CKGSB Alumni Story | Jeremy Solomons: A Chance Encounter
Jeremy Solomons was flicking through The Sunday Times business supplement when he came across a golden opportunity: an all-expenses paid, full-time MBA in China, courtesy of CKGSB and Scottish billionaire businessman Sir Tom Hunter.
Jeremy applied for the scholarship and was selected for an interview. A few weeks later, in CKGSB’s office in St James’s Square, London, he sat gingerly on one side of a table facing CKGSB’s UK representative, the dean of Cambridge Judge Business School, and Sir Tom Hunter himself.
“From studying economics at school and then at university, China was always popping up as an emerging superpower,” he says. “I didn’t know how I’d get there, but I knew China was the future and I wanted to be part of it.”
Jeremy spoke about his experiences as a budding entrepreneur; about taking over his father’s business at the age of 24; about the struggles and successes.
Before he knew it, he was on a plane to Beijing.
Jeremy Solomons
Export Management Service Ltd Company Director
Harsh realities
Growing up in north London, Jeremy helped his father with his long-established home improvement business, but his primary focus was on his studies.
When his father passed away suddenly, Jeremy was thrown in at the deep end. He tried to make sense of the notes, files, and boxes crowding his father’s study. While still studying business economics at university, he would meet new and existing clients, chase up customers for payments, and manage contractors and suppliers—learning as he went.
“That’s when I found out about the harsh realities of business—how difficult it can be—and how you have to step up, even in the worst-case scenarios,” he says.
After university, alongside running his father’s business, Jeremy started working part-time for a company owned by British export services firm Mark Cansick & Company. For 20-plus years, his mother had worked as a bookkeeper for the firm. She painstakingly recorded all of the company’s transactions, by hand, in ledger books.
But Jeremy had reached a crossroads in his career. Unsure of what to do next and looking for new opportunities, when the chance came to study an MBA at CKGSB in China, he grabbed it.
“When I arrived in Beijing, I’d never seen so many McDonald’s, KFCs, and Starbucks on every corner,”
He says. “I thought I was in New York, not Beijing!
“I was seeing things I’d only seen before on TV,” he explains. “CKGSB’s campus was on the same road as Tiananmen Square. Our accommodation was among the huge skyscrapers at the heart of the business district—living in Beijing was just fascinating every day.”
A phone call
Enamored with life in China, Jeremy decided to stay in the country after his MBA. By that time, he’d brought his father’s business to a natural end. He was enjoying “living the dream,” he says. And he’d just landed an internship at the China-Britain Business Council in Guangzhou.
Then, out of the blue, he received a phone call from the UK.
The voice on the other end of the line was that of Christopher Cansick, the boss of Mark Cansick & Company; the “big boss” of the company Jeremy had worked for previously. He was looking to sell, and Jeremy was offered first refusal.
“I thought, my gosh, what has just been offered to me!” he laughs, still incredulous. “I guess he saw a young guy, travelling the world, with an enthusiasm for business, who had experienced working for the company before.
“This was something new—I wasn’t out there buying companies—but I knew I wanted to run my own business again and put in everything I learned from my MBA.”
Determined, but with a heavy heart, Jeremy left his life in China behind him and took the leap. After returning to London, he worked for the company he was about to purchase for two years as the acquisition process dragged on. He didn’t speak a word about it. “I was working alongside colleagues
35 years my senior!” he says.
Two months before taking over the business, a burst water main flooded his future office. The company lost £20,000 worth of equipment, and a health and safety inspection ruled no staff were to be allowed in the building until it was renovated.
“Anything that could go wrong in a business went wrong,” Jeremy continues. “But the work ethic CKGSB instilled in me, and the resilience you build up by studying an MBA in one year, helped me deal with all the problems on my own.”
Putting in the work
As Mark Cansick & Company’s sole director, Jeremy’s been running operations single-handedly for the past year. His phone is never off—office calls are diverted straight to his mobile.
Founded in 1949, the historic firm exports everything from construction materials to the Middle East and chemicals to the Caribbean, to fashion supplies globally. The company also owns a well- established male grooming brand, distributing gentlemen’s grooming products.
Jeremy is taking it into the 21st century, planning new processes for inventory management, marketing, operations, and finance—“everything an MBA can teach you.”
Now, he wants to use his MBA contacts to boost exports to China. In partnership with CKGSB, he hopes to connect China-based MBAs on consulting projects with British companies looking to expand. He still refers back to his notes from business school.
“I’ve seen how precious time is,” he says. “Taking over this company has been a real challenge and a real test of relationships as well, but I’m putting in the work now, so I can reap the benefits in life later on.”
END
About CKGSB MBA Program
This accelerated English-language 14-month MBA program helps young professionals transform into global business leaders with a strong understanding of China and other emerging economies. Participants will tap into unique mentoring opportunities that will connect them to the Who’s Who of business in China as they learn from some of the best academics in one of the most dynamic markets in the world.
阅读原文" to register for the program(本文转载自 ,如有侵权请电话联系13810995524)
* 文章为作者独立观点,不代表MBAChina立场。采编部邮箱:news@mbachina.com,欢迎交流与合作。
备考交流
最新动态
- 整合全球名校资源 长江全球独角兽项目带你打开商业新版图 2024-03-26
- 比亚迪“亮剑”,是双向奔赴还是弯道超车? 2024-03-26
- 新能源汽车的2024:谁能进入决赛圈? 2024-03-18
活动日历
- 01月
- 02月
- 03月
- 04月
- 05月
- 06月
- 07月
- 08月
- 09月
- 10月
- 11月
- 12月
- 03/01 震撼发布!长江商学院MBA公开课与2024招生政策大揭秘
- 03/01 直播预告|交大安泰金融硕士(MF)项目宣讲会暖春回归
- 03/02 2024年上海理工大学MBA/MPA/MEM/MPAcc项目专场调剂宣讲会
- 03/02 复旦大学开年首场公开课报名 | 穿越迷雾,2024宏观经济展望
- 03/02 【活动报名】3月2日港大-复旦IMBA项目2024在线招生咨询会
- 03/02 周六晚19:30|上海体育大学MBA/MTA项目与调剂介绍活动预告
- 03/05 错过联考?不慌!选择可认证的华东理工大学-堪培拉大学合作MBA项目
- 03/07 3月7日与世界顶尖商学院面对面 | 免联考国际硕士项目2024招生专场宣讲会
- 03/07 直播报名 | 站位新AI时代!华东师范大学MEM科创专家公开课第十三讲暨项目咨询会(3月7日)
- 03/07 全球金融硕士双学位研究生项目宣讲会通知