Recent magazine features
PP Bounces Back in Style
They’ve been a proud and ultimately inspiring feature of the West Midlands industrial landscape for more than 50 years – and nobody can tell the story of PP Control & Automation better than CEO Tony Hague. That story encompasses a wide range of everyday products and a vast array of machinery and processes, all linked to a factory in one of the region’s lesser-known communities in the heart...
The Facts Behind Stroke Attacks
In previous BW columns, I’ve written about how work-stress caused the stroke which I suffered in December 2013, the general dangers of work-stress and the importance of maintaining a proper work-life balance, especially in business sectors where having that balance is often sniffed at. But what exactly is a stroke? In the time since I had mine, it has become painfully clear to me that unless...
Family cycling passion puts the drive into BikeStow
Mother and son Julie and George tell Jon Griffin how a love of cycling inspired a family business It started out purely as an enjoyable pastime and an attempt to make life easier for a family of enthusiastic cyclists – and now it’s a growing business attracting customers from Europe, the USA and Australia..... Entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes, from the Bransons and the Sugars through...
How one man’s X-ray vision targets smugglers
Michael Lamb shares the Syentium story with Jon Griffin. Michael Lamb is in splendid form on his home turf...humorous, knowledgeable, articulate and candid. An afternoon in his delightful Edwardian home on the outskirts of Worcester city centre involves discussion of smuggling, animal trafficking, scuba diving, hot air ballooning, life in the construction world, Pakistan...and much more. The...
Rob brushes aside the Pandemic with recruitment drive
Rob Hackles tells Jon Griffin how his business plan survived Covid. Rob Hackles is in candidly reflective mood in his Redditch office as he ponders the past 18 months. “I was wondering at the start of lockdown ‘am I still going to have a business this time next year?’ You would never put a pandemic in your business plan..... “It was a very painful eight to nine months. This time last year I was...