Steve Allman

A group of entrepreneurs and business leaders have teamed up with the Eastern Enterprise Hub as “Enterprise Superstars”, to encourage more people around the region to consider running a business of their own. In the latest in an occasional series of Question & Answer profiles of the “superstars”, the spotlight falls on Steve Allman, chief executive of the Out & About charity

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When you were a child, what did you want to be?

I grew up in the North-East in the 1980s and was heavily influenced by the TV heroes of the time; the A-Team, He-Man, Knightrider (aka The Hoff). My early career ambitions were largely centred around these programmes and I wanted to join the A-Team and be Mr T, despite my scrawny build. As I grew up, so did my career aspirations and I focused on more sensible career options such as teaching and journalism – either one would satisfy my natural interest in learning and people. However, when I was 16 and began volunteering with disabled kids, all other career ambitions went out of the window and I discovered what felt like a true vocation.

What is your greatest business success, the thing you are most proud of achieving?

My working life is focussed on highlighting the achievements of others and there are very few achievements at Out & About that I can truly claim as my own as I am backed by a great team and a supportive board. Becoming a chief executive of a charity at 26 is something I am particular proud of as so many people told me it wouldn’t happen and I think it sends out a strong message to other young people that if you believe in something strongly then you can make it happen. I never intended to scale up Out & About as quickly as we have, but I felt their offer was unique and could potentially reach bigger numbers of disabled children, so I also take some pride in my role in turning a once-local charity into the regional outfit it is today in a little under three years.

What is the most important business lesson you have learnt?

Take your time. Someone told me a brilliant tale many years ago which I think about at least once a week. There is a young bull and an old bull on top of a hill watching a field of cows grazing below them. The young bull says “look at all those cows, let’s run down there and mate with one of them” and the old bull says “no – let’s walk down there and mate with them all”. I apply this strange tale at least weekly as I recognise that when I was younger I worked quickly and wanted everything to happen yesterday; whereas these days, at the grand age of 32, I would rather take time to get our business models and services in perfect shape before we even think about taking them to the market.

Who is your greatest inspiration and why?

I tend to admire those people who choose to make a difference in the lives of others or go out of their way to champion a cause. Locally, I lost a close friend to cancer this year. Sue Poole was only in her 50s and was well-known in Ipswich for her work with women suffering domestic abuse, homeless families and young people. Sue’s family kindly gave me the honour of speaking at her funeral and the crematorium was packed with people overflowing out of the chapel and into the car park. Sue inspired other people and touched their lives in some way and people like that don’t come along very often.

Why have you become an enterprise superstar?

I see it as an opportunity to encourage others, especially young people, to begin their own entrepreneurial journey. I gave a talk to young people from the Enterprise Academy from Suffolk One recently and it made me realise there are lots of young people out there with great ideas, but they’re often not nurtured or encouraged to do anything about it and the traditional routes for education can sometimes stifle their creativity because of restrictions within the curriculum.

What piece of music do you listen to when you need some motivation?

I listen to music nearly all of the time; in the car, at my desk, in my ears... artists like John Mayer, Counting Crows, Train and Matchbox Twenty really motivate me, but I like all sorts. I’m naturally quite placid and when I have a difficult or challenging meeting I tend to listen to heavy rock music on the way there 
just to make me that bit more spikey!

What keeps you awake at night?

This is easy. Harvey, our little boy, who’s 17 months now. I’ve loved every moment of being a new dad and it’s been a real learning curve – prioritising time with our new baby has definitely helped with my work/life balance too. From time to time, worries about work can keep me awake at night. As a charity, Out & About is still very dependent on fundraising and the generosity of local companies and individuals. One of the ironies of the economic downturn is that we have more disabled children requesting our service and less money to support them with! Our fundraising targets are ambitious and it can be worrying if you spend too long thinking about where it’s all going to come from in the current climate.

If you were Prime Minister for a day, what would you do?

Reinstate every penny of funding that has been cut from charities in the last year or so. Having been strongly encouraged by the previous government to support the delivery of public sector services, my sector has been decimated by cuts; some have been well-thought out and others have been arbitrary cuts to all charities, regardless of the quality of their work or the effect on their client group.

What was the last book 
you really enjoyed and 
why?

The best book I ever read was Empty Cradles by Margaret Humphries. It tells the true story of how in the 1980s Margaret, a social worker from Nottingham, uncovered the scandal of child migration to Australia and other commonwealth countries only sixty years ago where thousands of children were sent to live and work abroad without the knowledge of their parents. Margaret set about reuniting these children with their birth families and went on to set up the Child Migration Trust.

What is the best thing 
about doing business in Suffolk?

Doing business in the voluntary sector means you see the best of Suffolk and the worst of it. We live in a beautiful county, surrounded by endless coastline and lush green fields and I find that those people who do business tend to be friendly, encouraging and supportive. But I also see the underlying social issues in Suffolk; disabled children who would love to get out more and enjoy what the county has to offer and families who need a break from their caring roles and would cherish just one hour sat by the sea in Aldeburgh.

When you’re not at work how do you relax?

When I’m not working, my priority is spending time with Ellie and Harvey and the things we do now are geared around what Harvey enjoys doing, which includes going to the park to play on the slide or going to the farm to feed the goats – one pellet at a time! If we get chance for a rare night out, then we enjoy catching up with friends in one of the many Suffolk pubs and I’m of an age now where I’m experimenting with real ale and can be partial to the odd pint of Adnams Explorer or Spindrift. Can’t be a lager lout forever…