Speaker 1 The Arch Publications podcast. Speaker 2 Welcome to the Arch Publications Podcast, a podcast where I get to meet and chat to local businesses who are in the area where our magazines go out. And I would like to welcome to our first podcast ever Doug Carter, who is the owner of a couple of businesses. Today I want. To talk to you about all of them. Possible one is called premium doors of Cheshire, isn't? Speaker 3 It is indeed on Wheelock St in Middlewich. Speaker 2 Just give us a little bit. Of background about your own personal career history. Speaker 3 Sure. I'll keep it as brief as I can. Left school at 16 went into retail, worked for a very small South Coast retailer selling Pepe Jeans, Levis, Peter Worth shirt stuff that used to be on trend back in the day. They went into liquidation in 93, so I'm giving my age away now and they basically did me a big favour because when they went into liquidation it gave me the kick that I needed to do something different, ended up at next as a part timer was there for a few weeks. Became full time, became a department manager, worked my way through to area and regional management. Next did that for 13 years and then I got headhunted by HSBC. Speaker 2 That's quite a difference. Speaker 3 Just a bit clothing to banking, but yeah, quite diverse in terms of product offering, regulation was quite a change as well from something unregulated. Speaker 2 Why did they headhunt you then? What? What was it that you? Speaker 3 Offered banks became shops, so you'll know that retail banking, HSBC had basically been quite. Innovative in their way forward, lots of machinery, less counters and what staff they did have, they wanted them to effectively sell credit cards, loans, mortgages. So with my sales expertise and then the training they gave me. On the products. Became an area manager. I was also a bank manager. And then my last role was in Canary Wharf doing a strategic planning role and I was head of resource planning. For the UK. Speaker OK. Speaker 2 Wow, I mean that is a. Lot do you leave? School with any qualifications. Then for those sorts of. Speaker 3 Jobs. None whatsoever. Speaker 2 That's the same as me. Speaker 3 So yeah, the University of life. Speaker 2 Yeah, it's the best university, isn't. Speaker 3 It is, you learn. Speaker 2 A lot. So you know when you were saying the first business that you worked for. When was that? When did it tear close? Its doors. Was it around 90? Three then. Ohh that was a good guess. Speaker 3 Was 93. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So literally I left school in 89. So you definitely know my age now. And it, yeah, 993 it was around April, May of 93. I just found out I was gonna be a father because I was a really young dad, started young. And I've lost my job. And I thought, Oh my God, what AM. Speaker 2 I gonna do, but don't you find when you're in those situations. Where you're faced with challenges, you know, we're going through a challenging time at the moment. I think it brings the best out in people because you draw on every resource you've got and talking to a lot of my businesses now, it's the ones that actually work harder and use opportunities during times like this that come out stronger. Speaker 3 Totally agree and I definitely am a believer of. You get out of something. What you've put into it and when times are tough, you've gotta put more into it and you will reap the rewards, not only during those difficult times, but when we come out of them the other side. Right. And I was chatting to somebody only this morning that rents one of the offices in the hub. Ohh. It's a really tough time and I went. Yeah, but what are you doing that you? Wouldn't normally do. How? About this, this, this and this. Ohh great idea. So sometimes it's just talking and finding another way to do something because we've become creatures of habit and. There definitely are different things. Speaker 2 You can do, yeah. And just looking at my business, my businesses advertising businesses, sometimes that can be the first thing that people cut back on when actually does stronger businesses to historically are the ones that have marketed and promoted through tougher times because. They are not forgot not forgotten as quickly. People don't think that they're closed and they are the forefront of their mind because there will be people who need services still, you know, just moving on to your business, premium doors of Cheshire, you obviously sell front doors and windows and you also do Conservatory roofs, don't you and. I will ask you. Speaker 3 Yeah, we do. Patio doors, French doors, bifolding doors, roof lanterns, replacement Conservatory roofs, conservatories. If you want them. So yeah. Anything glazing. That fills an aperture in your house we can do. Speaker 2 And there will be people who absolutely need those services. And if you are at the forefront of their mind, you'll be the one. They go to. Speaker 3 Yeah, definitely. And also I think it's educating people now with rising energy costs by changing the doors and the windows, you're actually making your house more energy. Mission. Therefore, you will save money on your gas and electric. So what may seem like an expense now you'll pay back over time. It's a no. Speaker 2 Brainer investment really isn't it cause I I when I've been learning a lot about your new doors which I want to get onto because you've been on quite a journey over the last 12. Months where you've found. A really special supplier of some really good quality doors, haven't you in Poland, do you wanna firstly tell me how the premium doors business started and then tell me how you found this supplier? Speaker 3 Yeah, because they all dovetail. So basically a good friend of mine, Steve. Has been in the industry for a decade. Or more so. He owns the company that I get the bifolds from. He owns the company that I get my aluminium windows from the composite doors from and he said you should get into the business. You'd be good at it and basically said yes. So when? Lily wanted to open the hub. There was a unit next door that was part of the unit that we took over. So we said we'll try it and it's going really, really well. And the thing that's really shone through is the amount of people that come in and say, I'm buying from you because you're local and that's really. Be nice because the nearest person to go and buy doors and windows from really with the showroom, it's probably Northwich glass. You've gotta go to Northwich or crew, so it's nice to have something in Middlewich that people can come to and see and feel and touch. Speaker 2 Yeah, and parking's really easy. You know? So and it's literally in the centre of town. So it's dead easy to find. So your new doors, your new offering is from a a supplier in Poland then so tell. Me about them. Speaker 3 Yeah. So, Steve, who I've just mentioned, a friend of mine and lilies, he basically had to go off travelling around the world with the Ukraine, Russia. Conflict to find a new supplier for aluminium because his previous aluminium supplier was in Belarus and no, and then there were all sorts of trade sanctions put in by the UK Government that you couldn't bring in. Speaker 2 That's not good. Speaker 3 So he found a company in Poland to get his aluminium and his garage doors etcetera, and in that they manufacturer and. For years, a really nice premium grade door that isn't composite. It's made of aluminium and there's steel doors as well. So they're thicker twice as thick as a normal composite door, but the energy efficiency rating on them twice as good because it is twice as. Thick and the way that it's constructed, so really excited by the product fingerprint entry key card entry, code entry, mobile phone entry. So state-of-the-art in terms of technology. So in January, stroke February date to be confirmed. We're going to open an exclusive showroom for those in Oxford. Speaker 2 Ohhh wow, that's amazing. Speaker 3 So yeah, lots of things to look forward to. Speaker 2 So people will get to see them because I imagine they look pretty. Cool as well they are. Speaker 3 Really cool. And they? Speaker 2 Have a nice front door can. Absolutely change the whole look of your house, can't it? Speaker 3 Absolutely. And not only that, we do a range in that range called the home inclusive range, which basically means your electric. Your gates, your fencing, your garage door, your front door, your patio doors can all be 100% colour matched. Speaker 2 Wow, that's is it. Sorry, just get a bit technical so they use like a Pantone. Do they or so. Speaker 3 But basically, most of the fabrics that are used to aluminium or steel, so they're metal base, so you can guarantee it, but they do coat EU PVC to be able to guarantee the colour match. So and and that's trademarked as well, so. It's yeah, quite exciting. Speaker 2 That's really exciting. Speaker 1 Business insights with Arts Publications hosted by Katie Origan. Speaker 2 So we. We have touched on. Couple of things. Lily in the hub just to explain, we are at the moment sitting in the hub, which is a shared workspace office that you and Lily your partner opened last year and basically people can come down and work here for a day or rent offices for longer periods of time and you've got meeting rooms. And how's that been going? Speaker 3 Then yeah, really good. It's growing week on week, more people. Are hot desking. As we go through and that it was a tough time during the summer holidays because everything quietens down a little bit and people on holiday. But as we've come out in September, October, we're now November, scarily. There's more people coming in and just using a a desk for the day, £7.50 Wi-Fi included, tea, coffee included, but network why you work was the concept, and that's going really, really well. The dedicated offices, we've got a mortgage advisor and accountant, financial advisor, we've now got an in house. So they all dovetail really well with lilies qualification, which is where's trusts and baritones. So really any financial or professional monetary need can be taken care of in the hub as well as hot desking and renting a meeting. Speaker 2 Room and you've been. Renting them to the town council for events and. Speaker 3 We've got Santas grotto coming here for the Christmas light switch on as. Speaker 2 Well, that's exciting. Speaker 3 So yeah, lots going, it's. It's a diverse space and we want it to be utilised. Just in different. Speaker 2 Ways and there wasn't. There was nothing like this in Middlewich before, cause I've had my business has been in Middlewich since 2015 and there wasn't anything that this would have been ideal for me in the beginning it would have been, well, not for the beginning. Now we use it now, don't we? So it's great. It's if you're a start up, it's how most of the. Fantastic startups in the tech world today started by getting involved in places like this and hot desking and stuff like that. Speaker 3 Yeah, definitely. We've got graphic designers in here. Web designers, we've got all sorts that use the space. We do a monthly networking meeting that's run here. It it is great and it's nice to see so much business born. From the hub. Speaker 2 Yeah. So what do you, how do you feel about going into 2023 then now because you got lots of exciting things happening, including getting married? Speaker 3 Was just about. To mention that, yeah, no, it's really excited. It's 2023. Scarily, it is only around the corner now, but lots of stuff going on. Knutsford still developing premium doors of Cheshire here on Wheelock St, the hubs still growing. I've literally just put the phone down on potentially something else that I can't talk about. Speaker 2 Ohh you do this to me all the time, I know. Speaker 3 So I know. You but that. That it's sort of that entrepreneurial sort of spark that Lily and I have, unless we're doing something we're not happy. Speaker 2 So I think what I need to do is catch up with you again in a few months, because I see you as a very motivational person. I and I do see a lot of kind of what what you do, I kind of. Glean a lot from because I think it's great. I think you need positivity. You said to me recently you don't watch the news. And you know, we all know what's going on in the world, but there has to be a degree of let's just carry on. Let's just keep going forward and I'm the same because there will be people who need my services and your services and hopefully that will mean 2023 will be good for. Both of us. Speaker 3 Good. No good luck to you and I'm sure 2023 will be phenomenal for a lot. Speaker 2 Of people? Well, thank you very much for being my very first podcast interview. I hope I wasn't too taxing. Speaker 3 And I thank you for the opportunity. I think it's gonna be a great add on to the publications that. Speaker 2 You do and we will definitely catch up again in a few months time. Speaker 3 Look forward to it. Thank you. Speaker 1 The Arch Publications podcast.