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Being a successful entrepreneur is often viewed as an essentially solo experience, with the hard decisions, particularly in the formative days of a business, agonised over by the man or woman at the top.
The idea of forming a partnership is often dismissed by budding business owners, sometimes for little more than ego-based reasons. Even those that take the plunge with a co-founder can find that ideas and personalities clash to the point of breakdown.
Holroyd Howe is a business that could be used as a living and breathing example of how partnerships can, and do, work. Founders Rick Holroyd and Nick Howe’s eponymous firm is well on its way to becoming the premier independent contract caterer in the UK.
Successfully capturing a clutch of blue-chip clients, such as Interbrew, Volvo and Honda, Holroyd Howe has seen turnover nearly treble in the past three years to nearly £30 million. Gross profit stood at £2.13 million in 2004, with 91 contracts currently secured.
Since its creation in 1997, the business’ workforce has swelled to 820 people in production sites across the UK, with 40 staff in the company’s head office.
However, there is much more to this business’ success that just its impressive balance sheet. Holroyd freely admits that he probably could not do it without Howe, underlining the joint effort that has gone into building the venture.
“I don’t think that either of us would’ve wanted to embark upon this (setting up the business) alone, that’s probably been one of the strengths of the business,” Holroyd explains.
“It was always my intention to start with someone else because I probably wasn’t the full ticket in terms of running all aspects of the business. It was important to have someone who complemented me in terms of skills.”
Holroyd rejects the idea that compromise has played a vital role in their relationship, insisting that the duo arrive at the best approach after discussion, rather than fudging the issue.
“It’s amazing how the vision has been almost identical,” he says. “But the way we see things are at the opposite ends of the spectrum – we’re very different characters.
“It’s very important to put your individual views to one side. Every decision we’ve made has been for the good of the business, and not for ourselves individually.
“We’ve seen startups that have lasted six months or a year and I think it’s because egos get in the way – you can’t afford to let that happen.”
Holroyd and Howe met in 1986 while working for another catering firm called Sutcliffe. Holroyd recalls that he was desperate to start up his own business, and found a kindred spirit in his colleague.
“I recall sitting in a pub at the end of a day talking about careers and I said to Nick that I’d probably start up myself one day,” he says. “When I said that, Nick turned, fixed his eyes on me and said ‘Blimey, if you do that, don’t forget me will you?’
“I thought I could do better than what was out there. I think any caterer worth their salt always wants to run their own restaurant, because they have a vision of how things should be.”
Holroyd then took two strategic career moves clearly designed to help him achieve his entrepreneurial ambitions. He firstly moved to Baxter and Platts, another catering company, to gain experience in sales, before switching to Nelson Hind to understand how a small firm is operated and structured.
Finally, in 1997, he saw the opportunity to go it alone. He asked Howe to come on board at, he claims, an ideal time to start a catering firm.
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