AN AWARD-winning business coach based in Poole is celebrating the success of one of his clients whose business has been named one of Britain's fastest growing companies. 

James Akin-Smith, The CEO Coach, has been working with Simon Mayne, managing director of family owned and run business SDM Fuel Solutions Ltd.

The business ranked number 14 in the Sunday Times’s 2023 list of UK’s fastest-growing private companies after boosting turnover by 567 per cent in two years. 

James said: “Simon got in touch in 2021 looking for guidance on his five-year growth strategy for the business, and we clicked immediately.”

SDM Fuel Solutions Ltd is based in Hampshire and over the last two years the company has gone from a £1.5 million business to a £10 million turnover business.

James has been coaching business leaders for over a decade following a career in which he built and sold seven successful businesses of his own.

Founded in 2011, SDM Fuel Solutions is a UK-wide 24/7 specialist in fuel and fuel-related engineering services including tank cleaning, fuel filtration, and fuel testing.

It was started by Simon’s father in 2011.

Following the death on his father in 2019, Simon recognised he needed to develop himself in order to become a great managing director (MD).

Simon Mayne, MD of SDM Fuel Solutions LTD, said: “Working with James has been so good and so useful. He asks you difficult questions to challenge you and gives an outsider’s view. James has helped grow my business. He helps me focus, helps point me in the right direction and gives a good steer on what we should be looking for.”

James added: “By challenging him, asking probing and provocative questions, offering different perspectives, and helping him focus and prioritise, I have been able to help Simon get the best from himself, so he could get the best from his business.”

Such exponential growth has brought its own challenges, and James has also played a key part in helping Simon navigate these, including encouraging him to make time for family, friends, and a life outside his business.

Simon said: “A coach isn’t just one dimensional, he doesn’t need to have all the answers but he’s able to help educate and focus. Sometimes advice from James has just been him telling me to chill out – and that’s exactly what I needed.”