“ The Ideas Factory (UK) Limited is an Appointed Representative of Hypa Management LLP which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. ”

Our goal is simple – to promote the healthy exchange of ideas within a friendly forum of like-minded entrepreneurs and investors.

Through a combination of regular newsletters, live events and website updates, the Ideas Factory keeps its members informed and abreast of outstanding and timely business, property and other investment opportunities, whilst also providing an informal forum for people to get together to form business partnerships and lifelong friendships.

No one else does what we do, or can boast such an accomplished history, nor achieves so much for their members.

We actively assist our members to achieve all they wish to accomplish in business and in life. We bring our members together to share information and contacts, to discuss new plans and enterprises and get them off the ground, and to form partnerships of far, far greater value than the sum of their individual parts. The Ideas Factory is very much like a benevolent fraternity, a powerful union of kindred spirits, with each member eager to help one another and be assisted in return. New inventions and innovations are presented and discussed, and fascinating new concepts come to life. It’s real, it happens, and we do it all the time.

The people and companies we choose to promote have to offer products and services that we consider to be exceptional. These include heavily discounted property opportunities and a wide range of other kinds of investments. How does the thought of being the first to access some of the most innovative and potentially lucrative alternative investment opportunities in the world strike you?

What about having access to some outstanding and inspirational resources that will encourage you to follow your own dreams and aspirations?

Or even just having the opportunity to network offline with like-minded entrepreneurs to share ideas and turn them into reality?

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above, then the Ideas Factory is for you!

Be it film, television, the world’s cleanest engine, a non-invasive diabetes testing kit, communications innovations, property opportunities, indeed anything that stacks up, the Ideas Factory will be across it first so that we can share it with you.

Meet the Team:

Jonathan Willis (Founder) is a media originator, publisher, author, property developer, film & TV executive producer, script and copywriter, entrepreneur and financier.

After graduating from Leeds University and following a spell as a lecturer at New York University, and a brief period as an actor with Granada TV (Frank Pearson in Coronation Street), Jonathan wrote two books, the first of which was brokered to a publisher in days, and the second title, around which he developed a publishing business on Fleet Street, sold 286,000 copies in six months. Subsequently, Jonathan has created many popular consumer and business magazines and books, and his advertising copywriting skills have led to the creation of several thriving private companies and 3 plc's. His property publications have serviced 40,000 UK subscribers per month.

Jonathan has assisted in the establishment of a large number of businesses and has been integral in their guidance and direction. He currently has in hand the development of 2 spa hotels on the idyllic island of Koh Phangan, Thailand, two holiday parks (in Spain and Portugal) together with a villa complex in Morocco.

As well as the Ideas Factory, Jonathan has also developed a series of successful original websites, including his own online property bookshop, a property investment and sales portal, and an online autobiography venture, Posterity (www.posterity.com).

Jonathan is also involved in the film & TV industry, as Executive Producer with British independent production companies, having raised £1.7m to produce the movie Clubbed (www.clubbedthemovie.com), Twenty8k (www.twenty8k.com), and Romans 12:20 (www.romans1220.com), which won the Grand Prize at The Rhode Island Film Festival, ‘Best' prizes at the LA and NYC Film Festivals and most recently won the Soho Film Festival. Jonathan has co-developed 3 original TV show concepts, currently under option, and is an Executive Director of Tom Gutteridge's Vine Media.

Jonathan, who has four children, lives with his family in Shropshire and London.

Rod Beer has a pedigree in the Angel Investment world. His father, the late David Beer, founded the largest and most established Business Angel Network in the UK, Beer and Partners Limited, in 1991 and Rod came on board as the firm’s Operations Manager eight years ago.
   
In that time, Rod has honed his experience by delivering innovative process strategy to manage and grow the company significantly. This time spent working alongside the UK’s most exceptional entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, and providing consultancy services to small-businesses and start-ups, has given Rod a keen understanding of what makes a successful business. 
   
Rod joined the Ideas Factory in July 2012 as Acquisitions Manager and will expose TIF to a whole new array of investors and opportunities through his extensive experience and impressive contacts.
   
As an aside, Rod also works as a voluntary Business Advisor with Young Enterprise (YE), the UK's largest business and enterprise educational charity. Every year, 250,000 young people learn about business and the world of work. The Business Advisor is responsible for supporting a group of young students in setting up a business and seeing that business through to profitability. The most important aspect is to ensure the students learn about businesses, the way they operate and how to make a profit.

Stephen Davies, originally from South Wales, graduated in Urban and Regional Planning and secured his first job (over 3,000 other applicants) as Sales & Marketing Representative for Liverpool within the Mars Group. Following a period with a large International Recruitment Consultancy in Leeds as Regional Manager (the youngest ever to hold the position) in 1989 Stephen set up his own business in South Yorkshire, offering management consultancy and recruitment services to the interactive entertainment and computer games markets. The firm started out with one telephone, 2 staff and a blank sheet of paper and within 3 years had become undisputed market leader, culminating in the formal accolade of Best (National) Recruitment Agency 2003 (in every sector).

In 2005 the company was the subject of an MBO, with Stephen retained in the capacity of consultant to the business. Stephen is also management advisor to a number of other businesses, including ASCL (development of international property), The Ready Group (Chester based financial services), Cybersift (Thames Valley based high tech firm) and Special Situations Syndicate (hotel and spa project in Thailand).

Harvey Gahl was born in London, Harvey was an early shareholder in the Ideas Factory. He left the UK as a child and spent part of his youth in Bermuda before moving back to the UK for secondary schooling. He started his career with Coca Cola and then joined a fledgling company with big ambitions in the leisure and travel sphere. These growth ambitions were realized and superseded swiftly and subsequently this upstart company went on to be one of the most successful parts of the world largest tourism company with a turnover  measured in multi billion euros and diverse product all over the world. Harvey is now one of the longest standing members of the senior management team and having spent many years in overseas contracting, Harvey has a wealth of experience in multinational negotiating and deal making, with a range of organizations, government businesses and organizations.

As well as extensive travel, Harvey loves sport, particularly tennis skiing and golf, and occasionally takes part in fund raising challenges such as marathons and extreme sports.

Jason Kluver is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Ideas Factory and has spent the last 3 and a half years building the company from scratch into a £3.5 million business. In that time, he has helped grow the company to a database of circa 30,000 people and an active private investor network of more than 1,000 individuals. He has overseen the company as it has raised in excess of £12 million for various start-ups and investment opportunities and guided it through a complex compliance procedure, which has recently seen the Ideas Factory become an Authorised Representative of HYPA Management Limited, an FCA authorised and regulated company.

A Journalism graduate from the University of Queensland, Australia, Jason worked through the ranks of Australia's largest regional television network for 5 years, starting out as an on-air Sports Reporter before moving into Marketing, Advertising and Sales. Jason relocated to the UK in 2002 and soon began work with Europe’s largest commercial radio group, Capital Radio, where he quickly moved into a senior management role with the company. In 2006 Jason was poached by a leading investment company, where his creative writing skills and sales nous helped secure monthly commissions for the business in excess of £2 million and total sales in one year in excess of £100 million. Jason then joined forces with Jonathan Willis to help commercialise the newly formed Ideas Factory, where he is at the forefront of day-to-day operations.

Heath Lansbury is a graduate of the Queensland Film & Television Academy, Australia. Then followed 10 years with Network Ten Australia, designing marketing campaigns for national advertising agencies with clients such as McDonalds, L'Oreal and Coca Cola, and a subsequent 3 years with Capital Radio in London. An ensuing period with a UK property investment group, that turned over in excess of £300 million, Heath's role was to establish an agency arm to that company. Heath then joined forces with Jonathan Willis to help build and develop the Ideas Factory.

Damian McShane spent his formative years learning his craft working for renowned real estate firm Featherstone Leigh, based in west London. Having finally relocated to Brighton early in the millennium, he joined the Sussex based arm of estate agency firm Arun Estates, where he spent 6 years working his way up the ladder. Along the way, Damian won Top Salesman and Top Lister two years running, and also added Top Financial Services Referrals and a further award for outstanding customer service to his list of accolades.

By the time he left the firm he had established himself as Branch Manager of their busiest and most successful office in Sussex. Damian progressed from here into the reversions sector, where his role involved sourcing, facilitating and negotiating residential property purchases on behalf of FTSE 250 company Close Brothers. His next move took him overseas to the United Arab Emirates, where he was asked to assist in opening a brand new office of Sherwoods International Real Estate in downtown Dubai. In the midst of the overseas property boom, Damian quickly established himself as an indispensable member of the team, being promoted to a senior position within the listing department responsible for sourcing and handling a property stock of over 50,000 commercial and residential assets.

On his return from the desert, Damian spent a further 2 years within the property sector before joining the Ideas Factory to head up the investment department in 2010.

Tom Hodkinson graduated in I.T. at Staffordshire University in 2005 and has since worked for various companies over the past 7 years holding positions as administrator, office manger and then quickly moving into sales.

Most recently he worked for a property finance company for 6 years as a senior consultant advising on equity release. He now works as a Account Manager at the Ideas Factory.

Richard Startup graduated from Reading University in Environmental Geology. He has spent precious little time applying his education, instead moving into a career in the Software QA industry, working on Computer Games. Apt at spotting issues, training and streamlining, he rose through the ranks to project management, finally running the department and turning a new service line into a major revenue for a multi-million pound company.
He is now the friendly voice behind TIF reception. And yes, his name really is Startup.

Here are just a few of our recent successes:

• Generated more than £1 billion in property sales for developers and agents in 5 years
• Turned a £100 investment, with no other capital required, into a £5m plc in just under 2 years.
• Helped hundreds of members take their products to market.
• Found finance for dozens of start-up companies, through intros to bank and financial institutions.
• Inspired one individual to set up a syndicate from scratch that made him £15m.
• Solely responsible for the establishment of several companies with combined sales of £1 billion in 3 years.
• Originated another thriving plc that is totally unique worldwide.
• Motivated around 7,000 people to set up their own small businesses.
• Marketed 286,000 copies of one book in 6 months.
• Created numerous websites receiving millions of hits per month, top ranked in search engines.
• Linked several artistic ventures with retail activities to make them all commercially viable.
• Plucked germs of ideas from obscurity and turned them into thriving commercial entities.
• Assisted over 60,000 people to become independently financially secure.

Register with us and open yourself up to a world of opportunities.

Contact Us:

The Ideas Factory,
2 Orange Row,
Brighton,
United Kingdom
BN1 1UQ

Phone: +44 (0) 1273 956 140
Click Here for map

If you want to join the Ideas Factory, email info@theideasfactory.com
If you want to pitch an idea, email projects@theideasfactory.com
If you want to attend an event, email events@theideasfactory.com

We look forward to sharing some great ideas with you.