Robert lives near Bradford upon Avon in Wiltshire, with his wife Joanna and two boys, Kacper and Oscar.

How it all started…​

Like many, I followed a traditional route of education, university and then work, falling into a career driven around a passion for people, sales, and retail. 

Starting out selling “fax” advertising (yes it was a thing), I fell in love with the idea of building relationships, becoming an expert in a product or service, and being rewarded for getting others so interested they couldn’t operate without one!

Honing these skills at Future Publishing, Vodafone and Sky, I then moved into the world of retail.  Undeterred by experience, full of self-belief and always up for a challenge I jumped into area and regional management. Managing over 30 stores and 150 staff members across the UK for Fat Face and Jaeger where I unlocked both people and commercial success. 

Connecting and strengthening relationships so that everyone thrives in a positive way is by far my greatest skill, beating my eye for detail around all thing’s numbers and commerciality into a close second place. 

Committed to the corporate world and ladder, my tenacity and resilience paid off and I rose through the ranks of McArthur Glen, owner and operators of Designer Outlets. I was promoted into retail operations for not only the UK but also France and Belgium. 

Be careful about what you wish for…

I then moved into my dream job. General Manager of my own shopping centre for Hammersons, or so I thought….

…the status, responsibility, reward was everything I had strived for and work incredibly hard to achieve.  Managing large teams, controlling multi-million-pound budgets, being a key stakeholder and part of the community all played to my skill set, and while I thrived in this environment there was a niggling “but”!  

Working for the large organisations, the long stressful hours in the pursuit of the next big role, the recognition, the perceived success and wealth of it all.  What was it all for?

 When I got there, I wasn’t any happier, and even more stressed.

The big leap…

Fuelled by this reality, an itch for wanting more and something of my own, a change of priorities driven by Covid and an early mid-life crisis (turning 40), I bravely entered the world of entrepreneurship.

I formed my first business and have never looked back. Launching 9 months after concept and only 6 months after business incorporation, I was pivotal in the early success of Napo, a lemon and vodka flavoured spirit drink.

I continue to drive this business, navigating the successes and challenges of the start-up world like so many.  I am truly hooked on owning my own destiny and making my things work!​

Why Flow Grow Flourish?

Rob met Kerry when they worked together at Swindon Designer Outlet. Rob was responsible for Commercialisation at the time and also mentored Kerry in the ways of retailing in a more competitive and professional High Street/Big Brands environment.

When Rob left his Career to start his own business, he came to Kerry for advice on how to get started and the mentoring role reversed. 

In the summer of 2022, Rob & Kerry worked together on a local project to provide Business Support to local Entrepreneurs and discovered that their complementary skills and personalities worked very well together and the support they delivered had a special kind of magic around it. 

Given they both had similar desires to carry on supporting small businesses, working together in some way was a no-brainer!