John Timpson CBE to speak at January Shropshire Business Partnership Meeting
John Timpson CBE, Chairman of one of the largest privately-owned retail chains in the country, Timpson, will be the keynote speaker at the next Shropshire Business Partnership (SBP) breakfast meeting on Friday 18th January at the Greenhous Meadow, Shrewsbury.
A management maverick with a common sense approach to business, John Timpson’s acclaimed upside-down management style has earned him a raft of prestigious awards including a CBE for services to retail in 2004.
Having transformed the business his great grandfather founded in 1865, frequently breaking with convention along the way, the Timpson Group now boasts 960 shops in every corner of the UK trading under the Timpson and Max Spielmann brands.
His uncompromising, fiercely candid, often controversial views on everything from HR best practice to EU guidelines, has created a legion of admirers amongst small business owners as he fearlessly rails against the bureaucracy and red tape he believes is stifling entrepreneurship.
John Timpson is a regular media commentator on business issues and writes a weekly column for the Daily Telegraph, where he offers his unique brand of no-nonsense advice on the wide range of issues currently facing SMEs and micro-business owners.
SBP executive member, Jools Payne, said: "It's a fantastic coup to have someone of John’s stature coming to Shropshire to share with SBP members the pearls of wisdom he’s garnered from 50 years in business. Having worked closely with John over the past 18 years I’ve witnessed first hand how his vision and unorthodoxy has created a culture of unshackled enterprise and employee engagement within the Timpson business.
“John will provide some powerful insights into how he used these qualities to turn around a family firm that was in seemingly terminal decline 3 decades ago into the profitable, £150m turnover business it is today; one on the cusp of opening its 1,000th shop.
“With an abundance of practical hints and tips, delivered with the searing honesty for which he is renowned, there will be something in John’s talk for anyone running a business today, regardless of its size or market sector.”
Membership of Shropshire Business Partnership is FREE for eligible companies. Anyone wishing to attend this event must pre-register. On-line booking for the breakfast with John Timpson is at www.shropshirebusiness.org/events
The £20 entrance fee includes a full English breakfast with unlimited juice, tea and coffee. Registration and informal networking takes place from 07:30 with a full English or continental breakfast served at 08:00. The meeting closes by 10:00.
