Member Article

North East entrepreneur opens third heating business creating more jobs in the region

North East entrepreneur John Savage is growing his business and creating jobs in the region with the support of a Wearside-based business coach and consultant.

John, who set up Flame Heating Spares three years ago, at the age of 31, has opened his third branch of the heating merchants’ business in his home town of South Shields.

The move came after John engaged David Cliff, Managing Director of Gedanken Ltd, to support his personal and business development.

With David’s help, John identified South Shields as a town with a job creation need and also a position in the market in which his business could thrive.

David also helped John to refine his business model to ensure its potential to expand exponentially.

Having established the first Flame Heating Spares branch on Gateshead’s Team Valley Trading Estate, John and fellow director Gary Riseborough opened a second branch at Dragonville, in Durham, in 2013.

The business now employs ten people and has a turnover of £1.4 million.

David said: “John is a pleasure to work with. He is an entrepreneur who simply ‘gets’ business and will work collaboratively with partners to bring his goals to fruition.

“He is also a very nice guy who is dedicated to excellent customer service, which is great to see.”

John added: “When I decided to set up my own business, I had 15 years of experience working in heating and plumbing merchants’ branches and, while Gary and I know the industry very well, the support of David has been invaluable.

“David’s experience in helping people to grow their business has helped me to refine the way we operate and some of the finer points of the business model.

“The result is that expansion is already underway, we are employing people across three sites and the potential for further growth is even greater than it had been.”

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