Driven by faith
One of the Midlands' richest entrepreneurs, IM Group's Robert Edmiston, talks candidly to Ian Halstead about life, family and faith.
A century ago, Robert Edmiston would have been feted as a wealth creator, admired for his business acumen, lauded for both his Christian beliefs and his desire to use his riches to make a difference.
The link between corporate success and individual philanthropy was seen as natural for generations of entrepreneurs, from Cadbury to Carnegie.
Unfortunately, Edmiston lives in a Britain where empty-headed heiresses and Big Brother wannabees are role models. Wealth creators are no longer in vogue and religious faith has also fallen from fashion - at least if you're a Christian.
Edmiston has taken clouds of flak for committing serious chunks of money to the evangelical Christian Vision charity he founded in 1988, he has for sponsoring the Grace Academy in Solihull's Chemsley Wood, which opened in autumn 2006, and a sister venture in Coventry, which should open in September 2008.
The presence of creationism on the Academy's syllabus prompted an outcry from secular critics, notably the one-time Militant tendency disciple and Coventry councillor Dave Nellist.
Edmiston points out that while creationism may be on the agenda, so will Darwin, religious studies and teachings on other faiths.
"It's not about making pupils believe in God, it's about instilling the traditional values of respect, awareness and social accountability."
Not that Edmiston appears overly-concerned by the criticism. After all, he's spent more than 30 years backing his own judgement to build an £3800m-plus business empire - and faith has been at the core of his life for even longer.
IM Motors - the UK importer for Daihatsu, Subaru and Isuzu - and its international operations are worth around £3240m, while IM Properties has some £3375m of assets and a £3150m management portfolio. While IM's newest venture, The Funding Corporation, expects to put more than £31bn into the second loans and sub-prime market during the next five years.
As part of his interest in promoting business, Edmiston is also acting as a judge on Entrepreneur Challenge, an initiative by Bank of Scotland Corporate to make up to £35m available to a Midlands firm through an interest free loan.
Edmiston and Ranjit Singh of Smethwick food group Bosparan will pick one business from the region, though a Dragons Den-style interview, which has an exceptional business plan that could be turned into profitable reality with the right investment. The announcement of the winner will be made an event on 1 November 2007.
The competition's five regional winners - each of whom must have a turnover of at least £32m - will go forward to a national final to be held in December 2007.
Given Edmiston's remarkable success, it's no surprise to hear that his entrepreneurial skills surfaced at a tender age.
"You have a marble and you trade it for a comic. Then you find someone willing to pay two marbles for that comic and you buy two more comics. Pretty soon you have twenty marbles."
His first business venture was conceived at the age of 11. The Edmistons lived in Kenya and their young son noticed that the nearby traffic roundabouts were regularly filled with flowers.
"I used to cut them off and sell them door-to-door, saying the proceeds were for the Kenya Hospital Bedding Fund."
As a business model it was perfect - a zero-cost product offering 100 per cent margins - but disaster lay ahead.
"I made the mistake of knocking on a doctor's door and he taught me a very painful lesson," he recalls with a wince.
Edmiston's belief in evangelical Christianity also developed during his early years after his upbringing in a strict Roman Catholic household. The teenager already believed God would play a key role in his life, although not the God he later found.
"I had this image of a white bearded guy, who would whack you when you were wrong. My original idea was to do just what I wanted and then spend a thousand years in purgatory," says Edmiston.
At the age of 17 though, he visited an evangelical Christian centre.
"For the first time I met people who seemed to like God and were happy in their faith and celebrated their beliefs. Until then I'd mixed with a pretty rough crowd, but then I had what is known as a conversion experience and became a Christian."
In print, his words may seem one-dimensional. In public, there's no doubting the depth of his passion as he recounts the long-ago moment. Faith has underpinned his life ever since, not just in an abstract or mystical sense, but a belief that hard work and virtue brings rewards.
Edmiston certainly had plenty of the former, after his parents returned to the UK and he headed for night school to catch up on his studies.
Not that he objected to hard graft.
"I was brought up to believe that you put in the work first and achieved
gratification later. I don't see that same philosophy now. People want instant success and will just borrow what they haven't got."
Married at 20, Edmiston's wife was still paying most of the household bills seven years later in 1974, when he qualified as an accountant. Applying for a job as financial controller at West Bromwich-based Jensen Motors then proved his conversion on the road to corporate Damascus - although there were still rocky patches ahead.
From 100 applicants he made the last three, but then wasn't offered the post, which prompted a call to Jensen's flamboyant Californian owner, Kjell Qvale.
"He reminded me I'd been the youngest and least experienced candidate. I reminded him that he began making money at an early age and asked for a chance to do the same," recalls Edmiston.
It worked, but personal chemistry alone couldn't save Jensen.
"It was the time of the three-day week and petrol rationing and we were trying to sell a car with a 7.2-litre engine which did eight to ten miles to the gallon," says Edmiston.
"Companies were going bust, workers were standing outside factory gates and no manager wanted to arrive driving such an expensive car."
Within three months half the 1,200 workers had to go. Six months later the famous firm was in receivership. Qvale prepared to cut his losses, but the fledgling entrepreneur alongside him had other ideas.
"I suggested we set up a parts business, as Jensen owners needed to keep their vehicles going. Kjell agreed, so I asked for a shareholding and the chance to grow the business," says Edmiston. His £36,000 redundancy pay became a 15 per cent stake.
On day one, the business was barely worth a parking lot of Jensens, but when Edmiston took control of IM Motors in the early 1990s it cost him £324m. By then, its successful development of the Japanese marques, Subarau and Isuzu, had made it seriously profitable and Daihatsu completed the hat-trick of overseas franchise signings in 2000.
Edmiston had learned from the Jensen experience that customers wanted brands offering quality and value.
He still keeps in regular touch with Qvale and values his opinions, which typifies his willingness to seek outside counsel. And, unusually for a successful entrepreneur, Edmiston admits that two other people are major influences on his corporate achievements. Given his religious beliefs, it's no surprise that they are equally long on faith, but they are also intriguingly different.
Bob Buford founded and ran a national Texas-based cable TV business until the death of his son was the catalyst for a dramatic shift in mindset. His debut book from the 1990s - Changing your game-plan from success to significance - is a major influence on both Christian Vision and the City Academies.
"Bob teaches that the first half of your life is about success, but that the second half is about significance. As a Christian you should be responsible for what you do with your success," admits Edmiston. "My direction now is down that road. I've promised to give £3300m over the years to Christian Vision, because I want to make a difference."
Edmiston's other mentor is Edwin Louis Cole, who founded the Christian Mins Network and was a religious activist from his teenage years during the Great Depression in the 1930s. His entrepreneurial activities were limited to raising funds for charities, but he was also a prolific author.
Cole's mantra - that successful businesses must always be reinvented before they become institutionalised - has long been one of Edmiston's guiding lights.
Some 15 years back he bought into the quoted BHH Group, which he subsequently took private to become IM Properties.
Edmiston is also determined to reinvent the management structure of his operations and is poised to allow his son, Andrew, to take charge of IM Motors.
The 38-year-old acquired solid motor industry experience before joining IM, but his father isn't convinced that the shift of power will work.
"The disadvantage of growing up in a wealthy family is that the kids don't always understand the value of wealth," admits Edmiston. "Andrew has been to Harvard, he has a beautiful home, a ski chalet and drives a Porsche, but he hasn't had to fight for any of it."
The adage "muck to muck in three generations' is also on his mind.
"If things didn't work out with Andrew in charge I might come back and sell the business. It's either a family firm or it's not and I wouldn't want to see it go into other hands."
Of course, the nature or nurture debate applies to entrepreneurial skills as to all aspects of life.
Edmiston's daughter runs a chain of hairdressers, despite her dad's concern about its ability to generate serious money, but the family's most impressive student of business skills is his foster son.
A family friend adopted at 14, he received £32m from the Edmiston purse to establish a business and pretty soon had made his first million.
Edmiston's largesse - whether inside or outside the family - is based on his belief that selfishness and self-centred views are social evils.
"People with wealth have the chance to do good things and to make a difference," says Edmiston. "I always say that it is better to light a candle than to curse the dark."
