Show #035: A profile of Brian Rourke the North West Blacksmith with the global reputation
Dec 30th, 2009 by Jon Coulter
My guest this month is Brian Rourke, founder and MD of one of the most successful manufacturing SME’s in the North West - B. Rourke & Co. Ltd.
To listen to the podcast, click on the grey arrow below.
Now Brian’s story is a colourful and inspirational one - having left school without any qualifications and after a national service spell in the RAF, he started his ironsmith’s business by converting a ‘hen hut’ on his sister’s Lancashire farm into a forge.
Over the following 48 years, his vision and persistence have seen the business grow, both in the UK and abroad - it today exports to over 30 countries and has an office in the USA…not bad for a lad from Bacup!
In the interview, Brian talks us through his business journey, from the days where he nearly got fired for working too hard, to how he plans to steer Rourke’s through the current economic turmoil.
Brian also shares a few pearls of advice gleaned over his 48 years in business and they include:
- ENJOY WHAT YOU ARE DOING
- GIVE VALUE FOR MONEY TO YOUR CUSTOMERS
- TAKE VALUE FOR MONEY FOR THE COMPANY
- BE PERSISTENT - KEEP GOING
If you want to find out more about Brian and his business visit www.rourkes.co.uk
Subscribe FREE and remember that you don’t need an iPod to listen to Business Ears, the North West’s Business Podcast, you can play the show live here, you can also download the file length 19:15 (MP3 13.2Mb) to your computer’s desktop by right clicking on the ‘Download’ link under the audio player above and selecting ‘Save Target As…’
You can subscribe FREE to the show in a number of ways either:
- Via your RSS aggregator by clicking on the orange button
- Using iTunes, just click the button which will open iTunes (if you already have it installed) and select ’subscribe’
- Enter you email address and receive a notification straight to your inbox every time a new show is released
If you have any feedback or questions about how to listen or subscribe to Business Ears, the North West’s Business Podcast email jon@businessears.co.uk or leave a comment at the end of the show post.
