WeDO Supper Club events are intimate with no more than 14 attendees, enabling attendees to build relationships with those they haven’t already met as well as having plenty of opportunity to join in conversations and ask the speaker questions.
Last Thursday night we had our first Supper Club at our new Edinburgh venue, Hotel Du Vin. We enjoyed our pre-dinner drinks in the cosy surroundings of the Whisky Snug which we had exclusive use of for the evening. Our thanks to member Stuart Evans of Fusion Meetings & Events for his team’s outstanding service once again in securing our new venue.
Having enjoyed a delicious dinner and impeccable service from the HDV team, our guest speaker, Paul Atkinson of Par Equity & Taranata Group, winner of our 2017 Inspiring Leader Award kept us captivated sharing his business journey to date and oh what a journey it’s been. From setting up his first business, IT recruitment specialists Direct Resources in 1995 which he and co-founder Gordon Adam sold just four years later to the newly created recruitment super group, Taranata Group with turnover of £70M , supplying to 40 countries.
Following on from the Direct Resources exit, Paul personally invested in 20 companies in the subsequent 9 years. In 2001 he formed Head Resourcing with previous business partner In 2008, he formed Par Equity the business with partners Robert Higginson, Paul Munn and Andrew Castell. Since inception, Par Equity has invested more than £80m in over 40 companies, it has completed five exits, two of which were in medtech. Of that £80m, Paul estimates that more than 70 per cent has gone into Scottish companies.
Paul had many tips to share with us all and one recurring theme which was discussed several times was the importance of appointing the right advisers. The support and advice that they can provide is essential to any growing business, regardless of whether or not you are looking to exit your business.
Here’s what attendees had to say about the event …
“Excellent food, location and ambiance. Enjoyed meeting some of the other members.”
“I will certainly attend more of these, nice meal, surroundings and like minded business folk are always ingredients for success. An all round excellent evening with some great follow up opportunities and just great to know a little more about everyone.”
“An absolutely cracking event. I’ve met some great people and been inspired along the way.”
“It was very relaxed, food was super and company great.“
Our thanks to Paul for sharing his journey with us, to everyone who attended who helped make the event such a success and to Hotel Du Vin for hosting us.
The next WeDO Supper Club event is taking place in Glasgow on the 3rd of May, find out more by clicking HERE.
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