About Jeff

As someone who has experienced the highs and lows of success and failure, I know what it means to persevere through the hard times.

As a young man growing up in the East End, I was exposed to the raw entrepreneurial spirit of local business owners. This was an early influence on me and partly why I decided to found my own maintenance company, Essex Air Conditioning (EAC).

Following the financial success of EAC, it seemed to me that continued business prosperity was guaranteed. I celebrated my early victory by buying my beloved football club, Clacton FC, to help it grow and succeed just like my first business. As time went on, I became increasingly distracted by my passion project on the pitch instead of the day to day at EAC.

A few short years later, I was bankrupt. As EAC collapsed into insolvency, I was surviving on government benefits with debts to pay, a family to feed and only £7.60 in my bank account. This, undoubtedly, was my rock bottom – but you’re only beaten when you don’t get back up.

With the last of my funds, I created a new business from my garden shed, one that would grow to become my largest holding – Cloud Facilities Management. I learned from the mistakes that I had made, and changed my approach to be one that focused on people – and within a year, Cloud was producing a turnover of £1 million; and within four years, £70 million. Had it not been for the lessons I learned following the failure of EAC, it is doubtful that I could have enjoyed such levels of success – lessons that I am now dedicated to sharing with as many fellow entrepreneurs as possible.

Doing the opposite means going against the grain.  Instead of taking traditional practices as established norms, I questioned them.  Instead of following the work culture of our competitors, I developed our own work culture based on empathy and respect.  Focusing on developing stronger ties with my workforce, and above all else, ensuring that everyone felt valued. Instead of investing in established tools and technology, we at Cloud invested in creating our own innovative and game-changing technologies.

The result was an industry-leading company; both in its use of technology and in its speed of development. Cloud became the UK’s fastest-growing facilities management company.

“As I learned with EAC, complacency is a killer, and initial success does not guarantee continued success. When the pandemic hit, I knew I needed Cloud to build resilience to get through this. I needed to equip my teams with the right work culture to get through this and not take my eye off the future because of a catastrophe in the present”. Jeff Dewing

A successful entrepreneur knows their biggest asset is their people.

“To be successful, you need to trust in your workers, and nurture their trust in you. I am a people person, but even those who aren’t can still learn the value of engaging your employees in the right ways and developing a tighter bond that will translate into increased success”. Jeff Dewing

A successful entrepreneur (and leader) shows vulnerability.

“I’m from the East End where showing vulnerability can be interpreted as weak. What I’ve learned, especially through the pandemic, is that showing vulnerability and being transparent with people builds trust and morale if used in the right way, at the right time”. Jeff Dewing

A successful entrepreneur has grit and resilience.

“For a true entrepreneur, failure will lead to success. Years ago, I was running one of my first successful businesses and my own football club, Clacton FC. Following a few hard knocks I lost it all, at one low point I had only £7.60 in my bank account. But I was determined to turn my life around, and eventually built a new business from my garden shed which made £1 million turnover in its first year. Then I took it from £1 million to £70 million within four years. Successful entrepreneurs have the ability to bounce back”. Jeff Dewing

If you want to read the full story of Jeff’s journey through life and business, check out My Book, Doing The Opposite.

Find ‘Doing The Opposite’ in hardcover, paperback, audio book and kindle edition on Amazon.