‘It’s like a social club with moral conscience.’ Gerald Manton explains why he loves being part of a group of like-minded young men who want to spend time raising money towards all sorts of community work. STEVE DYSON reports.
A quick decision to fund Christmas dinner for a battered women’s refuge and buy presents for their children was the moment when Gerald Manton realised he wanted to join the Round Table.
The new chair of Westside Business Improvement District (BID), who has just ended a two-year stint as the West Midlands regional chairman of Round Table, was recalling his very first meeting at the charity.
“It was back in 2012 and I’d sent a message asking them about what they did,” remembered Mr Manton. “A guy just called me back and said: ‘I’ll pick you up to join our Santa collection in Solihull.’
“We walked through the local streets shaking buckets and then went to the pub afterwards to decide what to do with the £880 we raised. It was my first ever meeting and I didn’t know anyone, but they instantly included me in their discussions.
“They had a list from the council and one of the potential recipients was a battered women’s shelter who wanted £250 to fund a Christmas meal. There was a quick vote and it was immediately approved.
“But then one of the guys said: ‘Hang on a minute, these mums have children, so why don’t we make it £500 to buy all the children presents too?’ Again, this was immediately approved, and it really struck a chord with me, as my mother suffered from physical abuse in her first marriage.
“Watching all these guys, everyone from bus drivers to lawyers, and from professional jesters to accountants, spending their time and efforts raising money to help others, and the way they quickly decided who to help just made me feel: ‘Wow! I want to be part of this’.”
Mr Manton explained that he first heard about the Round Table months earlier in a conversation with Mike Olley, general manager of Westside BID.
“I’d first seen these guys wearing yellow jackets with roundels on them at Solihull fireworks show, but I didn’t know who they were – I had thought it was all organised by a radio station. Then one day Mike said: ‘I’m going to a Round Table event’, and I asked him what that was, and he told me I really should look them up and maybe even join. I Googled ‘Round Table’ and recognised the roundels, and it just appealed to me.
“You’ve basically got a group of like-minded young men who want to spend time raising money towards all sorts of community work, like a social club with moral conscience. I was impressed at that first meeting and joined.
“A few months later, when we were looking for more people who might benefit, I heard about a mum with a young disabled son who needed a specialist wheelchair. I wrote a proposal and once more was taken aback when it was instantly approved by fellow Round Tablers.
“But as well as voting ‘yes’, one of them said: ‘If he has problems walking, why don’t we donate more money to buy him a specialist hoist as well.’ Everyone voted ‘yes’ for this too. The wheelchair and hoist were in kit form, so me and another Tabler went over to his home to build it.
“After we’d done this, his mum was suddenly crying her eyes out, and I said: ‘Are you okay?’ She replied: ‘This is fantastic. You’ve really reset my faith in humanity. You’ve thought about me.’ Afterwards, my fellow Tabler said: ‘Are you buzzing about that, or what?’ And I was.
“That’s the simple reason why I’ve spent the last ten years with the Round Table. A bunch of guys who put time and work in and can have a massive effect on people’s lives. In short, I do it because it makes me feel good. It’s a weird thing, but it’s almost about being selfless for selfish reasons, and I think if more people released that then even more would want to be a part.”
During Mr Manton’s time with the Round Table, he’s helped raise tens of thousands of pounds every year. This has included transforming the Solihull fireworks display – where he first saw the Round Table in action – and increasing that single annual event’s fundraising totals from £8,000 to £98,000 a year.
He’s now 43, and the Round Table is strictly for ‘young men’ up to the age of 45. His role as chairman of the West Midlands area came to an end on 30 April, and he now plans to spend his last two years with the Round Table in the background, guiding others on activities they are planning.
Mr Manton lives in Sheldon with his partner Sareena and their three sons, who are aged 20, 18 and 14. He’s been a Westside BID director for the last three years, and has now taken over as chair from Dipesh Mistry, a regional director of NatWest Bank. His early project ideas for Westside were first reported here and include night markets, huge New Year’s Eve celebration events and the biggest real ale festival in the UK – which have received enthusiastic backing from leaders at Birmingham City Council.
But as he takes up the reins in his new leadership role at Westside BID, Mr Manton is very aware of the way his experience with the Round Table has changed his life.
He said: “As a property developer I’d been working by myself and for myself for so long, and the Round Table reminded me how to act as part of a group. It’s all about being able to work with other people.
“As a businessman, I was always responsible for finance and for the whole organisation, but at the Round Table everything is decided by committee. That means other people’s opinions matter and so you learn to listen rather than just following your own instinct all the time. You take on board what other people are saying, perhaps sometimes even allowing them to try things, even if they make mistakes.
“It’s about listening and learning and working together for the common good. And this experience in the last decade has helped prepare me for how I need to act as chair of Westside BID. It’s helped me in my business life too.”
Mr Manton became a property developer after studying Civil and Structural Engineering at Coventry University. He then worked for WSP, one of the world’s leading engineering professional services firms, before joining his father’s property development company.
And then, four years ago, he branched out on his own via GNM Developments Ltd, which specialises in the residential, care homes and student accommodation sectors, with a string of properties on Gas Street in the heart of Westside.
He said: “My time at WSP taught me the fundamentals on how to build, how to manage projects and so on. And then working for my dad until four years ago allowed me to pretend to be a developer, and then before you know it you are a developer!”
In his career to date, Mr Manton reckons he’s led the development and building of some 70 individual residential homes, as well as around 200,000 sq ft of office space, various care homes and “hundreds and hundreds” of beds in student homes.
Current development projects including two care homes and a block of apartments on Gas Street. And with other projects in the pipeline, Mr Manton is looking at revenues rising to as much as £8 million in the next year or so.
But back to the reason for this interview: his thoughts on why the Round Table has helped to change his life. He adds: “For anyone looking for something to do that’s better than the pub, I’d highly recommend joining the Round Table. It’s had such an influence on my life. My only regret is that I should have joined when I was younger.”
Main image: Gerald organising huge Round Table event
