Armstrong Watson is delighted to announce the appointment of Jon Wilson who has joined the firm as Director this month.
Jon’s role will be focussed on supporting businesses in their development and growth, and his exceptional experience has seen him enter a business through a management buy-out, survive through a recession, grow in tough competing markets, and make a business fit for an ongoing sale.
It’s this deep level of understanding about what a business is going through at each of these stages which means the advice he can now pass on to clients in his new role within Armstrong Watson will particularly help businesses looking to; create a more sustainable future, develop and explore new markets and advise those who are looking to export across the world.
Previous to his role at Armstrong Watson, Jon was the MD for York based Sheppee International, a manufacturing business producing innovative machinery for the glass container industry which was exporting 90% of its turnover across the world.
Jon joined from an accountancy background through a management buy-out as FD and was immediately challenged as with the rest of the UK economy, with a deep down turn in business.
He made the decision to put the company into survival mode and very quickly managed to bring the manufacturing business back online and doubled its existing turnover.
In 2012 Jon became MD of the company and oversaw the Finance, HR and operational side of the business and, through the implementation of a new strategy, helped grow the business from £5M into £9M.
The plans included the development of existing customer relationships and the identification of new geographic markets, all of which happened while managing the growing pains of this fast expansion.
In 2013 Jon and his strategy was awarded the Queens Award for Enterprise and International Trade and throughout 2013 he continued on to win three further awards in the region.
Always pushing the business forward and looking at ways to improve systems, Jon went through ISO9001 and used this to develop the whole culture of the business which enabled the team to be more accountable for their roles.
Jon continued to oversee the sales function and direction of growth and managed a number of agents across the world.
In 2014, he managed the legal and due diligence process for the sale of the business and assisted in the transition to new ownership.
It’s this experience and perspective which was pinpointed by Armstrong Watson as bringing specific value to their clients which could have a huge impact for a business when combined with the expertise already available within the firm.
Mike Kienlen, regional lead partner for Armstrong Watson comments:
‘We are delighted to have Jon join the team in Yorkshire. His experience taking a business through a recession, doubling turnover and implementing award winning strategies through to seeing a business fit for an ongoing sale is completely unique and there are clear benefits to our clients in having this level of industry based experience available to feed into our business advice. Jon’s knowledge will be invaluable to us as a firm but more importantly to our clients in helping their businesses develop and grow. Jon’s appointment is significant as it strengthens our expertise in the sector. Jon is already adding value to the firm and we’re looking forward to seeing his advice have real benefits for our clients.’
Jon Wilson comments:
‘After working in the manufacturing industry for a number of years, driving a business through both good and bad times, I’m now looking forward to the next challenge, which is for me, utilising my experience and the knowledge gained through taking Sheppee through every stage of the business cycle, to support and develop other businesses. Looking for my next steps I had to ensure that I could find a firm whose values for excellent relationships and quality reflected my own and I feel I have found exactly that with Armstrong Watson. I know that my insider experience, coupled with the expertise the wider Armstrong Watson team can deliver through their Blue advisory service will create true value to our established and newer client base.'
