Last year was a challenging year for our Co-founder Ben Findlay after the devasting loss of his brother, best friend, and business partner, Eric Findlay.
Eric Findlay
In April 2019, Eric had scheduled a doctor’s appointment with symptoms of tiredness. No one expected the result to be Stage 4 Bowel Cancer.
Talking about this time, Eric’s brother Ben Findlay said: “Eric was 14 months older than me, and was an incredibly fit, highly driven character. He was diagnosed with cancer which had unfortunately spread, which was a terrible shock to us all given he led such a healthy lifestyle.
Ben describes the sudden death as a shock to the core. “Not only was Eric my business partner who I spoke to daily. He was also my best friend, always there to support and guide me. This was the person I’d grown up with since the day I was born.
Unsurprisingly I found it very hard to cope in the days and weeks following Eric’s death, which led me to find Mind – a charity which provides help and guidance to people suffering with mental health problems.
Mind helped me turn my life around and adjust to a life without Eric.
With the help of my incredible family and a lot of therapy, I’ve been able to turn things around and am now in a much better position both personally and professionally.
Giving back
In Ben’s words, this is his “time to give back”, as the young entrepreneur and father of three will be cycling 1,000 miles around the North West to raise money for mental health charity Mind, in memory of his dearly missed brother, Eric.
The initial plan was to cycle Land’s End to John of Groats, however, with travel and hospitality restrictions as a result of COVID-19, this is no longer possible.
Instead, Ben will begin his 1,000-mile bike ride, Tuesday, July 7th where he’ll be riding through Chester, Manchester, North Wales, Glossop, Media City and other areas of the North West with the help of family and friends who are invited to join him on sporadic stints of the challenge.
Furthermore, Ben will be riding the final day, July 16th, on Eric’s birthday.
“The whole reality of Eric not being here is still hard. He was a warm, lovely, family orientated man who loved everyone in his life, very much.
There was never a dull moment with Eric. He brought positivity and laughter to every situation, both personally and professionally. He would have loved to see where the business is today and where it’s heading to.
It was our joint ambition to change the world, and that reality is coming true in a business sense anyway.
Machine Compare
Ben and Eric Findlay founded Machine Compare in their back bedrooms in 2016 with a simple mission. To change how the world trades industrial machinery, reducing failed machinery deals by pairing buyers and sellers across multiple sectors within a cloud-based environment.
Three years later and the business is going from strength to strength, testament in how Machine Compare has penetrated both the European and US market, with plans now to undergo a digital transformation and launch a new e-commerce platform for spare parts which is forecast to unleash billions of pounds worth of equity into businesses of all sizes, globally.
“So much of this is happening because of Eric, and I know he’d be happy to see our idea become a reality”, commented Ben.
Mind – Mental Health Charity
With the anxiety that Covid-19 has brought upon the world, now more than ever mental health charities like Mind are crucial to helping people navigate the times we’re in. If you would like to support Ben in his efforts to ride 1,000 miles, you can donate to Mind here.
Ben will also be keeping a video journal of his challenge including the highs and lows which users can view via his LinkedIn account.
