Welcome to our series, 'Meet the entrepreneur', where we sit down with founders, CEOs and the like and get to know the person behind the business.
Meet Mary Gilbey, Managing Director of Anglia Translations Ltd. We spoke to her about the business, what her routine looks like and more.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about the business?
Mary: Anglia Translations Ltd supports businesses with international growth by providing translation and interpreting services. My father started the business 32 years ago, as he saw the need within the UK export sector for translation services. Our vision is to ensure global access to information, empower clients in a multilingual marketplace, and foster equality through effective communication.
Q: What is your Monday morning routine to get you in the mood for a successful week?
Mary: To make sure that I start off in the right mindset, I always start with some exercise, generally with a friend. Exercise is like therapy for me!
Q: What is your favourite podcast to listen to/book to read for business advice?
Mary: ‘The Diary of a CEO’ by Steven Bartlett. For some personal inspiration, I also enjoy some of the Tony Robbins podcasts.
Q: How do you navigate the digital world as an entrepreneur?
Mary: Within our industry, the digital landscape is ever-changing and over the last 10-15 years we've had to embrace a lot more technology in order to stay at the forefront of our industry.
For industry-specific technology, I attend many conferences, seminars and webinars, but I also have a very supportive peer network. For digital advice relating to running my business, I would always involve an expert who can guide us as to the best way to work.
Q: What's your best IT infrastructure advice to other entrepreneurs when getting their business started?
Mary: Always seek advice from experts – don’t think that you have to be an IT guru in order to start your business. My one piece of advice is to make sure that all your IT infrastructure is compatible and you're using software that's easily supported. And always have in mind, does this IT system support the growth that I envisage for my 5-year plan? Always plan ahead!
Q: What are your biggest challenges as an SME and how have you overcome them?
Mary: Although we currently don’t have many pain points, we have had our struggles. Our issues arose when we had various different IT people who looked after different aspects of our IT, designing bespoke solutions for certain business requirements that weren’t necessarily all working on the same platform. Each of these solutions had evolved organically without looking at the bigger picture. When there are issues, it becomes difficult to ascertain where the problem lies, whose responsibility it is and how to successfully resolve it in a timely manner. Definitely have an IT plan considering where you want to be in 5 years’ time.
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