Yorkshire festive focus: Matt Hopkins, The Great British Exchange

As Christmas is only weeks away, and the businesspeople of Yorkshire are preparing to hang up their stockings, Bdaily is catching up with the region’s business leaders to reflect on the highlights of 2016 and how they plan on spending the holiday period.

For the series’ first instalment, we are speaking with Matt Hopkins, founder of The Great British Exchange.

The Great British Exchange is a Harrogate-based firm which specialises in connecting British made artisan products to retailers.

Your business

What were the three biggest highlights for your business in 2016?

• The opening of John Lewis Leeds was a big highlight and proudly launching 11 Yorkshire based brands into one of the countries most prestigious retailers in the UK.
• Registering the 1000 brand to The Great British Exchange was a big deal for us too.
• Moving into our gorgeous new premises in Harrogate!

What are your your business’ goals going into 2017?

To establish The Great British Exchange as the main Business to Business destination for retailers buying British Made products. Continue to build on the success of 2016 and continue our mission to work with British designers, makers and manufacturers and see more British made goods on the shelves of retailers.

Anything you/your business would have done differently over the past year?

Lots, but I couldn’t possibly tell. Building a business from scratch is hard work, looking back and saying you could /should have done something differently is too easy. “Don’t look backwards, we aren’t going that way”!

Your region

Why do you think Yorkshire is a great place to do business?

Yorkshire is truly one of the most fabulous places on earth; having travelled around a great deal Yorkshire is a hot bed for creativity and diversity, from artisan food production across the dales, to retail at the new Victoria Gate in Leeds and as a financial capital. Yorkshire isn’t just flat caps and farms, it’s the future. You get everything you get in London but within minutes you’re in the stunning heart of the countryside.

Any other company/companies in the region stand out for you?

Lots, working with many businesses from the Yorkshire region it would be unfair of me to pick out one.

What does Yorkshire want to see happen in the future/next year?

As with the whole of the North of England, Yorkshire has an enormous amount to offer and I’d like to see more successful businesses emerge out of the county. I think Yorkshire folk are naturally hard working and entrepreneurial.

Yourself

What individual goals do you want to achieve personally/professionally in 2017?

My kids are small and starting school; I have always promised myself I would get the balance right between work and home. Oh and a holiday would be nice! Professionally, I would like to see the business flourish in 2017, we designed The Great British Exchange to be a business that can do good things for British brands and the team behind the business have worked extremely hard to achieve what we have, they deserve to see their efforts pay off.

How to you unwind after a stressful day at work?

To be honest I do find it stressful sometimes, but I do enjoy cooking. I am lucky enough to be working on a long-term project with Tom Kerridge – who’s quite an inspiration!

What would be the perfect Christmas gift for you?

Socks, I have a thing for socks. However at the moment I only seem to be able to find odd ones, so a matching pair would be nice. Alternatively, I’d really like a vintage 356 Porsche; I can send pictures if you like?

To feature in our Yorkshire festive focus series, contact Nick at nick.hill@bdaily.co.uk.

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