A serial entrepreneur says people often underestimate him because of his strong Suffolk accent.听
Glenn Cooper is the chairman of St Helens-based听Inovus听Medical听and is best known as the founder of bollard manufacturer ATG Access, which was sold for more than 拢22m in 2019.听
Speaking to听老九品茶Cloud听at an investment roundtable the Ipswich Town fan said he uses his country accent to his advantage when it comes to negotiating with lawyers.听
He said:听鈥淚鈥檝e got a broad Suffolk accent. I sit with these lawyers and听say听鈥業 don鈥檛 understand any of this听pre听and post-money stuff, give me the idiot鈥檚 guide because I鈥檓 the boy from Suffolk鈥�.听
鈥淒id I understand that stuff?听Yes听I did, but don鈥檛 think the lawyers and corporate finance advisers have all the knowledge. Be prepared to play the idiot and never give up.鈥�听
Under his leadership ATG Access become a global player in the installation of road blocker, bollards and vehicle barrier systems.听
The manufacturer took investment from听mid market听private equity house LDC in 2013.听
Mr Cooper said: 鈥淚 knew it was the right to get investment when I could see the markets growing really fast. With ATG Access we could see we had a听fairly strong听position in the UK. It was developing in the Middle听East听but it was exploding in the US. There was no way we could have managed these regions effectively without investment. There was too much opportunity. If we didn鈥檛 have the right people and the deep pockets to do the听travel听we鈥檇 have lost the opportunity.听
鈥淟DC didn鈥檛 interfere. Like all these private equity guys if you hit your听numbers听they鈥檒l continue to support you and help. LDC came in with a 100-day plan. They linked us with people in the marketplace and it gave us more credibility.听
鈥淚nvestors do bring a lot of discipline and challenge you. The biggest mistake you can make with investors is only sharing good news. If you鈥檝e got听issues听then get them on the table. Telling them too late damages the business and your reputation. Before you take any investment do your research.鈥�听
- The other speakers were Chris Eccles, CEO, ChargePoint Technology; Martyn Gould, consultant and founder of rightsignal; James Bedford, digital cluster development manager at STFC; Marc Schmid, founder, Redmoor Health; Paul Woods, managing director, Proactive Despatch; Amman Ahmed, founder, MusicForPets; Laura Simpson, co-founder, My Bespoke; Chris Reid, founder and CEO, Connect Childcare; and Jon Davage, head of corporate, Bermans