Twelve years ago, Community Housing Cymru set up an Award scheme to recognise housing innovation in memory of a special person - Pat Chown. Pat gave a big part of her life to helping others and spent much of her working life in helping to meet people's housing needs in Wales.
Gwynedd-based horticulture, catering and joinery social enterprise tells us what makes the business a success, and about its plans to grow the organisation further.
Wales’s top social enterprise leader talks to WSEC
Date: 22.07.2011
Kate Wood, director of Rhondda-based Your Pets Warehouse, won this year’s social enterprise category at the Leading Wales Awards. Here, she tells us a bit about her leadership style, her inspirations and the obstacles she’s overcome.
WSEC: What do you think it was about your leadership style that impressed the judges?
KW: I have an open, honest, ‘can do’ approach. I am trusted by my staff.
What were you doing before you led your enterprise?
Managing two ESF Projects within a Special Education environment.
Have you had any grants? If so, what/when?
The Waterloo Foundation funded my salary on a sliding scale for three years. And, in 2008 we secured a pre-trading grant from the Communities Investment Fund and a soft loan from the Communities Investment Fund. The Communities First Trust Fund granted us an award in 2010 to enable us to begin to have a website built and more recently, The Coalfields Regeneration Trust awarded us money to fund two key positions.
Who or what is your inspiration?
Marks & Spencer
What’s your best leadership advice?
Never give up and use your available resources wisely.
What’s the biggest obstacle you’ve overcome with the business?
I’m not Welsh, I’m not a man and I am outspoken!
What are your ambitions for the business?
To replicate our business model.
How would you describe your leadership style?
I have very high standards of professionalism and constantly problem solve and I trust in others to take ownership of allocated tasks. It is important to lead by example.
Tell us something about you that would surprise us?
I don’t like public speaking!
How do you think Welsh social enterprises could improve?
Each enterprise needs to have a strong, commercially driven board of directors and also to recognise that social enterprises are businesses not charities.
More about the company:
Kate founded Your Pets Warehouse more than three years ago when she saw a gap in the market to provide employment opportunities and training for disabled and excluded young people.
The social enterprise, which has a 3,000 sq ft quality pet store in Tonypandy now has an annual income figure of over £200,000 from product sales alone and employs 10 full and some part-time staff and a number of trainees and volunteers.
Kate has continually developed the business to be financially viable but not at the cost of keeping her original vision of a social enterprise. She has led the business forward and developed the sales strategy to include on-line sales as well as growing the training side of the business to be able to offer more opportunities.
