Case Study - Jim Wotherspoon
Motherwell born, Jim Wotherspoon is the ‘new broom’ in Minster’s Glasgow North area and, whilst he is looking forward to putting his sales and managerial skills to work, he does not intend to make any major changes to the way the business operates.
“This is a sound business with a very loyal and competent workforce. Initially, I am going to spend time getting to know them, speaking to our customers and making sure that the stable relationships which have been established remain in place.
“A thorough training course at Minster’s head office and time spent with existing Minster franchisees has helped me to become familiar with the systems and procedures.
“Once I have settled in, I will step up the marketing activity and start to use my contacts in the area to take the business on to the next level. My target is to double the turnover within three years.”
Jim, 40, is married and has two daughters aged 12 and 10. He began his career as an apprentice with coal mining equipment manufacturer, Anderson Strathclyde, moving from there to Ferranti. He then went into sales with R D Taylor - a distributor of high-tech materials for the electronics industry - where the turnover doubled during his time there. He then set up his own business in the electronics industry and had sales of over $50 million per annum at its peak.
At the same time as he was building up his electronics company, Jim and his wife were also establishing a successful pub business where they quadrupled sales in five years before selling it to a brewery.
After looking at a variety of businesses, including pubs, retail and numerous franchise opportunities, Jim chose Minster: “The Cumbernauld location of the branch is perfect, with plenty of manpower on the doorstep and a massive untapped market within easy reach. The fact that the business is low-tech and virtually recession-proof was also important to me.”
