Yorkshire Fastest 50: Companies must be agile, says Charlene Lyons, CEO at Black Sheep Brewery

Ms Lyons told the 250-strong audience at Aspire in Leeds: “During the last few years, we have had to pivot more times, than I knew it was possible to pivot. Our brand has expanded to satisfy our customers and their changing demands. When Covid hit, and most brewers stopped production, we increased ours.

"Why did we do that? We knew that supermarkets were still going to buy beer, so we increased our production quite significantly so that when we got those orders through, we could confidently say, ‘Yes, we can deliver.’”

The Black Sheep Brewery has grown from humble beginnings to become a multi-award-winning company. As well as its visitor centre bar and bistro in Masham, the brewery also owns and operates a growing number of pubs and bars . In her speech, Ms Lyons said people are “front and centre” at Black Sheep. She recalled a trip to Google’s head office which underlined the importance of teamwork.

She asked a man working there: “What’s your role in the organisation? He replied: “I help everyone in the world get the information they need.”

"It was a great answer and it later transpired that he was a member of the domestic cleaning team...He was there to do a job that contributed to the mission of Google. It was a really inspirational moment.”

She acknowledged that many companies made long term business plans but she argued that they shouldn’t be all consuming. She added: "The key here is to remember that being flexible and agile is just as important. I became CEO six weeks before the pubs shut (due to Covid). There was no rule book. Our plans changed. We reacted to a real life scenario. We did things differently and this is absolutely the key to success. We live in a fast paced and changing world.

"Communication is absolutely key. It really does underpin everything. I definitely am an over-communicator. I over-share. It works for me and it works for the people in our business. As a business leader I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what is important, for me it’s about decisiveness, trust, integrity and honesty. There are many times when I don’t know the answers. Just because you’re a leader of an organisation doesn’t mean you're not human. Sometimes we don’t know and sometimes we just need to say so.”

Emma Digby, executive partner at Ward Hadaway, opened the awards by praising the bravery of companies who had triumphed in the face of adversity. Greg Wright, The Yorkshire Post’s deputy business editor, who also spoke at the awards, said “every company on the Fastest 50 list is a member of an elite group.” There will be full coverage of the awards in tomorrow’s Yorkshire Post.