#GreatAtBusiness

Matt Porteous left school at 16, became a stonemason because he heard it was good for money and travel, turned out it was bad for both. He saved £7,000 during his apprenticeship, went around the world for a year and a half with a camera and a surfboard, came home, set up his own stonemasonry company the next day, ran it for eight years, and somewhere in the middle of all that became one of the world's most respected ocean photographers.He has spoken at the United Nations. He runs Ocean Culture Life, a global community of ocean storytellers, photographers, and filmmakers. And he funds it almost entirely through his commercial studio.Luke Smith chats with Matt Porteous in this episode of #GreatAtBusiness, one of the most philosophical conversations we have had on the podcast - discussing business and the business of charities, from a different perspective.

Alistair Sarre built Sarre & Co from a one-man commercial team into Jersey's most established independent commercial property firm. He ran it for 27 years - and then sold it. Not to the highest bidder. To the right one.Luke Smith, MD of Purpose, chats with Alistair Sarre, Director of Sarre & Co, about all of this and more, in this episode of #GreatAtBusiness.Listen for advice and insights on:You're running a business and wondering when the right time to sell is. Alistair talks honestly about the triggers that made him ready, and the one thing he wishes he'd done three years earlier.You've ever assumed selling means losing control You're thinking about how to keep a good team You work in commercial property or are thinking about a career in it You run a business in Jersey and care about your reputation Full episode live now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.#GreatAtBusiness #JerseyBusiness 

Luke Smith chats with Dan Hare across two episodes of #GreatAtBusiness and covers:→ Why every Jersey business has the same data problem and why most solve it the hard way→ What the AI hype cycle looks like the second time round with the scars from the first→ The 18-year-old intern who completed in a day what used to take four→ Why AI makes relationships more valuable, not less→ Why smaller Jersey businesses can now access support they've never been able to affordBoth episodes live now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube. @Digital Jersey #GreatAtBusiness

In episode 2, Luke Smith and Dan Hare of Continuum get into how they're actually using AI in their businesses right now, what's working, what isn't, and how to think about bringing it into your team without overwhelming people.But it's not all about the technology. Luke talks about a manufacturer in Northern Ireland, Seating Matters, whose culture of constant small improvements has lessons for every business and why the old principles of lean thinking matter more, not less, in a world moving this fast.Both episodes live now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.@Digital Jersey #GreatAtBusiness

In part two, Jeralie Pallot reflects on what she'd do differently as a leader, as a business owner, and as someone now on the other side of a sale. She talks about the co-investment she made in Ocerli, a Jersey-built payroll SaaS platform, with co-founders she'd barely met. And she shares some honest thoughts on what the future of recruitment in Jersey actually looks like. Luke Smith continues his conversation with Jeralie Pallot, former owner and Non-Exec Director of Rowlands Recruitment and Director at Ocerli, in episode 2 of 2 of #GreatAtBusiness.  Listen for advice and insights on: - Why she'd do some things differently as a leader - and what changed when she stepped back - How she co-invested in Ocerli with co-founders she'd barely met and why instinct beat spreadsheets - The Jerry Maguire moment coming for Jersey recruitment - fewer clients, deeper relationships, more value - What separates a great business from a good one: impact and influence, not just the bottom line - Why she'd still tell her younger self to go into business sooner  

Jeralie Pallot didn't set out to own a business. Born in New Zealand, she managed five travel agency branches before she was 20, won a first-class BA trip for hitting a million dollars in bookings - then was too busy to take it. She built a career across Sydney, Auckland and Jersey before spending 16 years growing Rowland's Recruitment from the inside before finally buying it. Her husband asked her one question that changed everything: what percentage of your energy goes on getting permission to do things? Luke Smith sits down with Jeralie Pallot, former owner and now, Non-Exec Director of Rowland's Recruitment and Director at Ocerli, in this episode of #GreatAtBusiness. Listen to this for advice and insights on: How the window and mirror analogy kept Jeralie accountable everyday The moment she fired her biggest client and why the whole business grew as a result What "knowing your numbers" actually means, beyond what's in the bank Why selling a business to someone you trust is still harder than you think  Why she'd tell her younger self to go into business sooner 

Andrew Ruellan was going to be a marine biologist. Then he broke his leg, read a motorbike manual out of boredom, and never looked back. Made redundant at 23 with a month's money and a dream of "Mostly Minis," he borrowed £1,000 from his hairdresser and started fixing cars on his mum's driveway - no ramp, no running water, no toilet.Thirty-three years later he's the UK's top independent automotive technician, has grown the business 275% in real terms, and is still in his work gear fixing cars every morning before meetings.Luke Smith sits down with Andrew Ruellan, owner and master technician of Ruellans Garage, in this episode of #GreatAtBusiness.Listen to this for advice and insights on:Why specialising in a few brands beats doing everything - and what that means for any service businessThe case for outsourcing everything that isn't your core skill, from day oneHow knowing your numbers 12 years ago put Ruellans a decade ahead of the rest of the industryWhy relinquishing control is the hardest thing a founder does, and what unlocks when you finally do itWhat happens to standards when people aren't proud of where they work and why "on time" shouldn't feel like a compliment

Lee Madden has lived several lives. Soldier. Policeman. Restaurant owner. Signage company director. Each one ending harder than the last - a partner who changed the locks, a brother's business that collapsed, a divorce, four nights sofa surfing with an empty bank account.Then he wrote a business plan on a beer mat in St Mary's pub, started GR8 Recruitment with £23,000 from a voluntary redundancy and a PPI claim, and built it into a multi-million pound business changing lives across Jersey, Guernsey and Kenya.Luke Smith sits down with Lee Madden, founder and MD of GR8 Recruitment, in this episode of #GreatAtBusiness.Listen to this for advice and insights on:Why control is everything, and what happens when you don't have it in a business partnershipThe Christmas week decision to take on a competitor's entire payroll overnight, quadrupling the business in daysHow GR8 grew during COVID by redeploying workers into hospitals, nursing homes and ambulance crews and ringfencing every penny of profit for charityFlying to Kenya to solve Jersey's hospitality workforce crisis and interviewing 250 candidates in a hotel conference roomWhy "fail fast" isn't about failure, it's about spotting quickly when something isn't worth your life

Simon Gasston left sixth form the day before his birthday, told his parents he wanted to be a DJ, and was handed £500 and told to follow his dreams. He spent it in a week. What followed was a winding road through Liverpool, London Labour Party conferences, and back to Jersey, where he'd go on to spend 20 years building Delta Events into the Channel Islands' leading technical events company.Then, four months after remortgaging his house to buy into the business, COVID hit.Luke Smith sits down with Simon Gasston, Managing Director and shareholder of Delta Events, in this episode of #GreatAtBusiness.Listen to this for advice and insights on:Why Delta invested heavily in streaming technology when they had no income coming in, and why it paid offHow to beat competitors without ever watching what they're doingThe "Delta Sparkle" - what it actually means and how culture creates it consistentlyBuying into a business you already run: the real process, the remortgage, and signing your life away four months before a pandemicWhy making decisions that "feel right" is not the same as knowing they're right, and what changed when Simon got the numbers to back his instincts

Leaving school at 15 with no GCSEs and a teacher who told him he'd struggle to amount to anything. That was Ollie Mourant's starting point. What followed was 30 jobs, a beer-fuelled lunch conversation that sparked a business idea, and the founding of Enhanced Investments.Luke Smith sits down with Oliver Mourant, co-founder of Enhance Investments and co-founder of Rialto Investment Partners, in this episode of #GreatAtBusiness.Listen to this for advice and insights on:Why a healthy dose of naivety is one of the most underrated assets in businessHow relationships, not sales processes, built Enhance's early client baseThe real cost of growing too fast across too many geographies at onceWhen to borrow to invest in technology, and why Enhanced's automation bet changed everythingWhy personal relationship and trust will still matter more than AI in Jersey business over the next five years