Jamie Best of Melin featured in the Carmarthen Journal today



Jamie Best, of Melin Consultants, of The Beacon, Dafen Llanelli, was featured in the 'It's My Business' feature in the Carmarthen Journal today.
See below for the text -
Who are you?
Jamie Best
What is your business?
Melin Consultants is a small (10 person) building consultancy I run with my wife, Mel. It specialises in sustainable building solutions for new buildings.
How long have you run the business?I have been working for Melin since 2008. Mel started it back in 2006.
Is this your first business?
When converting our home in Drefach from an old watermill, I thought there was an opportunity to sell taps online. How wrong I was. Still I learnt a number of crucial mistakes which I haven't repeated again.
What made you want to run you own business rather than work for somebody else?
It was a tough choice to give up a good salary working for a large national company but the freedom to make my own choices really sold it for me. I very much believe in live by the sword die by the sword. I could never go back to being a salary-man now!
What was your big break? Or the moment you knew you had arrived?
Our field is fairly specialist and I suppose being in from an early stage gave us a good platform. I still remember the buzz the first time I delivered a seminar as a 'specialist' to an audience of construction professionals at Coleg Sir Gar. Since then, we have delivered more than 50 seminars/workshops, but I still get that same buzz.
What is the best business advice you have received?
My mate James Jones, who is a fairly high-up business manager for one of the big banks, said to me kind of in jest when I was telling him about our success in selling our services 'Remember sales are for vanity, profit is for sanity'. Needless to say, I now see the seriousness in his message.
Who is your business hero/person you most admire?
There are plenty of people in the sustainability/environment sector who will put social before economic and puts loads back into a community. I am not that strong a person but it gives me hope that we are not all money-grabbing toads!
What tip would you give someone starting out?
You will think you know better, but if advice has a ring of truth to it, it's probably worth taking. Do things properly and never ever make assumptions.
What are you ambitions for the future?
We have recently opened a satellite office in Bristol, so are well on our way to world domination! To be honest, I want to retire before I am 50 and have a easy life on our smallholding so we are focusing the business on autonomy and investing in the right people to lead it in the future.

Weblinks:
http://www.melinconsultants.co.uk
http://www.last-thursdayclub.co.uk/
Twitter: @melinconsult
Facebook: Melin Consultants Ltd
LinkedIn: Melin Consultants

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Former Gower MP Gareth Wardell the guest speaker at Llanelli Rotary Club

Image
Former Gower MP Gareth Wardell was the guest speaker at the weekly meeting of Llanelli Rotary Club held at the Stradey Park Hotel. Mr Wardell gave an illuminating address, weaving comparisons between his job as a politician and his late father's job as a Tumble barber. It was an amusing, highly-entertaining and thought-provoking address. Mr Wardell, now 69, won the Gower constituency seat in a Parliamentary by-election in 1982. The Labour MP held the seat until his retirement in 1997. He now works as a public affairs consultant in Wales. Mr Wardell's Parliamentary term was largely in opposition to Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Government. But his did make a significant contribution by being the youngest MP to chair the Welsh Affairs Select Committee. Mr Wardell recognised that in the 'fame stakes' he may have played second fiddle to his father, Jack, who was one of the UK's oldest barbers and who cut and styled hair for almost 80 years. Jac
Read more

'Class of 1980' from Burry Port enjoy reunion

Image
There was a big class reunion held in Burry Port at the weekend. Members of the Class of 1980 from Porth Tywyn (Burry Port junior) School got together at The Coasting Pilot pub. The reunion was organised by Christine Rees and same 22 members of the original class of 28 turn up to discuss their old schooldays. One ‘Class of 1980’ member was Burry Port businessman Owain Davies. He said: “We all have very happy memories of our time in school. We had a fantastic teacher in Mr Heddwyn Jones, who now lives in Four Roads. “We were very fortunate to have the same teacher for three years and we were a very happy class. Mr Jones was an inspiring teacher and we all got on every well and we are all still good friends. “Heather Thomas (now Heather Osmond) made it from Surrey, but she was trumped by Gail Morris, who flew in from Ohio in the United States for the reunion. “It was a fantastic evening at the Coasting Pilot with good food, good wine and good company. We even recreated the class
Read more

Lauryn Davey is making her mark in athletics - but needs sponsors

Image
Ammanford-based Lauryn Davey is making a major mark in the world of Welsh athletics. At just 16, she is the best all-round athlete of her age in Wales. She's chalking up Welsh championship victories and has been honoured by her club, the Carmarthen Harriers. Lauryn's been earmarked as a future international star, but knows the road to the big championships is difficult, demanding and expensive. Ammanford businessman and well-known comic entertainer Phil Evans has launched a campaign to get cash backers for Lauryn's athletics career. "Everyone in the area is hugely proud of her achievements in athletics to date," said Phil. "But we also want to see her go on and do bigger and better things. "Together with some friends, I am helping find ways of generating much-needed sponsorship cash for Lauryn. "She has massive potential to succeed on the international stage and I am sure a little bit of financial help will help to smooth her
Read more