Jason Lippitt, business consultant and Managing Director of JML Coaching & Consulting Ltd, doesn’t like the word turnaround. It’s a term, he says, that comes loaded with assumptions and shame – the idea that a struggling business is automatically a failed one, or that its leadership is incompetent. “It kind of infers that you’ve f*****d your business up and now you need someone in a pinstripe suit to bail you out,” he says. “It’s just not true.”
That no-nonsense attitude is at the heart of everything Jason does, including TTP Live, an event Jason is co-hosting at Freeths Sheffield on 19th June, aimed squarely at MDs and business owners in the manufacturing and engineering sectors who want straight answers and practical options – whether they’re looking to scale, sell, hire or just survive. The name stands for Turnaround, Transform, Prosper – and the message is clear: whatever shape your business is in, there are people who’ve been there, done it, and are willing to help.
Jason’s own route into the world of business transformation wasn’t planned. “I’m a manufacturing guy, through and through,” he says. “Working-class family, my dad was a foundryman – getting a job meant working in a factory. That was always going to be the route.” From early roles on the shop floor, he worked his way up, eventually earning a seat at the boardroom table and an MBA. But it was the collapse of a business he loved – and a moment of impulsive belief – that really changed everything.
“I was Operations Director for a company that went into administration. I found myself showing potential buyers around, thinking, ‘I could run this better than any of them.’ I didn’t have any money, but I believed in the product and the people. So, I remortgaged my house, scraped together every penny, and made an offer.”
It was a risk that nearly broke him. “Eight months later, after the credit crunch hit, we were one day from missing payroll each month. It was brutal. But I’d already learned a key lesson: if you’ve got a good product – one that people want – you’ve got the start of a business. The rest is architecture: team, money, decisions.”
Eventually, with the backing of turnaround investors and some serious restructuring, the business was not only stabilised but sold years later for millions. That experience – battle scars and all – shaped Jason’s approach to advising and investing in other companies today. “There’ve been highs and lows. I’ve made money, and I’ve lost money. But every time I’ve learned something useful. And that’s what this event is about – giving other business owners access to real stories and honest advice.”
Jason describes TTP Live as “a room full of grown-ups” – people who know what it’s like to lie awake wondering how to make payroll, who’ve wrestled with legacy debt, dysfunctional boards, or family succession. It’s a confidential space where MDs and owners can meet experienced investors, turnaround professionals, and peers who’ve faced similar challenges – without the pressure or jargon. There’ll be insights, introductions and, yes, some cold beers.
“For a lot of business owners, especially in manufacturing, the business is their pension. They’ve spent decades building something, but they don’t know how to take the next step – to sell it, scale it, or step back. That’s where transformation comes in. You can’t sell a business that isn’t profitable, and you can’t take a holiday if it collapses the moment you’re not in the building.”
That’s the other half of Jason’s mission: to show people they have options. Sometimes it’s not about saving a sinking ship – it’s about freeing owners from the “hamster wheel businesses” they feel trapped in. “Transforming a business gives you choices. You can sell it. You can hire a new MD. Or you can just make better money and enjoy it more. But none of that happens by accident.”
Now based in the North, Jason is focused on building a local network of like-minded investors, legal partners and advisors – people who, like him, want to help businesses succeed by getting stuck into the real work. “The world is full of events where suits stand up and quote risk matrices and algorithms,” he laughs. “This isn’t that. We’re cutting the bulls**t. Bring your problems, and we’ll talk solutions.”
TTP Live takes place on Wednesday 19 June at Freeths Sheffield. For details, visit: raspberryflamingo.ac-page.com/ttp-live
