Tony Cleary, MD of Lanchester Wine Cellars Ltd has just been awarded the Durham and Wearside Business Executive of the year award. Now in its 30th year, Tony founded the company with his wife Veronica and it is now the UK's fourth biggest wine bottler, employing over 180 staff.
Tony has this to say about the success of his business; "I look at future-proofing my business and this begins with educating the local kids, We work with the local schools and get them in,we show them the business and how it works. I answer any questions they have, which normally boils down too how much money do you make, but it’s about inspiring them and showing what they can achieve with hard work. We open up our business warts and all to the business people of the future so that we can inspire them to be as great as they can be.
Future-proofing also means looking at getting greener, we’re investing strongly in the future and looking at installing our own wind turbines to power our bottling plant next year, where we plan to bottle over 100 million bottles in 2011."
Looking at what makes Tony a winner, he has this to say; "I can’t afford to be a one trick pony, you must have more angles to your business, you have to think like an entrepreneur and constantly innovate. I know my business will look completely different in 5 years time, most importantly I instill that it’s got to be done right and this resonates throughout the workforce, we all care."
Tony is a member of David D'Arcy's Vistage group and he credits David with being a great mentor, offering good advice, which is always essential in driving his business forward. To find out how Vistage can benefit you visit our website
