Q&A:NIGEL WOODPRINCIPAL AND DIRECTOROF HARLEYPARTNERS;CHAIRMAN OFGOVERNORS OF KINGWILLIAM’S COLLEGE ANDTHE BUCHAN SCHOOL

WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS BACKGROUND?Sadly, my father died very suddenly when I was 18, soI had to leave University and work in my family travelagency for two years. I then took a training contractand qualified as a Chartered Accountant. I left practiceand joined an emergent risk and financial servicesgroup where I quickly became a partner running theFiduciary side for a while, then Finance Director andmore latterly Group Managing Director.

I left that business after 30 years and in 2013started HarleyPartners. I named it after my grand-father Harley Moore, as I had a lot of respect for himand he stood for many of the things I hold dear in bothmy personal and commercial life: trust, integrity,honesty, fun and good friendship.

WHAT WAS YOUR VERY FIRST JOB?My first real job was working as a waiter at the GrandIsland Hotel in Ramsey. But I have earned a living as abarman, labouring and even as a musician for a year.When I was a student, I used to buy (wholesale) ladiesclothes in Liverpool and Manchester for my mother’sfashion shop in Ramsey! My friends used to say I wasinto ladies clothes!

WHO IS YOUR BUSINESS ROLE MODEL?I do not follow any one particular person. Society tendsto measure success in terms of money, but money issimply one crude way of assessing it - there are somany others. One can sometimes find a successfulbusiness person you admire, but then you discoverthat they display disappointing tendencies, or seek toexploit people. I tend to follow my own gut instinct, asit can take a very long time to really get to know whatpeople are like. If you have to exploit, or be cruel orunkind, to be a success, then I would rather be a happyfailure.

IF YOU HADN’T CHOSEN YOUR CURRENT CAREER, ISTHERE ANOTHER CAREER PATH YOU WOULD HAVELIKED TO HAVE PURSUED?I wanted to read medicine at University and become aGP. However I spent most of my sixth form yearsplaying sport and sailing, so despite having offers, I didnot get the grades at A-level to get into medical school.

WHAT’S THE BEST BUSINESS LESSON YOU’VE EVERLEARNED, AND HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT?I was given a project to launch a sales and distributioncompany in London. I was guided by an older, seniorand very experienced manager who front-loaded ahigh marketing spend on the project and over-

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8 8committed us. The project failed and I was responsiblefor the loss of a lot of money. So the best lesson is tofail occasionally. It focuses the mind. Give me amanager who has failed and recovered!

WHAT’S THE BEST THING ABOUT YOUR JOB?HarleyPartners has only been going for three years sowe are still a start-up really. But certainly the varietyand challenges that every day brings.

There’s a lot of satisfaction in helping add real valueto my clients – they allow me the privilege ofunderstanding their businesses so that I can adviseand help.

I enjoy the independence and self-reliance, alsomeeting lots of people who work differently, but noless effectively.

WHAT IS THE BEST BUSINESS ADVICE YOU COULDOFFER TO ANYONE?It came from my late father (and a Greek philosopherbefore him):

God gave us two ears and one mouth. Listen twiceas much as you speak. For when you speak, others arelistening and they could be learning that you are anidiot!

DO YOU OWN AN iPAD?I don’t have an iPad (although I steal my wife’s oneoccasionally) but I do have an iPhone and threecomputers.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE GADGETS?I am not really into gadgets but I guess it’s a corkscrew!And after that it would be my Bose headphones - greatfor long-haul flights.

WHAT WEBSITES DO YOU VISIT MOST?BBC and TED talks for information. Amazon and easyjetfor purchases

DO YOU SHOP ONLINE AND IF SO WHAT FOR?Yes I do for books, music and coffee pods but I preferto shop local and spend my resource on the island,even if it is a little more expensive. As the son of ashopkeeper, I know you have to use it or lose it!

WHERE IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TOVISIT AND WHY?I am very fortunate as I have travelled widely, but it hasto be Antarctica or the Galapagos Islands. Theremoteness and wildlife would be fascinating.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE TV SERIES? House of Cards on Netflix although the recent TheNight Manager came close.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE FILMThere are so many but if I had to choose it would beMaster and Commander. Aubry’s “the lesser of twoweevils” joke always cracks me up!

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ALBUM?My taste in music is eclectic and covers rock, musicals,

folk and classical. I am a great fan of Counting Crows,a band that did not last very long. I think their HardCandy album is terrific. There is a bonus track at theend which is an awesome cover of Joni Mitchell’s BigYellow Taxi. And you have to go a long way to beat theEagles’ Hotel California.

WHAT IS THE MOST MEMORABLE EVENT YOU HAVEATTENDED?Sorry, there are four: marrying Lorraine and the birthsof our three children.

NAME 3 THINGS YOU WOULD LIKE TO DO BEFOREYOU DIE?I want Lorraine and my three children to be happy andfulfilled in whatever they do. But aside from that I’d liketo spend a ski season in the Alps, sail the AtlanticOcean and learn to play the piano - well!

WHAT IS THE BEST PIECE OF PERSONAL ADVICE YOUCOULD OFFER?Be true, be honest, be kind (never weak), laugh a lot(mostly at yourself!), never ever give up on anything oranybody.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FACED BYBUSINESSES ON THE ISLAND TODAY? The management of change. The rate of change isexponential, fuelled by access to technology and thiswill challenge and destroy some traditional businessmodels.

But crisis and opportunity always go hand in handand I have every confidence that the Island willcontinue to thrive if we can address some key issues.

One of these is controlling costs as revenues willcontinue to be unpredictable. The current State sectorpension arrangements are unsustainable and thesituation will get worse before it gets better, as it willfor the Health Service generally.

The only way to address this is to “trade out” ofwhere we are now to where we need to get to. To mymind this will be a different model, with more peoplehaving to take responsibility for their care andretirement, because governments generally cannotafford the reality of their rhetoric.

This will create opportunities for savings products,healthcare products and investment products,alliances with the private sector. Technology will driveunit costs down and enable more active trading involatile conditions. Biotech, Fintech and the applicationof blockchain technology must provide high value, lowimpact opportunity.

I am delighted at the Government's internationalengagement process. The Common ReportingStandard has left the station, you either get on the trainor get hit by it. But we also have a developing networkof full OECD tax treaties to enable engagement with theEU. This will help us to facilitate international businessfrom a sophisticated well-regulated jurisdiction thatcan show it is managing change elegantly. This iscurrently an under-utilised resource.

So the future is bright but with some caveats, as Ithink there are many issues still to deal with. It’s a greattime to bring on the problem solvers and let us help towork “on” businesses and not necessarily “in’ them.

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