insideKENT Magazine Issue 37 - April 2015 | Page 150

BUSINESSPROFILE SECRETS OF OUR SUCCESS insideKENT talks to Chris Musgrave and Trevor Cartner, owners of Discovery Park How did you start working together? Chris was the owner of a business park in Wynyard and I was buying the site next door. We decided to create a joint master plan to bring the sites together. Who do you most admire from any walk of life? What is important when deciding on a commercial deal? Anyone who gives up their own time for other people and doesn’t make a song and dance about it. Not developing where others already are and doing more of the same. What is the secret of a successful business partnership? What advice would you give to anyone starting out in business? Having complementary skills and the utmost trust in each other’s actions. Get out of bed early; work hard; don’t stop until you succeed. How would you describe your approach to doing business? What is the biggest misconception about the work you do? Being straight-forward and honest. That property developers take and don’t give back. What has been your proudest (work) moment to date? What is it about Kent that makes it a great place to do business? Seeing the number of people employed at Wynyard and Discovery Park combined pass 4,000. They’ve grown further since then. We like the people of Kent. With good people you can do good business. What have you enjoyed about the Discovery Park project? Putting together a fantastic team of people and seeing the various tenants interact and indeed do business with each other. Have you been surprised by its success? We haven’t been surprised by its success but have been surprised at the speed of that success. We thought it would take longer. Your purchase of the former Manston airport has proved controversial. How do you deal with the criticism? Our view is that everybody is entitled to express their opinion. In the fullness of time, once they see what we have planned for the site, they will come round to our point of view. What is your motto? You only have one life. Make the most of it. 01304 614060 www.discovery-park.co.uk @DiscoveryPark_ 150