Ronald Shillingford

Profile

Ron Shillingford discovered his entrepreneurial talents pretty early in life. It began at age eleven. Having being granted the captaincy of the school football team, Ron received some shocking news. The coach announced that the school would not be funding the bus fare to away matches. This presented a major problem - the extra money simply wasn’t there. Not being available for away matches meant being dropped from the team.

Never being one to rely on anyone else for solutions, Ron fell back on his enterprising mind. His mother worked at the local McVities biscuit factory in Harlesden NW London. The factory had a store that sold underweight biscuits to their staff members at a discount. On the pretence of picking up biscuits for his mother, Ron decided to purchase biscuits from the staff shop. He then sold them to his fellow students in the playground during lunchtime. It was at full price but saved the kids a trip down to the local shops (a business he ran for years). Problem solved.

He founded his first company The Shillingford Concept (a lighting design and manufacture) at the age of twenty, which he ran for 5 years. Then came the launch of Low Cost Telecom Ltd (13 retail outlets spread across the UK).

The lighting business was funded by the Princes Youth Business Trust which led to him being invited to speak on the subject of entrepreneurship alongside the likes of Prince Charles. His audiences often included some of the most esteemed captains of British industry. This culminated in a major lighting deal with Gerald Ronson to fit over 200 of his petrol stations. The deal was done directly with Mr Ronson.

Ron sold his retail business in 2002 so he could concentrate on building and operating his very successful property development company and rental portfolio, founded a year earlier.

He’s a successful self-made man and has been involved in a whole raft of business projects one of which includes the development of an ethical bank and a community bank (still operating successfully).

His latest business, a publishing company, The History of the World’s Greatest…, will publish its first title The History of the World’s Greatest Entrepreneurs in May 2010. The manuscript has been well received:

“Throughout history, events and people have shaped the world we live in today.

Some are famous, whilst others are merely distant figures rarely acknowledged for their contributions. Bringing the periods and events together, seeing them through the lives of such individuals is illuminating, informative and enjoyable. This book has all three. History at its most enjoyable.”

Author Paul Henke

“An intelligent and groundbreaking book that takes a close look at what makes entrepreneurs tick. Tips, insights, case studies, anecdotes and most of all, learning- this book has it all. A must read.”

BBC Business Guru Rene Carayol MBE

Ron is currently developing his publishing business whilst working on his third book and researching his fourth.