When I arrived at Concord for the first time I was petrified. First time away from home (for good!), a whole bunch of different nationalities I had never been exposed to, a dormitory cubicle the opposite of luxury and a communal bathroom area……ouch!

I quickly made friends and 3 months later it become home away from home.

The food in those days was not great and bad enough to allow me to start a flourishing takeaway ordering service for all the hungry foreign souls at Concord…..If memory serves me right I started a twice a week service delivering Chinese takeaway to dozens of food lovers.

Dinner with the Thailand boys was an adventure in itself. Their cooking nearly killed me as their measure of chili was beyond what a White Boy could stomach…..it burned the lips and anything else that got in touch with the deliciously fragrance cooking they did.

I also enjoyed playing Back Gammon with a bunch of Middle Eastern boys, lots of them I am still in contact with, and the crazy bunch of Nigerians who offered me my first Hashish joint the size of cigar which put me off smoking drugs for life. Thank you guys.

My Greek roommate who was a gymnast from Greece – Olympic standard, put my build and muscle to shame….thank god not my brain cells.

As a student I would describe myself as entrepreneurial and neutral. Got along with everyone…had to! As I was the only Swiss amongst the 250 odd students. I learnt how to study and liked it a bit (text books always sent me to sleep and did so during all my academic short career).

For some reason I never understood geometry which meant I failed Maths O levels which resulted in pretty much only one decent University that would accept me and it suited me just fine, as I could do my degree in 2 years instead of 3; University of Buckingham. Born to entrepreneurial family, Economics was pretty much the only subject I could relate to.

When I left university my only plan was to make a living. I got married the day I left uni so we both had to figure out how to make it. I did not step into the shoes of my father, so we started looking for jobs for the sake of earning a salary. Retailing, which gave us the big jump, came naturally to us as I grew up amongst retailers.

The Economics degree helped me to think in a certain way and, for sure, provided the base for my career. Whether any kind of degree would have resulted in the same career or business path I cannot say, but I would not change the choice of university or degree…I would, however, have tried to find a way of living with my wife of 44 years a couple of years without being married first to give us real grounding! 

To be a good business leader you have to step out of your comfort zone and you have to be passionate or just damn lucky. Nothing happens instantly and, at least for myself, it's all about building one block after the other, luck and perseverance. You have to work long hours, 24/7 and sometimes not be the most pleasant of people. Respecting your employees and suppliers and being as transparent as possible to ensure that everyone supports you, not only in the good times but also the bad times, of which there will be plenty along the path of success.

I've worked with ethical ethical businesses such as Body Shop, Earthchild and The Magic Bus Foundation; inspired by the human factor and the mentoring challenge. The Body Shop came along as a business that we understood and loved, Anita and Gordon Roddick and the other franchisees humanised it and made it super fun, even when it wasn’t fun. Lots of wisdom and freedom.

I got involved in Earthchild, a non-profit organisation in the Western Cape of South Africa ….a long story but a great one….after 4 years of working closely with the founder and lots and lots of mentoring until we all exited the business. 

I am also a Global Board Member of Magic Bus India Foundation…..the most mind blowing and amazing children's charity that combines physical activity and mentoring as tools to help free children from poverty in India. Read up on it and you will know why I am passionate about it and have been since 2002 - https://www.magicbusuk.org/

To keep in touch with Ivan, why not connect on LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/keepitsimple/