Conleth Maenpaa worked in recruitment before a career turn saw him up sticks from London to Newcastle - founding Lindisfarne Festival with little prior experience in the music and events industry. Originally from Cambridgeshire he first discovered Newcastle and the North East as an economics student at Northumbria University in the early ‘90s.
What was your first job (and how much did it pay)? My first job was babysitting when I was 14. I was paid £1.50 an hour which at the time I thought was a fortune for watching TV and eating food. The kids were in bed when I arrived, so it was an easy entry into the money-making world.
What is the best advice or support you’ve been given in business? There is a book called “Who moved my cheese” – a simple and very powerful short story for life and business. The moral of the story is about being adaptive, embracing the unknown and never thinking you have cracked it as you can easily become irrelevant if you fail to evolve.
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What are the main changes you’ve seen in your business/sector, and what are the challenges you’re facing? The explosion of festivals is something which is rocking the industry. The word festival is used for all sort of events and it’s increasingly hard to get the USPs across in a very crowded marketplace. That said, we are fortunate to have gained national recognition for Lindisfarne Festival and over the years developed a credible and well supported brand. Most recently we were crowned nationally as the ‘best value for money’ festival in the UK, as well as being runner up for ‘line up of the year'! But to start a festival now would be near impossible without bottomless pots of cash and resources.
How has the pandemic changed the way you work? The pandemic helped us refocus and reenergise as we had time to take a step back and look at what we were doing. And most importantly make plans for the brand’s future. We knew our loyal followers would flock back to the festival once the opportunity allowed and we certainly haven’t been disappointed. Operationally the pandemic hasn’t changed too much, apart from the explosion of zoom meetings.
Who is your role model in business? Great question, and not something that has a straight forward answer. I tend to look at individuals in business and sport and see what characteristics they have that I can work on. I look up to hundreds of people with each of them being able to offer me something. Whether that be something I could develop or change to make a positive impact on myself or others. In all honesty, I think if you want to reach your potential and your desired outcomes, a business or life coach can develop these with you as everyone has their own answers within.
What would your dream job be? The festival world is very hard, but mainly because of the financial constraints and uncertainty. It’s a love-hate thing but I can’t imagine focusing so much time or energy on anything else! Our main challenges are making sure we deliver a fantastic product and continuing year on year to make it better and better. Our aim always being to deliver the best experience possible. We are proud of the feedback we receive and each year it becomes clearer that the Lindisfarne Festival family was destined to do this.
What advice would you give to someone starting out a career in your sector? Get a professional qualification – law or accountancy. It would help in every aspect of the work and is a springboard to venturing into other businesses. If you are more creative then I would suggest honing in on an a particular skill and becoming a master – graphic design, writing copy, music, whatever your ‘thing’ may be! I would also suggest sticking to your values. Don’t sell out and believe in yourself!
What makes the North East a good place to do business? The North East is very special and is no doubt a fantastic area. The atmosphere we create at festivals is unique in this country with the fantastic people of our region certainly knowing how to create a party like no other. And when we add a sprinkle of Scots and a handful of Yorkshire folk, it just has the most wonderful, friendly, fun and brilliant vibe.
How important is it for business to play a role in society? Lindisfarne Festival is all about togetherness, fun and enjoying beautiful Northumberland. If independent festivals were not around then a big slice of what a lot of people live for wouldn’t exist. Because of that I think we are essential. Furthermore, we work with hundreds of local suppliers, businesses, contractors, charities and artists, enabling people to share their crafts, whilst supporting those in need too. I firmly believe that businesses have an obligation to the public to aid society and not just through taxes.
Outside of work, what are you really good at? Getting a work life balance is so important. I lived in London for 20 years and didn’t appreciate that there is more to life than work. Now, I am able to switch off and focus on being a good dad to my son and ultimately be available and present as my child grows up.
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