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The Alternative Board Wakefield District

Improve your business and change your life with The Alternative Board

Empowering business owners to reach their full potential and achieve success.

Simon Banks runs TAB advisory boards in Wakefield and loves what he does – helping business owners identify opportunities and solve key challenges they face in their businesses.

Book a call with Simon to discuss your business needs and how TAB might make a difference.

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Make confident decisions and experience exponential growth.

Connect with a diverse network of business owners and leaders who truly grasp the unique challenges you face.

Open your mind to new perspectives: Challenge your assumptions and uncover hidden blind spots with valuable insights from your peers.

Tackle difficult issues head-on: Overcome obstacles and craft effective solutions with the guidance of a seasoned team of advisors.

Celebrate your wins: Share your successes and inspire others to strive for greatness.

Don't miss out on hearing firsthand from one of Simon's current board members about the transformative impact TAB has had on his business.

Our members are thriving together

We work with business leaders spread across multiple ‘alternative’ boards in the Wakefield area. All our members come from a range of industries and backgrounds.

Over 5x

TAB members’ sales growth is 5.5 times the national SME average

96%

Of TAB members said their advisory boards added real value to their business

91%

TAB members report improved ability to address personal and business issues.

Your Wakefield Facilitator

Simon Banks is a facilitator and business coach for The Alternative Board Wakefield region. Simon’s background is in management for a larger organisation and SME ownership, and he continues to run his own successful manufacturing business in West Yorkshire.

He has over thirty years of sales and business management experience and decisive leadership, organisational, and planning skills developed while working in the manufacturing sector both in a larger organisation as a senior manager and shareholder and, more recently, as the owner of an SME business. 

Simon has continued to develop his skill set through the steep challenges faced when starting and growing a manufacturing business. He sees the support, advice and guidance from his coach and peers as a longstanding member of The Alternative Board as critical to the progress of his business.

Simon decided to use his TAB membership experience to help other business owners in his community develop and achieve their visions for themselves and their businesses after accomplishing his vision for his own manufacturing business with the help of TAB.

Discover the  power of peer advice

Start with you

Focus on what you want in life and how your business can help get you there.

Increase profitability

Be held accountable to meet your business targets.

Improve decisions

Take control of your decisions through peer support and proven planning tools.

Make better time choices

Spend your time well by utilising the experience of others.

Become a better leader

Motivate your people with the guidance of peers and an expert coach.

Plan a successful exit

Get the best result for you with tailored, hands-on support.

What our members say...

To share my years of experience and help others with their business challenges is very cathartic and rewarding.

Bob Howden, Grass Concrete Ltd

My TAB Board helped me through a very difficult period with another business I was running. They gave me sound advice on dealing with the other shareholders, meaning the outcome was much better than it might otherwise have been.

David Abbott, Insight Best Practice

I have worked for AES for 20 years and I assumed full ownership and control of the business, following a 5 year management buy-out. I joined TAB with the expectation that it would provide me with an opportunity to discuss, implement and manage changes that would allow the business to grow, with the support and experience of other business owners. During the last 12 months that I have been a member, TAB has been a vital resource to challenge my ideas and enable me to make better decisions. Working on a Business Advisory Board with other like-minded business owners from various sectors has enabled me to access support, experience and knowledge to help me to run my company.

Lee Johnson, Advanced Electrical Services

The accountability I get from TAB is refreshing.  As business owners, you can be as good or lazy as you want to be and no one will challenge you.  With TAB, I know they will challenge me, which gives me much more focus to get on with what I need to do.  TAB has helped me change the structure of the business, enabling me to delegate more and focus on the important things to take the business forward. During Covid, we needed a new way of growing the business. With the board’s help we put together a plan, which has significantly contributed to our turnover doubling in the last 2 years.

Geoff Hunt, Hey Group

"TAB has given me coaching sessions, focusing on the positive elements of my business and helping to grow and develop during what is probably the most difficult trading period we have encountered. TAB has also invited me to a monthly board meeting where I joined six existing members, all of whom have extensive business experience and have provided me with some invaluable advice, guidance and accountability."

Kelly Smith, Juice Personnel

The accountability I get from my TAB Board and facilitator makes me do the things I say I’m going to do – integrity is a key value for me “I am less likely to let things drift if I share my plans and intentions with someone.

Ian Kirk, Opportunity Marketing

My confidence has grown enormously as a result of the support from Dougie and TAB. Every time I take what feels like a big issue to my Board, I come away feeling that it is much easier to deal with because of the advice I’ve been given by people from very different businesses and backgrounds.

Jolanta Jankowski, Sampson Products Ltd

"Before TAB, I didn’t really have anyone I could talk to about business issues. Getting reassurance from my board on things I’m thinking of doing gives me more confidence to get on with it. I really value the openness of my board and facilitator, which allows me to say what I’m feeling and thinking.  I’m now making longer-term plans and decisions about the business.  As a result, I enjoy running the business more because I know we’re heading in the direction, rather than focusing on short-term fixes."

Geoff Hunt, Hey Group

As a new member of TAB I've sat on 4 peer board meetings and have had 7 coaching sessions with Simon. 22 hours that has helped me grow my business by 140% over the worst, strangest and most challenging months that any company could face.

Being a TAB member has been insightful, engaging, and time well spent working on my business.

Samantha Stones, WF Web Design

Start your TAB journey

Get in touch with Simon using the forms on this page.

He will contact you to arrange an introductory meeting.

 Chat about whether TAB is right for you and your business.

Attend your first TAB board meeting and experience the power of peer support.

There’s no obligation, only an opportunity to find out more.

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