This is the latest in a regular series of Business Q&A features published weekly. This week, we heard from Alistair Grant, managing director of Strive Group in Harrogate.

Tell us in fewer than 30 words what your firm does.

We are a connected experience company working in three core areas: brand experience, employee experience, and customer experience.

We work with customers including Polestar, Lotus, Volvo, Honda and Papa John's, helping them shape the look and feel of their brand.

What does it take to be successful in business?

The reason we've been successful is we're really flexible with our clients. For example, when we started working with Honda it was initially on a three-month contract. That was 21 years ago.

More recently, we started working with another client with one person working on the brief for six months, but we now have three people on it. We can flex to accommodate changing briefs.

What drives you to do what you do every day?

I would be a nightmare as an employee. My underlying driver is that I don't like failure. I want to be a success, whatever that takes.

That takes determination, and perhaps some arrogance – we believe we're really good at what we do. The reason why clients stay with us is because when they ask us to do something, we say yes, and then work out how to do it – better than anyone else.

What’s been the toughest issue your business has had to deal with over the last 12 months?

Our internal mantra used to be that we should be customer-centric. That was a common thing in companies about 10 years ago. But we changed that three or four years ago to being employee-centric.

The difficulty over the last 12 months has been the cost and risk of employing people.

Employer's National Insurance contributions have gone up, but the threshold has comedown, making it a double whammy, and at the same time the minimum wage has gone up.

We employ 97 people, and if you factor in the annual wage review as well, it means we'll have to find an extra £187,000 just to stand still.

Which other local firms do you most admire and why?

Young people tend to leave Harrogate and go off elsewhere, but some companies provide good jobs and really look after their employees, helping people stay in the town.

Bettys and EnviroVent have both grown but stayed in the town and provided employment here, and I like that.

Who are the most inspiring local leaders?

I'd struggle to answer that question – other than my dad, I don't particularly draw inspiration from anyone else.

What could be done locally to boost business?

What makes Harrogate special is all the independent shops in the centre, but rent and rates on business properties are crippling, and we're losing our town.

We're not doing anything to encourage businesses to open up in the town centre. It's being dominated by big brands, and even some of them are pulling away.

Best and worst things about running a business from Harrogate?

I'm really proud that our business is based in Harrogate. Whenever you mention the town, people always know it. Harrogate is definitely on the map, and is known as a really nice town.

The worst thing is the drain of young people from the town. They move away, and some come back, but many don't.

What are your business plans for the future?

Last year, we started to try to spread our risk. A lot of what we do is agency work, but we bought the Harrogate Organics brand, which gives us a completely different model.

I want to make sure that there is always one or two parts of the business that are doing well, so they can keep the other parts buoyant when they're not doing so well.

I also want to create wealth within the senior leadership team, so they can start to take ownership of the business. It would also act as a retention tool – they're less likely to leave if they have a stake in the business.

We're also going through the process of qualifying for B Corp status. We'll be putting in our submission next month.

What do you like to do in your time off?

I'm going skiing next week, and it'll be the second time this year, so I do like that.

I've also done over 1,000 skydives, although I haven't done one for a couple of years. What I quite like is that when you're skydiving you don't think of anything else. It's not so much of an adrenalin rush as a break from work.

Best places to eat and drink locally?

I love Stuzzi as a dining experience, and Brio too. These places, both in Harrogate, are owner-driven, and they're passionate about the business and the food and drink they're delivering to you. That's what makes them good for me.

For a drink, I like District Bar on Cold Bath Road. It has good service, good people, and is also owner-run.