This is the latest in our series of regular Business Q&A features. This week, we heard from Scott Mackintosh, managing director of Harrogate-based Converta.

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

We are a lead management and lead generation company. We help large organisations engage with customers and prospective customers, with a view to growing incremental sales.

There are four 'pillars' to our company: data analytics, digital marketing, dialogue (telephony), and technology.

What does it take to be successful in business?

There are so many clichéd adjectives I could go with, but fundamentally we are a group of talented, engaged people and business leaders who treat their staff with kindness. That's the foundation of this business. You get the best out of people that way. Our mantra is: healthy, happy, profitable.

I love building things from an idea and seeing where I can take it. James [Moore, co-founder] and I started this company as Methodology in 2012, and it really came to life when we took over KulaHub in 2018.

We rebranded as Converta in 2022 and now it's a multimillion-pound business employing 40-plus people.

What drives you to do what you do every day?

What drives me is building something authentic that's measurable and impactful – impacting the bottom line, impacting the lives of people who work for me, and impacting society.

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

That's really easy: business confidence. Entrepreneurs are finding it really difficult now. Drive and ambition can be really hampered when bureaucracy and legislation get in the way.

There are so many hoops to jump through, so many training courses you have to buy, just to make sure you're compliant and not breaking the law. Employment law has become completely over-engineered.

Business is now in protection mode. It's protecting itself from litigation, AI, and all the insane policies our government seems to be launching. It's made the business community quite brittle, and we're hunkering down now – there aren't many who are not operating cautiously now. We're much more careful in our decisions now – we question the risk more.

Which other local firms do you most admire and why?

I really admire Jonathan Edwards at Integral IT in Knaresborough and the Philippines. Jonathan set up a YouTube channel, thebearded365guy, as a marketing strategy a few years ago and it's become his full-time job. I really admire his creativity, entrepreneurialism and fearlessness. He's also a really nice, kind guy – and a bulldog owner, so he must be alright.

Who are the most inspiring local leaders?

Steve Phillip of The Jordan Legacy [the Pannal-based suicide prevention charity]. He launched the charity in 2019, after his son took his own life.

I don't know how I can possibly describe how much I admire Steve. He is relentless in his pursuit of a zero-suicide community, and he connects people in a way I've never seen anyone else achieve.

I don't know how he talks about it all day, but I do know I could talk about him all day.

What could be done locally to boost business?

To boost our business is really difficult – we need access to better grant funding and lending that can accelerate our technology ambitions.

But the businesses suffering most are the small independents, because they're being targeted most.

One of the biggest challenges we all face is around cashflow, and if the government really wanted to do something to benefit business it would make money move faster.

At the moment, on the one hand we have HMRC, who want their money immediately or they fine you, and on the other we have large blue-chip companies taking us to 60-day terms. Two months is a long time to wait for your money, and the government should do something about that.

Best and worst things about running a business from Harrogate?

The best thing is the talent here – we've got some really talented people in this region.

The worst is the transport – it's appalling. I paid £360 to go to London and back by train last week. Admittedly, it was last-minute, but still.

Manchester is a fantastic digital hub, and Leeds and the surrounding areas are phenomenal too. But our ability to connect with those businesses is so marred by the distances between us and the quality of the transport links.

We're a northern powerhouse in spite of London and what the government do for us.

What are your business plans for the future?

James and I have built a really phenomenal management team, who all started on the ground floor. The company is run day to day by them, which gives us a chance to build new things.

Orbit CRM is our new sales pipeline and marketing automation tool that's been in development for the last five years. We'll be soft-launching it with clients this year and then aggressively marketing it next year. It's an enterprise-quality product that does what it says on the tin and will give the big boys a run for their money. It's Silicon Valley comes to Yorkshire!

We've also got a number of products we want to build and test over the next 12 months, but my pet project this year is Neurotech Futures. It will be a 1,000 square foot learning hub, an academy for 14 to 16-year-old neurodiverse kids who aren't accessing full-time education.

They don't have to be clinically diagnosed, and we're not going to judge them by their outputs. In fact, we're not going to judge them at all. We just want to provide a safe space where they can build their confidence and learn in a way that's right for them.

What's really exciting to me is the opportunity to use technology in a way that solves some of the oldest challenges we face, especially in the way we educate people.

What do you like to do in your time off?

I love playing golf – I'm a member at Oakdale Golf Club.

My wife and I also work with a charity called Geordie Bullies, which rescues, rehabilitates and rehomes bulldogs.

Best places to eat and drink locally?

I'm teetotal – I just chose to stop five years ago. But I love the Number 35 coffee shop on Cheltenham Parade. It's got great coffee, great people, great conversation, and it's just a great place to chill out for half an hour.

If you know someone in business in the Harrogate district – including Ripon, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge, Masham and Nidderdale – and you'd like to suggest them for this feature, drop us a line at contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.