Go Furness

The Best Events

Fiona Young watched her parents work long hard hours managing pubs. She grew up with a strong work ethic, about taking responsibility, pride and creative initiative and working to excellent standards. Eventually they set up their own business and Fiona saw the benefits of this, and wished they had done it earlier in their lives.

Fiona and her husband Stephen also managed a pub, The Red Lion, for 7 years, and although they ran a successful, buzzing establishment, Fiona knew she wanted something more. She also wanted to learn from her parent’s experiences and take the plunge into self-employment early on in her own career.

Fiona, being Fiona, attracted loyal customers. One of them ran an off-road activity business and used to take his clients to the Red Lion as a part of the package he offered. One day he told Fiona about a big national off-road challenge for women. The fact she had never done anything like this before did not put her off!

She rounded up a team of 4 women, and the necessary £1,000 to enter, and off she went. It was laced with high-action lateral-thinking challenges that she and another 199 teams faced. She made it through to first round, and then to the finals which involved a mammoth trek to France with new wacky challenges each day. She loved it!

Somehow the success of this experience sparked something in Fiona and she fell in love with mad events. The success in lateral-thinking also gave her confidence to try something new. When she saw a job advertised in the events-management field, she immediately rang and got an interview. No messing. She started working for Corporate Adrenaline for a couple of days a month but soon found herself in full time employment. Years later, after travelling the world organising events, she was burnt out from the gruelling regime of long hours and being away from home. Although she loved events management she wanted to reduce her time away from her family.

At this time, she was head-hunted by a company called Scapegoat in York who promised her work closer to home. But as this business grew, and Fiona’s competence, skills and abilities grew, she again found herself travelling and she didn’t end up doing the job that she wanted to do within the company. She did however work very hard and as she said ‘she worked as if it was her own business’.

Eventually she decided to set up her own business The Best Events. At first, she did well taking on small jobs and gaining popularity. However, 9/11 struck and all her work dried up. She was working with a lot of airline companies at this time. The Best Events seed was planted, but she decided to work for Corporate Adrenaline again for a while until the time was right.

When she resurrected The Best Events, she decided not to put all of her eggs in one basket and took on all kinds of customers. She had a magical first year, and was then told by one of her clients to expect to have another dip, as the corporations are making cut backs. Not so for Fiona. Her hard work, bubbly personality, lateral thinking, smart marketing and of course great events have meant that she hardly gets a day off.

Having spent time with her, I am not surprised. She oozes enthusiasm and passion for her work and her office is filled with boxes of crazy objects for motivational games. She has a great team that work with her, handpicked for their excellence. She ‘works like a dog’ and everything she does is done to perfection. She always has contingency plans to ensure that everything goes without a hitch, even if there isn’t one! She says things do ‘bite her in the bum’, but only ever once!

When she is running her events, she soon makes people feel comfortable enough to do the mad challenges. She treats everyone with respect and her unassuming Northern Nature goes down really well, even in the very exclusive wealthy events in the South. She says she has even been known to ‘camp up the Northernness’ on occasion.

Fiona is not short of creative ideas, and the business continues to grow rapidly with clients like BMI, Premier Inn, Iceland, Somerfield, Superdrug, Bradford & Bingley and Barking Mad. She has recently started establishing a second arm to the business, capitalising on her catering skills. The new sub-business, Pig Out uses locally reared animals and offers clients the best quality locally grown and produced ingredients. They cater for every kind of event from weddings and corporate events to hog roasts and community festivals. This means she can offer a slick all-in-one package, ensuring that clients get best value for money and the event runs smoothly.

Her advice to young people who want to set up their own business?

Get some relevant experience first. Make sure you understand the industry and give yourself an apprenticeship in your chosen field. She herself is always happy to provide these opportunities for young people looking for experience in events-management and welcomes applications from local students. As she says, experience is everything.

Well, it certainly was an experience meeting Fiona and having some time at her home in an exceptionally beautiful rural setting. I got the feeling that there are precious few dull moments in that house, even the dog was ‘mad as a kipper’!

---

Posted by Kay Hebbourn on 14th May.