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Meet the Team

Sherie Griffiths – Founder & Director, Savvy Business Ltd

Sherie began her professional life in the law. She spent her twenties training as a Legal Executive whilst working her way up from junior typist to Head of Department - and the first half of her thirties at university, getting a law degree. The plan was to follow that with the LPC (Legal Practice Course) and a training contract, in order to qualify as a Solicitor; but when she graduated, at thirty-five, she honestly couldn't face another year at uni – or starting all over again at the bottom of someone else's firm. So instead, she decided to go it alone.

She'd harboured dreams of being her own boss – doing things her own way – since she was nineteen and in 2003, it seemed to her there would never be a better time to take the plunge.

She set up Griffiths Legal Consultants in 2004 – which became Griffiths Legal Ltd in 2006. In the process of developing the firm as a commercial practice, she had the chance to hone her skills as an author, trainer, presenter (at conferences etc) and beginning in the summer of 2006, a podcaster.

Throughout her legal career, she always enjoyed the creative parts of the job much more than the procedural and In 2007, she decided it was time to focus all her energies in that direction. So Savvy Business was born.

In her 'other life' – 'it's important to have one of those", she says, she aims to set up a children's charity, to provide opportunities for kids to:

• discover and fulfil their potential through creativity and
• learn about each other from each other

'One of the proudest moments of my life to date ', she says, 'was the launch of the children's book I wrote with twenty-six seven-year-old co-authors and illustrators'.  You can find out more by visiting the project blog.

Find out more about Sherie by listening to our podcast, 'Turning The Tables', in which she talks openly to Rob Jones of USP Content about her life and career to date.

 

Rob Jones – Chairman, USP Content – Studio Production

Rob set up USP in 1990.  The company was founded upon his sixteen years' experience in radio and television presentation, production and management – a journey which took him from Liverpool to London via Luxembourg and from would-be actor to radio presenter via … accountancy …?!

In his launch presentation, he took us through some of the highs – and lows – of this 'strange little career', including some 'terrible!' early tv appearances, the joys (or otherwise) of working for 'Sky Channel', breakfast with Branson and offering careers advice to a young Chris Evans –proof positive that he shouldn't give up the day job – Rob, that is, not Chris!

When Sherie introduced him at our launch, she explained briefly how USP Content got involved in Savvy – it's far from your usual networking story …

USP's clients now include the major broadcasters and big brands (if they're good enough for the BBC, they're probably good enough for us …).

Sue Ellen - Direct Marketing Services – TeleMarketing

Call centres tend to prompt strong reactions – not always positive.  Sue's response to working in one in the mid-nineties was to realise she could do better.  She proved it by putting her money where her mouth was – literally – and setting up DMS.  She's very keen to point out that 'What I do isn't telesales – it's telemarketing'. Her focus when she contacts anyone, isn't to sell but to raise awareness of her client's product or service and lay the foundations for a long-term relationship.

When Rob introduced her at the Savvy launch, he described her as "A lady who lunches" – and got away with it! In her presentation, we found out there's a lot more to Sue's career than meets the eye, including a mobile greengrocery and a spell as an Estate Agent – but please don't hold that against her!

 

Paul Smalley - Paper Mountain Solutions – Front and Back Office

Paper Mountain was established in 2004 by Paul and Joy Smalley, drawing on their combined wealth of corporate experience. As well as under-writing for a variety of sectors in the credit insurance market in London, Paul had previously managed companies on behalf of Blue Chip beneficial owners in the offshore captive insurance market and Joy had been involved in managing a number of projects within the wealth management division of a large retail UK bank both offshore and in London.

'The idea behind Paper Mountain' says Paul, 'is to utilise large corporate thinking and strategy for the benefit of SMEs.'

When Sue introduced Paul at our launch, she described Paper Mountain as Savvy's 'engine room'.

In his presentation, Paul revealed that he and Joy both started out as science graduates but, realizing they'd never be happy cooped up in a lab, moved into the
corporate world.

During 2004, Joy ran a succession of business ideas past Paul, which he rejected – until she finally came up with the Paper Mountain concept and they became entreprenneurs.

 

Royston Simpson Creative – Website Development & Design:

Royston Simpson Creative is a full service marketing agency based in Hertfordshire. Founded by the late Mr Royston Simpson in the mid-seventies, the company has changedand developed along with its industry, moving from its routes in typography and graphic art to offering full web and online design and marketing support.

The Royston Simpson team now includes specialists in design, photography, illustration and online media.

At the Savvy launch, Simpsons then Business Development Manager, Ben Jones, was introduced by Paul and gave everyone a live guided tour of the website. 

 

Merlin?

There's one member of the core team who didn't present at the launch –Sherie's third guide dog.After unpredictable beginnings, he has proved himself invaluable to the company, as well as to his owner personally. Alongside his guiding duties (which these days he carries out with professionalism and style – most of the time), he's a natural networker. Regular business networkers are always looking for something to make them stand out – and Merlin certainly does that! 'People might not always remember meeting me,' Sherie admits, 'but they don't forget the dog!'  Ok, so live presentations can be interesting when Merlin's around – he thinks any applause is for him – but on the whole, he helps Sherie stand out – for all the right reasons.

He has also learnt to be a good studio dog – although he sometimes forgets not to stand up and shake, or stick his head in the bin during a recording – and we won't talk about the water cooler – or why his nickname is 'ASBO' – although Sherie might tell you if you ask her privately …