Rosie Beswick

Rosie Beswick has run a business consultancy specialising in B2B corporate market research for competitive advantage and business strategy since 2002.

EXPLAIN A TYPICAL WEEK IN YOUR WORKING LIFE: Very mixed - home-based working, seeing clients, working on some of the outsourced roles I have such as Policy Officer for the Chamber. I also do business volunteer roles such as college governor.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FACING YOUR INDUSTRY RIGHT NOW? Rebuilding my client base but looking for new business adventures after taking time out to nurse my husband, I sold a second business and reduced my consultancy to 33% working.

AND WHAT ARE THE BIG OPPORTUNITIES? New adventures and new clients as the market place changes daily due to Brexit.

HOW DO YOU GET THE BEST OUT OF YOUR STAFF? No longer have staff but with a previous business we had a part time young team of 30.  Training, explanation and support are key - and be ready for their arrival on day one!

WHAT WAS YOUR LAST MEETING ABOUT, HOW LONG DID IT LAST, AND WAS IT PRODUCTIVE? 2 hours - yes productive but still too bogged down with figures which sometimes takes up the time that could be used for innovation or open discussion.

HOW MANY EMAILS DO YOU GET IN A DAY, AND HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU HAVE TO READ THEM? Time varies wildly but often do first thing or last thing as I'm often out and about. I try to answer as soon as I can so they do not back up.  Numbers vary but 20 plus as a minimum.

DO YOU ANSWER WORK CALLS OR EMAILS AT HOME? WHAT’S THE RIGHT WORK-LIFE BALANCE? Always, I am running my own business so there is no choice.

HOW DO YOU HOPE YOUR COLLEAGUES WOULD DESCRIBE YOU? Practical, down to earth, knowledgeable and happy to take constructive criticism.

BREXIT – WHAT’S YOUR VIEW OF WHAT IT’S ALL GOING TO MEAN? A mess as it beds in - it's happening so we must accept that, but it is destabilising as humans need a comfort zone, and this is well out of everyone’s comfort zone. 

HIGHLIGHTS OR LOWLIGHTS OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR? Working with some of America’s blue chip companies and their decision to reuse my services. Selling to Tesco and surviving doing so, but the low was having to sell that business just as it was taking off.

PET HATES? Not giving people a break, if deserved, we all have weaknesses.  Being too precious, pompous or arrogant.  Not helping yourself is my biggest bugbear.

IF YOU COULD GO BACK AND GIVE YOUR YOUNGER SELF SOME WISE ADVICE, WHAT WOULD IT BE? Less is more!

HOW DO YOU RELAX AWAY FROM WORK? Hill walking and socialising with friends.

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS SPECIAL ABOUT THE SHROPSHIRE BUSINESS COMMUNITY?  The more rural it is, the more self-sufficient, which is a trait I admire.

TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT YOU THAT MOST PEOPLE PROBABLY WOULDN’T KNOW. I was a rock climber and caver back in the distant past and an award-winning cook - I was never formally trained, so like other Mary Berry style cooks, I do not call myself a chef.

YOU CAN TAKE ONE BOOK, ONE FILM AND ONE CD ONTO A DESERT ISLAND – WHAT WOULD THEY BE? I'm dyslexic so non-fiction is useless to me as by the time you digest the words you miss the emotion. So a self-help boy scout type book; CD would a be a laid-back compilation of classical music; Film, hard to say as I don't  have a favourite, but perhaps something that was set in a cold location to remind me it’s not all sea and sand, and something with humour as laughter keeps you sane.

YOUR FIVE DREAM DINNER PARTY GUESTS, DEAD OR ALIVE? Prof. Brian Cox (makes science make sense); Thomas Telford (simply brilliant); Barack Obama (how is he so calm?); Galileo (how clever?); Tchaikovsky (we need entertainment and he is the man). 

WHAT WOULD YOU COOK FOR THEM…? At least three dishes, so that they could choose.  A wonderful slow-cooked lamb dish I discovered in Rhodes; a scented Middle Eastern dish with chicken and apricots; and one veggie dish of brown trout oven-baked in a herb crust….all served with vegetable rice and roasted potatoes.