I’ve never had a particularly straight-line career.

I loved football, though I was never much of a footballer. I had a go at coaching anyway and eventually found myself doing it in the United States. I taught myself guitar and songwriting. While I was driving taxis, I had a notion that I should apply to LIPA. I did, and ended up with a scholarship.

I’ve worked in the NHS, IKEA, legal services, operations, deliveries and taxis. I’ve travelled a lot, including around Europe in a motorhome. Some ideas I’ve chased went nowhere. Others took me somewhere I would never have expected.

I’ve probably always been a bit of a dreamer. I tend to have a go before I know exactly where something will lead. Some attempts fall flat; you learn and carry on.

The thread through most of it is curiosity. I like figuring things out, digging into something I don’t understand and finding the person who knows the bit I don’t. I’m interested in where a real problem and a capable business might meet.

Where Acorn came from

It wasn’t a grand plan to become a businessman. I started researching commercial requirements, manufacturers, suppliers and companies, and realised the research itself could be useful. Could I find a genuine buyer need, work backwards to a manufacturer, check whether the fit made sense and bring the two sides together?

That’s what I’m trying to build. Acorn is new, and I’m new to properly running a company. I will get things wrong. I don’t know every industry, and if I don’t understand something, I’d rather say so than pretend.

What I can do is research carefully, keep a clear line between what I’ve checked and what still needs confirming, and make an introduction when there is a sensible reason for both businesses to talk.

If you know this world better than I do and think I’ve missed something, tell me plainly. I’d rather correct a mistake than keep repeating it.

Ian