Neil Stallard and James Brent work in very different sectors but brought common themes of trust and integrity to their Plymouth College Entrepreneurial Society (ESOC) talks.
The aim of ESOC is to bring business and economics alive for students and to promote enterprise and leadership in them. Speakers so far have included Levi Roots, Tim Martin, Gary Streeter and Chris Dawson.
Neil Stallard of waste management company, Alpha Logic, has seen his company double its employee numbers in the last 12 months alongside a 40% growth. With an emphasis on helping companies to minimise their environment impact, Alpha Logic’s green credentials are high.
Neil told that students that his company’s relationships are built on loyalty and trust and that they are not afraid to say ‘no’ to the wrong client. He said that helping customer’s to reduce their carbon footprint also helped them to save money.
The final speaker this term was James Brent, founder and Chairman of the Akkeron Group of companies, which incorporate hotels, leisure, sport, retail and the regeneration of businesses. James is also Chairman of Plymouth Argyle, Chairman of the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust and Chairman of Plymouth University.
James talked about what motivates an entrepreneur, working long hours and the difference between leadership and management. He spoke to the students about the importance of integrity and having a sense of social responsibility, using his surf lifestyle company, Saltrock, as an example – the CEO visits overseas workers to check on both factory and living conditions. By working across different sectors James has developed a richness of understanding and is able to share ideas between the organisations.
“Neil and James provided two more fascinating views of business”, said ESOC organiser and business teacher, Aaron Summons. “Our diverse range of speakers is giving our students an invaluable insight into the world of business and showing them that different things work for different people. We are very much looking forward to our mix of speakers next term.”