Unlocking potential of business stars of tomorrow

There aren’t many restaurants that offer both, however, which is why – along with some super-luminous Pop Art-style decor – Lahore Café Bar stands out from its rivals.

The range of Anglo-Indian delights on the menu is not a publicity-seeking attempt at novelty. It is part of Shakoor Ahmed’s plan to be first port of call for diners in Bradford and beyond, whether they want a Friday night curry, a break for a coffee and a cake between shopping, a birthday party or catering laid on for an event at their business.

Lahore serves the full Indian, from curries and naan to Gulab Jaman and mango lassi, as well as typical Western dishes like lamb chops, lasagne, T-bone steak and puddings like Gainsborough tart and apple crumble.

With the cafe open from 11am to 1am seven days a week as well as a catering arm it is making a virtue, and a profit, out of being all things to all men and women.

Even Mr Ahmed, a youthful-looking workaholic who says it is only really on Sundays that he takes time off, cannot be in control of everything at once, however.

That’s why, after years spent thinking of expansion, he has come up with a concrete plan for how to grow the business, ensure the food is consistently good whether it is for lunch, dinner or a party, still see his wife and two children and prevent his hair from going grey.

This preparation for growth was one of the key lessons of the Goldman Sachs project to unlock the potential of Yorkshire’s small business and social enterprises. It involved a four-month business and management course with an emphasis on real-life experience and was created by the bank, heavily criticised for its role in the US sub-prime mortgage crisis, with Leeds University Business School and Said Business School at Oxford University, Leeds Ahead and Shine, the city’s social enterprise centre.

Mr Ahmed was part of the inaugural class of 25 entrepreneurs from areas including Selby, Leeds, Sheffield, Doncaster and East Yorkshire, who were chosen for their capacity to achieve high growth.

They graduated yesterday at an event at Leeds’ civic hall and the next group starts this week.

Mr Ahmed, who set up Lahore in 2002 when he was a student, said the pioneering course helped him create a detailed plan for growth, which he didn’t have a chance to do during his 14-hour days in the cafe and catering hub.

“It completely transformed the way I was thinking. It allowed me that strategic space away from the business. When you are here you can have tunnel vision.

“Goldman Sachs provided the platform to really look at each area – how do we take a good business and turn it into a great business?”

After four months on the course at Shine, at Harehills in Leeds, Mr Ahmed brought in a series of changes, such as monitoring key performance indicators, keeping a lid on costs and introducing a shared ownership scheme, which meant standards would not be sacrificed in the hunt for growth.

“You cannot just expect staff to think about a business the same way as you do – (but) there are plenty of ways of engaging the staff.”

The lessons of the course, which included peer-to-peer learning and the help of outside mentors, were designed to be applied immediately.

Mr Ahmed did just that and honed his plans to expand the £1m turnover restaurant and catering business. He intends to open 15 owned or franchised outlets by 2015 with a branch in Leeds set to open by the end of the year and then another site in Huddersfield or Manchester early in 2012. These, in turn, should provide enough income for him to launch a production unit.

The businessmen contrasted the practical knowledge provided by the course with the traditional MBA degree, which can involve the study of global corporates. For Mr Ahmed, and the other 300,000 SME owners in Yorkshire, these types of university-provided courses do not always provide the skills needed to grow a young business.

That is even more true of Doncaster Refurnish, whose boss, Andy Simpson, also took part in the Leeds enterprise programme.

As a social enterprise devoted to reducing the vast amount of furniture which goes to landfill sites in Britain each year, the company is a world away from corporate life. Most of the people working there had been in long-term unemployment and the company also provides placements to ex-offenders as they try to get their life back on track. In the 12 months to October, 107 took up places as part of unpaid work schemes and only three went on to commit further crimes, according to Mr Simpson.

“Some people come to us with no confidence. Then they start to come out of their shell.

“We train them up and ask them what they want to actively pursue. We ask them to go on and do it because it expands their mind and builds their confidence.”

The firm has grown quickly since 2003, when it was set up with the purpose of collecting and restoring furniture so that it could be sold locally to people on low incomes.

It provided furniture to 960 individuals and families in its first three months and that figure has continued rising. Now it also sells new items, such as end-of-range pieces from national retailers, and it helped another 9,801 people in the last financial year. It also has contracts with local authorities and businesses to remove waste.

Four years ago, however, a series of floods struck Hull and South Yorkshire, devastating homes and property. Doncaster Refurnish was suddenly needed by people far beyond its core market.

“We were instrumental in the flood recovery programme,” Mr Simpson said, with his organisation helping relocate 400 families and at the height of the crisis making 186 collections of unwanted furniture each day.

Now Doncaster Refurnish provides other services like collecting bulky household waste, with Doncaster Council and recycling company SITA, as well as training and the chance to take NVQ exams in areas such as environmental conservation and fundraising.

Keeping so many plates spinning, however, is not easy, even for someone with as varied a background as Mr Simpson, a former plasterer and social inclusion worker.

So the Goldman Sachs scheme was a chance to meet other entrepreneurs, share ideas and pick up advice from business veterans, such as Lord Kirkham, who sold his Doncaster sofa business DFS for a reputed £500m last year and helped launch the Leeds programme.

“The success is down to the application process. When I met all the other people it was amazing,” Mr Simpson said.

“We have learnt how to save money, how to make money, how to spread our risk and manage our people more effectively.”

It is for results like these that the investment bank got involved. As UK plc drags itself back to prosperity, it wants to help experienced and talented SME managers, like those found in Yorkshire, to develop their businesses on a sound footing.

“We will continue to go back to the places and communities that support this,” said Dina Powell, president of the Goldman Sachs Foundation and global head of corporate engagement.

“It is about businesses that are not start-ups but have staff, a business model and are ready to make the next step – that is what differentiates our effort.”

Richard Gnodde, the co-chief executive of Goldman Sachs International, will mentor Revolution Viewing, a Leeds recruitment and property software firm. For him, the success of the first class has been testament to the quality of small businesses in Yorkshire.

“It has been a terrific start. The entrepreneurial spirit and commitment has been strong. We can put the building blocks in place but unless the community engages you will not get enough out of it. The community really engaged and took us to the next level.

“It is about building sustainable and long-term businesses.”

A guiding hand to turn ideas into reality

ENTREPRENEURS often have great ideas but need help to capitalise on them, according to Michelle Pinggera, Goldman Sachs’ chief of staff for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

She said that was why the investment bank got involved in the business education scheme in Leeds.

“If you are an entrepreneur you are often a creative person and often have several business plans. The course has helped people define what the core of the business is and what they should focus on improving.”

Most of the courses took place at Shine in Harehills in Leeds, the social enterprise centre founded by American entrepreneur Todd Hannula.

Dina Powell, President of the Goldman Sachs Foundation and Global Head of Corporate Engagement, said the small business and social enterprise owners were chosen for the course because of their “tremendous entrepreneurial capacity”.

“We are helping them to position their story in a way that will attract finance, to make sure they have a recognised plan.”