In Your Shoes - Keith Haggart

Keith Haggart is Business Development Manager with Circle Signs in Dundee, a one stop branding shop which offers the All Round Service, including all types of internal and external signage, window graphics, vehicle livery and branded workwear amongst other things! Keith joined the business in May 2018 after stints as Commercial Manager at both Dundee United and Dundee FC. Originally from Carnoustie, he has two daughters, Maisie and Evie.

SET THE TONE

Monday starts with a meeting in the workshop about the forthcoming week, we’ve got a busy few days of production and installation ahead of us, so lots to discuss! I’ve got a couple of meetings in the diary, both are businesses which are currently undergoing change which are great opportunities for us to come in and assist them. One has just been bought over, the other is relocating so they both need some help with some new signage and branding. The guys have been out fitting boards at Dundee FC today, they’re a great client of ours. I’m on the road again after work as I take my younger daughter Evie to her swimming class.

COOL CLIENT!

Networking is a really important part of what I do at Circle Signs, it gives me a great opportunity to discuss the sorts of things we’re capable of producing in the workshop. Today I have my first networking event of the week, a 4.30pm meeting at DP&L with a number of other businesses in the area. It’s a busy day today, I’m pretty much in meetings from 10am onwards, but it’s productive as I pick up a couple of new clients. On the installation side, we’ve been applying digital wallpaper for Ninja Kiwi for their new office – pretty cool!

ONLINE OPPORTUNITY

My second networking event takes place at Carnoustie High School, meeting with various Tayside companies and S3 pupils who are full of questions about working life. It’s great to be back at my old school and seeing some of the teachers who were there when I was a pupil, even though it’s 28 years since I left! This afternoon myself and Director Derek Gerrard are meeting Social Stork who are currently building our website, fingers crossed it’ll be ready in about a week. We’re a very visual business, so a quality website will be key to the business going forward. The install team have crossed the great football divide and are working at Tannadice, fitting a large bespoke banner for United’s new Main Sponsor Utilita. After work, it’s down to Carnoustie to take Evie to her taekwondo class – she’s got a better social life than me!

EARLY START

Thursday morning sees me complete my networking hat-trick for the week! I’m a member of the BNI Synergy Chapter, which is a business to business networking organisation with around 120,000 members worldwide. We meet every week at 6.30am at Discovery Point, and our morning is spent networking, speaking about our businesses and passing referrals. It’s a format that works really well for us in terms of growing the business. After that, I have a meeting with the Chamber’s own Dan Cargill, where I successfully referred him to a restaurant for dinner on Saturday night! When I get back in to the workshop, we’ve just finished branding a pool car for Shackleton Technologies.

THE ALL ROUND SERVICE

Another day of meetings planned – on the back of yesterday’s BNI meeting, I picked up an order for some t shirts. Yes, we do that too! Branded workwear is a growing part of what we do, we have our own heat-seal machine in house which we can use for t-shirts, hoodies, fleeces etc and usually means we can turn around jobs pretty quickly. It’s a great way for any business to promote their brand, who wouldn’t want a walking, talking advert? After work it’s down to Carnoustie to take the girls out to dinner before a joyous weekend of dad’s taxi duties! I wouldn’t have it any other way!