I don’t see any reason why parents should be shackled to a desk
IBI ESO, 49 Founder Bridgehouse Company Secretaries
IbI has two sons bolu, 24, and Feranmi, 19. She lives in Kent with husband Dapo, 53.
IbI Eso started her business at her dining room table at home in Kent, then moved into the garage. Now she has offices in the heart of the City of London.
Yet still her biggest challenge is explaining what she and her 12 staff actually do. ‘You tell a firm you’re a company secretary and some think you’re there to do the typing,’ she sighs.
bridgehouse Company secretaries provides the services of a lawyer or ‘chartered secretary’ trained in corporate governance — data protection, health and safety, risk management, performance strategies and so on — to more than 360 businesses and charities.
she explains: ‘A company secretary makes sure processes are transparent and laws are complied with.’
With a lawyer’s mind and an accountant’s love of detail, Ibi spent her early career climbing the corporate ladder, but saw talented women who started families disappear when they weren’t given the flexible options they needed to return to work.
‘Women want to earn money and to retain highpowered jobs, and are often highly qualified. but sometimes they, like all parents, need a day at home or to leave early or work parttime for a while. I’m a great believer in flexibility. I see no reason to shackle anyone to a desk.’
some consultants at bridgehouse are homebased, others work in the office, some mix it up.
‘before the office in London, we all worked remotely,’ she says. ‘I remember doing a pitch where this came up, and the CEo said, “Ah, so you all work in your pyjamas”. We got a few comments like that.’
Ibi started bridgehouse when her eldest son was 11. ‘I felt it was important to keep the conversation going with him when he was a teenager, and to be there for him when he got home from school.’ being around for the kids — her youngest was six — wasn’t the overarching reason to strike out alone, however. Ibi simply saw a gap in the market, a need for the services of a company secretary among smaller business that couldn’t afford full-time posts, and moved to fill it.
Today bridgehouse has a £660,000 turnover and a very posh office address. Her eldest son is now 24 and a vet.
Her advice to would-be mumpreneurs is to ‘jump and see if it works’, but not to risk too much. ‘start small. there’s no point jeopardising the whole family or putting your house on the line.’ selling the idea is the hardest thing about launching a new business, she reckons.
‘but it’s been extra tough for us,’ she laughs. ‘We’re not exactly selling staplers.’