This week Nick talks to Charles Skinner
Charles Skinner is a leading authority on Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA). He is currently the CEO of Restore PLC, and the author of Buy, Run, Build: A Guide to Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition. Charles also advises the ETA search fund Mentmore Associates and chairs four private companies.
Nick and Charles discuss Charles Skinner’s unconventional career path, beginning in investment banking before moving into venture capital, journalism and ultimately discovering his strengths in running and improving real businesses. Charles reflects on how he gradually shifted away from finance-led roles towards hands-on leadership, realising he was far more interested in building companies than simply analysing them. He and Nick explore the early stages of his journey, including lessons learned from missteps, the appeal of smaller operational businesses, and the importance of understanding people, staying humble and learning from failure.
They then turn to the rise, challenges and rebuilding of Restore, the company most associated with Charles’ leadership. Nick and Charles also explore themes such as entrepreneurship through acquisition, decentralised leadership, motivating teams, and managing crises with transparency and decisiveness. Charles illustrates these ideas with candid stories about leadership errors, boardroom politics and the importance of “running towards the gunfire” when problems arise.
Charles’s book choices were:
The Practice of Management by Peter F Drucker
Parkinson’s Law by C Northcote Parkinson
Charles’s music choice was:
Bach: The Goldberg Variations played by Glenn Gould
Charles’ Book – Buy, Run, Build: A Guide to Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition – is available here
A Different Perspective is a Zeus podcast, hosted by Nick Searle, Co-Head of Equity Sales. Here, Nick interviews interesting characters from the world of business and finance, to uncover a different perspective.
Zeus is an independent financial services group working across public and private capital markets in the UK. We work alongside many of the most exciting businesses in the UK and we are passionate about supporting our clients. This podcast is a series of interviews with interesting characters from the world of business and finance, uncovering a different perspective.
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