Tony Goldstein still has to pinch himself over how the humble business he started from his bedroom now has a 70-strong workforce and turns over almost £6 million a year.
The fm Company (UK) Ltd, based at Bradley, is a facilities management company which provides 24/7 repairs, maintenance and security for commercial buildings.
The company’s clients might not be household names that trip off the tongue – London & Scottish Property Investment Management, Cushman & Wakefield, Bellrock Property & Facilities Management, Cox Automotive – but among them are multi-billion companies, and that’s what Tony still finds difficult to get his head around.
“We’re just a little business from Huddersfield, yet we are working with multi-billion pound companies,” he said.
“I started out with a borrowed car, a borrowed laptop and a mobile phone and it was just a humble business. And we have always kept that humble approach, even as we have grown.
“I sometimes think we have no right to be working with the calibre of companies we are working with.”
Tony, 43, started out in 2015 as a one man operation and hasn’t looked back. What he saw as common sense and good customer service proved to be so far ahead of the competition that his business quickly expanded.
“Strong communication is vital and we do what we say we will do,” said Tony. “If there’s a leak at 4am we will be there. It’s our job to make life easier for our clients.”
Tony’s business journey started just after he’d left a security firm. A former customer needed a security guard in Yeovil – a far reach from Huddersfield – and contacted Tony to see if he could help.
Though Tony had left that company he knew someone who, by a massive coincidence, just happened to be across the road! Cue Tony’s first happy customer!
Tony incorporated his own business two weeks later and continued to run his ‘humble’ business as a sideline from his bedroom, sub-contracting out all the work.
His day job was with an interiors fit out company in Sheffield but a crossroads came when his side hustle business was offered a permanent contract with a chance to take on five employees.
Tony turned it down but it got him thinking. “It was an itch I had to scratch,” said Tony. “What’s the worst that could happen?
“I had two children, a mortgage and two or three months of savings. I thought: ‘If I don’t do it now, I am never going to do it.’”
It was 2017 and Tony quit his job. He had to borrow a car as his company vehicle went back.
“I started out doing some consultancy work and developed relationships with people I had worked with in the past,” said Tony. “Work started coming in and it just snowballed from there.”
Tony teamed up with Gary Shuttleworth, a friend and colleague of many years from working in the security industry. Gary sadly passed away in June 2023.
The company increased its turnover quickly from £12k in Tony’s bedroom to £250k, from £250k to £700k and to almost £1 million inside the first three years.
Profit isn’t the be all and end all for Tony. His business philosophy is about helping people.
The fm Company has around 50 staff directly employed and another 20 or 30 in contracting firms it has invested in and supports.
Staff retention is high and Tony said: “Every member of staff has had a pay rise every year since they joined us and we also offer bonuses at least three times a year.
“When the business is doing well, everybody does well. There’s a pension and health care for everyone from the cleaner to the financial director.
“It’s not all about profits and we’ve never missed that profit. Morally and socially, we want to breed the right culture where everyone benefits.”
Tony also invests in the best sub-contractors, buying a stake in their company to help them thrive and grow as The fm Company thrives and grows.
He doesn’t want to own their businesses but his team can take away the admin side and allow them to do what they do best.
“We invest to help them grow,” said Tony. “We always buy a minority shareholding – 40% or lower. We are not interested in taking over the world but we want to make sure they have enough work and that we are mutually important to eachother.”
It was once said of Tony that if he had an ounce of vanity he would have been the CEO of a large group of companies. But that’s not what motivates him.
Tony is committed to Huddersfield and to Kirklees and said: “I’ve never wanted to leave. We have 22 staff in the office now and the vast majority are from Huddersfield.
“For us it’s about nurturing local people and our contractors, from the one-man-band upwards. We want to enhance the micro economy with money being spent locally in Kirklees.”
The fm Company also supports sports clubs, local charities and good causes. Tony is closely involved with Moldgreen ARLFC and also sponsors Huddersfield Giants and Huddersfield RUFC.
He supports Huddersfield boxer Fes Batista, Project Youth Cancer and the Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice too.
So what of the future? “We haven’t finished yet,” said Tony. “We have a plan for where we want to go and there will be more investment in contractors. We can help those with fantastic business acumen work with some of the biggest companies.”
What’s clear is that the humble fm Company isn’t just a “little business from Huddersfield” anymore. It’s so much more than that.
