New Post has been published on The North East Business Forum
New Post has been published on http://northeastbusinessforum.co.uk/lucky-thirteen/
Lucky thirteen for Rob and his latest business
Lucky thirteen for Rob and his latest business – When Rob Collier needed a name for his latest business venture he didn’t hesitate to choose his lucky number.
Now, @thirteen, the second business he has started at UK Steel Enterprise’s Innovation Centre in Hartlepool, is already set to roll out its special brand of on-site catering to other centres and large companies on Teesside.
Rob, who set up Advanced Retail Solutions Ltd in the Innovation Centre on the Queens Meadow Business Park two years ago, decided to fill a gap and provide top quality catering at the Centre, home to more than 40 young businesses. Working in partnership with his father, Robert senior, @thirteen was started.
“We love the Innovation Centre and it is the perfect environment to start a business,” he said. “Advanced Retail Solutions has expanded massively here and we now occupy two of the largest units. We are about to add another two Sales Managers to our team of 11 and have a second office and distribution centre in Manchester. ARS is already one of the largest distributors in the UK and carries goods for many major independent wholesalers.
“We thought that if our team like great coffee and food made to order on our doorstep then other tenants would too, so we came up with @thirteen. We invested an initial £8000 on equipment to provide the best range of quality food and drink that we could.”
@thirteen’s range of speciality lattes including gingerbread, marshmallow and hazelnut are especially popular and the menu includes paninis, bacon or sausage baps, salads, a soup of the day, baguettes and cup cakes.
“We use locally-sourced produce and everything is fresh every single day and made to order,” said Rob, who is Hartlepool born and bred. “There are about 250 people working in the Innovation Centre and visitors, delivery drivers and others working on the Business Park are becoming regulars too.
“We are already talking to other Centres and large companies on Teesside about @thirteen as employers are also realising the benefits on-site catering can bring to the business as well as employees.”
And his lucky number thirteen? Both Rob’s parents were born on the 13th of the month. Rob and his wife Danielle, currently on maternity leave from the business with their second baby, live at number 13 and now the family @thirteen business is continuing the lucky trend.
Joan Cook of UK Steel Enterprise, the business-support subsidiary of Tata Steel, said: “We were very pleased when Rob, who has already grown his distribution business very successfully from our Innovation Centre, suggested @thirteen. Everyone loves the welcoming smell of fresh coffee and the made-to-order menu, including the UKSE team running the Centre”.
Details of UK Steel Enterprise’s support for businesses is on 01642 777 777 and at www.uksteelenterprise.co.uk.
Time for a break: Joan Cook of UK Steel Enterprise with Rob Collier who has started catering company @thirteen, his second business at the Innovation Centre in Hartlepool.