IoD Suffolk welcomes new ambassador Paddy Bishopp
IoD Branch Ambassador Introduction.
Your name: Paddy Bishopp
Your title/role and company name: Co-Founder of Shout About Suffolk Ltd
Your IoD branch: Suffolk
Your IoD Branch Ambassador role: Start Up Ambassador
Your social media handles: LinkedIn-Shout About Suffolk
Q: How long have you been involved with the IoD?
I am very new member to the IoD but have always been associated with it through business partners. Pall Mall has always been a great meeting space and at Paddy & Scott’s we used your legal services. We did get very close to winning the coffee contract a few years ago….
Q: Can you tell us a little about your career to date?
Having successfully been a driving force in launching bluecycle.com, I left behind my London sales and marketing background to follow my passion for food and drink. My first move saw the launch of Eat Anglia in 2004, a food and drink home delivery business, followed by my award-winning Suffolk-based Café/Deli. The judges highlighted the quality of the coffee, so when my coffee roaster moved abroad, I saw an opportunity to launch a young, trendy vibrant coffee company. Eat Anglia was sold in 2006.
The next ten years were spent building up from scratch a coffee company, called Paddy and Scott’s Cafes Ltd. This business was the fastest growing Independent coffee company in the UK supplying Waitrose, Tesco and over 700 Deli’s, hotels and restaurants. Paddy and Scott’s also added major offices to their portfolio and supplied Head Offices of companies such as Barclays, BMW, Daily Telegraph, Heinz, O2 and HP, to name just a few. In 2015 we launched 3 of our own High Street Cafes and have signed a Master Franchise Agreement for The United Emirates. We are also the only coffee company in The Accelerate 250 list, the UK’s top 250 dynamic companies – “geared for growth”. In December 2017, I sold my equity share in Paddy & Scott’s.
Shout About is my first full time venture since P & S. It is already succeeding in building a respected and dynamic business which is elevating the potential and achievements of our region’s entrepreneurs. Shout About exists to nurture the next generation of Suffolk business start-ups via innovation and entrepreneurial thinking. It provides support facilities, expert mentoring and networking opportunities within a 1-3-year incubation period, giving the business self-sufficiency and a road map for success.
Alongside this I have been a ‘Entrepreneur in Residence’ for CEDAR and The Lord Ashcroft International Business School and mentored for the EE Hub. I now Chair The Suffolk Community Foundation’s Food and Drink Fund.
Q: What do you hope to achieve as an IoD Branch Ambassador?
I would really like to link the bridge between the IoD student and the IoD’s Entrepreneur Support Service and make sure that all involved are relevant to the IoD and understand the benefits that it can give. At Shout About Suffolk we are firm believers in Collaboration and want Suffolk to have a Start Up Generation of IoD entrepreneurs all working together to build business success in Suffolk and be on the pathway to the next stage IoD membership, with some coming all the way though from IoD student.
Q: If you could give your 21 year old self some advice what would it be?
That you are the right personality to be an Entrepreneur.
Q: What keeps you busy outside of work?
My three boys and their sport, I always keep Wednesday afternoon meeting free when they are playing sport and make an effort to always support. Alongside this I love running, tennis, cooking and eating out.
Q: Are there any business related or policy issues that keep you awake at night?
I must admit to being a good sleeper and not a big worrier, what keeps me awake is when I am feeling overwhelmed with the work load so my mind races, I am a bit believer in sleep though so will always try and get back to sleep and not work.
Q: Why do you think business leaders should join the IoD?
Being surrounded and collaborating with like minded people who are all sharing the same journey of entrepreneurialism and can benefit from conversations, meetings, networking and the many benefits that IoD membership brings.