EMPOWERING and trusting staff is the way to run a successful business, maverick entrepreneur Sir John Timpson told the South’s business leaders at the Solent Business Growth Summit 2017.

Keynote speaker Sir John, who heads the giant, independent Timpson group with 1,940 shops and more than 5,000 staff, said his unique, “upside down management” style had paid dividends with the business achieving a £350m turnover from a core of shoe repairs and key cutting.

He was speaking at the Ageas Bowl’s Hilton Hotel, near Southampton, in the fourth such breakfast event promoting business growth and backed by four of the area’s big firms with a strong operational presence in the Solent region.

He said: “Our key to success is doing things differently.

“I find the best way to plan is with an A4 pad and a Biro. We have no marketing department and we don’t advertise, but we do look after customers and staff well.

“My light bulb moment came 23 years ago and it is simple and obvious.

“The only way ahead is to trust the people who serve customers with the freedom to treat them however they wish.

“We have an upside down management structure with the chief executive officer at the bottom. We also have just two rules for staff: 1. Look the part 2. Put the money in the till.

“No one believed anyone would run a successful business by letting people get on with it – and it took five years to convince my middle management of the benefits.

“I’m free to run the business as I want. I’m not interested in best practice or key performance indicators (KPIs) – if it’s not common sense we don’t do it.”

Hosts for the fourth annual event were four companies – Santander Corporate and Commercial Bank, accountancy, investment management and tax group Smith and Williamson, commercial property consultancy Hughes Ellard and law firm Trethowans.

Sir John (74), who was knighted in this year’s Birthday Honours for services to business and for fostering 90 children with his late wife Alex, also revealed his unusual methods of employing staff for the UK’s leading high street service retailer.

He said: “When we recruit new staff we look for personality above all else. We are not bothered about CVs, qualifications or even sometimes what candidates say in interview situations.

“It has worked – we have a business full of personalities.”

The Timpson Group is also renowned for taking on ex-offenders, with 10 per cent of employees being former prisoners.

Sir John went on to add: “Some of our senior managers came to us via that route.”