‘Kindness the only strategy’ as business hits 150
PARTY: Councillor Anne Handley, left, leader of East Riding Council, and Councillor Mike Ross, leader of Hull City Council, among the guests at the Sewell Group 150th anniversary celebrations
By Rick Lyon, Co-Editor
A business founded in Hull 150 years ago as a firm of jobbing builders celebrated its anniversary and transition into a modern organisation operating across a range of sectors with a party which put people first.
His Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant for Hull and East Yorkshire, Jim Dick OBE, King Charles III’s representative in the region, led the way in applauding Sewell Group’s contribution to the wider community as part of building a successful business.
Emma Hardy, MP for Hull West and Haltemprice, followed up by endorsing the company’s commitment to partnerships. The audience at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel included Councillor Anne Handley, leader of East Riding Council, and her Hull City Council counterpart Councillor Mike Ross.
Dr Paul Sewell, chair of Sewell Group, charted the development of the business from a firm of jobbing builders set up in Sutton village in 1876 to an organisation of more than 500 people still based in Hull and now running seven businesses across Yorkshire.
Mr Dick visited Sewell Group’s headquarters in Geneva Way in 2022 to present the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for Promoting Opportunity, an honour followed this year with the King’s Award for Enterprise for Promoting Opportunity, marking the company’s work in supporting people from disadvantaged backgrounds into employment.
With Mr Dick unable to attend the 150th anniversary, Ms Hardy read his tribute and told how his first experience of Sewell Group’s generosity was the company’s role in renovating Swanland Scout hut.
Mr Dick noted: “They were giving back before it was trendy.”
As president of Smith & Nephew in Hull, Mr Dick got to know Dr Sewell well: “We were kindred spirits as heads of two of the city’s significant businesses and learned much from each other.
“Sewell were always first in and super supportive to important civic initiatives such as the Bondholders and City Image, and I will never forget how they stood behind CatZero when the Government publicly criticised our primary care trust for buying a boat.”
Mr Dick recalled the project in which “our first generation of NEETS” renovated the former Tropical Knights nightclub: “The young people getting the opportunity to smash up a bar without getting nicked for it! When I thanked Paul at the opening, he just said it seemed the right thing to do.
“That phrase has stayed with me forever and it defines the Sewell Group. Their vision and values and the consistency of their people’s behaviours.”
‘CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE TO THRIVE’: Sewell Group chair Dr Paul Sewell with managing director Jo Barnes, left, and Emma Hardy MP
Ms Hardy said Sewell Group is known across the north: “Its success reinforces the message that this city has the talent, the ambition and the capability to lead.
“Over the generations the company has created opportunities for local people to thrive, a legacy every bit as important as the buildings and projects it delivers. It has worked hand in hand with civic leaders, public bodies and partners to drive regeneration and opportunity.”
Dr Sewell highlighted major construction projects including Building Schools for the Future and NHS LIFT as well as Dove House Hospice and the Rob Burrow MND Centre. He told how Sewell On The Go has grown from a village service station with two pumps to a network of 13 outlets and double winner of UK Forecourt Retailer of the Year.
He said: “We analyse data and advise on strategy, we invest and develop, we build and manage facilities afterwards and we connect with the community while we do it.”
Welcoming the heads of other businesses which he described as “anchor institutions for the city”, Dr Sewell stressed the importance of “keeping the Hull pound in the Hull bank”.
On the Sewell Group strategy, Dr Sewell said: “You need a good business hardware to survive, but a great software to thrive. At the turn of the millennium, we had a strategy of winning the war for talent by becoming a home for talent.
“Sewell in all these years has not been about a company registration or a set of accounts, a brand in the marketing mix or its comms, buildings, plant, machinery of computers. It’s about people and their relationships.
“We are proud to have been in the Sunday Times Top 100 to Work For since 2009 and our move to employee ownership will ensure that this business stops in this place.”
Known as an avid reader and learner from business texts, Dr Sewell quoted Richard Branson: “Early in my career I heard his quote, ‘If during the course of doing business you don’t make people’s lives better…’ And this is why we are here!”
He also revealed he went to see his own mentor, René Carayol, when he felt at one point that Sewell Group might have “taken the softer stuff too far and become a soft touch”.
He said: “I asked him if kindness could be a business strategy. He replied that kindness is the only strategy, and pointed at how far we had come and grown, always punching above our weight.”