Ella Chivers of Ribeye, Dartmouth
Ella Chivers - Ribeye's next generation
Ella Chivers sits in the boardroom of Ribeye’s Dartmouth headquarters and looks relaxed and happy. She is in her third year as Marketing Director at the company started by her father Charles and seems to be relishing the challenge.
Born in Bristol, Ella and her family moved to Dartmouth after years of holidaying in the town when Ella was 7.
Holidaying in the town has ensured that she has always loved Dartmouth– she reminisces about ‘sleeping in the car’ as the family travelled down on a Friday night for a weekend away.
“My father used to holiday here as a child and we haven’t looked back since he bought a house here,” she said. “We’ve always had boats on the river – my grandparents also moved down and they had a Dory – there are so many pictures of us all on the beach here – we’ve always loved it.”
She attended Stoke Fleming Primary School and then Stover School before moving onto Bath University to study business. After four years in which she ‘had a whale of a time’, she moved to London and spent six years working for BT selling IT and software, having fought her way onto the coveted graduate scheme at the company.
Then, at the age of 28, she and her partner James received a call from Ella’s father Charles to come back to Dartmouth and use the skills and experience they had in business to help take Ribeye – the company he had started in 1998 in Dartmouth creating high quality rib boats - ‘onto the next level’ .
Ella is now part of a team comprised of James Burroughs as Managing Director, Ella as Marketing Director, her father Charles as Chairman, her mother Peta as director. Ella’s two brothers are also involved – Ross as Sales Manager and Danny as Operations Manager.
“My father created an amazing company and we are so excited to come back and put a fresh new spin on things,” she said. “It’s not an easy option for us. We have a lot of plans and dreams but we have to be careful at how we go about achieving that sustainably.
“So far our development plans are going well. As a family business, it is incredibly satisfying when things go well – when it doesn’t it’s not so fun! We are always talking about the business as a family and my two sisters who don’t work at Ribeye have to endure us talking about it whenever we get together! We are a close team.”
The company has ambitious plans that involve new products and expansion into new markets – and the company is a market leader in Britain.
I ask Ella what was it like coming back to Dartmouth after nine years away?
“I love the people, I love the beauty, I just love to come back to Dartmouth whenever I’m away,” she said. “The number of things to do right on your doorstep is just phenomenal. I love going back to London but don’t miss living there at all – one of the best decisions I’ve ever made was to come back. It took me a while to get back into the swing of things in Dartmouth, but now my days are filled with walking and rowing. My life is a lot more relaxed and a lot more healthy.”
Ella’s mum Peta has been a part of the town’s rowing scene for many years and she encouraged Ella to get involved herself – she sold it to her as ‘a gym on the water’. Ella is now hooked.
“It’s such a privilege to have the river there and be able to go out at the end of the day as the perfect de-stresser. Seeing Dartmouth from that aspect on the water is pretty special. I’ve rowed with my mum quite a bit too which is great – she’s amazing and very fit! There is an element of dedication you need to have to be part of a crew – if you can’t make a training session you are letting six other people down.”
A good life, a close family and a successful company mean Ella is positive about the future.
“Dartmouth is a wonderful place to live and people love to hear that our boats are made here,” she said. “We want to build our business here and be based here for the long term. We feel we are on the cusp of something special – we have so many great things to come that we are very excited about!”
First published By The Dart 2014