Availability

I am available to:

• Carry out mentoring for Investors, Venture Capitalists and Intermediaries ofinvestee companies, particularly family businesses.

• Make presentations on family business problems and solutions.

• Carry out consultancy and mentoring for businesses, particularly family businesses.

• Act as non-executive director or chairman particularly in family businesses.

General Business Experience

I am a widely experienced and highly motivated business director and manager with a strong background in family business and food both manufacturing and retailing. I have also had experience in several other areas such as IT, domestic and office furniture and electronics.

I have experience in every function within business including, finance, business planning, cashflow planning, marketing, manufacturing, selling, retailing, franchising, logistics and human relations but my most unique experience and knowledge is in the field of family business.

Family Business Experience

I joined the family confectionery manufacturing/retailing business, at that time known as J. W. Thornton Ltd, in 1954.  I was of the third generation in the business which had been started by my grandfather in 1911. By 1954 the business was owned and managed by my father and uncle who were therefore a Sibling Partnership but an elder brother had already been working in the company for four years. A cousin entered the business two years later and finally a further brother joined the company 14 years after I started.  All this eventually created a Cousin Consortium.

There had been no succession planning. No decisions were made by the Controlling Owners as to what jobs should be carried out by me or my elder brother, except for "fire-fighting" nor was any management training given. The result was that the younger generation needed to try to sort out between them who was to do what.

Intrinsically the business was a wonderful concept with an extremely strong differential advantage.  It was extremely cash rich, being a retail/manufacturing business and it had expansion potential using the existing formula until such time as opportunities for retail sites ran out or until some new concept was developed.  From the early Sixties this small business basic concept producing reasonable profits was taken by the younger family directors, added to and expanded in every possible way until the business became large, highly successful and highly profitable.

However throughout this period business problems developed, in my opinion, as a result of several factors:

• No planning about the introduction of younger generations into the business

• No career path planned for family members

• Too many family people in the business

• Today’s level of outside theory and knowledge about family business was not available

• No Family Council or Constitution

• No outside directors or independent Board of Directors

• Lack of a plan for Succession of Ownership

• Business Lifecycle and innovation,

• Difficulty of achieving satisfactory Strategic Diversification.

During my time at Thornton’s my roles ranged across every aspect of the manufacturing/retailing firm from working on the shopfloor to Group Development Director and eventually rising to become Chairman of the company.

May 1984 – Jun 1987     Chairman

Jan 1982 – Oct 1984     Group Development Director

Jan 1979 – Jan 1982     Joint Managing Director – Marketing

Jan 1978 – Jan 1979     Retail Director

May 1964 – Jan 1978     Production Director

Jan 1957 – May 1964     Line Management Jobs

Oct 1954 – Mar 1956     Shop Floor Experience

During this period, major achievement included:

·         Market repositioning

·        Tripling profits in a period of 2 years.

·        Preparation for the floatation of the family business

·         Wide experience in the USA and Europe.

·         Managed large expansion of production facilities.

·        Developed all Human Relations and management requirements for this.

·         Developed Engineering requirements for this

·      Introduction of many management control systems, financial, technical and quality control.

·        Improved all aspects of the logistics system.

Since leaving Thornton’s I invested in and developed small businesses. This has given me wide experience of small not-so cash rich companies and has kept my knowledge of business, finance, marketing and production up-to-date.

All this experience has given me unique knowledge of Family Business, Families in Business and business in general.

Copyright (c) 2006 Peter Thornton Associates. All rights reserved.

peter@thornton-asc.co.uk