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Man: I’d like to introduce our studio guest, Sally Upton, who was the editor of the magazine ’Teenage Fashion’ and is now about to produce her own magazines. Welcome Sally.
Woman: Thank you.
Man: Sally, your first idea for publishing needed a one billion pound loan, didn’t it?
Woman: It did. I wanted to buy MPC - the biggest magazine company in the UK. And the bank agreed!
Man: But in fact that deal didn’t succeed, so you didn’t borrow the money.
Woman: That’s right. Someone made them a better offer and then not long after I just missed another deal with a smaller company. So, in the end I decided to see if it would be possible to find finance for a completely new company, which I’ve called Close Communications.
Man: Was it easy to find a bank to agree to the idea of a new company?
Woman: It’s harder to get financial support for starting a new company than for buying an existing one, even though I didn’t want nearly as much as a billion pounds. I tried a lot of bankers, but none wanted to invest in us.
Man: So, what then?
Woman: Well, I got a business partner, and he suggested something really simple. We rang up six friends we knew had money to invest, and asked them to support us, and they agreed!
Man: Well, they were good friends! And how did you recruit your staff? I’ve heard you use quite unusual methods...
Woman: We didn’t have to advertise formally in newspapers, in fact people contacted us, not us them. We asked them out for dinner to discuss their ideas and if we liked what they said, we asked them to be on the team.
Man: So in general do you see your company as being different to most other companies?
Woman: In every way - big and small. Take company transport policy. We don’t have company cars, we don’t think they make sense. In fact I come in by bicycle.
Man: Really?
Woman: However, we do give our employees a very generous expense account for rail journey, - it doesn’t matter what the distance is, we are happy to pay the fare! Just so the team get out and meet people.
Man: And do you think you will stay different? Will success change you?
Woman: Not at all! For example, if Close Communications is successful, all the staff will benefit, because we are all equals. We don’t give large rises in salary or extra pay every now and again but we do have a division of the profits every three months.
Man: I see.
Woman: Also, when we moved into our office we wanted everyone to feel at home. We didn’t want everyone to have the same desks and chairs like a school or even to choose from a narrow range. So, to get it furnished, we gave them the money and let them choose exactly what they wanted.
Man: Brave.
Woman: Not brave. We trust each other! You see. I think there’s only one reason why anybody becomes unhappy at work...
Man: What’s that?
Woman: Well, in my experience it’s not pay, it’s when you’re not allowed to make any decisions because you always have to do what the managers say. Your voice isn’t heard.
Man: Personally, it’s filling in forms and filing papers that I hate most.
Woman: Yes, but they’re your papers, it’s different isn’t it?
Man: True. And now the big day has come, your own magazines produced by your own company. Your first two titles tomorrow, both aimed at girls under 16, is that right?
Woman: That’s right, they are just two of the nine we are going to produce in our first twelve months.
Man: Well, Sally, best of luck to you and your team tomorrow.
Woman: Thank you.
Man: And now...