Flip Your Marketing Strategy with Nathan Ing

[00:00:00] Ben: How are you developing the team?

[00:00:01] Nathan: An example, our team upstairs, they were finding things a little bit difficult, and we had a chat about it, and we put structure into place, and that’s really sort of helped, and now they feel that they’ve got a voice, that they can put ideas forwards between them. That’s what we’re trying now to do, pull the whole team in together.

Sometimes you’ve got this amazing team behind you, but you forget they need you, and they want you to hear them. 

[00:00:29] Ben: Before we dive into today’s episode, a quick word from our sponsors, and by sponsors I mean me, because Berkhamsted & Beyond is now proudly brought to you by Chuffed Productions, the video production specialists based right here in Berkhamsted.

I know, I’m sponsoring my own podcast. I should’ve thought of it before, right? So if you’ve got a challenge in your business that a video could help solve, we’d love to help. Head to our website, chuffed.video to get in touch. Now on with the show. Nathan Ing, welcome to Berkhamsted & Beyond. 

[00:00:59] Nathan: Good morning. Thank you for having me.

[00:01:01] Ben: Uh, we’re giggling ’cause this is take two. Uh, but anyway, uh, we’re recording on all the cameras and everything we should be now. Uh, welcome to the podcast. You’re a bit of a Berko lad, aren’t you? Bor- born and bred, or bred? 

[00:01:12] Nathan: Uh, no, yeah, not born and bred in Berko, but, uh, my Nan lived in Berko, uh, up on Tresco Road, and I used to spend the summer holidays with her, so Berko was my hometown for six weeks of the year.

[00:01:25] Ben: Okay. And you’re, uh, in the beyond part of Berko now, in the kind of Tring and Aylesbury area. 

[00:01:31] Nathan: Yeah. 

[00:01:32] Ben: Uh, and the business, uh, is Radley Doors and Windows. 

[00:01:36] Nathan: Yep. 

[00:01:36] Ben: But it’s not what you’ve always done. T- tell us about, tell us about you, tell us about Radley. 

[00:01:41] Nathan: Okay. Uh, so initially I always thought I was gonna make it as a DJ, and that’s what I wanted to do.

Uh, so age 16 I started DJing and I learnt my craft and, uh, I was working on my own by the time I was 18, uh, doing weddings and birthday parties. Uh, learnt to talk on a mic. Did some compering and things like that. Um, and then, uh, I grew to a point where, you know, I was doing really well and I had agents working for me and stuff like that, but it never really went anywhere.

And I tried the clubs and pubs, and then I went back to being King of Cheese, as they used to call me. Um, and- Cheese, 

[00:02:26] Ben: Cheese Sells … 

[00:02:26] Nathan: Cheese Sells, and it was great, and everyone else wanted to be a club DJ, and I was w- just doing King of Cheese. And, uh, you know, regularly doing sort of 2, 3000 people a- at events across the south of the country.

[00:02:39] Ben: Yeah. 

[00:02:40] Nathan: And I did that for, uh, uh, picked it back up. Let it drop a little bit and then picked it back up when my, uh, girls were born and, uh, made it a sort of working full time and then working as a DJ to support that so that my wife, uh, could stay at home and look after the kids, um, which was very successful.

And then I realized that I was getting too old. So I thought, I’d better concentrate on my proper job, and I did that, and at the time, I was working for Radley Windows and Doors in Aylesbury. And, uh, so I threw myself into that. And then in 2020, just before COVID, I bought the company, which was a great time to buy a company.

[00:03:28] Ben: Yeah, well, obviously that was gonna be the next question. Uh, okay. How, how… So how did… Uh, loads to di- dive into there. Sure. L- let’s talk about the DJ stuff first and we’ll, we’ll come, we’ll come back to Radley. 

[00:03:38] Nathan: Yep. 

[00:03:39] Ben: So, uh, that’s kind of like a, a lifelong yearning, is it? Or it’s what you always wanted to do, and what, why, why, why don’t you think it worked or, or what kinda happened along the way?

[00:03:51] Nathan: Uh, no, I mean, it did work. It, it, it did me very well for years and years and years. Um, I, I wanted… I thought I was gonna be successful. I wanted to be Norman Cook or, you know, those kind of DJs. But, um, apparently Norman Cook doesn’t do cheese like I do, so. Or 

[00:04:10] Ben: just not as well as- … as well as you did. Yes.

[00:04:12] Nathan: Maybe. Um, but it was, it was always a hobby. I’ve got pictures of me doing it for my sister when, uh, you know, I was sort of 12, 13, and I had the old, uh, stereo on one side and record player on the other. And I was doing a bit on tape and a bit on, on the record player and stuff like that. So I always… I, I just loved music generally.

Uh, my dad was very into music- Uh, my nan was a massive ABBA fan, so when I was at my nan’s house it was eight-track in and we’d have ABBA on in the background all the time. 

[00:04:44] Ben: Awesome. 

[00:04:44] Nathan: Um, so music was kind of really s- my dad was in a band, so you know, it was really thrown at, at me all the time. Um, and so I did it and I thought, well this is, seems like a sensible way to go forwards and make a career of something that I love.

The problem is that it’s not actually as glamorous as you think it is as a job. And, uh, half the time y- you know, you didn’t wanna be there and, and it just wasn’t… It, it, it was less of a hobby and more of a job, and it wasn’t fun. Um, and so you kind of grind it out and you do it because it’s your job and you take the good and, and, and live with the bad.

Which is what I did for years and years and years, and it was okay and it did all right and I had ups and downs and, like I say, you know, to be king of cheese and playing regularly in front of 2,000 or 3,000 people at events, you know, was pretty good. 

[00:05:43] Ben: I guess there’s always the thing, there’s a thing there as well of always having to be, always having to be up, always having to be happy whether, you know, whether there’s something going on, the car’s broken down on the way to the gig or, you know, small things like that- Cat got run over or- … or bigger things that are go, bigger things that are going, going on in life as well. So there’s always that. But what, h- what, what do you take from, from those days that you then bring into business now?

[00:06:08] Nathan: I’m great at talking to people. Uh, hello Ben. Uh, and so that’s, you know, that’s where I take, uh… I’ve learnt to do that. I’m good f- customer-facing or front-facing, um, dealing w- w- with situations, reading situations, reading people, and you can take all of those elements from being a DJ and then put them into your business life as well.

Um, so then we s- you know, I, when I was working then at Radley, um, I was the service engineer when I first went there and was very good with customers, uh, solving problems, trying to get the best out of that situation, which is all things that you do as a DJ really. You know, if a cable goes down you’ve gotta find that cable and then you’ve gotta repair it and mend it or work a, find a workaround. So those kind of elements you could take from that life into the, the other life. Um, and so i- I moved very quickly through Radley into sales because, again, I was good with people… and talking to people, um, reading s- people and reading situations and things like that.

Um, and then became GM. Uh, again, dealing with customers, dealing with staff. Um- So it’s all about sort of working with people, and that’s what I took from the DJing side of things to, into my working life. Um, and then the opportunity to buy Radley. 

[00:07:38] Ben: Talk to me about that then. How did, how did that come about?

So you’d been working at Radley for how many years at the time? 

[00:07:44] Nathan: About 10 years at that point. 

[00:07:45] Ben: Okay. So you knew the business, and you knew, knew it. And, and you’d been GM for a while. 

[00:07:49] Nathan: I’d been GM, so I thought I knew everything. 

[00:07:52] Ben: Yeah. 

[00:07:52] Nathan: Um, and- Or did you not? 

[00:07:54] Ben: Did, is this… 

[00:07:55] Nathan: No, I found out very quickly. Um, uh, Charles was the owner at the time, Charles, uh, Robertson.

Uh, my mentor, my friend, very, uh, good guy to work for. Um, and he basically came to me and said, “Right, Nathan, uh, I’ve got… I, I wanna retire. I’ve got two options. Um, I can sell the company to somebody, anybody, and they’ll do what they want with it, or we can work something out and I can sell it to you.” So I was like, “Ooh, I like option two.”

[00:08:24] Ben: Mm. 

[00:08:24] Nathan: Um, so we went down that route, and we put together a deal and a package, um, where Charles was going to help me through with it. 

[00:08:33] Ben: Yeah. 

[00:08:33] Nathan: And see, uh, help me to be a business owner and all the things that I didn’t know. 

[00:08:40] Ben: So all those things you didn’t know, did, had, had you ever, had you ever wanted to be a business owner or did-

[00:08:45] Nathan: Uh, not really. Not at the time. I, it, it, it was more that the opportunity fell on my lap. Um, and I didn’t want… I, I… If somebody else had come in, they would’ve, they might have wanted to be GM, and I felt that my job, my career, my lifestyle, if you like, was, uh, uh, gonna be in a threatening sit- or, or thr- in threat- because of the sale of the company. So I spoke to Chris, my wife, and said, “Look, you know, there’s this opportunity to buy an, a, a well-established company with a really good reputation in the local area, um, that I work for and know.” And Chris just sort of said, “Yeah, okay, let’s do it.” So we went into it together, uh, you know, as a partnership and, um, obviously I own it, but, uh, you.

[00:09:36] Ben: Yeah, like any- 

[00:09:37] Nathan: Behind every great man… is a better woman, right? 

[00:09:39] Ben: Yeah. 

[00:09:39] Nathan: Um, and so, uh, she was fully on board with it. Um, the thing was that COVID hit, and then Charlie was pretty much like, “Well, I’m not coming back. Here’s the keys. Good luck. Phone me if you need me,” kind of thing. Right. “I’ll be on a golf course somewhere.”

Um, so, you know, I thought, “Well, I know what I’m doing. I’ve run, I’ve run the company Char- while Charles has been on the golf course for years.” 

[00:10:07] Ben: So go back to that moment then. Um- It’s the, that’s like a proper gear shift, isn’t it? So you … I mean, it was for everyone. 

[00:10:16] Nathan: Yep. 

[00:10:17] Ben: Um, but that moment where Charlie said, “Here’s the keys.

You’re, you’re on your own,” uh, what are you thinking and feeling then? 

[00:10:26] Nathan: Um, at, at the time-  

[00:10:28] Ben: I know it all. 

[00:10:29] Nathan: Yeah. I, I, I’m thinking, I’m thinking, “I can do this,” you know? I … Well, I ran it and, and, you know, I was GM while Charlie was, you know, just swanning around… as a business owner. Um, and that was my impression at the time.

Um, however, what I didn’t realize was how much Charles was doing behind the scenes and, uh, uh, you know, the decisions that he had to make. And I, as GM, you know, I could go to Charlie and say, “Right, uh, what … Can I do this?” And he says yes or no. And if I can’t do it, I go back to the customer and go, “Charlie says I can’t do it.

Sorry.” Uh, whereas now it’s like, well, I say, “I can’t do it.” And the customer’s like, “Yeah, but you can.” So for a while I was like, “Okay, I can.” And then you start to realize that actually you shouldn’t, and that you can’t sometimes say yes to things that you can’t deliver on, and that you have to give people bad news sometimes, and that’s just unfortunately the way it is.

Um, so I learnt that very quickly. I knew nothing about finances. Um, so I had to learn that very quickly. Um, fast-forward six years, I’ve got a business coach now that helps me. Um, very, very good. Highly recommend it to any business owner out there. Um, get a good business coach behind you. Bounce ideas off them, learn from them.

They will teach you what you don’t already know and what you need to know, and suddenly I’m staring at spreadsheets and, you know, working finance out and things like that, that I never thought I would be doing when I, you know, 16 years ago, had a drill in my hand and I was fixing doors for people. 

[00:12:14] Ben: It’s, it’s really interesting that you say that ’cause, um, you know, w- we’ve, we’ve had coaches, uh, of, of various different sorts on, on, on the podcast before.

Yeah. And we will have more that come ’cause they, they come in all shapes and sizes and guises and it’s like that… different areas. And, um, yeah, I, I’m totally with you. You fi- finding the right one for you. I’ve had various mentors and coaches over the year because similar to you, I came into business as…

Well, I came from here in front of the camera, in truth, this is why I came back to the, the podcast is to… stretch my presenter’s legs in front of the camera again. But didn’t know anything about business and was running a business. So then you get through it for a bit, and then all of a sudden someone’s like, “Do you know you could do this?”

And it’s, I think you can shortcut as well, can’t you… your, your way to it. And we’re always learning, right? 

[00:13:03] Nathan: Yeah, absolutely. Um, and you, you… Sometimes you have to make an educated guess. You, you… But it’s nice sometimes to have a, somebody in your corner. It, it, you know, other business owners talk to other business owners.

I do a lot of that. Um, I copy, uh, other businesses and their ideas, uh, if I think it’s a good idea. Um, and I’ve learnt to do that, but i- it’s very difficult sometimes. A lot of other business owners, you say to them, you know, “How’s things?” And they don’t wanna tell you it’s bad, so they go, “Yeah, no, it’s great.

We’re doing great.” You’re like, “Okay, but how are, how, how really are things?” 

[00:13:43] Ben: Yeah, of course. 

[00:13:43] Nathan: And they’re like, “Well, it’s tough.” 

[00:13:45] Ben: Yeah. 

[00:13:45] Nathan: Okay, why don’t we just start with that? You know, let’s talk it as business owners. Let’s actually talk about-” how tough things are and the challenges that we’re facing, and maybe we can work things out together or learn from it, from each other.

[00:13:58] Ben: It’s… You’ve got a business coach. Are you in any, any other kind of gr- groups or, uh, any sort of mas- Have you done mastermind groups, that kind of stuff before? 

[00:14:06] Nathan: I’ve done networking things. Um, very much, uh, a part of ABC Group, which is Aylesbury Business Connected, and go and do a lot of those. Uh, we’re twinned together, um, do a lot of the stuff with them.

Um, and, um, I’ve tried a few of the other ones out there. 

[00:14:25] Ben: Yeah. 

[00:14:25] Nathan: Um, I tend not to go for paid ones. Uh, I feel that they’re, f- for me, I feel that they’re too much pressure, uh, to deliver the next time that you go back. They always want you to deliver results. 

[00:14:38] Ben: Yeah, I, yeah. It’s, it’s a thing that I think we’d, we’re, we’re probably talking about the s- the, the same kind of ones where it’s all based on referral, and then y- all of a sudden it’s like, “Oh, I haven’t got a referral this week, so I’ll just…” And then the, the kind of quality- 

[00:14:50] Nathan: And you’re made to feel really bad about it or the qual- or, 

[00:14:52] Ben: or you make one up and the quality drops, right? 

[00:14:54] Nathan: Yeah. 

[00:14:55] Ben: I used, I used to do it for a mate.

Shouldn’t really say this on the podcast, but i- he was- … in one of the groups, and it would always be like, “I haven’t got a referral for someone. Can you just have this conversation?” And obviously I wouldn’t go to, I wouldn’t do that. You know, been, I’ve been so many more years in business now, I wouldn’t do it ’cause it’s a waste of people’s time.

But, um- Yeah … yeah, I just think… And also the, I think the kind of business that, that you w- it doesn’t suit every business either, right? 

[00:15:18] Nathan: No. Absolutely not. And, and we’re very much a, a, a B2C business, so business to consumer. Um, a lot of the networking groups, y- you know, they want to deal with B2B, which is business to business.

Um, and so j- we are a little bit of an outsider when we go to these networking groups. But, um- Everybody’s a homeowner and everybody knows somebody that’s a homeowner. So I look at it in that sense. Plus it’s just remembering the brands, um, I’ve worked. Again, marketing was something that I didn’t know and understand, so I had to do a lot of work to, uh, learn marketing when I became a business owner.

And now that is, you know, I’ve, I’ve built a good structure at Radley. I have a, an amazing team of people behind me. Um, and I’ve always said that, you know, to be a good captain of the ship you have to have a good crew. And if you haven’t got a good crew, y- you’re just a, a captain sailing y- your own boat really.

Um, I have a very, very good team, and that allows me to go and do the things that I want to do and enjoy, which is the marketing side of- 

[00:16:26] Ben: I’m really interested to dig into that team thing, uh, because that is a thing, uh, uh, with business owners as well. It’s like, well, I’m just running the business, and then all of a sudden it’s like, oh, well now I’m leading a team and it’s about being, being a good leader and looking after those, you know, that you lead. You’ve, you’ve got that responsibility. 

[00:16:43] Nathan: Yep. 

[00:16:44] Ben: You were GM before, so I presume you’ve already got that k- you know, you’ve, you’ve, you’ve got that feel within the team. But obviously then when you moved from GM to business owner, how were the team around that change?

[00:16:56] Nathan: The, the team were fine with it because the- they knew it was the obvious transition for Charlie to leave and me to take over, because I was GM already. But again, it goes back to the same thing that we were talking, um, about with customers where, you know, I, as a GM I carried out Charlie’s instructions. So if somebody needed telling off, Charlie told me they needed a telling off and I had to go and deliver that.

Now I have to make that decision to tell them off myself if that’s the case. Um- And so, uh, uh, suddenly you become, uh, you know, there’s nobody behind you. You are the top dog, I suppose, but that sounds very, um, big-headed, and I don’t mean it that way. 

[00:17:39] Ben: Well, it’s the kind of the buck stops, isn’t it? It’s you, you…

The, the last line of responsibility, I think, isn’t it? 

[00:17:44] Nathan: Yeah, 100%, and it’s quite daunting, and it’s quite lonely as well. Um, y- you know, you think you’ve made it, but I would say that there’s a lot of business out- owners out there that, um, that think, “Well, actually, you know, I’m on my own here ’cause the staff don’t wanna be my friend.

They wanna talk behind my back,” ’cause that’s how everybody, every business owner feels. Whether the staff do or not, I don’t know. Um, but you feel that you, you’re not friends with a lot of the staff, and then you’ve got nobody above you, and if you talk to other business owners, they just wanna f- feed you a story about how well they’re doing.

And even if you’re struggling, they don’t… You have to lie to them and say, “No, no, no, we’re doing good as well.” Um, and it’s, i- you know, it’s very lonely. You don’t wanna talk to your wife about it sometimes… because she’s gonna get stressed, and that affects your home life. And so you, you tend to keep a lot of this to yourself and take a lot of it on yourself, and it, it’s quite a weight on your shoulders.

[00:18:46] Ben: It, it’s such a common thing as I, I, I…, I resonate… That resonates with me so much … about not you, you like… You wanna sh- obviously, you wanna share things with your wife or your partner, um, but you, you, you don’t wanna take it home. 

[00:19:01] Nathan: No. 

[00:19:01] Ben: Cause you then you don’t want it to affect the home life, but then what you don’t realize is that it’s probably affecting the home life anyway- Probably ’cause you’re walking around like a miserable so-and-so. And it’s like- It’s like- … “What’s wrong with you?” “Ah, well, actually, this thing happened, and…” Um- 

[00:19:16] Nathan: So the best thing I did in that sense is I, um, allowed one of the staff, members of staff that was a very good, uh, fitter at the time, uh, to buy into the company.

[00:19:29] Ben: Right. 

[00:19:30] Nathan: And, uh, over the course of years, he is now, um, the managing director there. And that means I’ve now got somebody to share those story, uh, uh, that, those, those trials and tribulations with, um, from a business sense. ‘Cause I can talk to him about it, and we’re both in this together, you know. Um, and I, I often refer to him as my business partner.

Uh, you know, I, I own more of the company than he does, but, um, we deal with it as a, uh, as a unit together. And suddenly I’ve got somebody to bounce ideas off. Plus I’ve got my business coach to bounce ideas off. So suddenly the, it’s not so lonely anymore. Um, and this is where I’d highly recommend to people, you know, get some support as a business owner, especially, y- you know, as a rising business owner.

Get some support behind you, somebody that’s, that’s there for you to talk to. 

[00:20:22] Ben: And it is often, it’s just to bounce an idea off, isn’t it? 

[00:20:24] Nathan: Yeah, 100%.  

[00:20:25] Ben: Talk to me about how that came around then with the, with the business coach. Was it a recommendation? Was it someone that approached you, or?  

[00:20:30] Nathan: It was a networking thing.

So I bumped into him and, um, he said, “You know, I’d love to work with you.” Uh, Bradley’s got a great reputation. I told him my story and he said, “Yeah, totally, um, you know, could help you with this.” Uh, ’cause I’m quite o- out there. I’ve got nothing to hide. I, I don’t hide anything from anyone. Um, so, uh, yeah, I told him all about it and, uh, and he said, “Yeah, I think I can help.”

And so in he comes and, uh, and we’ve worked together now for two, two and a half years. Um, and he still helps me today as much as he did two and a half years ago. 

[00:21:06] Ben: Is it something that you bring into the business as well, coaches for oth- for, uh, other members of the team? Um, or d- have sort of, you know, not necessarily coaching days, but the, the training days.

How, how, how are you developing the team? 

[00:21:20] Nathan: We do a lot… So I bounce a lot of ideas with Justin and, um, he gives me a lot of input back. So if I feel that the staff, there’s a certain member of staff that needs something, then I would talk to Justin about it. Justin gives me ideas, and then I put that back. Um, an example, you know, our, our team upstairs, the, the girls, they are all girls, three of them, um, uh, they were finding things a little bit difficult and we had a chat about it and we’ve put structure into place where we have now biweekly meetings.

Um, and that’s really sort of helped, and now they feel that they’ve got a voice, that they can put ideas forwards between them. Uh, they can talk amongst themselves while I sit there and watch as well, and that seems to really help. 

[00:22:06] Ben: I think it’s things like that that as a business owner that’s… When you started from, uh, you know- TV presenter in my case – DJ in your case, then running a business, you don’t even think about those meetings- No … or the, that kind… You know, and it… The important thing for me about those is the cadence of them as well. 

[00:22:23] Nathan: Yeah. 

[00:22:23] Ben: So for us, it’s, uh, it’s supposed to be a standup meeting. It’s, it’s one… We’ve got one remote, one here. Uh, and we call it a standup meeting first thing in the morning ’cause you race through everything, make sure everyone knows what they’re doing for the day, and off you go.

I mean, often that then turns into an hour with us ’cause we end up- … getting off track and diving into things, which probably some business coach would, uh, pull us up on that. Um, but it’s just the cadence, and then, then everybody knows what they’re doing and what’s expected of them, right? 

[00:22:50] Nathan: Yeah. And when you’ve got a team of 20, it, it’s not so easy to do a, a team of 20.

[00:22:56] Ben: Yeah. 

[00:22:56] Nathan: So what you do is you do a team of one, and I would sit there and talk to, um, Laney, who is the MD, and we would go through things. Um, but you forget about the others. So now it’s like, okay, let’s have a sales meeting with the sales team once a week. Let’s, um, uh, have a, a meeting with the, the processing side of things, the office staff, uh, once every two weeks.

Let’s have a meeting with the fitters once a month and make sure that everything’s fine. And that’s what we’re trying now to do and, and trying not to just have little individual meetings with ourselves. We’re just trying to sort of pull the whole team in together. Um, and that’s all come from a bit of business coaching w- that says, “Don’t forget about the rest of them.”

Um, y- and you’re like, “Yeah, okay.” I’m so focused on being a business owner that sometimes you’ve got this amazing team behind you, but you forget about the, the, the, um, the team, and that they need you, and they want you to hear them sometimes with their ideas that they wanna put forward. So you’re like, “Yeah, no, I forget about that.”

So let’s make sure we do that. Uh, and it’s very important. 

[00:24:06] Ben: A lot of people refer to that as getting everybody on, you know, on the bus and, and for… it’s not only on the bus but in the right, right direction. 

[00:24:13] Nathan: Yeah, 100%. We need… A- as a team, we want to drive the business forward, and it’s getting everybody involved in it.

It’s not just my idea. I can’t, I can’t pull the team forward. Um, you know, a- a- and as a business owner, uh, uh, when I bought the company, we had 10 staff, we’ve now got 20 staff, so we’ve doubled in size. We’ve doubled in turnover. Um, we have higher expectations of what we want to do out there. I think the, the window industry in general, uh, uh, people have the internet now more so than they did, um, uh, back when Charles was running the company.

And so customers’ expectations are that you do a better job. Our expectation’s that we wanna do a better job, and the team is bigger. So, you know, normally when you get bigger team, standards drop, but we’re trying to raise our standards while growing a bigger team. And you need the team to be on board with all of that, and they are.

They’re an amazing team of people that I have, and I’m very, very lucky to have such a good team behind me that makes my job easy. And I, I look at a lot of, you know, a lot of what I’ve done, because I was inexperienced as a business owner I thought, “Right, let’s do this. Uh, let’s put my home life, anything that I would say in my home life, into business.”

So my father-in-law said to me when I got married, you know, he said, uh, there was two things he said, “Always remember this, ‘Yes, dear,'” uh, are the magic words, and the other thing was, “Happy wife, happy life.” So you put that into business practice and you say, “Right, okay, um, happy staff, happy life.” So you keep the staff happy, you have…

It, it, it makes my job a lot easier. And so I look after them, maintain, you know, their needs as well, uh, as my own. Uh, 

[00:26:01] Ben: but they deserve to be happy, right? They should. And, and they, they should… They’re, they’re doing the same thing. They’ve, they’ve got a family behind them. 

[00:26:07] Nathan: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So. All of them.

And, you know, if they can… If I can create an atmosphere where people want to come and w- and work for me, then, you know, I’ll take that as a win. 

[00:26:19] Ben: Now, speaking of atmospheres, uh, there’s a second business that’s, uh, it’s based around atmosphere in a, in a way. 

[00:26:25] Nathan: Yeah, kind of developed from a… First thing I did at Radley was expand and we bought our own premises and all of this kind of stuff.

And then I started to adjust my role to a marketing role. So I thought, “Right, I need to look into and learn marketing very, very quickly.” So we got that annoying jingle back on the radio. That was the first thing we did, because that was a real earworm and that had been going for years and years before.

Um, but unfortunately, Mix 96 had, had sold out. So we found a local radio station that had started up. We put our advert back on. So that was my first marketing thing. And then I started to look at what Charlie was doing, and he was spending a lot of money on newspapers and magazines and things that I didn’t think were gonna work anymore.

Um, they were sort of dying medias, if you like. Um, so I, I, I suddenly came up with this great idea and I go back to I copy people. 

[00:27:22] Ben: Appropriate. 

[00:27:23] Nathan: Uh, yes. Okay. Uh, and I’m a big touring car fan, and um, a good friend of mine is, uh, the CEO of Kwik Fit, and Kwik Fit sponsor the touring cars. 

[00:27:33] Ben: Yeah. 

[00:27:34] Nathan: And so we would go to the touring cars.

He would have to go and do the handshaking thing. And um, when he did, they had a stand there and it was a sort of trailer, uh, like a, a, uh, with hospitality in it, and then they would give away bags, water bottles, and caps. And I’m like, “What a great idea.” 

[00:27:53] Ben: Yeah. 

[00:27:54] Nathan: So I went back, um- S- spoke to my wife, uh, Chris spoke to Laney, the guy who I, at the time was GM or MD, um, and a shareholder, and said, “Look, I got this great idea.

What I’m gonna do is I’m gonna buy a stage trailer, uh, slam my two loves back together, and I’m gonna go out into the community and I’m gonna do school summer fairs, school sports days, and all of this kind of stuff with a branded trailer, and we’re gonna give away bags and water bottles and stuff.” And they’re like, “Okay, that sounds like a great idea.

And, and how much are we gonna charge from this? How much will this make?” This is the thing. We’re gonna do it free of charge for the community 

[00:28:36] Ben: And were they just going, “He just wants to be a DJ again”? 

[00:28:39] Nathan: Uh, well, Chris was. Uh, she was very much like… “Oh, here we go.” Uh- Where 

[00:28:43] Ben: there’s an itch and it needs 

[00:28:44] Nathan: scratching, it’s that thing, yeah. And I’m back out there and everything. Um- 

[00:28:48] Ben: It’s back to having two jobs 

[00:28:49] Nathan: It’s back to having two jobs now. Uh, Laney’s just rolls his eyes and says, “Whatever. Let’s see if it works.” Um, and so we went out. I, well I had to go and pick up a trailer from Wales, uh, and brought it back, and we c- stuck a couple of speakers in it and a bit of branding on there, and started to go out. And then, um, it grew, and it grew, and it, it became actually a very successful part of Radley in that, you know, it’s great the work we’re doing in the community, supporting schools or charities, helping them to raise huge amounts of money. Um, hundreds of thousands of pounds we’ve helped charities to raise.

[00:29:36] Ben: What, what’s the driver for that? ‘Cause there’s, there’s a g- there’s a giving back part of you obviously to that. There’s… ’cause the, the first question would be why do it for free? And it’s ’cause you wanna give it a… Not putting words in your mouth. Or in, in fact, no, why do it for free? There’s the first question.

[00:29:49] Nathan: Okay. Um, so we flipped our marketing. The market- the whole marketing strategy was flipped. Instead of marketing and then get a little bit of feelgood factor out of the whole thing, we flipped it. So feelgood factor and hopefully the marketing will follow. Um, so that’s, that’s why we do it. There is that itch.

I’m satisfying my itch. Um, and the company is running successfully itself. Um, and I’m still working at the company, you know, five days a week, and then I’m going out maybe another two days or- So 

[00:30:22] Ben: You’re just doing events rather than playing golf? 

[00:30:24] Nathan: Yeah. Basically it’s that. And it’s, it is, you know, some guys have a motorbike. Some guys play golf. Some guys have a season ticket a, at their favorite football club. 

[00:30:33] Ben: Yeah. And you’ve got a stage. 

[00:30:33] Nathan: I have a stage. And, um, and then it’s gr- and it’s grown, and now we’ve got, uh, a lighting rig on that stage. We’ve got huge sound options. We’ve got line array speakers and stuff so that we can go out and do bigger events.

Um, and yeah, the whole thing just, just grew, and grew, and grew. And suddenly, you know, what should’ve been just doing school sports days and basically marketing the, marketing ourselves at an unmarketable event. 

[00:31:02] Ben: Yeah. 

[00:31:03] Nathan: Um, because it’s branded. And we always say to people, “As long as there’s adults at the event, and you don’t want us to cover up our branding-” 

[00:31:10] Ben: Yeah 

[00:31:12] Nathan: Then, uh, we’ll come out and do it for free. And so it is great marketing. 

[00:31:17] Ben: Yeah. 

[00:31:18] Nathan: But it’s great marketing because we’re doing something great in the community. 

[00:31:21] Ben: I’ll go back to the charity thing in a minute… ’cause I’m just interested in the business side of this. 

[00:31:25] Nathan: Yeah. 

[00:31:25] Ben: Uh, ’cause some people will be thinking, “Well, hang on, there’s plenty of dough involved in getting that thing on the road and you know, the actual time and everything spent in there. Can you… H- Have you worked out how you can… Can you track an RO- a, an ROI from, from those events? 

[00:31:38] Nathan: Yes. Uh, so we know, uh, we did last year, the events team cost us 20 grand, uh, in the year to run it. So… uh, you know, have junior staff, a lot of junior staff that work for me as well giving them opportunities to go and do something really cool as a job… you know, through the summer holidays. Um, so we pay staff to do it. Uh, we… Obviously, the giveaways, the bags, water bottles, that kind of stuff that… we’ve given away. And, um, it cost us 20 grand to run the events team over the course of 2025.

[00:32:12] Ben: Yeah. 

[00:32:13] Nathan: What we know it brought in in business was over half a million pounds worth of business. It wasn’t our primary objective, but it’s good to know that it’s actually working. And what we’re doing in the community is, you know, supporting the community, and the community are, are supporting us back as a company.

And my girls actually said to me once, you know, “Dad, you’re kind of revolutionary, aren’t you, with what they’re doing?” I was like, “Well, it’s not revolutionary. It’s actually rewinding time, I think, to when businesses cared about the community that they worked in.” And I don’t think that there are enough businesses that genuinely care about the community.

[00:32:53] Ben: So what, where does it… Let’s go back to that community then. And where does that care come from in, in you, and, and where does that, that, that want to help those charities as well? 

[00:33:02] Nathan: Yeah, I mean, it was accidental. Uh, if I’m honest, I wanted to be back on stage. Uh, that was the it, and I wanted to satisfy it, and I just thought, “Yeah, what a great idea.”

And I, I copied what Kwik Fit were doing, um, because they spend, they probably have a budget of millions, um, uh, for marketing and ideas, just for ideas of marketing. And they came up with this idea, and I thought, “Yeah, that sounds, that works for me. It fits.” Um, the, I mean, I’ve always been quite a charitable person.

I’ve, I, I’m one of these kind of people that would, you know, if you phone me and ask for help, I’ll come and help you. Um, and I don’t expect anything back from it, I just want to. Um, so, uh, I suppose it’s just putting all of that together. Um, and, you know, we come up with this great marketing idea and, and, and, and plan that is now five years strong and, and getting stronger. Uh, 50

[00:33:57] Ben: And showing great return on- 

[00:33:59] Nathan: And showing great return. 54 events we do a year, uh, for free, for charities and schools and- 

[00:34:05] Ben: Amazing … 

[00:34:05] Nathan: um, uh, you know, various community projects that are going on around, working with the, the town councils to put on perhaps their organizing event, and they’ve got a nice big stage that they’re putting on.

We’ll then go and put a second stage on and then, and say to them, “Right, we want to be, uh, a stage where junior bands can come on.” 

[00:34:26] Ben: Yeah. 

[00:34:27] Nathan: And so, yeah, you’ve got your big names up there or your big local bands that you’re putting on in the area. Um, we wanna put on, uh, give the opportunity for junior bands to go on and, and, and play and have an outlet for the, the, the youth. Um, and you know, that’s, that’s been very successful. Uh, doing Parklife in Aylesbury, which is a free event, but we’ve now added, uh, well, this year it’s gonna be called the Radley Tent, which is amazing. And that’s basically on Saturday we do kids entertainment in that tent. Um- Working with other people.

So we put the stage in. I don’t do the kids’ entertainment myself. Um, but kind of host it. 

[00:35:00] Ben: Too cheesy, right? 

[00:35:09] Nathan: Yeah, too t- yeah. Uh, I- Yeah, 

[00:35:10] Ben: They don’t like the cheesy. 

[00:35:10] Nathan: No … I’m not, I can’t bend down anymore- … to get down at that level. Um, and then you have, uh, then we do club in the park in the evening. Uh, on the Sunday morning we do Battle of the Bands with junior bands and, and adult bands, and then go into Bandoke in the afternoon, which is great fun.

And all of the time, the, the main stage is running, um… and doing what the main stage is doing. We’re just adding to this event. And that’s, it- it- it- I don’t know, it’s just really good to be out there and doing something. It actually feels really warm. You know? And doing a genuine good thing.

Um- So the events team, yeah, is, has now become its own business. 

[00:35:53] Ben: And two of your kids work, work with you- 

[00:35:55] Nathan: Yes … for you. Yes. So Tyler works for me, uh, in, uh, the sales team, and is doing very well, and, uh, which is really nice, so I get to see him every day. Um, and he’s still a thorn in my side every day, even though he’s moved out of home.

Um, and I’m probably a thorn in his side… to be fair. Um- 

[00:36:17] Ben: We’ll get him on. 

[00:36:17] Nathan: Yeah. Yeah. Give him a call. Uh, phone a friend. Um, and, uh, yeah, so that’s really nice, and it’s nice for him to be a part of the business that, you know, I’m very, very passionate about now. Um, and then, uh, Sophie is my middle, uh, always my middle child.

She’s my daughter. She’s m- was working on the events team, um, but has gone to university. But Emily, my youngest, uh, 16, she’s working on the events team- Amazing … through the, through, uh, you know, every weekend that we’re out there. 

[00:36:49] Ben: So with Tyler, obviously in sales, that’s quite an important role in the business.

So h- how was that around… What, how was the con- how’s the father and son conversation on that? Because- … there’s the, obviously when you, when you talk to people who’ve worked in, in their family’s businesses- 

[00:37:03] Nathan: Yeah … 

[00:37:03] Ben: there’s sometimes that thing of going, “Oh, well, you know, it’s just his son. He’s not, you know, he’s not earned the right to be here,” kind of thing. Was it a bit of that around it, or you’ve got a strong team culture anyway? 

[00:37:13] Nathan: I… So first thing with Tyler, I made him go out and get his own jobs and path his o- uh, uh, um, carve his own path- 

[00:37:21] Ben: Yeah … 

[00:37:21] Nathan: for a while. Um, so I didn’t just give him a job straight off. I think Tyler asked s- three times before I eventually was like, “Okay, we have a position here for you, and I think you’ve earned some experience in the past.”

[00:37:34] Ben: Were you apprehensive about that? 

[00:37:36] Nathan: Um, yes. It wasn’t me that employed him, actually. Uh, at the time, we had, um, a different GM, and, uh, w- my brother-in-law was also… I’d al- als- already employed my brother-in-law in sales. And it was the GM at the time, Dave, and my brother-in-law, uh, Steve, that said, um, “We think we could take Tyler on as, in, in sales now.”

And I was like, “Oh, okay, fine. You know, let’s do it, if the, if you think the timing’s right. Tyler had, had already asked.” So Tyler came in, but Tyler has to work hard because a lot of people feel that he’s silver-spooned. 

[00:38:18] Ben: Mm. 

[00:38:18] Nathan: Um, you know, he’s just here because he’s, he’s the boss’s son… right? Um, and so sometimes I do feel that, you know, I look at Tyler and, and he has to work just that little bit harder to keep everybody on side, um, and prove to everybody that he has to do the job and do the job well, and he’s there on his own merits, and not because I said so.

[00:38:40] Ben: Mm. 

[00:38:42] Nathan: So yeah, you know, it’s tough for, I think it is tough for him. But we have a very good, uh, I, I have, like, like I say, my brother-in-law is there as well. Um, and we’ve always maintained this good working relationship, uh, where at work I’m the boss, and then we lock the door at 5:00 or 6:00, whenever we go home. And then I’m not the boss. 

[00:39:04] Ben: Yeah. 

[00:39:05] Nathan: Now I’m dad or brother-in-law or … friend. Um, and so i- I do, I, I believe in, um, good work-life balance, and that at work we’re at work, and out of work we’re not at work. 

[00:39:20] Ben: Yeah. 

[00:39:21] Nathan: And, you know, I want that. I encourage my staff not to answer emails in… I don’t want them to have emails at home, um, in the evenings.

You know, if it’s their day off, don’t answer the email. 

[00:39:32] Ben: Yeah. 

[00:39:32] Nathan: Um- It’s not a 

[00:39:33] Ben: work day. 

[00:39:33] Nathan: Yeah. If you’re on holiday for a week, we’ll monitor your emails. You shouldn’t have to do it. And I do believe in that work-life balance. I think it’s important, um, for, massively … everybody. Um, so yeah, you know, he has to work very, very hard to do it.

Emily, Emily just praises the events team. She loves it, and I think if you love something, it’s the same as you and I. When you love our, your jobs that you do… um, it’s easy, and Emily makes it look easy. 

[00:40:02] Ben: Yeah. 

[00:40:04] Nathan: She learns everything. She puts together playlists. Emily’s brilliant. She’s exactly like me.

She loves music, and we sit there in the, the man den at home, and we listen to full albums, you know, or, or sometimes. 

[00:40:17] Ben: Fantastic. 

[00:40:17] Nathan: And, uh, and she likes new music, old music, and everything. And I think s- I was talking to somebody the other day, and I said, “Oh, Emily’s gonna, um, put her playlist on for a little bit.”

And they were like, “Oh, great, so it’s all gonna be modern stuff, is it?” And, you know… Michael Jackson and Phil Collins comes on, and they’re like, “Oh, this is a Fleetwood Mac. Oh, that’s quite… Oh.” Yeah, well, she is. And Emily made this, you know? Yeah. So, um, yeah, she’s, she’s very good. It’s, it’s nice to feel that musically, you know, s- there’s, uh, Emily’s like me and, and likes everything from new stuff to old stuff, and everything in between.

And that’s how my dad brought me up, you know, listening to music, uh, of all genres. So yeah. 

[00:41:02] Ben: Awesome. Um, believe it or not, our time is nearly up. Wow. Um, we could, we could go on. We could. Uh, and maybe the, maybe we will another time. Um, but I don’t want to leave without talking about Trick or Treat. 

[00:41:14] Nathan: Yeah, Halloween.

[00:41:15] Ben: ‘Cause this is absolutely brilliant. It’s an awesome idea. Tell us what happens at Radley at Trick or Treat. 

[00:41:21] Nathan: Okay, so I’ll be very, very quick. The idea stemmed from a photo shoot we were doing in the corner of Radley, where we’d got a child to come in dressed up, and Sophie was behind the door. Uh, a- and we were gonna put a post out on our social media saying, um, you know, “Safe trick-or-treating out there.”

And we stood there. There was me, Laney, and, and my social media guy, Ollie, and we stood there, and we were like, “We could do this for real.” So the next thing we know, uh, we phoned up our, our, our friends at the local radio station and said, “Right, you know, can you advertise this as come down to Radley and safe trick-or-treat?”

And they said, “It’s three days. Literally Halloween’s in three days, let’s see what we can do.” 

[00:42:05] Ben: Let’s do it. 

[00:42:05] Nathan: Um, and the concept was that they would… uh, kids would come in, knock on the doors. They would… it’s their, it’s for them to scare us, not us to scare them. So the, the place is, yeah, lit up in lots of colors and smoke machines and all that kind of stuff going on.

But, um, it’s not a scary atmosphere. 

[00:42:25] Ben: Yeah. 

[00:42:25] Nathan: Um, and we have themes that go on behind the doors. So one year it was Alice in Wonderland. Another year it was The Wizard of Oz and Wicked and that kind of stuff. Um, and they basically come in and trick-or-treat, and we would d- do that. So we had, the first year we had 10 doors, three days advertising, 100 kids turned up, which was pretty cool.

Um, fast-forward, we now, this year will be our fifth year, I think. So last year, fourth year, 800 kids came through. Um- … we had a 20-minute queue up the road to get in.  

[00:43:00] Ben: No way. 

[00:43:01] Nathan: We have American trucks there. We have fire breathers outside, uh, stilt walkers, Transformers, um, burger vans, bars all outside, uh, 13 doors to trick-or-treat on inside.

Amazing. Uh, local businesses help us and support and sponsor the doors to help us ’cause- The, if you’ve got 13 doors and potentially- That many kids … budgeting for 1,000 kids… it’s, pa- 

[00:43:27] Ben: There’s 

[00:43:27] Nathan: a few packets 

[00:43:27] Ben: of sweets there 

[00:43:28] Nathan: Yeah, 13,000, to be fair. Um, and so you can imagine what Radley smells like a d- a day before when it’s just a sugary smell, um, when we’ve got them all in buckets.

Um, but it’s absolutely mad, and it goes back to this whole community spirit thing. 

[00:43:43] Ben: It’s amazing. 

[00:43:44] Nathan: Um, and it is just… We raised, I think, 2,500 for, um, Florence Nightingale Hospice as well last year, uh, w- which makes it even more incredible. And we’re basically giving people a safe trick-or-treating and, and, you know, without the, uh, the, the, the worry that you’re gonna, one, get scared yourself to the point where you’re just gonna go home and that’s the end of that, and you’ve put your child off. Or two, I mean, you’re knocking on people’s doors, and you don’t know what you’re gonna get at Halloween. Uh, in the dark, in the rain perhaps. And so this is like, “No, come to us. It’s nice and safe, and safe environments too, and we’ve got plenty of doors to do it on.”

Awesome. So, uh, yeah, it’s a really, really good experience, and, and, uh, you know, anybody, everybody should come down. It’s Halloween, by the way. We do it on Halloween. 

[00:44:34] Ben: Yeah, on Halloween. Awesome. 

[00:44:35] Nathan: Um, and we even do a SEND session before that. So um, we have kids that come down with wheelchairs w- where we give them sticks to bang on the doors. ‘Cause they can’t do that. They can’t come and bang on your door with a stick. Um, and we have quiet rooms for, uh, you know, uh, s- s- special educational needs … and disabilities or disabled children to come down and have that experience that they wouldn’t normally have. Um so yeah, very, very proud of our Halloween and what we’ve done there. 

[00:45:05] Ben: And so you should be. 

[00:45:06] Nathan: Thank you. 

[00:45:06] Ben: Um, it’s been great chatting with you. 

[00:45:08] Nathan: Yeah. Thank you. 

[00:45:09] Ben: We will do it again, I’m sure, at some point. Yeah, we could go on. Keep doing, yeah, keep doing what you’re doing. Uh, for those that want to get involved with the events and obviously with the doors and the windows, we’ll put all the details in the show notes.

But, uh- Thank you … if anyone’s interested in, in, in an event, they can get ahold of you, right? 

[00:45:24] Nathan: Yep. Um, so just go through the normal channels at Radley Aylesbury, uh, website, radleyaylesbury.co.uk. Um, you will… Uh, there’s a contact us there, uh, or you can speak to our AI chatbot, Megan, uh, and just put on there, I’d like, you know, I wanna w- I’m organizing an event, and I’d love the events team to come along. And that will come straight to me. I’ll give you a call, and we’ll see what we can do for you. 

[00:45:49] Ben: Superb. Nathan, great to talk to you. 

[00:45:51] Nathan: Thank you. 

[00:45:52] Ben: Cheers. Thanks for watching this week’s episode of Berko and Beyond. If you’d like to be a guest on the show, then drop us an email, podcast@berkoandbeyond.com. And don’t forget to like and subscribe wherever you watch or listen to your podcasts.

We’ll see you next week.