Shaun Chatterton: beating bigger rivals with good service

Shaun Chatterton started his own company selling cleaning products after the firm he was a director of was bought out. By focusing on small customers, he was soon turning over £3m a year.

When the small janitorial supplier that Shaun Chatterton, 54, worked for was bought by a larger rival, he knew he wouldn't stay for long. "I went from being a director in a small firm to being a much smaller part of a big operation." Desperate to "get some control back", he left after one year to set up on his own.

It was 1988. His new outfit, CPD, focused on reselling well-known cleaning products to businesses and shops around Hull. "It was strange to go from working for a company to being its competitor, albeit a very small one." Chatterton didn't have much start-up capital. Instead, he was relying on the "good relationships" he had built. "I had contacts with suppliers and customers so I was able to get the business going straight away."

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James McKeigue

James graduated from Keele University with a BA (Hons) in English literature and history, and has a certificate in journalism from the NCTJ. James has worked as a freelance journalist in various Latin American countries.He also had a spell at ITV, as welll as wring for Television Business International and covering the European equity markets for the Forbes.com London bureau. James has travelled extensively in emerging markets, reporting for international energy magazines such as Oil and Gas Investor, and institutional publications such as the Commonwealth Business Environment Report. He is currently the managing editor of LatAm INVESTOR, the UK's only Latin American finance magazine.