Two’s Company: Graham Hacon and Les Dawson

There has never been more pressure on the bosses of mid-sized companies to sell up to bigger outfits and cash-in their chips. Multinationals are consistently buying innovative firms to shore up market share.

Therefore, it looks refreshing when a small company refuses easy money, and goes down the path of growth. Mentoring from a diligent chairman can help a company through this journey.  

Based in Great Yarmouth, The 3Sun Group is a wind turbine builder. The business was started by Graham Hacon in 2007, which he now runs with his three sons.

For Graham, retaining independence to run the firm when he was looking for outside investment was key. He wanted to build a market leading corporation of his own, creating jobs and contributing to the local economy.

He therefore chose BGF, and in March 2014 3Sun received £10 million in return for a minority stake.

As well as BGF’s funding, Graham asked Les Dawson to be 3Sun’s chairman. Les lives 20 minutes’ drive from Graham, and could meet Graham quickly on an informal basis to talk through any of 3Sun’s issues. Les has proved a great sounding board for Graham and has a lot of granular knowledge of the business and its components.

Here, in The Telegraph’s Two’s Company series, Graham and Les discuss how they work together as chief executive and chairman and how Les’ FTSE 250 experience is key to helping 3Sun navigate the growth journey ahead:

Two’s Company: Graham Hacon and Les Dawson