Go Furness

Dalton Dragon

Tim has spent most of his career as a Health and Safety Consultant whilst dabbling in a bit of property development.

5 years ago, he took on a big project when he decided to renovate the historical Crown Court House in Dalton. The building itself is impressive, boasting lots of character, some of the original features like jail gates and court rooms.

Tim has worked relentlessly renovating, updating, improving and has achieved a great mix of contemporary and original. The result is fantastic and what he has created is much more than a café and restaurant. It houses a meeting/function room and a mini Tourist Information Centre with a touch screen consol. It is an internet café too, and is fast becoming a business connection hub between Ulverston and Barrow. For instance the Dalton and District Chamber of Commerce holds its meetings there. ??Tim’s ambitions and motivations stretch way beyond the success of the café. He is an extremely proactive individual in Dalton and aims to seriously improve the town centre. Already the renovation of the Old Police Station has had a major impact on that end of Dalton. But his work has just begun. He says that:??“This momentum needs to be continued by recognising Dalton as a key visitor attraction and improving the conservation area”

Since there are not enough shops in Dalton to have a collective voice in Furness, he feels the way forward is to be politically proactive. Tim pointed out that the 2005 Dalton Strategic Review will be out of date before the priorities have been progressed if people don’t take action. He has teamed with 5 other Conservatives who are running for election in Dalton. If they all get elected it will be the first time in 30 years that Dalton would have a powerful voice as a united team on the Barrow Borough Council. Their remit?

“ the team firmly believes that local issues are the most important and meaningful to our community and having a strong unified approach to brining Dalton back into prominence in the Barrow Borough is our clear aim and objective”

Tim is serious about making changes and improving the quality of life for Daltonians. He is straight to the point and always thinking of creative proactive ideas.

One of his ideas is to set up a kind of Dragon’s Den in Furness. It would be a sort of inventors club with the backing of business mentors and Furness Enterprise. He is liaising with Dowdales and BAE who think he could be on to something.

So what are the secrets of success for Tim?

Being proactive and thinking laterally
Very, very hard work (7days a week for 4 years)
Maintaining high standards
The ability to plan and carry out the plans
Keeping a focus
Audrey!! Tim’s partner works incredibly hard at customer care and running a tight ship
His challenges?

Lack of grant funding
Lack of a town manager
Advice to young entrepreneurs?

Keep your borrowing cost down
Be imaginative and keep being imaginative
Identify and then satisfy the needs of your market
Build up from there
Put energy into communication with your customers, be confident and be bothered
Appreciate quality
Never compromise, keep following your gut feelings and keep doing what is right
Well, having spent time with Tim and seen the quality of his work, I can see that he means business. If he and his team get elected in May I think we can expect to see some changes in Dalton, if not I bet he will find another way! Something tells me Tim is not a quitter….

Posted by Kay Hebbourn on 18th March.