Ben Hoskin will soon be celebrating a decade of working for one of the UK’s leading procurement businesses – and now he has an extra reason break open the bubbly.

Ben has been promoted to the position of Sales Director at the Regency Purchasing Group.

Based in Weston-super-Mare, Regency works with more than 2,700 leisure businesses nationwide, including some of Britain’s biggest and best-known attractions, hundreds of golf clubs, plus pubs, hotels, zoos, farm attractions and many others.

The 38-year-old said:

“This promotion has given me a real sense of pride and achievement, and I’m delighted.

“However, it’s now all about the next five years, and continuing to build on this platform and kick Regency on again to become and remain the best in class.

“Each goal or achievement is only like passing “GO” on a Monopoly board; it’s great, but off you go again, to face whatever is thrown at you, some good, some great, some extremely challenging, but that is the game, and I love playing it.

“You cannot slow down or rest on your laurels in business, it’s too dangerous.”

Ben, who lives in Weston with his wife, Hannah, a successful businesswoman in her own right, and children Roman, 15, and Bella, 10, said he has seen a lot of changes in the Regency Group over the past decade.

He said:

“Regency had two full-time and one part-time person when I started, based in a small office in the roof. Now we own the whole building and have built a national team covering from Lancashire to Durham, and from Kent to Devon.

“It’s been non-stop and ever-moving; the pace is frenetic but you just use that momentum to keep you going.”

He has also seen the industry change a lot over the past ten years, too, never more so than under the shadow of Brexit.

He said:

“Turnovers are generally down, footfall is down, I’ve seen tough economic times, recession, austerity, the banking crisis, soaring taxes, minimum wage increases, the smoking ban and Brexit – basically the perfect storm to make it has hard as possible for the sector.

“However, this is not a negative message because the best businesses have still thrived through all this and continue to push forward.

“Despite me being at Regency for 10 years I feel we are only just getting started.

“The sector faces many challenges, including rising costs and taxation, as well as all the uncertainty over Brexit. While they will not directly affect Regency, they will motivate us to help our customers even more as they will need our support more than ever in order to overcome them.”

Ben has had a hand in the licensed and leisure sectors since he was 15-years-old.

He said his philosophy was simple:

“Work hard, do the best you can, and keep going. I had a great role model in my dad, who runs his own law firm. He kept me focused, motivated and prepared me for the world of business and people.

“In the early days of my career with Regency, my wife stayed at home and raised the two children, and without her taking up the considerable slack at home, I could not have done what I have done.”

He said he was drawn to the Regency Group because he had felt he was an “effective part of a big machine” when working for large corporations.

“I had a real desire to be a bigger part of a smaller machine. There is one key moment in me joining Regency. I sold a deal to the Managing Director for selling beer onto the Grand Pier in Weston.

“Once that deal was signed, he asked me if I wanted a job and after discussing plans I really felt there was massive potential for me to do something great and be part of something great.

“We did what we set out to do, and here we are now, looking to a challenging but exciting future.”

He added:

“Regency is all about its people, culture and work ethic. There is massive potential for career progression here, my development is testament to that.

“I have big targets for what I want to achieve in my new role, but I only think of those occasionally. It’s the behaviours, attitude and application that I focus on, and the results will make themselves.

“I had a great teacher in my dad, and a great teacher in Alex (Regency’s MD), who both follow very similar ideas in business and in life.”

Alex Demetriou, Managing Director of Regency Purchasing Group, said:

“It was a pleasure to promote Ben to Sales Director, he has played such a huge role in the growth of this business over the past decade.

“As an employer, it’s always extremely satisfying to be able to promote someone from within, to see them grow and progress. Regency is all about providing positive opportunities; for the organisations we work with and for the people who work for us.”

If you think you would like to be part of the Regency team, visit www.regencypurchasing.co.uk or call 01934 646 135.