Growth Through Collaboration - Alessandro Caruso Architects

Amelia talks about “Growth Through Collaboration” at the Business Day.

The Business Day 2023.

The Business Day, held at Bridlington Spa, is an annual networking event. In fact, the event brings business leaders together and this year more than 700 attended.

TV personality, Gyles Brandeth, hosted the event and author Clare Balding attended as one of the keynote speakers.

This year, the event took place on Friday 9th of June.

D3's Martin Shaw and ACA's Alex and Amelia Caruso outside the Bridlington Spa at the Business Day 2023.

D3’s Martin Shaw and ACA’s Alex and Amelia Caruso outside the Bridlington Spa at the Business Day 2023.

As Bridlington is a seaside town, the theme of this year’s event was the seaside! This meant that Bridlington Spa was transformed into a seaside with beach balls, flip flops, deck chairs and even a huge helter-skelter which took centre stage!

The day began with Gyles Brandeth riding down the helter-skelter and welcoming everyone!

Shortly after, various business breakout sessions commenced, offering multiple choices for the guests.

ACA’s Alex attended a session on the introduction of Artificial Intelligence. However, Amelia and Ollie attended the For Entrepreneurs Only (FEO) “From Pub to Palace” session, discussing the origins of the organisation and what is offers to the business community.

Then, Amelia, Alex and Ollie spent time exploring the venue and networking.

Amelia and Ollie take a rest from networking on a huge deckchair!

There were many company stalls and a plethora of games such as a reaction game, mini golf and a carnival hammer game.

Unsurprisingly, Ollie beat Amelia at the hammer game but his pride was bruised by witnessing others score higher! Little did he know there was a knack to winning.

Amelia and Ollie networking at the Business Day 2023.

Later, we heard from Keith Harris as a keynote speaker in an incredibly engaging session exploring Keith’s path to success and major events which led him to where he is today.

ACA’s involvement in the Business Day 2023.

FEO sponsored the event and invited Amelia to take part in a break-out session – “Going for Growth”.

So, Amelia and Martin Shaw from D3 discussed growth through collaboration. ACA and D3 regularly collaborate to provide a one stop shop service of architecture, interior design and furniture fit out.

We caught up with Amelia and Martin and this is what they had to say…

Amelia Caruso and Martin Shaw talk about growth through collaboration at the Business Day 2023

Amelia Caruso and Martin Shaw talk about growth through collaboration at the Business Day 2023.

How did the opportunity arise to collaborate?

Amelia: We have always been a collaborative Practice, certainly when the right opportunity arises to work with the right people. We offer architecture and interior design services with an emphasis on wellbeing for the healthcare, commercial and education sectors. We wanted to go above and beyond and offer our clients a one stop shop. Through collaboration we can do this by offering architecture, interior design and furniture fit-out project management services. Therefore a complete service is available, all the way from design to handover of the building.

Over the years we have worked with several furniture suppliers including D3. But 6 years ago we completed two extra care schemes together with D3 for Abbeyfield. After seeing the results, we decided to partner up. Their expertise in furniture procurement perfectly complements our vision for creating unique and personalised environments.

Martin: We were aware of each other’s businesses but until we had sat down for a good chat, we weren’t fully aware of the scope of activities that we were both involved in. This led to discussions about the projects that ACA were working on and how our furniture offer could complement this.

How has collaboration helped your companies grow?

Amelia: Our collaboration to date has been successful and has enabled both companies to grow. Together, we have achieved significant milestones such as winning frameworks, which has led to more clients, more projects and repeat business. Once we demonstrate what we can achieve for a client, they usually become long term clients with a pipeline of projects.

Martin: Our partnership has not only helped to grow sales and profit within our business but it has also helped our team grow their skills by working closely with the ACA team.

What are the benefits of collaboration for your clients?

Amelia: With our streamlined approach, which we continue to finetune, we make our clients’ lives easier. They don’t have the hassle of coordinating multiple vendors or worrying about miscommunications between various service providers.

Martin: We know each other’s businesses well and ensure that the move from design to delivery goes as seamlessly as possible for the client. We both have good reputations in our respective fields and work hard to ensure that the after care service is as good as the initial installation.

What forms the basis of your relationship?

Amelia: Martin and I and our families have known each other personally for a long time before we worked together professionally, so trust is a key element of the relationship. We also have similar working values and take great pride in our reputation for excellence. As most of our clients are long term with repeat business, we don’t want to let each other down and therefore we have a common goal to deliver high standards.

Martin: I agree, trust is paramount to our relationship. Plus, we get on well together and it certainly helps working with people you like! Open and honest communication means that we can resolve teething problems and finetune our approach to ensure continuous improvement.