Bon Appetit

Keith Pordum, CEO of Bon Appetit, has been a member of the University of Brighton’s business growth programme Profitnet since 2008.

He re-joined Profitnet in 2014 as part of the Manor Royal Group.

He was encouraged to expand into the healthcare sector through a new digital marketing strategy, with Profitnet members suggesting more than 30 ideas to increase sales.

One of the greatest insights that Keith drew from the programme was the importance of innovation in his business.

Keith has found innovation to be particularly important to help develop the equipment his company has and their hot food vending products.

Keith said: "My non-executive board used to cost me £12,000 a year but with Profitnet, I get a board of 12 directors every month and the input from them has been absolutely vital."

Through Profitnet , Keith became aware of the university’s internship scheme which provides part funding for a company to take on a highly-talented graduate intern.

Keith said: "It was only 6 weeks ago that I started implementing the digital marketing strategy and it has already had an impact."

As a result of the intern’s work on the digital marketing strategy, Keith has had new clients from the NHS approach his business to supply them with vending machines.

Keith said: "To get a return on my investment so quickly is beyond what I was expecting, so I am delighted."

This emphasis on innovation also led to Keith participating in a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), a government-funded scheme which enables businesses and universities to work together.

The project revolved around marketing to help the business to grow and innovate, through collaborating with the university and a highly-talented graduate.

Keith said: "The KTP project was invaluable because the graduate identified that we had major problems in our packaging which was losing us market share and business.

"The Knowledge Transfer Partnership was a lifesaver for us."