The quickest way to reduce your business carbon footprint – Peter Kirby & Will Smith, Tred
This week we speak to green banking start-up, Tred.
Peter & will discuss where the idea of a green bank account came from, the secret tip that worked for improving their network connections, how the first round of testing changed the business strategy, the positives and negatives of a wait list and what it feels like to secure £1m of funding.
We also get taught how to reduce the carbon footprint of your business.
Win a Tred water bottle. Listen to the episode then answer the question at www.leedsbusinesspodcast.com/tred/
INTRODUCING PETER KIRBY & WILL SMITH
Peter Kirby keeps Tred running! He ensures customers love their green business current account, develops a happy and high performing team, and owns the compliance function. Before Tred, he worked with the UK’s largest companies to improve their operations, like developing the UK’s COVID shielding programme and revolutionising the procurement process in a £5bn clothing brand.
Will Smith owns Tred’s growth and finances. He makes sure every business wants, and has, a Tred green current account. Selected by Forbes as a ‘30 under 30’, he brings experience from both the start-up and corporate world. He’s managed global product launches, negotiated commercial contracts worth over £500m and much more.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
[00:00:30] What is Tred?
[00:01:00] Introducing Will & Peter
[00:05:30] Where did the idea for Tred come from?
[00:09:00] The first step on the start-up journey and testing the hypothesis
[00:11:00] The funding journey and lessons learnt
[00:16:00] Starting the business properly
[00:23:00] A banking platform not a bank and let’s talk ‘Bank of Dave’
[00:32:00] The current situation for Tred
[00:36:45] How do you evaluate a ‘green’ banking card?
[00:38:15] How to reduce the carbon footprint of your business
[00:41:15] The biggest learning from a mistake
3 KEY TAKEAWAYS & BUSINESS LEARNINGS
• Find the cheapest and quickest way to test your hypothesis
• Ask people for introductions. Almost everyone says yes
• Hire the people with skills you are most useless at
• Entrepreneurs are not taking enough risks because of a fear of failure
3 BEST MOMENTS
“Please can someone be the Spotify for home 3D printing”
“We spent months building an app. Did we need it? Probably not”
“There’ll be bugs a plenty come squash them with us”
VALUABLE RESOURCES FOR YOU
Website: www.leedsbusinesspodcast.com
Website: https://tred.earth/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wrhsmith/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterlkirby/
Shout out tags: https://www.linkedin.com/in/becky-baker-8700399/
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ABOUT YOUR HOST
Phil Fraser went from an accidental kitchen table start up, with no investment, all the way to multi-million pound sale to a PLC 18 years later. He’s travelled the full SME business journey of launch, growth, scale and exit.
As well as hosting the Leeds Business Podcast, Phil now works with ambitious SME-owners as a Business Sounding Board (think somewhere between Business Coach and Business Mentor). In simple terms, he’s ‘a pair of ears and an extra pair eyes’ for SME Owners helping them to be better at what they do. Phil’s mantra is It doesn’t need to be ‘lonely at the top’. He helps Business Owners to be better business owners, by helping with their clarity and focus.
As a Business Sounding Board, he gives SME Owners the time & space to regularly discuss their challenges and opportunities, with no sense of judgement or bias, and in complete confidence. This allows them to explore their options in full, culminating with a list of issues to address/clarify, a clear target in mind, a roadmap to success, and a renewed enthusiasm and confidence for the challenges ahead.
Phil has appeared as a guest on over 60 podcasts, webinars and interviews, from around the whole globe, talking on a variety of business subjects. You can view them all at https://philfraser.co.uk/watch-hear-phil/.
LEEDS BUSINESS PODCAST
EMI, FCA, ESG, Mouse, Starling Bank, Monzo Bank, Revolut, Neobanks, Open Banking, Leeds, Leeds Business, Business in Leeds, Nous of Fraser, Business Sounding Board, Business Coach, Business Mentor,
Email: phil@leedsbusinesspodcast.com
