IAN Howorth's company and his hobby are both flying high - proving that with the right approach and attitude you can mix business with pleasure.

The East Lancashire entrepreneur has grown his scaffolding business from an income of £80 in 1998 to an annual turnover that will exceed £1 million over the next year.

However, in driving his business forward, he found he was spending more and more time at work and less and less time with his passionate hobby - his goshawks.

The goshawk is a majestic bird of prey like a peregrine falcon that was hunted out of existence in this country. Ian is doing his bit to re-introduce this fabulous bird to this country and he is the proud owner of a breeding pair apart from the one he owns for flying.

Ian described his dilemma: "I was working from six in the morning until six at night in the business. In the morning, I was doing the office work from home, then I was working as a scaffolder and then, for the last hour, I was chasing up debtors and doing the sales invoices."

It was a classic scenario. Ian was doing the same things in the same way so he knew he would always get the same result. He was always 'working on the tools' and he had very little time for his hobby - the goshawks.

It was at this point he came under the wing of Accrington accountants, Mayes Business Partnership. They pointed out that Ian was working IN his business when he should have been working ON it.

Slowly, Ian began to change the way he thought about his business. He realised he did not want to spend the rest of his life putting up scaffolding. He recognised he had to delegate - he had to build up a team.

He appointed a contracts manager, Dave Barson, with two support staff and a workforce of 10 scaffolders. They now do all the technical work, leaving Ian free to do the strategic work on building the business and this has freed up his time.

He can now spend a couple of hours each afternoon with his goshawks - and, perhaps more importantly he says, whilst relaxing with his hawks he comes up with ideas to make his business even better.

He embraced new technology, including a laser measuring device to determine the exact height of a building and a computer-aided design programme, which details the materials needed for a job down to the last bolt and gives the exact weight.

But Ian is fully aware that his people are the true assets of his business. "I treat my scaffolders fairly and with respect because I believe they will respect me for it," he said.

An example of his attitude is his commitment to training. All his workers are qualified first-aiders and he has invested for three of them to become 'advanced scaffolders' - the highest manual qualification in the industry. Such an investment in the workforce is unusual in the scaffolding industry.

Ian knows that he can trust and rely on his hand-picked team of scaffolders. "Two of my best scaffolders heard about the company and came to work for me for only a couple of weeks. Three years later they are still with me," said Ian.

Ian also adheres strictly to health and safety regulations to ensure his company's structures are the safest in the business.

Ian's company, I Howorth Scaffolding Services Ltd, as a result of its growth, has had to move to larger premises in Oswaldtwistle to accommodate more specialised equipment.

"We are investing in temporary roofing systems, which can completely encapsulate buildings so that builders can work on them right through the winter. We are also buying aluminium towers, which will enable us to do far more specialised work.

"Everything is in place. We have the skilled men and all the equipment. I started with a Land Rover and a roof rack and now we have five fully equipped lorries."

Ian, 36, lives in Dill Hall Lane, Church, with his wife Diane and sons James and Jordan. He was a window cleaner when he stumbled into scaffolding because he did the occasional roofing job. He needed some scaffolding for one job, but found that he would have to wait weeks or pay over the odds.

"I thought that if I bought my own, I could learn how to use it myself. So I did and it just grew and grew. "

Ian's first break was winning a contract with Persimmon Homes and his client list now includes Gleeson Homes, Balfour Beatty, Hurstwood Developments, McDermott Homes, Lancashire County Council, Thomas Barnes & Sons and many more. His company has also appointed North West Safety Services Ltd to act as its safety consultants.

He is now poised and equipped with both people and tools to win contracts with major constructors in Lancashire to take his company to new heights.

"I want to make my business the best at what it does, to be able to fly my birds and have a great home life. That would be a great personal achievement," he declared.