Derek Gallimore’s Story

Derek Gallimore has lived a life less ordinary. He was born in the UK, but raised in New Zealand. He had the most loving and supportive parents, and one super high-achieving brother. The life of Derek was a blessed one, but, for Derek, it was missing something.

From very early on, Derek craved a life less ordinary. He wanted something magical and special. He didn’t know what success was at that stage of life, but as an easy default he linked success to money. In the same regard, he linked success to the quintessential TV images of that generation of Wall Street Bankers and wheeling-and-dealing lawyers.

Derek Gallimore wasn’t on that trajectory though. He was raised in a small New Zealand town, and he was guided into a ‘safe’ career… Because of his earlier interests in weightlifting, then gym and personal training, Derek went into nursing and health sciences for his degree. He did this with the intention of eventually training to work in sports medicine.

Derek completed his degree and worked in nursing for some time. It was an incredible experience for Derek. The medical environment exposed him to some very highest, and some very lowest aspects of life and humanity – many of which most people don’t get to experience. He inherited some incredible life skills through nursing, is eternally grateful for this, and is supremely supportive of the incredible and largely thankless role that nurses play in our society.

However, this career path simply wasn’t for him. It just simply didn’t suit his nature, and his pursuit of a life less ordinary.

Entrepreneurship

Derek had lofty ambitions right form a very young age. But Derek didn’t know how to express it, and he didn’t really have an outlet for this. Entrepreneurship, business and start-ups is all very popular and glorified now – today there are plentiful start-up support structures and ecosystems. Back then, (in 80s/90s) there was none of this – especially in New Zealand.

Eventually though, Derek found his way into business and entrepreneurship, and this was a superb fit for him.

Property investment

Derek had dabbled in small business from 17, but it wasn’t until 2001 when he got his first big break. After months of toil, in 2001, Derek bought his first investment property in London. This was after only a few months in London, and was in at a time of London property price rises ‘being out of control’.

Derek remembers that almost every night on TV, there were news snippets discussing how expensive London housing was, and specifically how there was just no way that nurses and teachers just had no chance of ever buying a house.

This was a little depressing for Derek, as he was finding it very difficult get a mortgage. But the news article taunts gave Derek the determination he needed to prove society wrong. Derek was going to beat the system, and he was going to ‘make it’.

He did eventually manage to buy that first property. He managed to do so against all odds. He had only been in Britain for 6 months, he had no credit rating there, and he was working (as a nurse) only on a contract basis. Derek also only had the minimum deposit, and house prices at that time were literally going up and up every week, so it was a real challenge on so many levels.

But he managed against all odds, and secured that first property. Only six months later, Derek bought his second property, and then within the next 5-6 years he bought and developed, over a dozen more.

Outsourcing

Derek has a profound interest in outsourcing. Outsourcing refers to the sourcing of labour services to typically cheaper locations in developing countries. It can also be referred to as offshoring or BPO.

This can sometimes be a controversial concept due to job protection concerns, but Derek has seen first-hand the incredible benefits it can offer for all involved. It benefits any business owner as it makes for cheaper and better run operations, which can then better serve and benefit the client. It benefits the country of the business, as it enables more growth and enhanced economic development. And it greatly benefits the outsourcing country, as it gives people well paid jobs, and a professional career, where previously there was little opportunity of that.

Derek has first-hand outsourcing expertise, specifically regarding the outsourcing industry of Manila, Philippines. Derek first explored outsourcing in 2001 when he needed a 24/7 customer service operation for his London company. This option was simply unaffordable in the UK, so he looked further afield.

When he looked into the Philippines, he saw an incredible mature outsourcing industry, which offered so much more than just basic admin support. Within months of his initial investigation, Derek had set up a 24/7 customer service operation in Manila which served the London company’s clientele. It was a great success from the start, and he was one of the first in his sector to offer 24/7 customer support.

Derek has since become very passionate about outsourcing, and is determined to share the benefits of this with as many people as possible.

Combining skills and passions

It is through Derek’s combined skills and passion for nursing and business that he was inspired to start Keeping Good Company. Derek started Keeping Good Company in response to his elderly auntie’s growing isolation.

Derek’s Auntie Beryl, lives in Coventry in the UK. She is married to her loving husband, Denis, but the couple, who are now in their 80’s, had no children and are now finding, as a result of their decreasing mobility, that their days are growing longer and they have diminished access to their friends and social outlets.

Derek found that a simple solution was to simply provide some phone-based conversation and companionship for Beryl. It was such a simple concept and so accessible to all.

Keeping Good Company

Loneliness in the UK is growing at epidemic proportions, and so Derek took action. He launched Keeping Good Company. Beryl still has her chats with her Keeping Good Company buddy, Giane three times per week, and she’s loving it (she was Keeping Good Company’s first client, and gets a generous 100% discount 😊)

It is Derek’s mission to make this phone based companionship service affordable and accessible to all. It is such a simple solution for such a devastating, and all too common, situation.

Derek Gallimore leveraged his knowledge and experience of nursing, outsourcing and business to bring Keeping Good Company to life.

He employs a team of dedicated staff in the Philippines to be conversational buddies to the Keeping Good Company clients. This is an excellent partnership, as the Filipinos have fantastic English and are such a kind, compassionate and loving culture.

Derek is so happy with the progress and promise of Keeping Good Company, and can’t wait to increase adoption across the UK – so that the devastating effects of loneliness can be mitigated.

Derek is also passionately involved in two other projects:

Chronohaus

Chronohaus is a subscription luxury watch club. It currently offers the lucky residents of London the opportunity to wear, experience and enjoy a huge range of watches. You can wear 12 fantastic watches each year, and you’re never without a watch on your wrist. Why buy just ONE watch, when you can experience and enjoy so much more.

www.chronohaus.com

Outsource Accelerator

Outsource Accelerator is the culmination of Derek’s 20 years business experience, 6+ years outsourcing experience and his 3+ years of living in Manila. Outsource accelerator is one of the world’s foremost independent outsourcing authorities, offering information, education and advisory. The website offers abundant resources, and over 95% of the content is completely free.

www.outsourceaccelerator.com