In the High Flyers spotlight this week is Stephen Reynolds, chair of Ballymena Business Improvement District (BID), which goes to re-ballot this week. He has also been proprietor of the award-winning Front Page Bar in Ballymena for the past 31 years.
What was your first job?
I always tell people that my first job was working for the Belfast Telegraph. However, the truth is I worked for a local newsagent delivering the Tele. Ironically, I went on to own a freesheet newspaper in the 1980s. My first full-time job was as a clerical assistant in the NI Civil Service.
What qualifications do you have?
I left school to a round of applause, aged 16years old, with a handful of GCE O-Levels and never looked back.
What do you attribute your success to?
That depends on your meaning of the word success. I have a beautiful wife, a beautiful home, two grown up children and four beautiful grandchildren. That’s success for me. Success in business, on the other hand, I attribute to hard work, never giving up, a degree of common sense, flexibility and having a good team of people around you.
How would you describe yourself to someone who has never met you?
I’m a positive, witty, determined individual who tends to get stuff done.
Who do you look up to in business?
I had the good fortune to have had many role models and influencers during my lifetime. George Zalucki would have been a big influence in the early days. I have massive respect for Oprah Winfrey and all of the challenges she had to overcome in her early life and early career.
How do you get the best out of people who work for you?
People don’t work FOR me. I have always invited them, instead, to work WITH me. Then it’s a win-win for everybody.
If you could change one thing about doing business in Northern Ireland then what would it be?
Antiquated liquor licensing legislation, especially with regard to opening hours around Easter, has been holding the hospitality sector back for years.
What does your role as chair of BID involve?
Right now, my main focus is to ensure that every single business in Ballymena town centre knows what a fantastic opportunity we have in front of us with BID and to encourage everyone to vote “Yes” in favour of same via their postal vote by March 30.
We have a five-year business plan which will generate in excess of £1 million and will double as part of the post-Covid, economic recovery strategy for Ballymena town centre. We operate at a local level, using our combined local knowledge and experience, to continue to formulate the best way forward for Ballymena. The BID business model will be fundamental to the success of our town centre recovery strategy.
What website or app could you not do without?
We depend heavily on Facebook for sharing information about our business, followed very closely by Zoom, which has become another necessary tool in the current climate. Zoom has been invaluable during lockdown to allow me to engage with fellow board members at BID, the local Council, Chamber of Commerce, Hospitality Ulster and representatives of local businesses.
What was the last book you read?
'Sully – Miracle on the Hudson- another modern-day hero.
What car do you drive?
A Vauxhall Vectra which is almost as old as I am. Cars are really not my thing.
Tell us something interesting about yourself?
My wife Marie and I, together with two good friends, walked a 105km stretch of the Camino De Santiago De Compostela over four days through the Galician region of Spain in 2018. I can’t wait to return.
What’s your greatest passion outside of work and family?
Holidays abroad and the opportunity to travel would be at the top of my list. It’s one of the many things I missed during 2020. I love to visit pubs and restaurants wherever I go in the world.
