Last updated at 16:47, Monday, 14 July 2008

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Matthew Mayvers told a masterclass run by Furness Enterprise that every Friday at Cater-Kwik of Newlands, Ulverston, the staff of 30 stop work for half an hour to clean the office, and that managers join in too.

Tasks are drawn out of a hat and have on occasion seen the young entrepreneur get the loo cleaning beat.

The success of Mr Mayvers, who grew up in Torver, and that of David Williams, the head of the Impact Development Training Group of Windermere, showed that people who left school early could still achieve a great deal, said Furness Enterprise chief executive Harry Knowles at the masterclass at the Abbey House Hotel.

Mr Mayvers, whose parents run the Wilson’s Arms at Torver, said of the cleaning routine: “I was paying someone to make it clean, then paying everyone to mess it up. Now everybody cleans up our company for half an hour on a Friday. It is the best thing that has happened because they have so much respect for the areas they work in, and the microwave is now spotless!”

He founded his firm, which supplies catering equipment like ovens and glass washers to places such as hotels, restaurants, pubs and canteens, in 1994 after taking a business course run by Furness Enterprise.

Mr Mayvers, who attended the John Ruskin School at Coniston, said: “I did not do too well at school, to be fair.

“I am dyslexic so I will come out of the closet to say that now. The only award I got at school was for attendance.”

He left school and after a short career competing as a horse rider at equestrian events around Europe he had to think of another career.

His father had been an electrician and he had gone round with him when he was repairing catering equipment for hotels and restaurants.

He said: “It wasn’t until I came back from touring Europe that I had the idea for the business. I went to my father and said ‘look dad, I’ve got a great idea, the only trouble is I’ve got no money’ and he said ‘well, you have nowt to lose then son’.”

Switch to today and the company is in a 6,000 square foott new office. Only the steelwork and a few other tasks went out to contract. The rest was built by him and colleagues.

Turnover of Cater-Kwik is around £7m, but further big growth, which could take the staff to 70 is predicted for the next three to four years.

Impact Development Training Group has 250 employees and 17 offices around the world as well as a head office and two hotels at Windermere. Founder and MD David Williams hails from Derbyshire and was inspired to enter the leadership development field by going on a four-week Outward Bound course in his teens.

The Impact Development Training Group works on motivational and leadership projects with bodies ranging from the big charities and NGO’s to major corporations.

It was one of the few organisations to have staff allowed into Burma early after the recent Cyclone Nargis to help organise relief operations, and sent a team to help rebuild fishermen’s houses in Thailand after the deadly tsunami of 2004.

First published at 12:20, Monday, 14 July 2008
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk