Switched on

After their third set of Christmas tree lights in a row blew in the space of one week, Tim Naughton could have been forgiven for blowing a fuse. But instead, it inspired him to find a solution. It was almost as if a lightbulb came on in his head. “I thought all Christmas lights couldn’t be so bad and that there must be better products out there,” he says.

More than ten years on, his online lighting store Lights4fun now offers more than 800 products across Europe and the States, with last year’s sales topping £11.5m, making a profit of £1.47m.

As well as selling to the home market, their lights have decorated foreign embassies, posh restaurants in Dubai, Kensington Palace and St Pancreas railway station. Not bad for a company Tim and wife Jo set up from their kitchen table in Harrogate after taking out a bank loan and dipping into their savings to scrape together the £250,000 they needed to invest.

Their big break came when they found a good quality German product at a trade show, with rubber cabling which prevented deterioration. “Back then, in 2004, it was hideously expensive but virtually indestructible,” says Tim. “You could drive a car over it and it still works.”

Finding that product, which set them apart from the crowd, proved to be a masterstroke while their business was in its embryonic stages. In their first year, they took 5,000 orders and soon expanded beyond the Christmas lights market.

With the fashion for decorative fairy lights taking off, their timing couldn’t have been better. “People now put up fairy lights for opening of an envelope,” says Jo. By the time they set up their Lights4fun website at the end of 2005, they were selling a range of 60 products throughout Europe.

This year, they are forecasting 630,000 orders for everything from their original indestructible Christmas lights to Halloween themed fairy lights and festoon wedding party lighting, as well as the illuminated red hot chilli lighting which is proving particularly popular right now.

“When we set up the business, we didn’t expect it to be this big,” says 57-year-old Tim. “Having worked for a large company before, I wanted to have nice life, running a little business and playing tennis three times a week. But I haven’t played tennis for five years because we’ve been so busy.”

The couple, who have five children between them, regularly work 11-hour days. “We never thought it would grow like this,” says Jo, 51. “I remember when we started and had a rare night out, we were able to leave the phone with the kids to take down orders.”

Today, Lights4fun employs 38 staff, 95 per cent of them bright young graduates, including two of their sons, 29-year-old Matthew, who completed a marketing degree in 2008, and 26-year-old Ben, who worked for Jaguar after studying business and marketing. Niece Charlotte, 26, who specialises in non-website sales, has just joined the company.

Wary of the ‘brain drain’ which results in so many talented young people leaving North Yorkshire to chase better career prospects in London, Jo and Tim stress that one of the keys to their success is valuing staff and rewarding them well, which has resulted in a high retention rate. They pay well above local rates, with generous bonuses. “Hard work is rewarded. We pay what we think they deserve. We have to choose the right people and train them well. We want to keep these amazing graduates, who might be tempted to move to London, in Yorkshire,” says Jo.

They have made their modern office space in town as appealing as possible, with a fun environment and perks including free coffees and cake from the Italian café across the road. The average age of their employees is 27, with just four members of staff over 50. “We have a very bright, young team and employ people who think like we do. At interview, we’ll ask how often they see their mum because we are looking for caring, family people. They get it,” says Jo.

One Velcro wall in the office is covered in photos of staff as babies, along with comments about what they want from life. “One girl wants to open a dive centre and another wants to live on farm with cows and have lots of babies. It’s lovely to see what is important to them,” says Jo, who personally chooses birthday cards for each member of staff. “It makes people feel they matter and belong. If you feel you belong, you are happier. A tiny gesture makes a big difference.”

“Success has been consequential,” adds Tim. “You’ve got to get your product right, then surround yourself with good people. We look after our staff and our customers and we don’t take short cuts. We do everything right and don’t sell rubbish.”

Both he and Jo grew up in households with hard working parents and say they have never known anything else. Tim’s father ran his own business in Leeds selling washing machines and TVs and ended up with six shops in the city. “My dad worked so hard, from 8am to 10pm and I thought everyone did that.” He wasn’t particularly academic at school and, from the age of 14, ran a mobile disco in the evenings and weekends with a friend but, after A levels, he was sponsored by British Leyland to study at Lanchester polytechnic. That’s when he got a taste for business. He later headed the buying team at GEC’s Bradford site before joining his father’s business, by then called Naughton Supplies.

Jo’s father, too, ran his own business and worked until late at night. “We brought our children up so that it’s the norm to work hard and to give back. That’s what we strive to demonstrate to all our customers and staff,” she says.

The company aims to give five per cent of its profits every year to charity. “We ask for suggestions from staff and have donated to some local causes, but we don’t ask for any PR. We are doing it because we want to make a difference,” she adds.

Outside work, the couple make time to walk their dogs and socialise with friends. They also enjoy family holidays in France. “But, running your own business, it’s difficult to switch off,” says Tim.

W: lights4fun.co.uk