Thomas Jardine & Co

20/10/2026

Is AI making your business more productive… or just making everyone busier, faster? 🤔

That’s the big question we’re exploring at LEADER Club today!

We’re delighted to welcome Anthony Impey MBE, CEO of Be the Business, as our guest agitator, challenging our independent business leaders to think differently about:

💡 Productivity, People & AI – What’s Really Happening?

Because behind all the AI hype, Anthony identified some uncomfortable questions…

🔹 Are your people already using AI without you knowing?

🔹 Are we trusting technology more than our own judgement?

🔹 Are we creating more output, but not necessarily more value?

🔹 Could we be automating the very things that make our businesses special?

🔹 And when we’re already stretched running a business, where do we find the time to do things differently?

AI might be moving fast. But good leadership requires us to think, not just react.

That’s what LEADER Club is all about.

Real conversations. Different perspectives. Constructive challenge. And the space to turn thinking into action.

Because sometimes the most productive thing a business leader can do is step away from the day-to-day and think differently.

We can’t wait to see where today’s conversation takes us!

What about you? Is AI helping your business work smarter, or just faster?

Huge thanks to Anthony for providing brilliant agitation coupled with real understanding of Small and Midsized firms and for offering real balance in thought to the opportunity for productivity, people and AI!

Keith Jackson Cumbria Be the Business

15/10/2026

🧱 The final brick!

We’ve reached the last part of our Building a Better Business, One Brick at a Time series.

And we’re finishing with something every business leader thinks about COSTS!

But here’s the thing…

Managing costs isn’t simply about spending less.

It’s about understanding what it actually costs to run the business you’ve chosen to build.

Every decision has an impact. The customers you serve, the value you offer, the people you employ, the resources you need and the partners you work with.

And sometimes, cutting a cost can weaken the very thing that makes your business successful.

But there’s another dimension - nothing stands still.

Customer expectations change. Technology moves on. Costs rise. New opportunities emerge. And decisions that made perfect sense yesterday might not be the right ones tomorrow.

That’s why understanding your business model isn’t a one-off exercise.

It’s a dynamic process of questioning, adapting and making choices as the world around your business changes.

And that’s why we love the Business Model Canvas.

It’s not nine separate boxes. It’s one connected, evolving business.

Over this series, we’ve used LEGO® to explore how the different parts fit together and why changing one brick can affect the whole structure.

It’s also at the heart of our BALANCE iT approach: helping independent business leaders step back, challenge their assumptions and make informed decisions about the business they’re building.

So, as we place our final brick, here’s a question worth considering:

Are you simply managing the costs of the business you have or continually adapting the business you want to build?

Because building a better business isn’t about creating something fixed.

It’s about building something that can keep evolving.

09/10/2026

Heading to the Penrith Chamber of Trade and Commerce Business Stars Awards, so looking forward to celebrating superstar businesses 🍾🍾 Jacqui JacksonKeith Jackson Cumbria Stephen Macaulay at the Roundthorn Country House with the fab Jenny Woolgar Photography

06/10/2026

You don’t have to do everything yourself.

One of the traps in growing an independent business is assuming that growth means building more and more capability inside the business.

But sometimes the smarter question is:

What don’t we need to own or do ourselves?

Key Partners are about recognising where other people or organisations can bring expertise, technology, capacity, relationships or capability that strengthens your business.

It’s not about outsourcing everything.

It’s about being intentional about what you need to be brilliant at — and where partnership makes more sense.

Because a strong business isn’t necessarily the one that does everything.

It’s the one that knows what it needs to do itself, what it needs help with, and who it can trust to help make it happen.

So, looking at your business today:

What are you trying to build that you could be partnering for instead?

This is one of the conversations we explore through ON iT and the Business Model Canvas.


Keith Jackson Cumbria Jacqui Jackson

02/10/2026

25/09/2026

Totally agree with all their comments, where and how you choose to work is incredibly important….

18/09/2026

Meet our Founder, Thomas Jardine….

15/09/2026

Finding balance with LEADER Club….give us a call or send a message if this sounds like something for you. Keith Jackson Cumbria Jacqui Jackson