Enter the Dragon
Luke Manning
03-Feb-08
Duncan Bannatyne has always had a reputation for being a little fiery. Long before his explosive appearances as the most caustic Dragon in the infamous BBC Den, he was thrown out of the Royal Navy for attempting to hurl an officer off a vessel and spent nine months in a military detention centre. On his dishonourable discharge, he moved from one dead end job to another.
It’s a far cry from the relaxed and friendly Bannatyne that turns up punctually at the Covent Garden Hotel on a balmy summer’s day in London and cordially leads the way to a plush drawing room on the first floor.
His rise to the top as one of Britain’s richest and most recognisable businessmen is a meteoric one.
Having left behind a life of bars and night clubbing on Jersey in favour of Stockton-on-Tees when he turned 30, Bannatyne purchased an ice cream van for £450. Expansion of his thriving business meant to a fleet of vans led to the business being sold for £28,000 and this money was then invested in founding a nursing home business.
His approach to business is refreshingly clear. He recently explained his philosophy in a UK-based business magazine as: ‘If the return is two or three times what the bank borrowings are going to costs you, then it’s worth doing. Business is really that simple.’
Quality Care Homes was sold for £46 million in 1996 and after that the children’s nursery chain Just Learning fetched a further £22 million.
It was then that he got involved with his current portfolio of health clubs, casino, property and bars for which he has become renowned. Although much has been written about his past, little is known about the aff ect it has had on the way he runs his business today. When it comes to Bannatyne’s views on leadership, culture, values and talent, nobody outside his inner circle is much the wiser.
But as he sits back in one of the Victorian sofas and consigns his mobile phone to the table in front of him, it is apparent that there is plenty to talk about.
‘Am I a leader? I have to be – I employ 2000 people. In fact it always comes back to leadership. It is the ultimate aspect of any business. If you ask my employees what my leadership style is then they would say “fair” but one thing I am not is hands-on. The truth is, I am good at delegating. I’m good at finding the right people to do the jobs and then putting those people in the correct slot.’
It is the classic profile of a successful entrepreneur.
Time and again those with the biggest ideas and the drive to make money are good at looking the bigger picture but bad on the day to day detail. The ones that are successful are those that accept this and get people on board to make up for areas they are weak in.
It is a point that has not been lost on Bannatyne.
‘Most of my talent is home grown; people that have come in on work experience or in lower positions and have worked their way up. It’s all about empowering people to be able to get on and do their jobs well. A chain is only as good as its weakest link, so you have to have good people in EVERY part of the organisation.
If you don’t have the right people, you don’t have a business.’
When pressed on how he keeps the best of the best talent working for him, his answer is succinct. ‘Good salaries. Bonuses. Share options.’
With that his phone vibrates loudly on the table and after a quick read of the incoming text he’s back sitting comfortably with that familiar focus and unblinking gaze from ‘Dragons’ Den’.
His appearances on BBC2 have propelled him from being a successful entrepreneur to a visible role model and his media profile is something that he ‘absolutely’ considers to be a positive thing.
He quotes a recent deal as an example, when he completed a £92 million takeover of a chain of Living Well clubs.
‘It is Dragons’ Den that gave us the profile. Without it, the deal wouldn’t have happened.’ But one thing that he stresses hasn’t changed with the fame are his values and the culture of his companies.
‘Culture trickles down from the top. Our culture is giving the best service to the customer. We need to re-enforce this message at all of our meetings for the rest of the employees to keep acting on it.’ And does he think his health clubs give the best customer experience?
‘Yes’, he replies confidently in his rich Scottish brogue. ‘We give the best value and best service in the industry. It is important that we ensure we stay that way, which is why we always send mystery shoppers to all of our clubs.’
To the casual observer it might appear that the world of Duncan Bannatyne revolves purely around the bottom line of his booming business empire. But for anyone that delves a little further there is a very different side.
In 2004, he received an OBE partly for a decade of charity work in Romania where his funding was crucial to providing a hospice for orphans with HIV and AIDS. A similar project opened in Columbia a year later and he is also involved with UNICEF and the Scottish International Relief in Malawi.
With six children himself and appearances on other television shows showcasing a softer side to the Dragon, such as ‘The Wright Stuff’ and ‘Fortune: Million Pound Giveaway’, Bannatyne is the first to tell you that it is family and not business that is his number one priority. But that won’t stop him doing what he does best; making money and spotting an opportunity when it arises.
It might be television that is exciting him the most at the moment but business runs in his blood.
‘I’ve always been an entrepreneur and I’m still an entrepreneur.’ With that he gives a warm smile and a firm shake of the hand and checks his Blackberry for the missed calls and waiting messages.
If only he’d ended with the words that have been heard so many times before on Dragons’ Den.
‘I’m out’.
BANNATYNE IN BRIEF
- Born in 1949, in Clydebank, Glasgow, one of seven children.
- He started his business career at 31 with a £450 ice cream van. Subsequently sold the business for £25,000.
- Bannatyne built his first care home in 1986, after borrowing £30,000 against three separate credit cards and selling his house and cars in the process. He sold Quality Care Homes for £46m in 1986.
- He launched Bannatyne Fitness in ’97, anticipating the fitness boom and now has a portfolio of over 60 health clubs.
- His new Sensory Spa brand – recently rolled out in three locations – is inspired by his belief that ‘holistic therapies and beauty treatments are going to take off in a big way in the UK’.
- He holds an OBE – awarded in recognition of extensive charitable work in Romania where he helped fund a hospice – and was made an honorary Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) by Glasgow Caledonian University.
