FORMER army PT instructor Oliver North is boxing clever in business.
Now the Holmfirth man, who was welterweight boxing champion for his corps, is aiming to knock out the competition as managing director of North Fire, a company supplying firefighting equipment and vehicles to fire and rescue services across the UK.
Oliver, who grew up in Netherton, attended Moor End High School and Huddersfield New College, where he studied sports science. “As a youngster, all I wanted to do was play football for Leeds United,” he says. “But the fact is that I wasn’t good enough.”
Instead, at the age of 17 he joined the army. “I wanted to get into full-time employment and push myself,” says Oliver. “I did well, getting ‘best recruit’ in training. I joined the Royal Engineers to get a trade and that’s where my engineering abilities come from.
“But I went on to be a PT instructor. I was also an army boxer for a couple of years and was corps welterweight champion. I got into boxing because the boxing coach wanted me to do it. Once I started, I liked the sport. It requires discipline and the training is as hard as you can get in sport. I retired undefeated and while I might have considered continuing, I don’t think I was good enough to turn professional.”
His army experiences did serve to give him a grounding for running a business, he believes.
Says Oliver: “As a PT instructor, I was mainly sitting in the gym in the middle of Germany most of my time! Because I was boxing, I became a bit of a tracksuit soldier – and that’s one of the reasons I gave up.
“But being in charge of the gym also meant a lot of paperwork, rules and regulations – which has definitely helped me in business. Army life also gave me a sense of discipline and a willingness to graft and get on with things. A lot of people in business end up having to react to situations. I believe in getting up early and being pro-active.”
Says Oliver: “Joining the army was my decision and I have never regretted not going to university. I don’t think gaining a degree would have stood me in any better stead. The army gave me an awful lot.”
Back in civvie street, Oliver got a job with a company manufacturing and supplying firefighting vehicles – and was given responsibility for its distributorship with the Austrian-based manufacturer Rosenbauer.
When it became clear the company was more interested in developing its own make of vehicles, Oliver left and set up North Fire to continue supplying the Rosenbauer range. Just three years after forming North Fire, the company is now established as sole UK distributor of the internationally acclaimed Rosenbauer brand. It also supplies aerial ladders and turntable ladders manufactured by German firm Metz.
The company has doubled its turnover from £690,000 for the whole of its last financial year to £1.4m in the six months to March this year. It supplies equipment ranging from boots, helmets and flash hoods to firefighting vehicles costing £500,000 or £600,000 to almost every fire and rescue service in the country.
North Fire started out in premises at Birstall, which quickly became too small for its needs. The firm now occupies two buildings on Brockholes Business Park.
Oliver is ably backed by teams of engineers and technicians, but leads from the front and admits he would be reluctant to give up the reins.
“The systems are running efficiently and the engineers and technicians. are highly skilled,” he says. “It is just a matter of me keeping the orders coming in! I put in lots of hours and I will keep myself stretched. I’m not in a position to hand over the sales role just yet!”
Says Oliver: “Setting up the business was a risky move and I was looking for substantial orders from the start. We needed to compete with established companies, so progress couldn’t be too slow. Having Rosenbauer and Metz – two of the biggest names in the industry – strengthens our hand immediately.
“To me, providing outstanding service to existing customers is more important than a new sale. If you look after your existing customers better than your competitor does, the business will return and referrals will follow.”
He admits he has learned some hard lessons. “I underestimated the commitment that owning a company requires,” he says. “When you are an employer, you have big responsibilities. Setting up a business is like watching your child learn to ride a bike for the first time – you have to be watchful.”
Oliver is getting some invaluable advice, however, from one of Huddersfield’s foremost businessmen. Ken Davy, chairman of Huddersfield Giants and financial services support group SimplyBiz, has taken a stake in North Fire and is now its chairman – after he and Oliver met when North Fire was named Business of the Year for 2011 in the competition run by Huddersfield law firm Eaton Smith.
“It’s great to have someone like Ken with a lot of business experience on board,” says Oliver.”–
The link-up has also converted Oliver to the joys of rugby league. “I watch the Giants as often as I can,” he says. “I like the family atmosphere at the matches.”
Oliver, who lives at Holmfirth, has also retained a taste for the noble art. North Fire sponsors welterweight fighter Kell Brook, who is due to take on Matthew Hatton later this month at the Sheffield Arena and Oliver often spars with Kell in the ring as part of the boxer’s training routine.
Oliver also plays golf at Bradley. The real highlight of Oliver’s golfing excursions was to play a round at historic St Andrew’s during a business trip to Tayside.
