We recently connected with Andy Gatenby and have shared our conversation below.

Andy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Folks often look at a successful business and imagine it was an overnight success, but from what we’ve seen this is often far from the truth. We’d love to hear your scaling up story – walk us through how you grew over time – what were some of the big things you had to do to grow and what was that scaling up journey like?

One of the biggest things that has held me back is trying to hold onto everything myself. My wife, Kirsty, and I founded CGE Southern, a company specialising in domestic and commercial gas plumbing and heating. I wanted to keep control of everything and was scared to let go of different aspects as I was worried that other people wouldn’t be able to do the work as well as me. Doing so held me back massively and meant that, in a relatively short time, I became overworked. I understood that to scale our company, this needed to change, and I started with a business group called Synergy Success Network. They delivered business and life training to help me grow in all aspects of life. I had been a group member for roughly 12 months when I approached the director, Mark Legg, who also owns a large-scale construction company called CDM Contractors, which is 15 years old. I asked if he would be interested in buying half of our company and coming on board as a 50/50 partner. We set up a meeting with myself, Mark and his brother Kyle, a director of CDM Contractors. And the deal was done. It was a great relief to give away 50%, and it was an instant weight lifted off my shoulders. Mark devised a business expansion plan and immediately assigned different people to different jobs. Which completely freed up my time to focus on getting the work done and dealing with the clients. After just six weeks into our new partnership, our company turnover was half the previous year’s annual turnover. My advice to anyone who wants to be successful at anything in life is to find and be around people who are already doing what you want to do and are already successful. It’s the fastest shortcut to success. And only take advice from people who are experts in that field. Too many people are quick to give, primarily bad advice in areas they need to learn about themselves.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m an actor, producer and business owner of CGE Southern. I’ve always worked extremely hard in life. I was also a professional boxer and was unbeaten in six fights before I had an issue with an eye exam and had to retire. Boxing has helped me massively in life, giving me a championship mindset. This experience has been transferred to business and acting now. I’ve got resilience and thrive under pressure. I’m growing as a leader and building a fantastic team in our company. Having the background that I have sets me apart from many competitors. We have a business expansion plan in place and are en route to grow to a seven-figure company. I’m also working on producing a new TV Series that will go into pre-production shortly.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

The three main factors are knowing, liking, and trusting before you can do business with anybody. Suppose one of the three factors is missing; it won’t work out. My number one core value is integrity; I always do my best to do what I’ve said I Will do. I will always be open, own up to mistakes, and be honest with people around me. I take responsibility and ownership for all of my actions, making doing business with me easy as I always do what I say I will do.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

The team will grow at the same rate as you grow as a leader; I try to keep a positive environment and avoid negativity. We are working on personal development plans with all staff and giving them all the tools needed to be the best versions of themselves. We also provide staff gym memberships, and we regularly meet at the gym in the morning, train together and then go about our day. A healthy body is a healthy mind. The key to feeling good is personal development. As long as you are growing, you will feel good and then pass that on to the people around you.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.andygatenby.co.uk
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andygatenby_1/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/andy-gatenby-378a93286
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndyGatenby_1

Image Credits
Tom Ziebell