Family Business Success

They were recently featured in the Daily Express in a Your Money feature about making family businesses work, and said for them the key is trust and good communication.

The brothers took over the running of the business from their parents who are still involved but semi-retired, having started off with a dry cleaners and laundrette in Sea Road in 1979.

They think success is partly down to their personalities which are quite different but work well together. Steve, 43, is the quiet but competent one, according to father Mike, while Rob, 39, is dynamic and motivated, and Darren, at 37 the youngest, is cheery and laidback but always dependable.Darren said: "We work well as a team. Our personalities are all different, but if we were all the same it would be difficult and there might be a lot of arguing."

Mike and wife Rosemary started off small but when their sons left Bexhill High school and joined the business, they realised they needed to expand.

Mike said: "It needed to be bigger because then there were five of us. We needed it to generate more income or it would not have sustained everybody."

They began taking in laundry and built up a customer base, able to step in when Dawn & Dorset closed down, then they won over important longstanding clients such as the Northern Hotel and Beauport.

Now H20 Linen Services has developed so it is now a mainly commercial laundry based in a warehouse factory in Brett Drive, where they employ more than 40 full and part-time staff.

They have more than 300 clients on their books, including businesses and chains of hotels, and collect and deliver over a wide area from Hindhead in Surrey, to Folkestone, Crawley and Tunbridge Wells.

Steven remembers the thrill of seeing the business grow and comments: "It is still exciting to get new customers."

Not every family is cut out to spend so much time together, but for the Shoesmiths it couldn't be easier.

Mum Rosemary said: "I think we generally have a laugh - we usually find something to laugh at during the day."

Having moved to Brett Drive in 2002, the plan now is to continue to grow while consolidating what they have while H20 Linen Services is soon to become a limited company.

Rob said: "We hope to carry on growing but to make sure it is done organically rather than taking over other businesses, and to maintain quality and reliability in the service we currently provide. I think that should come first."