Business Diary: October 25

It turned out he was among old friends, namely Neil Sevitt, the head of accountancy firm RSM Tenon in the North of England.

“We sat next to each other on the first day of junior school,” Mr Sentance told Diary. “It was Sentance and Sevitt, in alphabetical order, at Eltham College in South London.”

Upbeat outlook

THE Marketing Leeds debate also featured Mr Sevitt’s boss, Andy Raynor, chief executive of RSM Tenon.

Mr Raynor is surely one of the only CEOs of a listed company who can include a welding apprenticeship in Wakefield on his CV.

The Barnsley-raised executive is now running the UK’s seventh largest accountancy firm.

He’s got an upbeat view on Leeds. Speaking ahead of the debate, he told Diary: “There’s a lot of investment going on in Leeds.

“It is very well positioned. It has good resources, good communications, good brains and a ready and accessible workforce. They are fabulous attributes.

“Over the course of the next five years, particularly with some of the infrastructure investment going on here, Leeds is pretty well positioned and a city that’s well positioned could accelerate out of the current downturn ahead of the pack.”

Change of tone

DIARY is very accustomed to phoning up Doug Liversidge, chairman of Surgical Innovations and Fusion IP, and grabbing a few quotes while he’s on the hop.

So it made a pleasant change to speak to his wife Pam Liversidge, who started her role as the first ever female Master Cutler in Sheffield earlier this month.

Pam was helpful and knowledgeable and Diary quipped at the end of the call that she made a nice change to her husband.

Which was when he gruffly cut in to tell us to mind our manners.

Apparently since his wife took on her new role, he’s taken on the rather less impressive occupation of her unofficial chauffeur.

Maybe Mrs Liversidge should think about getting a partition behind the driver’s seat to prevent him ear-wigging in future.

Downhome approach

VERACITY chief executive John Baxter takes an interesting approach when he hires graduates.

It comes straight from home and it’s the same approach that he takes to his daughters.

He said: “I accept that when they are 17 they are going to crash the car. That means that when they do crash my car it doesn’t have the same impact on me as it would if I had been surprised by it.

“Graduates have sponge-like brains. They are ambitious, they are aggressive, they are fearless. They question everything that we do. They come in and they question the status quo. They have dynamism about them that keeps the organisation on its toes.

“They are allowed to make mistakes. But we judge them based in how they react to those mistakes.”

Crafts remain

DIARY is always pleased to hear about historic crafts that are still alive and kicking in the 21st century.

In the digital age, it’s still important to value people who rely on their hands to make a living. The Association of Woodturners of Great Britain, the Register of Professional Turners, and the Leeds Marquetry Group are among the organisations heading to Harrogate next month for the North of England Woodworking and Power Tool Show will be returning to the Yorkshire Event Centre from November 18-20 and is now in its 19th year.

Getting ahead

She only graduated 15 months ago, but milliner Suzanne Gill has received a boost from a Yorkshire department store.

Ms Gill, who graduated with a distinction in millinery from Leeds College of Art, is launching her first collection of hats in Harveys of Halifax next month.

She already counts Emma Spencer, presenter of Channel 4 Racing among her clients and, after presenting her debut catwalk collection at the Great Yorkshire Show in July, she is marking her first venture into the retail market.