Gary Beckwith, above, founder of City Cruises, a company he grew from a single boat to London’s largest sightseeing operator with a group turnover of over £25million, tells SME about his business journey
What’s luck got to do with it?
Some people don’t like admitting when they’ve been fortunate in business as if it somehow diminishes the skill involved. You get intelligent people shouting, “You make your own luck in this world?” and equally intelligent folks rolling their eyes and saying, “Some people get all the luck?” My advice is just to take a positive view of it. The only problem I’ve ever had with luck is that it eventually runs out.
I used to work in casinos in the early ‘70s. And I can tell you from experience there’s very little point in having a good slice of fortune if you don’t capitalise on it. You might win fifty grand at the blackjack table, but if you place all your winnings on the spin of a roulette wheel, what use was it in the first place? You’ve got to learn to notice these opportunities for what they are, embrace them, and capitalise on the timing.
For the first two decades of running my business, no bank would lend us any cash. There was no money on the river in those days, and, in hindsight, the timing just wasn’t right. By 1997/1998, we’d worked our way up from owning one fuel barge to running a sightseeing and charter boat operation with around 3.5 million pounds turnover. We were growing slowly and surely, but if we wanted to take a giant leap forward, we needed a big win…
Is the risk worth the reward?
Leading up to the millennium, the government wanted to find a way to mark the occasion. First, believe it or not, there was considerable debate about whether the millennium meant the year 2000 or 2001 (people just like debating things, I guess). Once it was decided to be in 2000, the next conversation was where to host the party. London was a natural choice, but where?
When the Millennium Dome was announced, it felt like a sign. I was around 46 years old, and if this opportunity had come just a few years later, I probably wouldn’t be where I am today. I still had the years (and the energy) to do something about it.
We entered the tender to transport passengers exclusively to the Millennium Dome. First, we needed to beat 68 other companies. Then, if we somehow surpassed all the other major players, we’d need to build four new boats at the cost of 5 million quid, knowing full well no bank had ever lent us any money. You have to choose your battles in business. You’ve got to learn when to “sit this one out” and when to risk everything. To me, it seemed like all the planets were aligning, so we threw everything at it. We risked our savings, our house, everything.
Win or learn
How we won the tender and managed to build the boats is a story for another time, but the outcome was phenomenal. Our turnover doubled almost overnight, rising to around seven million pounds. I worked every hour I didn’t sleep, and I’m sure I dreamt about it the rest of the time. Like I said, if this opportunity had come around much later, who knows if we’d have managed it?
Looking back, if I’d had a negative attitude towards luck, maybe we wouldn’t have even entered the tender. “Oh, we’ve got no chance; how can we take on Virgin?” And if I’d walked out of the bank, despondent every time they said no, I’d have wasted dozens (if not hundreds) of meetings with people who could give me free advice and get us one step closer to achieving our goals.
When we won the contract for the Dome, once again, we visited every bank in town. I remember walking in and knowing they would say no within the first ten seconds.
“Look,” I said, “I know you’re not going to give me the money, but would you allow me to do my presentation?”
They usually just shrugged; I’d give my full pitch, sit back, and await their response.
Perhaps they only lent money to governments or weren’t investing in tourism for now. But I’d always ask, “Is there anything I could have done better?”
“Er, yeah,” they’d say. “You could have laboured this point. Perhaps take this out and don’t spend so long here.”
Everywhere we got turned down was just another opportunity to learn, and we did a lot of learning. By the time we got a five million pound loan to build our four boats, there wasn’t an objection we weren’t prepared for. We didn’t blame bad luck, nor did we close our eyes and rely on chance. We kept working, waited for the right time and then, when it came, we pounced with everything we had. My advice isn’t “be lucky”; it’s to be grateful when you are because only then can you turn it into gold.
How To Make A Million In Business by Gary Beckwith will be published on 25 March 2025, priced £12.99.
