Greg's Story

For Greg Thatcher, Covid-19 could have been terminal to his business. As the owner of a wholesale butcher, lockdown effectively dropped trade to 0% overnight.

But quick thinking on a return flight from Austria, as lockdown was closing in, plus decisive action, turned the situation upside down.

The Pivot

To understand the pivot Greg Thatcher and his management were able to pull off; you need to know some history.

Greg had tired working in IT, with a jet-setting lifestyle. He was ded-up of only seeing his three-year-old via a grainy Skype connection thousands of miles from home. Something had to change.

Greg purchases R.P. Meats Wholesale. Then, six months later, he was offered Blakes Meats Limited, one of R.P. Meats biggest customers at the time.

As with many firms, Covid-19 brought sweeping changes to the way the businesses ran. Where R.P. Meats experienced growth as a result of panic buying and stockpiling, Blakes Meats, which sells to the education, care, hospitality and leisure sectors experienced a very different story.

In every crisis, there is an opportunity

Greg was returning from a holiday in Austria, just as the border was shutting. He reflects that “What should’ve been a nice, relaxing holiday quickly became a reality check.” On the plane journey home, he began taking notes and planning what we were going to do. Shutdown in the UK hadn’t quite happened, but it was inevitable it was going to. He needed to decide what the firm could do to generate enough revenue and keep going.

Fortunately, they already had a very good transport system and had invested well in terms of route planning and tracking.

“I already had in my mind that a B2C online food delivery business was going to be the way to go, so I called a “Cobra” team meeting, and two days later we launched Brighton Express Meats. We took our first online order on the same day at 3 pm.” 

The team then launched a marketing and social media campaign, getting in touch with newspapers, sending out press releases and doing interviews with BBC South Today, BBC Radio Sussex and The Argus. The coverage worked: “Every time we did something like that the orders just shot up.”

“No one ever plans for their business to fall through the floor and get 0% trade”

It’s fair to say that “No one ever plans for their business to fall through the floor and get 0% trade. In that respect, Covid-19 has been a really useful lesson in how we gear our business, because there’s nothing to say this couldn’t happen again in the future.

“I’ve always had the mindset that in every crisis, there’s an opportunity. It’s definitely not a time to panic, but a time for clear thinking and really ploughing forward. Having a new baby within the first week of lockdown added to the challenge.”

The right support network helps make it happen

Going from two to three businesses overnight — and later adding a fourth — is also thanks to ‘“the support, direction and ideas Vistage has given.” 

Greg reflects that he couldn’t have done it without them and confesses that ,“at one point, I felt I was taking up so much of everyone’s time, but the members are just so supportive. If you’ve got an issue, they help resolve it. It’s a very, very tight group of people.”

“‘The success of the business has been really exciting, and it’s down to the ability of the team and their openness to change. In a few months’ time, we’ll look back fondly at how well we’ve worked together. It’s been a great bonding experience.”