The Yorkshire Mafia

Jakes de Kock

Q: If you could improve anything in the region what would it be?

A: Great question…having lived in Oxfordshire for about 10 years and then moving to Yorkshire about 4 years ago, it is inevitable for me to compare the 2 counties. Yorkshire in terms of business support, sense of community, conducive environment to bring up a family and general attitude of the people are all areas way ahead of Oxfordshire. But there’s always areas for improvement…. The 2 things I would improve in Yorkshire is communication infrastructure – 3G Mobile coverage is still very patchy even in city centres, and Wifi access in public places also less frequent. I would also improve the recycling services in Harrogate. In this day and age it is unacceptable for a city council only to collect the most basic recycling items from homes.

Q: Who or what has most influenced you in your career?

A: When I was a teenager my dad gave me a biography of Dr Anton Rupert, the Afrikaner South African Entrepreneur Billionaire. He started his global empire with a £10 investment and was one of the business leaders in the Apartheid era that put pressure on the government to abolish their current policies of segregation. Reading his book really inspired me to go into business and to put in the hard graft to make a success of my career.

Q: What are the best and worst pieces of advice you’ve ever been given?

A: Best 2 pieces actually: “Choose your battles” and “Never assume anything!”
Worst: It’s ok to drink the tap water in Egypt…boy did I regret that advice.

Q: What do you most enjoy about your work?

A: The variety. Managing a Sales and Marketing Department means that every moment throws up a different and often new challenge.

Q: What’s been your biggest achievement/biggest business mistake?

A: Biggest achievement – As Sales and Marketing Director, during the last 4 years, to be at the forefront of driving the growth of The Fuelcard Company’s customer base from 8000 customers to 40,000 (400% increase) via a market leading, multi-channel sales and marketing customer acquisition strategy. My biggest business mistake has been to work for a company in Zimbabwe in the late 1990’s, who was in direct competition with one of Robert Mugabe’s relative’s companies. I worked for one of the new mobile phone networks in Harare and when Mugabe’s cousin started a rival company, all the foreigners working for my company were without warning unceremoniously rounded up and deported. I had to leave my house and possessions in Harare. My wife had to drive all the way up from Pretoria back to Harare to retrieve our possessions.

Q: How do you relax?

A: I like going to the gym after work. That really relaxes me…especially when sitting in the steam room after a workout. I have recently started spinning classes…hard-core. I also play the occasional game of golf, but what I enjoy most in my free time is spending time with my family.

Q: What’s on your iPod?

I am a huge music lover so I have over 9,000 songs on my iPod. Some of the music I listen to most though are: John Coltrane’s Love Supreme (A work of genius that I will never tire of), Bob Dylan – have all his 60’s albums, Tom Waits (some of his earlier stuff), a large collection of classical music – I especially love Bach, a lot of Blues (I used to be a drummer in a London Blues band), Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Eagles, Tom Petty, Stevie Ray Vaughn… the list goes on.

The Yorkshire Mafia takes the old school principles of good old business networking and brings it into the 21st century via Social Media. They have created a winning formula. The Yorkshire Mafia is local, it is relevant and to an extent it has created an element of desirability and exclusivity through its selective approval process. Members have instant access to a huge pool of other local business knowledge that includes all business fields imaginable. Brilliant!

Jakes de Kock