Lancashire Business Stories

About Lancashire Business Stories

Business stories from the North West of England (and sometimes further afield) Hear from successful business owners with a great story to tell and from others who you can all learn from. Take action, watch, listen, learn and implement to grow yourself and your business.

Publisher

Paul Limb

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

16 Mar 2026

Latest episode

21 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

29 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   21 Aug 2026

   From Golf Dreams to Navigating Business Growth: Insights from Ryan Anderson of Pendle Doors

   Ryan Anderson on Growing Pendle Doors: Fire Door Manufacturing, Culture, and Leadership Ryan Anderson discusses Pendle Doors, a bespoke fire door joinery manufacturer mainly serving the construction industry. The business was bought by his parents 33–34 years ago, originally making traditional hardwood doors in Burnley before moving to Lower Darwen in 2006–07 due to growth. Ryan left school at 16 to pursue golf, joined the company full-time before 18, started in sales on minimum wage, briefly became production manager, returned to sales and logistics, then became operations director in 2018 after considering a job in Dubai. He describes tackling culture and retention issues with practical improvements and employee feedback. His father retired in 2020 and Ryan became managing director around June 2021, leading growth from about £2.5m turnover and ~32 staff (2020) to just under £9m and 71–72 staff. He emphasizes customer service, single-point customer contact, director-team debate, DISC profiling, training, and work-life boundaries. 00:00 Welcome and Format 00:58 What Pendle Doors Does 01:08 Origins and Name 02:48 Move to Darwen 03:09 Leaving School for Golf 05:27 Joining the Business 07:25 Sales Lessons and Advice 09:16 Customer Service Edge 10:56 Sales Team and Marketing 13:14 Shift to Production 16:49 Factory Bottlenecks 18:29 Managing People 21:29 Dubai Offer Turning Point 23:05 Fixing Culture and Retention 25:21 Hiring for Attitude 26:11 Mindset And Extra Mile 27:30 Building A Positive Culture 28:18 Family Transition And Retirement 29:25 Leading Through Covid Growth 31:24 Stepping Into Managing Director 33:12 Letting Go Of Operations 35:00 Healthy Conflict And Trust 37:20 DISC And Better Communication 39:18 Scaling Revenue And Headcount 40:40 Developing People And Training 42:00 Decision Making And Empowerment 44:56 Work Life Boundaries 46:12 Advice And Learning Sources 49:55 Customers Contact And Wrap Up PODCAST LINKS Pendle Doors Website: https://pendledoors.co.uk/ (https://pendledoors.co.uk/) Ryan’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-anderson-4a7600102/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-anderson-4a7600102/) Pendle Doors LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pendle-doors/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/pendle-doors/) ActionCOACH Bolton: https://business.actioncoach.co.uk/coaches/bolton (https://business.actioncoach.co.uk/coaches/bolton) ActionCOACH Bolton Events: https://business.actioncoach.co.uk/coaches-events-listing?id=15417591592 (https://business.actioncoach.co.uk/coaches-events-listing?id=15417591592) Paul’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-limb/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-limb/) Do you want to increase the value of your business asset? Take the ValueBuilder Assessment now to score the 8 key drivers of value in your business and get your free report: ⁠⁠https://score.valuebuildersystem.com/actioncoach-bolton/paul-limb (https://score.valuebuildersystem.com/actioncoach-bolton/paul-limb)

2. 

   19 Aug 2026

   From Pot Washer to Hotelier Extraordinaire: Michael Huckerby’s Inspiring Story

   Michael Huckerby on Building Huckerby Hotels: From Hospitality Roots to Award-Winning Weddings, Distilling, and Wellness Michael Huckerby shares his journey from leaving catering college and working in hospitality from age 13 to owning Huckerby Hotels: The Lawrence, a multi-award-winning townhouse boutique hotel in Padiham (bought 2017, opened 2018, now sleeping 52 and hosting weddings, conferences, and themed events), and Springbank Manor (formerly The Whitehall Hotel) in Darwen, acquired August 2024 and extensively renovated with larger wedding capacity, restaurant spaces, and an on-site gin and vodka distillery. He describes moving through restaurants, magazines, property, and a design agency, using property gains—including a Florida house appreciation—to fund hotel investment, and explains how COVID nearly felt like “losing it all” but the hotel stayed open for essential workers and community support. He emphasizes listening and adapting, values and culture, creating “raving fans,” dog-friendly service, and building management structure before considering a third hotel, with a new wellness area (The Woods Wellness) opening Oct 31. 00:00 Meet Michael Huckerby 01:12 Two Hotels Overview 02:00 Early Career Setbacks 03:47 Hotel Industry Realities 05:11 From Hospitality to Media 06:18 Magazines Restaurants Property 08:33 Agency Success Misery 10:15 Leaving Property Behind 11:14 Accidental Padiham Find 14:46 Growing The Lawrence 16:34 COVID Survival Pivot 22:51 Values Culture Giving 24:16 Buying Second Hotel 26:18 Springbank Manor Renovation 27:28 Private Events Spaces 27:58 Wellness Contrast Therapy 29:08 Hands On Leadership 30:26 Listen And Adapt 31:55 Experiences Drive Loyalty 37:42 Make Raving Fans 41:07 Future Growth Plans 44:08 Advice And Inspirations 50:11 Unreasonable Hospitality 52:43 Wrap Up And Contact PODCAST LINKS Huckerby Hotels Website: https://www.huckerbyhotels.co.uk/ (https://www.huckerbyhotels.co.uk/) Michael’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-huckerby-2518b514/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-huckerby-2518b514/) ActionCOACH Bolton: https://business.actioncoach.co.uk/coaches/bolton (https://business.actioncoach.co.uk/coaches/bolton) ActionCOACH Bolton Events: https://business.actioncoach.co.uk/coaches-events-listing?id=15417591592 (https://business.actioncoach.co.uk/coaches-events-listing?id=15417591592) Paul’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-limb/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-limb/) Do you want to increase the value of your business asset? Take the ValueBuilder Assessment now to score the 8 key drivers of value in your business and get your free report: ⁠⁠https://score.valuebuildersystem.com/actioncoach-bolton/paul-limb (https://score.valuebuildersystem.com/actioncoach-bolton/paul-limb)

3. 

   17 Aug 2026

   From Employee to Entrepreneur: Ben Griffiths' Inspiring Journey

   Ben Griffiths on Building Clever IT: From Early IT Passion to Scaling a Modern MSP Ben Griffiths discusses Clever IT, a managed service provider delivering IT support, proactive monitoring, projects, and fractional IT leadership for clients ranging from solo consultants to 250+ computer, multi-office firms. A major focus is cybersecurity—staff training, phishing awareness, and the limits of multi-factor authentication—alongside Microsoft 365/Azure migrations, with some support for Google Workspace. Ben shares his path from paper rounds and early tech/acting interests to leaving sixth form for an IT role, studying an HNC while working, joining BNI, and progressing at Boss Office to director and MD before founding Clever in 2011 after a failed shareholder venture. An investor quickly backed him; intense early work led to rapid growth to 22 staff and ~£3m sales, targeting £5m via a Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses plan. Key challenges include hiring for values and communication, delegation, resilience, and financial prudence. 00:00 Welcome and Setup 00:56 What Clever IT Does 01:54 Cybersecurity and Training 04:39 Cloud and Infrastructure Choices 06:04 Microsoft vs Google Workspace 09:08 Ben’s Early Work Ethic 12:17 IT Passion and Acting Years 14:23 Dropping Out for Real IT Work 19:24 Networking Breakthrough with BNI 21:33 Boss Office Career and Growth 24:52 Launching Clever IT 27:16 Administration Shock and Investor 31:01 Grinding Through the First Year 33:44 Scaling Up to Today 34:25 Back on Tech Tools 35:36 Delegation Mindset Shift 38:00 Scaling Plans and Service 41:32 Acquisitions and Succession 45:39 Hiring for Attitude 50:19 Careers and Finding Purpose 56:41 Developing People and Retention 59:30 Advice for New Founders 01:04:07 Books and Getting in Touch PODCAST LINKS Clever I.T. Website: https://www.clever-it.com/ (https://www.clever-it.com/ ) Ben’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bengriffithsbolton/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/bengriffithsbolton/) Clever I.T. LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cloud-clever-ltd-/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/cloud-clever-ltd-/) ActionCOACH Bolton: https://business.actioncoach.co.uk/coaches/bolton (https://business.actioncoach.co.uk/coaches/bolton) ActionCOACH Bolton Events: https://business.actioncoach.co.uk/coaches-events-listing?id=15417591592 (https://business.actioncoach.co.uk/coaches-events-listing?id=15417591592) Paul’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-limb/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-limb/) Do you want to increase the value of your business asset? Take the ValueBuilder Assessment now to score the 8 key drivers of value in your business and get your free report: ⁠⁠https://score.valuebuildersystem.com/actioncoach-bolton/paul-limb (https://score.valuebuildersystem.com/actioncoach-bolton/paul-limb)

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Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings