Jonathan Wheatley

Jan 8 2008 by Sarah Judd, Evening Gazette

Managing director of MC Ware of Stokesley.

What did you want to be when you were young?

I always wanted to be a pilot.

How much was your first pay packet and what did you spend it on?

£3.50 for cleaning brass finger plates and horse brasses in a pub. My nick name whilst doing this job was ‘brasso’.

What’s your dream job, other than your current one?

I would have loved to be a professional golfer.

What’s the best piece of business advice you have received?

When starting out, invoice finance or factoring really helped us with cash flow but get rid of it as soon as you can afford to and increase your bottom line.

And the worst?

I was once told to save costs by building our own computers. It was a disaster and the rate of returns meant it cost us more. For the past eight years we have only supplied A-brand products from the top manufacturers.

What is your philosophy when it comes to business?

Clean honest business. Pay your suppliers on time and deliver when you say you will.

What are your hobbies?

As you may have guessed from a previous answer I love golf, mountain biking in the Cleveland hills and taking my 10 month old son swimming.

What’s your top business or financial tip?

Get a good system that suits your business. A system that will let you know at any point in time how you are doing and give you time to adjust. Don’t put your head in the sand and hide from bad news.

Does anything scare you and if so what?

I’m not keen on spiders, I’m sure they’re getting bigger. My wife deals with them in our house.

What would you choose as your epitaph?

As an IT consultant it would have to be “They tried rebooting him but it didn’t work.”