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

'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

Glangwilli Hospital specialist wins top award from Wales Deanery

Image
A top doctor at Glangwili General Hospital has been honoured by the Wales Deanery at an event hosted by the British Medical Association (BMA) in Cardiff’s Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Dr Madhuri Kodliwadmath, Associate Specialist in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, was rewarded for her excellence in clinical service. All Welsh doctors and dentists in training were asked to nominate a consultant, GP, dentist or staff and associate specialty grade doctor, who they believed performed outstandingly. The awards are part of the ‘Supervising the Route to Excellence’ programme which aims to ensure excellence in medical training through the development and support of high quality educational, clinical supervisors and trainers throughout Wales. Dr Kodliwadmath said: “I am proud to be part of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology team in Glangwili hospital with the support of the clinical lead consultant, Dr Nicola Piskorowskyj, for the last 10 years, and I would like to thank the department and
Read more