Mark Sugden is the third in a series of 10 business people sitting for a portrait painting by professional artist Helen Perkins in an in-Cumbria family business special, in association with Armstrong Watson. We asked Mark and Helen how they had found the portrait sitting experience.

Mark said:“My experience has been absolutely first rate. The professionalism of everyone involved has been outstanding from beginning to end.

“I was told before the process that sitting for a portrait artist would be an experience. It was. I’d go so far as to say that it was nothing short of a life-changing experience.

“Sitting and having your portrait done gives you time to reflect and take a different view on life.

“I was sat on the kids’ bedroom floor on that first night, the night in between the two sitting sessions, and I had a different perspective on life.

“I was in such a place in my mind, just looking at everything from the kids’ point of view in a different way. I have never done that in quite that way before.

“And I want to tap into that and change some of the ways I look at things.

“I am naturally artistic. I enjoy photography and music. This process helps to unlock the artist in you in the same way BIP (Business Improvement Programme run in association with Armstrong Watson) unlocks the leader in you. It is so exciting. You take this energy and this way of looking at things into your business as well.

“I shared with some of my colleagues in the business what was going on. How it gives you that time to reflect. And it is important to bring that into the business as well.

“I am sure the end product from what Armstrong Watson are trying to share and communicate with this portrait project will fit in with BIP and the Blue programme. It all unlocks that business potential.

“Over the next few weeks and months, this portrait process will continue to come together, from the stretching the canvas over the wood to the finishing touches.

“Actually every bit of the process is as important, if not more so, than the end result and that’s powerful.

“Right now, I am hugely energised. It has been a brilliant experience and I’m looking forward to doing more to share these experiences and my learning with the team at Laycocks. I’m pleased to have had what has been an amazing opportunity.”


Artist Helen Perkins Helen said: “I met Mark on a Thursday afternoon, having scurried up from London that morning. I realised his was going to make a good portrait quite early on - he has a bright face and an interested and easygoing character.

“We set up a space for the portrait sitting under the skylights upstairs in his house, on a sunny landing.

“I like to let people sit without me interfering, and in this preliminary drawing you can see Mark’s arms stretched out across the easy chair, just the way he sat. His pose fits his open and interested character.

“The light was fading that afternoon but I knew it would be back when I returned to finish the drawing the following day and make a small colour study to help with the final painting. Colour studies are a method of capturing the vibrant shades that escape a camera and aren’t in a drawing. I usually wouldn’t spend more than 45 minutes on one at most.

“They look clumsy because they are quick and only focus on colour and tone rather than drawing.

“My colour study from my time with Mark. Everything is wonky but I’ve mixed key colours, and I’ll look back at these when I come to make the larger painting.”

Words from the wise


Are you about to take over a family business and aren’t sure what to expect? Mark Sugden has some advice.

“Be patient, with yourself and all the stakeholders of the business, and I mean the rest of the family and the customers, and give it time.

“It took me a full two years to get anywhere near having a grounding to develop things in the business. It really takes time because you’ve always got the business and you’ve got the family.

“You can’t just come galloping in and expect everything to happen in two or three months. It takes time to get into the nuances of how everything works, what works well and what could be developed in time.

“You have to do some things gradually and with patience because it’s a change for everybody, not just yourself.”

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