Lifelong friends build up life-saving business
Lifelong friends Jonathan Gilbert and Joe Lawrence have found the University of Leeds' Help to Grow management course hugely beneficial in developing a business that now turns over £2.2m a year.
Their aim is to make it more affordable for organisations to have a defibrillator on site. Rather than taking on the cost of buying and maintaining a machine, they can rent new equipment from Defib Machines for £1 a day.
Jonathan came up with the idea when he noticed a yellow box on a wall while on holiday in Italy. After getting the words translated, he discovered it was a fully automated device that people could take off the wall and use to give a shock to someone suffering from cardiac arrest.
He was naturally interested, having trained as a first aider during his years taking part in martial arts, and soon realised what a difference it made to survival rates for cardiac arrest victims.
Jonathan said: “I discovered that having a shock with a defibrillator within the first five minutes of having had a cardiac arrest boosted the chances of surviving from under 5% to over 80%. That really amazed me.”
It was a moment of realisation that changed his life.
When I was older, I wanted to look back on having achieved something that had made a difference and that I could be proud of.
Jonathan Gilbert, Director, Defib Machines
After studying Marketing at Newcastle University, Jonathan worked with major clients such as Lucozade and Puma.
He said: “I enjoyed it but got tired of selling things that people did not need. When I was older, I wanted to look back on having achieved something that had made a difference and that I could be proud of.”
He found out after further research that there were several barriers to firms purchasing defibrillators. The initial cost is often more than £1,000 plus the ongoing costs of replacing the pads every few years and regular maintenance.
He thought he could offer all of that for £1 a day.
A school in Cheshire became his first customer in January 2016 and now he has more than 5,000 customers nationwide including schools, universities, care homes, warehouse distributors, manufacturing sites, gyms and health clubs and dental practices.
In 2022 Jonathan needed a Finance Director and knew exactly who to call. He had known Joe Lawrence since he was a few years old. They had gone to Bradford Grammar School and the same university.
Jonathan said: “It was perfect timing as he had just passed all his accountancy exams. He is the smartest person I know and he wanted to come back to Yorkshire after working in Buckinghamshire, so it was a really great fit.”
The headquarters of Defib Machines is in Wellington Street, Leeds, so when they heard about the Help to Grow: Management course, they contacted the University of Leeds.
We wanted to sustain the growth of the company and joining the Help to Grow programme gave us the chance to do that.
Joe Lawrence, Chief Financial Officer, Defib Machines
Joe said: “Like Jonathan, I was really busy and found it hard to think about strategy in and amongst the day job.
“We wanted to sustain the growth of the company and joining the Help to Grow: Management course gave us the chance to do that.
“We had individual mentors and that was extremely helpful. Mine was Steve Baker. He didn’t tell you what to do – he guided you. He wasn’t at all prescriptive.
“He was always constructive and helpful which meant although there were challenges on the course, there were never any disagreements. He taught me the value of ‘simple threads’ – that is, don’t complicate stuff.”
When Jonathan and Joe finished the course last year, they put together a five-year programme to achieve their goals and develop their employees.
Jonathan said: “Putting together that plan allowed us to accelerate the growth of the company. The more defibs out that are out there, the more chance there is of people being saved.”
Companies need to have been operating for over one year and have between five and 250 employees to qualify for the programme. Designed to be manageable alongside full-time work, it delivers expert mentoring on financial management, innovation and digital adoption and enables delegates to develop a tailored business growth plan.
Cohorts are running 2nd September 2024 and 13th January 2025 throughout the year and the Business School is inviting business owners to get in touch to find out more.
