scale-up journey and preparing for the shift from start-up to growth, taking into consideration not only the business journey ahead, but also the personal development required from the leaders of the business. Key to this was the theme of network and trusted advisors – take advice, surround yourself with other entrepreneurs who are further along the journey than you may be, talk with advisors and with individuals who have successfully concluded their entrepreneurial journey.

The group contributed openly about their own start-up and scale-up stories, the successes, the challenges they face and how they have overcome setbacks. There was a real sense of connection and shared experience around the table. Our evening was closed by Chris Dale, Associate Director at Coutts Wealth, thanking our guests and speaker for their honesty around their own journeys and how they can utilise their own North East networks to support.

For more information on our events programme, attending our events or working with us, please contact Sophie Moteau, our Programme & Events Lead or Jaclyn Needham, Director, FWB Park Brown Newcastle.