Based in North Tyneside, Ian Wood has 30 years’ experience of working in training and education – as well as 20 years as a volunteer with the RNLI in Tynemouth and Cullercoats. Now, Ian is part of the North East Growth Hub’s team of Business Support Advisers, and specialises in supporting businesses that want to digitise and grow.

Tell us a bit about your previous experience and the types of issues you can help businesses with.

My background is in helping organisations to grow. I spent 30 years working in the education sector, including as a non-executive director, as a self-employed consultant and as a managing director, and I’ve helped organisations increase their turnover from zero to £5million plus.

Now, as well as being a Growth Hub Business Support Adviser, I also help run the North East Growth Hub’s Made Smarter programme, helping manufacturers increase profits and grow by investing in digital technology, so I’m well placed to advise people – whatever sector they’re in - on digitisation, from large-scale equipment through to software and CRM systems.

What kinds of questions and challenges do people ask you about?

Each business that contacts us has its own individual requirements, one common theme is that these businesses have accepted that the energy costs are higher and have absorbed them, however they are now actively looking at ways of reducing energy consumption by improving efficiency and reducing waste, thereby minimising energy costs.  We have put together a Net Zero toolkit which has the steps to take, and the support available to achieve this.

What makes the Business Support Adviser service so useful for North East businesses?

I’d say it’s the breadth of experience the team has. I can draw on the expertise of my fellow Advisers – for example, Ken has great knowledge of HR, Karen’s background includes time at the Department for Business & Trade, and Keith specialises in digital and tech businesses – so between us, we are a one-stop-shop and we can make sure people always get the advice they need.

We also cover the whole North East LEP region and can tell businesses about support available for them region-wide as well as in their local area. One minute I can be talking to someone in Berwick and my next call could be with a business in Barnard Castle.

What are your top tips for anyone running a small business in the North East?

Firstly, keep an eye on cash flow. I find it’s very common amongst small and micro businesses for people to be so busy doing the day-to-day work that they take their eye off the back office. Make sure you set up your accounts, invoices and financial systems correctly from the start or you could run into difficulties.

It’s also important to have a business plan from the very beginning and to develop plans and forecasts for a range of scenarios, both good and bad. Revisit your plan regularly and make sure it’s adaptable. This is especially important now, when we’re seeing so much change in the UK economy.

There’s plenty of support out there to help you with these things so make sure you take advantage of it – starting by making an appointment to chat to me or one of the other North East Growth Hub Business Support Advisers!

Make an appointment with a North East Growth Hub Business Support Advisers here.