Diary of an Entrepreneur

Rob Hamilton gets excited about a tie-up with the Big Easy and frustrated with his bank.

Stelios is a hero of mine, so when we signed a licensing deal with him in March it was the pinnacle of my career. I’d read that he was launching serviced offices under the easyOffice brand. My company, Instant Offices, offers third-party office space through our website, so I saw a natural fit.

I pinged an email to the MD of easyGroup, Anthony Robb-John. A month later I was in a meeting with Stelios, carving out the details. The joy of working with Stelios is seeing how fast he works and how smoothly he deals with the press. It’s obvious to see how proud he is about what he has achieved, which can’t fail to inspire. I’d like to think that, in our own way, we have a similar business strategy, although clearly I very much see him as the ‘big daddy’ and us as the ‘infant’. The effect on our public profile has been wonderful. The office sector isn’t one that encounters “celebrities”. With Stelios, suddenly the media thinks the industry is sexy.

A warning: Clydesdale Bank. A year ago I decided to switch to them from Barclays. They gave me a superb pitch. They told me they understood entrepreneurs, they had branches all over London, and that I’d get unrivalled personal service. The girl who spoke to me told me she’d always be there for me. The reality? Urgh! It took them six months just to open the account. The girl who’d convinced me to switch left and was replaced by someone I could never get hold of. Anyone I wanted to speak to was either ill or in meetings. Their systems are so poor that they couldn’t seem to even set up a direct debit. Payments would go through several times by accident. I sent a list of questions to my account manager but he never got back to me. I got tired of chasing, and now we are back with Barclays. What a pain in the arse!

Business completely stopped for me this week when my wife and I went to the hospital for a five-month scan on our first baby. Everything is OK and we are beginning to realise that life will change quickly.

When something as life changing as this happens, it makes you realise how quickly things move, and my business goals will reflect this.

I will definitely continue operating out of London as I don’t want to spend time away from my wife and child. This is a relief: travel to far-off places such as Tokyo and Sydney used to be appealing. Now I’m weary of the long haul stuff. I’m also pleased my business is already established as the thought of going through the start-up stage at the same time as having a child would be terrifying.

The week ended with a quick visit to New York to meet key customers, then back to London to undergo some triathlon training. The Instant Offices team is competing in the Michelob Ultra London Triathlon this year, with more than 30 of us swimming, cycling and running for three charities: Unicef, Great Causes and Debra on behalf of the London Property Triathlon team.

Normally, I consider sport to be all about winning but we’re doing this for a different reason. It genuinely is a great team-building exercise as it brings people together from different parts of the company.

For example, last year we regularly met at 6.30am for a swim before work in the Serpentine. When you see the sun rise over London, you can forget the duck poo and cold water, and it’s a spiritual, uplifting experience.

I’m only doing the half triathlon, as last year the full version almost killed me. I felt ill for weeks, and I’m a guy who hasn’t taken a day off sick in eight years.

Last year we raised £50,000. This year’s target is £200,000. The more people we can get on board, the better! So come on Real Business readers: sponsor me at www.justgiving.com/instantoffices.

Rob Hamilton, 33, is founder and MD of Instant Offices Group, the world’s leading web-based commercial property broker.