B.J Upholstery is a small business based in Darlington, run by husband and wife team, Jo and Barry Griffiths.

Jo and Barry were amongst business owners invited to meet with the Cabinet Office recently to talk about the challenges facing small businesses and how mentoring has helped to support their business.

Having met at work, the couple launched the business 10 years ago, combining Jo’s interior design and business management skills with Barry’s experience as an upholsterer, which he had gained since starting working life as an upholstery apprentice in the 1980s.

Ten years on, the business has a broad client base and offers a range of services from repairs and loose covers, to domestic and large scale commercial re-upholstery contracts.

To meet demand the business has recently moved to larger premises and taken on its first apprentice.

As recipients of the British Bankers Association-run mentoring scheme we asked Jo why she decided to work with a mentor, and how she’s found the experience since.

“When I first heard about the opportunity to source a mentor, I thought, ‘why not?’”

“My husband does all the upholstery, but I do everything else, the paperwork, suppliers, customers, etc., so it can be really challenging. You can speak to family and friends but you don’t want to go on too much. I felt that working with a mentor could really help me get a clear head.

“It’s great to be able to talk to someone who’s out of the loop but interested. When you run your own business, you have no one to structure how you’re spending your time, so I’ve found it a really useful way of prioritising where I should be directing my energies.”

Jo first met her mentor, Denise Kay, last September. She was matched with Denise by the IOEE, which helps businesses find volunteer mentors in the banking sector as part of the British Bankers Association volunteer mentoring scheme. Denise works in corporate banking for Barclays, primarily with PLC companies. Since September, Jo and Denise have been meeting monthly. Jo says:

“We seem to work well together, she’s really good. We really hit it off and I think Denise gets something out of it as well. Since the very beginning I told her what we are concerned about. She makes suggestions and if I’ve said I was going to do something, she asks me if I managed to get it sorted. It’s really useful as it’s so easy to let things slide when you’ve not got anyone checking.”

Jo was facing a particular problem before Christmas, and Denise was able to understand and listen.

“She helped me feel clearer in my head, made me feel calmer. It was great to be able to talk it through without emotions being involved. For me it just seems to be working.
“I went into this mentoring thing not knowing what on earth to expect, but it has helped me feel more structured. When I met Denise today I had done something that I said I was going to do for a months, and she ticked it off the list!”

We also asked Jo what experiences of running a business they shared with the Cabinet Office and where they felt support was needed. She responded:

“We really wanted to get across that brand new businesses seem to get tons of support, but it would helpful if existing businesses could get some support too."

“We’ve managed to keep the business going through some really tough times and it’s hard. We’re never complacent. We’re going on holiday for the first time in years soon. I think that’s the reality for most small business owners.”

They have recently taken on their first apprentice, but beyond the first year’s funded training, they will have to find the money to pay him at least the minimum wage. Jo says:

“We could only put him on a short apprenticeship in manufacturing skills as there wasn’t an upholstery apprenticeship available. So, to retain him we’ll need to continue to teach him upholstery specific skills and pay him too, and that’s going to be difficult.”

With lack of support from elsewhere, there’s no doubt that the mentoring support is making a real difference:

“It’s given me a clearer mind, it’s made me progress things that I would normally think about but wouldn’t do. Denise reminds me of things, and that makes me more proactive to get on and do it instead of being complacent.”

“We’ve moved premises and are starting to grow, so I know that I need to be on the ball all the time. Denise’s support has helped me do more and more, and remain focused for the challenges ahead.”