BROTHERS IN ARMS AT WORK

James and Luke Cottingham are brothers with a mission in life… to become successful entrepreneurs.

James, 26, a former pro footballer, and Luke, 24, a musician with a keen interest in technology, have already launched several successful ventures.

Luke turned the basement of the family home into a recording studio, they both set up a T-shirt brand, then a menswear fashion range, and their latest enterprise, CAST, is a jewellery-making events business (experiencecast.com).

We chatted to James for his insight on how they manage to work together.

He said: “We are best mates. We trust and believe in one another. We are equally as ambitious, equally as motivated.

“We possess different skill sets. I make it look good, Luke makes sure it works.

“While I handle sales and marketing, Luke handles technical and logistical issues. We come together on design/what our messaging is/how we want it to look.

“Obviously, we argue sometimes. He challenges me, I challenge him – that’s healthy. We challenge each other to look at things differently. We don’t like standard, or average.

“You’ll never hear us say something looks ‘OK’ or ‘it’ll be fine’. We encourage people to look at things differently, not simply to accept that things are the way they are, just because ‘they are’.

“Communication and organisation are key. We sit opposite each other and it’s amazing what we don’t know sometimes. Keeping up to date is so key – not just between Luke and I, but for everybody involved.

“We have to keep pace with the latest trends; someone somewhere once said ‘ideas come to those who pay attention’. We are both totally committed to being successful; to us, that is happiness, health, and that we have good people around us.

“Growing the business, being wildly ambitious, pressure, having other people doubt us, are all weirdly things we enjoy.”