After we lost a national contract for IBM worth £1.2 million, I decided we had to build a network of 14 delivery centres around the country. At the time we were a company with £2.6 million turnover and only one base in West London, so it was a big risk.

I was naive about the cost, and it didn’t take long before our cashflow dried up. I was just preparing to go to the other directors and admit I’d made a mistake when I got a call from Hays Logistics. They needed a nation-wide job done in six weeks for about £1.7 million.

If I hadn’t made the decision I did and won that contract, we would still be a small company.