Skipton Business Networking Directory
Looking for a local expert? Our directory is full of professionals and business owners waiting to hear from you!
Sarah Collett
SBC Websites and Marketing
- Website Design
- Marketing
- Graphic Design
When it comes to business, Sarah loves nothing more than having a chat about your plans, goals and opportunities, and developing marketing strategies to help you achieve them!
As one of the coordinators of Skipton Business Networking, it will come as no surprise that having a good chin wag is something Sarah excels at.
Why did she start these networking groups? To be able to connect likeminded people, foster a supportive business community and have an excuse to visit the many bars, pubs and restaurants in town under the guise of ‘business’.
Outside of work you’ll find Sarah walking Bow the Office Dog, practising her new passion for tennis at Skipton Tennis Centre or heading to a musical with her daughter Jess.
- Website design for businesses.
- Marketing strategies and plans to meet your business goals.
- Start-Up business services.
- Branding, logo development, visual branding and design.
- Consultancy covering social media, content development, SEO, email marketing …
Liz Brewster
Craven Consultancy Services
- Health & Safety
- HR
- E-Learning
Liz Brewster, MD, leads the business day-to-day, as well as being a qualified Health & Safety Advisor. Liz has managed the business successfully for over eighteen years. Liz holds a NEBOSH certificate, Level 4 NVQ and is a Chartered Member of The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (CMIOSH) as well as being registered on the OSHCR for qualified consultants.
Above all, Liz’s focus is on building close relationships with clients to establish their Health and Safety needs. Liz gets a great sense of achievement in seeing businesses that have little or no Health and Safety procedures, progress to having clear documentation, also more importantly, a safe working environment for their employees.
In her spare time, Liz loves the great outdoors, and likes nothing more than climbing to the top of a big hill with her two dogs (Elvis and Freddie), especially if there is a pub at the end of it as a reward for the effort! Liz has a passion for travel and loves the warmer climates.
With over eighteen years experience in Health & Safety and a chartered member of The Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (CMIOSH), today Liz is Managing Director of Craven Consultancy Services Ltd. Her success has been born out of a personal and straight forward approach to ensuring that her clients stay on the right side of health and safety and HR law.
Liz’s focus is on building a close relationship with clients to establish their H&S and HR needs and developing specific packages which suit their requirements with the minimum of bureaucracy.
How can you help people?: We are passionate about partnering with you to understand your specific needs and challenges, and then developing solutions that drive meaningful results.
We’re all in for keeping your business and your people safe and sound. So, let’s do this together, shall we?
Let’s make your business not just a workplace, but a thriving, compliant, and safe space for everyone!
Victoria Iliff
Mewies Solicitors
- Legal – Solicitors
Victoria Iliff, member of Skipton Business Breakfast, is a Solicitor and Director of Mewies Solicitors, specialising in all aspects of family law including divorce, separation, children matters and financial settlements.
She would hope that clients feel that she acts in a sensitive manner towards their problems, providing solutions and support through one of the most difficult situations in life. She understands the importance of explaining matters in a clear and thorough way, and ensuring clients are fully aware of the progress of the case, and their options. She tries to respond quickly to client’s queries and often says there is no question too small to answer.
We are a well established firm with traditional values, but we like to think that we apply our legal professionalism with modern minds and integrity. You will receive exceptional legal advice from us at a fair price. We value personal and client relationships and will always act in your interests.
Our lawyers in Skipton offer a wide range of both private client and commercial services, including Family and Divorce, Conveyancing, Wills and Probate, Employment law and Dispute resolution.
Adrian Doyle
Not Just Travel
- Travel Agent
I own a franchise of Not Just Travel, part of the Hays Travel International Group. I offer access to over 450 unique travel companies & suppliers for any type of travel in the UK or anywhere worldwide. I specialise in Cruise & Luxury Holidays but have access to all popular package companies like Jet2 Holidays, TUI, EasyJet Holidays, etc., plus many Trade Only suppliers to offer unique bespoke itineraries. My service is very personal offering concierge-type facilities and best of all…….my service is free! ABTA & ATOL protected.
I like to get to know what a client truly wants from their holiday, where they have been before, what they loved….or hated…..about it, do they like a sea view, a ground floor room, a small boutique hotel or a large resort property? Access to a beach and/or a pool, private transfer or a shared coach, airport parking or hotel pre-travel, Fast Track Security, Airport Lounge, Travel Insurance, and check-in for flights, I offer a true all-inclusive package. I will aim to meet whatever the client requires and always provide added value at no extra cost.
As part of the Hays Group I benefit from their massive buying power and can pass on those savings and expertise to my clients. I am keen to offer holidays and travel in the most sustainable manner possible and ensure that, wherever possible, I only use suppliers with the same objective. I am always available by Phone, WhatsApp, or email at any time to suit the client, be that evenings, weekends, or Bank Holidays, before, during, and after their holiday.
Karen Amos
BrightBird Coaching and Training
- Leadership Development and Coaching
- Wellbeing at work
Karen is the founder of BrightBird Coaching and Training. She helps under-pressure managers and business owners with the ‘people’ part of their business or organisations. Work can be tough, but at BrightBird, we don’t believe this is inevitable. We take a straight-talking approach to supporting leaders and teams with better teamwork and communication, essential for a thriving business or organisation.
Karen is a qualified executive coach. She takes a friendly, supportive, but down-to-earth approach to working with her clients. In her spare time you’ll find her up on the fells, enjoying the views, the wildlife and a bit of peace and quiet!
BrightBird was founded in 2015 and provides result-focused 1-to-1 and team coaching, plus online and face-to-face training.
How can you help people?: BrightBird helps leaders and teams with all aspects of people development, including:
• Leadership and People Management
• Strategic mindedness
• Managing Difficult Conversations
• Stress Management
• Time Management and Work-Life Balance
• Change Management
• Interpersonal Skills and Communication
• Team Accountability and Responsibility
• Confidence Building
We aren’t a ‘talking shop’ – we’re all about results! We end every conversation, whether in coaching or training, with, ‘So what are you going to do?’ This way, we ensure we obtain tangible change and great value for all of our clients.
Michelle Harrison
Eccles Greenwood Financial Planning
- Financial Advice
I have worked in Financial Services for over 33 years and help people understand their needs and aspirations to be able to take control of the future, building long term trusting relationships and creating tailored financial plans.
I can help clients with all aspects of Financial Planning helping them get a deeper understanding of their current circumstances and making changes to improve their their future.
Some examples of where I can help are;
- Help Businesses plan and invest in a tax efficient way, I also look at protection for the business
- I specialise in retirement planning, reviewing existing pensions and investing for the future
- I support families with specialist advice who may have children/dependents with additional needs
I have over 33 years of experience and help people from all walks of life. We all have a need for advice no matter what stage we are in our life journey, sometimes it is about taking the time and planning so that you can improve your future, sometimes significantly!
Amy Davis
FB Mortgages
- Mortgage and Protection
As a qualified mortgage and protection adviser, I provide tailored mortgage solutions for individuals based on their unique circumstances. Passionate about protection and the peace of mind it brings, I help clients obtain the best cover based on their priorities and personal situation.
Mortgage and Life Insurance Advice firm with access to over 90 different lenders.
As seen on BBC radio, BBC NEWS & Financial Times
Based in Skipton and advising clients across the UK.
Bevan Yates
Cactus IT
- IT Support & Consulting
Bevan is the director of Cactus IT based in Ilkley, West Yorkshire. He over 25 years of experience in supporting and consulting to small and medium size businesses across Europe and Southern Africa. Bevan has a passion for delivering ‘business led’ IT solutions for growing businesses with a keen focus on best practice.
Bevan began his IT career in the 90’s with an ‘hands on’ apprenticeship role while studying and completing his MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) in Johannesburg, South Africa.
In 2001 Bevan moved to the United Kingdom to develop his career. With various contracting roles in both the private and public sector, Bevan delivered Microsoft based solutions with a focus on server infrastructure, security and email messaging.
In 2008 Bevan moved to Slovenia and launched his online backup business ‘Cactus Backup’, delivering one of the first commercially available cloud hosted disk-to-disk backup solutions. Bevan continued to work in the UK during this time, completing strategic IT project and consulting work. After the birth of his first child, Bevan returned to live in Yorkshire where he relaunched in 2010 as ‘Cactus IT’ to emphasise the focus on strategic IT consulting projects, interim IT director roles and delivery of managed services to a growing client base of medium and large companies across Yorkshire.
We offer fully managed IT services for small and medium size businesses including:
*Consultancy: IT advice and support that you can reply on
*Hardware: Reliable business Server and workstations solutions
*Software: Cactus IT are a Silver Microsoft partner offering cloud and on-premises solutions
*Fully managed IT Services: You run your business and we ‘act as’ or ‘support’ your IT department
Richard Boothman
Foggy Outline
- Environmental learning
- Podcasts and audio drama
Two distinct business streams came together in early 2024 and quickly realised that each could help the other. Our environmental learning stream uses audio and video to deliver our courses to over 10,000 learners. Our podcasts, based in role playing games and magic realism can benefit from our skills in video production. At the same time, our environmental learning is benefiting from the story-telling element of the podcasts. We’re also making moves into producing original audio drama with a variety of projects in the pipeline.
The lines are less substantial than they seem. So come with us and feel them part like Fog!
It’s human nature to sort things neatly into boxes. It helps make the world manageable. But when we treat those dividing lines as impenetrable walls, we limit our understanding of each other and the world.
That’s why we like to poke at the walls. By learning, by educating, by spinning stories. Because more often than not, what seems separate is really connected. So follow us through the wall, into the fog, and start undividing the world.
We can entertain you with our podcasts and audio drama and we can help you learn about the major environmental crises we currently face and identifying and implementing the solutions.
We also have skills in video animation and podcast production and can help you develop and produce your own promotional and learning material.
Jasmine Clarke
ZEST Coaching & Consulting
- Life Coaching – productivity coaching and consultancy
When it comes to productivity and purpose, Jasmine is all about connecting over your goals, challenges, and plans, and helping you find the energy and clarity to achieve them in a way that saves you time and doesn’t compromise what is important to you. Whether it’s refining your systems or getting laser-focused on what matters most, Jasmine thrives on transforming busy, overwhelmed days into balanced, productive ones.
As host of the Productivity Hacks podcast and a seasoned coach, Jasmine is in her element offering up simple, actionable strategies that actually work. No fluff and very practical, she has the aim that everyone who works with her leaves with an irresistible urge to make changes that work for them.
So, why does she do what she does? Because she believes every business owner and busy professional deserves to feel in control of their time, focused, and ready to live life to the fullest.
When she’s not at work, you’ll find Jasmine walking, with her family or by a football pitch, cozied up with a book and a mug of tea, likely dreaming up her next big idea.
- Productivity coaching tailored to your unique needs – either a quick pivot or a deeper change
- Strategies to help you streamline your workload and reach your goals
- Bespoke support for business owners just starting out or looking to reset
- Guidance on creating purposeful systems and workflows that actually work
- Consultancy on everything from time management to email productivity, content planning, and much more
- Team training sessions on purposeful productivity
Bevan Yates
Cactus IT
- IT Support & Consulting
Bevan is the director of Cactus IT based in Ilkley, West Yorkshire. He over 25 years of experience in supporting and consulting to small and medium size businesses across Europe and Southern Africa. Bevan has a passion for delivering ‘business led’ IT solutions for growing businesses with a keen focus on best practice.
Bevan began his IT career in the 90’s with an ‘hands on’ apprenticeship role while studying and completing his MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) in Johannesburg, South Africa.
In 2001 Bevan moved to the United Kingdom to develop his career. With various contracting roles in both the private and public sector, Bevan delivered Microsoft based solutions with a focus on server infrastructure, security and email messaging.
In 2008 Bevan moved to Slovenia and launched his online backup business ‘Cactus Backup’, delivering one of the first commercially available cloud hosted disk-to-disk backup solutions. Bevan continued to work in the UK during this time, completing strategic IT project and consulting work. After the birth of his first child, Bevan returned to live in Yorkshire where he relaunched in 2010 as ‘Cactus IT’ to emphasise the focus on strategic IT consulting projects, interim IT director roles and delivery of managed services to a growing client base of medium and large companies across Yorkshire.
We offer fully managed IT services for small and medium size businesses including:
*Consultancy: IT advice and support that you can reply on
*Hardware: Reliable business Server and workstations solutions
*Software: Cactus IT are a Silver Microsoft partner offering cloud and on-premises solutions
*Fully managed IT Services: You run your business and we ‘act as’ or ‘support’ your IT department
Richard Boothman
Foggy Outline
- Environmental learning
- Podcasts and audio drama
Two distinct business streams came together in early 2024 and quickly realised that each could help the other. Our environmental learning stream uses audio and video to deliver our courses to over 10,000 learners. Our podcasts, based in role playing games and magic realism can benefit from our skills in video production. At the same time, our environmental learning is benefiting from the story-telling element of the podcasts. We’re also making moves into producing original audio drama with a variety of projects in the pipeline.
The lines are less substantial than they seem. So come with us and feel them part like Fog!
It’s human nature to sort things neatly into boxes. It helps make the world manageable. But when we treat those dividing lines as impenetrable walls, we limit our understanding of each other and the world.
That’s why we like to poke at the walls. By learning, by educating, by spinning stories. Because more often than not, what seems separate is really connected. So follow us through the wall, into the fog, and start undividing the world.
We can entertain you with our podcasts and audio drama and we can help you learn about the major environmental crises we currently face and identifying and implementing the solutions.
We also have skills in video animation and podcast production and can help you develop and produce your own promotional and learning material.