Why does this happen? It seems that incorrect decisions can be made as to personnel and who should be retained and who is detrimental to the business. Failure to understand the market sector, audience or products by new owners is common. I think that there’s also a misunderstanding about the value of personal relationships with key clients and then finally it appears that there’s often a clash of culture. In extreme situations I have seen ethical companies fail when taken over by money grabbing companies who have no regard for doing “the right thing”. Customers and employees suffer as a consequence.

But just as my mother always said “what goes around comes around”….

This year I have seen those entrepreneurial business owners who sold great businesses (or whose business went into administration) have had sufficient time to reflect and recover. The next stage of course is to pick themselves up and dust themselves down and start again. Starting again is key, using all that experience and revisiting loyal customers, suppliers and even loyal employees means that success is in sight and I for one am standing at the side line as a supporter for two businesses in particular that I know will be fabulous again. It seems that a year or two is needed in between but eventually there’s no ignoring the need to get back in the game. I have so much admiration for these guys and I know from my own experience that your hunger just increases and as soon as the time is right it’s time to start over but with even more determination.

My time is almost here…and I’ve never been more ready!

As a fellow family business owner I  can share many similar anecdotes to those in the opening chapters of the book but there’s one that stood out to me. Chapter One discusses the 1960’s and how business was built upon status –  ”our office was full of status symbols”. Well I remember that all too well when I used to visit our family’s company as a young child back in the late 70’s. John explains that there were 40 parking spaces on the way to the entrance of the building and these were strictly allocated according to seniority.

At T Saveker Limited whilst at our Phillips Street site we had a senior staff car park to the right of the main building and another car park to the left for everyone else. The ‘family’ were permitted to use the one to the right and yet I deliberately chose not to and much preferred to park with everyone else. I guess the fact that my car when I started with the company was more in keeping with the left hand car park meant in fitted in well. Once I could afford a slightly better car I didn’t see why car parking arrangements should change.

In 1997 when we moved premises (to Aldridge Road by Perry Barr Grey Hound Stadium)  a senior family member and board member instantly parked next to the entrance, irrespective of any potential disabled drivers etc. This was clearly an indication of status as he perceived it. As he arrived reasonably early each morning it set a challenge – to get in even earlier and park there. So I did.

John Timpson commented that as you moved up in the company management structure you could move closer to the door. This was so true and something I resented when I became Managing Director and later CEO. There were no set parking spaces from the moment I became MD.

Family businesses can have wonderful traditions and many look after employees well but status can continue to be a big issue – and yet as John explains, real success comes from empowering the workforce – given you have the correct workforce and no “drongos” as Timpson puts it!

It would seem that Marks and Spencer have announced profits today of £632.5m for the last financial year. Chairman, Sir Stuart Rose has suggested that the UK has now come through the worst of the recession. In so many ways I would agree that it does sound like that especially with such profits being stated in the press.

The bad news, for some….

However, the bigger picture is that those profits have been achieved by squeezing the suppliers. Major retailers such as M & S, Next (reporting 18% increase in profit), Sainsburys (who recently boasted a 17% hike in profits), Tesco’s (who reported record profits)  and others have been able to dictate prices to suppliers for a long time and the recession has certainly allowed them to hold all the power. As the CEO of a manufacturing SME in the Midlands during the worse of the recession we supplied shopfittings to the retail, leisure and construction sectors and I know first hand how these big players had no regard for the backbone of the UK. We were crippled – the phone’s stopped ringing in October 2008.

The sad news…

My family’s 106 year old business had no choice but to enter administration in March 2009 and I still wonder about all the other victims that have fallen by the wayside as a result of the recession – and in particular as a result of big retailers and car manufacturers ensuring they survived regardless. Of course as a businesswoman I understand the cut throat decisions that have to be made at times – that’s the duty of the directors but I just hope we realise that the headlines have a great deal more behind them and that the ongoing impact of the recession will cascade for months if not longer. What about the third sector and so many others?

The horizon in the UK is radically different now and we have a pool of highly skilled executives that have been thrown into the pot, professionals that have left or been discarded and it will be an interesting two years – of course we also have the new Government and faster moving technology… so interesting times ahead and they’ll be nothing like we have known before.

Having said all that, I still believe that we have a world of opportunities at our disposal and it’s time to seize them!

I hear so often “I had a good idea…” but nothing ever happens! The easy bit is the idea but the real value is in the delivery. Seeing something through is certainly made easier when you absolutely believe in it 100%

What made things start to fall into place for me and this particular concept was seeing the latest book released by Gallup… “Wellbeing”. Basically the book looks at 5 areas that need to be nurtured in order for us to have complete ‘wellbeing’.  It’s an area that fascinates me, from being a CEO of 100 employees and looking at reducing absenteeism to being frustrated by employability issues with young people. I also think that the last 12 months I have experienced have also allowed me to reflect and address a number of my own ‘wellbeing’ issues.

Gallup’s book is by Tom Rath and Jim Harter  and explores areas that we all should take care of:

- Career Wellbeing

- Social Wellbeing

- Financial Wellbeing

- Physical Wellbeing

- Community Wellbeing

Jeeves was something I started in January 2010 and we have gently shaped the brand towards lifestyle management.

What’s that?

Well, basically we provide a service to high profile and busy professional clients by taking care of anything that they do not have the time, expertise or inclination to do themselves. So we mainly arrange and manage house keeping, laundry, dog walking, landscaping, plumbing but equally can get asked to source Orangeries and corporate events for team building. This is provided through clients retaining our services on a membership basis.

Contact me to find out more on 07812 99 27 26 or email

This first article, which is many ways was just an introduction, explained a little of my own background and a brief overview of Savekers administration. We received some great feedback but the most touching email arrived in my in-box a few days later.

A lovely lady emailed me to say she and her husband had just read the magazine and came across my article. The reason for contacting me was because they had both worked for Savekers many years ago and indeed that was how they had met…

“My husband and I are in our 70’s and way back when we were teenagers we both worked at T Savekers in Phillips Street, Aston. I was employed by Mr Ron as Purchase Ledger Clerk and my husband started in the Steel shop under Mr Frank.  I was there for about five years. My husband left to go into the RAF but we eventually married in 1955.

So without Saveker’s we would never have met.

I remember the building and the good times we had. The dashing Mr Derek who came in to look after despatch and all the females were after him. Mr Bert was a darling who taught me how to speak over the tannoy.  Mr Ron was a wonderful boss and always said ‘well done’ when you balanced at the end of the month.

We both would like to wish you every success in your new venture I am sure you will succeed you have been through so much you deserve to.”

Of course I circulated this my family who were all deeply touched by the email. As a family run business we all had very strong ethics and this thoughtful message reminded us of what my Great Grandfather and relatives all stood for. So many couples met through the business and even had children that then worked for us. This is how we have chosen to remember Savekers Limited.

The next edition of Chatterbox features a piece on Employability

I’ve had a tough old few weeks for one reason or another and to sit with a cup of tea and indulge in 28 non work minutes with the laptop and my eldest son was a rare treat although listening to the programme was really quite strange.

To hear it back, albeit edited to remove the moments my voice broke under the emotion during the interview, was still very hard to hear. In many ways my grieving is still ongoing and I can feel the pain as much now as at the time. My husband knows all too well exactly how hard I still find it but each day that passes is a day we go  forward.

Ben, my son, said that he found it fascinating to hear. He has quite an understanding of the recession especially considering his age plus his ability to care and protect me is something we are incredibly proud of. My youngest son even wrote a piece at junior school recently about my experience and the family business, again he really does understand the human side of recession and the consequent fall out.

I was really quite worried that the interview would fail to portray the reality of what happened but I think all in all the producer, Laurence Grissell from the BBC, did a very good job. I’d be interested in what people think…if you want to hear for yourself, go to the following LINK

I’ve spent a little time over the past few days thinking about this time last year - remembering breaking the news to my parents, fending off suppliers, trying to ensure no one’s financial position worsened, being unable to let my closest friends and colleagues know what was to come, planning how I would actually tell our employees, not really understanding how administration worked, the feeling of letting go, the relief, the loneliness and the uncertainty of what lay ahead.

But here we are, a year on and still in one piece. In so many ways I’m now in a much better place.

Of course I have looked back and had moments of insecurity and played events over in my mind – could anything have been done differently, could I have done more and so on. Each and every time  I know that the answer is the same – no. Very recently I was interviewed for Radio 4 along with some of my former employees and I am still surprised at just how emotional I can become when asked about the actual events of 10th March. I can hear the sounds on the shop floor as I stood in front of my workforce and can picture the faces that looked back at me – and I can certainly relive the sound of my own voice telling everyone that there was nothing more that could be done. In many ways it’s as if it was just yesterday. The pain is almost as raw.

In looking over the journey that has followed I have recalled how busy I have been, the lessons I have learnt, how many new contacts I have, how disappointed I have been with some relationships,  how many opportunities I have found and what new friendships have been forged.

I certainly haven’t had time to look back and dwell – it’s only ever forwards for me now. I still carry certain insecurities but then who doesn’t?

I’ve faced many demons and still know that I have the love and support of the people that truly matter and so I raise a glass to the original Savekers Limited and thank my great Grandfather for founding the company that provided me with the most valuable apprenticeship you could imagine. I have had such a wonderfully valuable training for life and if I can make any difference, even just to one person through my experiences, then it’s all been worthwhile.

The dream I had as a little girl to run my very own company (from scratch) has been realised this year. I am no longer the caretaker of someone else’s dream, I’m living my own.

Having said that, my dad is now embracing Twitter (@priuscarrier) and has a Linked In account – he certainly see’s the benefits to his business whereas Facebook is not something he likes for privacy reasons. I do understand his concerns and in many ways I am the first to say that Facebook is abused and misused in many cases – I wish people would learn how to lock down their privacy settings for example.

Combine social media with etiquette and there appears to be a whole other set of considerations. As someone that is very open to meeting new colleagues and opportunities through various networking forums, I have enjoyed using the likes of Linked In. I discovered the power of connecting pretty early on and indeed have forged some great business relationships as a result. I’ve been approached out of the blue by people in shared ‘Groups’ such as the Birmingham Post Group etc as well as professionals in my local area, associates etc and see nothing wrong in receiving requests from people. Of course on the off occasion I politely decline a connection (ie ignore a request) – who doesn’t?!

I did recently send a Linked In connection to someone that shares a mutual friendship and is within my local area – indeed she works in PR and was someone I felt I could recommend to my clients at Jeeves Services.  In my invitation to connect I referred to our mutual friend (who is also a business associate) in the hope it would explain who I was and that it would be nice to meet up as we live very close. Yesterday I received a reply and one that I had certainly not expected…

“Thanks for your email through Linked In, which I must admit, I was a little surprised to receive ….. I suppose I had assumed that as a first step, out of common courtesy and not least as you use her as a reference point in your email, you would have told her of your planned approach ….. I have to say, if it was me I would be likely to take offence at someone using my name as a way of introducing themselves without my knowledge, whether to a client or colleague? I value my professional reputation….”

So, a word of warning when trying to open up connections – some people clearly do not welcome what most of us do all the time whether electronically or in person.

My experience certainly made me stop and think (and question myself most of yesterday) but I actually stand by what I had done and that I see nothing wrong with a polite invitation. Clearly I have no desire to pursue any connection in this instance (!) but it does beg the question of social media etiquette and expectations! May be some people should come with a warning… “try connecting with me at your peril – I take myself far too seriously”

If you fancy connecting with me and my company, please feel free to drop me a line… a polite one of course!

You can find us on Twitter @jeevesservices and LinkedIn or email me directly dani@danisaveker.com

I’d also like to add another worthwhile link; my brother-in-law Tom Hemming on You Tube. Perfect for a little bit of relaxation! Enjoy!