Juggling work, volunteering and courgettes with Peter Sargent

In this episode we are chatting with Peter Sargent who is a consultant around investment for local businesses amongst other things which you will find out about as you listen but he also volunteers at The Welcome Centre in Huddersfield (www.thewelcomecentre.org) which is a really worthwhile cause helping local families and individuals in crisis with food, toiletries and other essential items as well as providing advocacy, guidance, and support to address underlying issues. We just need to mention at this stage that this episode was recorded about 3 weeks ago and at the point of airing we are in the midst of the Corona crisis and 3 days into lockdown in the UK.  We did consider holding off on releasing it until we are on the other side of the crisis but then we decided that in and amongst the terrible situation we all find ourselves in that our listeners may be in need of a little light hearted entertainment.  So if that is what you are looking for, this is for you - there is no mention of the C word in this episode although we are working on bringing you some 'bonus' episodes where we will discuss it but as always we will be finding the positives in the situation and trying our best to keep our sense of humour too. Anyway, back to the lovely Peter! Born and bred in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire just like our lovely Michelle was, his education choices were initially made by his mum based on which college would enable him to get a free bus pass.  Not the cleverest kid at grammar school he managed to scrape through his O-Levels and went on to do A-Levels and inspired by his teachers 'Piggy Bower' and Mr Addy began to love education at last.  He then went onto university, the first in his family to do so like many people from his generation, and then drifted into teacher training but left part way through. Following a short stint in the potteries of Stoke-on-Trent he found himself back home and managed to land a job as a trainee accountant where things were very different to how they are now, they didn't even use calculators!  We know, can you believe it?  He ended up dealing with the employees of businesses that had become insolvent and from there built up the insolvency side of the practice he was working for.  What follows is a very successful career in insolvency including setting up his own practice and all the ups and downs that go with owning your own business.   After selling his business in 2005 worked for a bigger practice for another 10 years on a part time basis which enabled him to take up a part time role with R3 Association of Business Recovery Professionals through which he met many politicians and influential business people which then led to a meeting with Richard Charlesworth from Charlesworths in Huddersfield and then to where he is today helping local businesses get investment. On top of all this Peter feels a need to give back to the community so volunteers at The Welcome Centre providing support to all sorts of vulnerable people via the food bank.  If you want to help then you can always donate a few tins or dried food to the trolleys they have on the way out in most supermarkets. Lots of other random things are discussed throughout this episode including out usual moments game and other nuggets so listen in. You can connect with Peter on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-sargent-60b06429/ If you want to know more about Jaynes new business go here https://www.facebook.com/The-Flex-Collective-105614224351863 https://www.instagram.com/theflexcollective/