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From property developer to business mentor: How Andy Pringle is helping Gosport’s entrepreneurs thrive

For Andy Pringle, helping people start and grow their own businesses isn’t just a job, it’s a passion that has been decades in the making.

Now a business adviser with IncuHive, commissioned by the council to deliver its Digital Peninsula Business Support Programme, Andy works with entrepreneurs across Gosport, guiding everyone from brand-new start-ups to ambitious founders with big investment plans. However, his own path into business began in an unlikely place: a school disco.

Andy attended a boys’ boarding school and quickly realised that traditional education wasn’t quite for him.

“I discovered fairly early on that I wasn’t cut out for education in the conventional sense,” he says with a smile. “I was always more interested in ideas and opportunities than textbooks.”

That entrepreneurial instinct showed itself sooner than he expected.

Life at a boys’ boarding school meant contact with girls was, to put it mildly, limited. Rather than accept the situation, Andy and a friend decided to do something about it, launching their first business venture to fix the problem.

“Living at a boys’ boarding school meant you had very little contact with girls,” he recalls. “So, a friend and I decided to organise a community disco. The idea was simple – host an event that would attract girls from local schools.”

What started as a social experiment quickly turned into something more.

“The disco was a success, and not just because we met girls,” Andy laughs. “The disco actually made a profit.”

For the first time, Andy saw how a simple idea, a bit of initiative and a willingness to organise something could turn into a successful venture.

“It was the first glimpse of the opportunities that come from spotting a gap, taking action and making something happen,” he concludes.

A move to London and a crash course in business

Living in Salisbury, Andy soon found himself drawn into a completely different world.

A group of friends came up with a clever idea: apply for jobs in London where travel expenses were covered for the interview, and turn the interview day into a free day out in the capital to watch bands playing in the city.

“There was a band on in the city that I wanted to see, so I took my friend’s advice and applied for a job, booking the interview for the day of the performance. The interview went really well, and I was offered the job so moved to London.

“It felt like a different world,” Andy continues, “I learned how businesses worked with regard to profits, shares and how companies operate. It was a brilliant education.”

But Andy’s entrepreneurial instincts soon returned.

The football sidekick that paid more than the job

As a lifelong Portsmouth FC fan, Andy soon spotted another opportunity, one born out of a frustration shared by thousands of supporters.

“This was long before the internet,” he explains. “If you were travelling to an away game, it wasn’t easy to find practical information about stadiums, transport routes or even nearby facilities.”

Recognising the gap, Andy came up with the idea of producing a guide for football fans that brought everything together in one place. “Details about clubs and stadiums, travel routes between grounds, and useful information for match days.”

To turn the idea into reality, he needed £1,000 to print the first run of brochures.

“I placed an advert in the paper looking for someone who might be interested in the idea. A man replied and we agreed to meet. He turned up in a battered old van,” Andy laughs. “I remember thinking he might be a bit of a timewaster. But he did seem genuinely interested.”

The real surprise came at their second meeting. “We met at his house, and it turned out he was a millionaire living in a huge, beautiful home by a lake.”

The unlikely partnership worked. Together, they launched the guide, calling it The Supporter.

“We even managed to get sponsorship from the AA,” Andy laughs.

The magazine quickly found an audience among football fans, selling around 20,000 copies, an impressive figure for an independent publication.

For Andy, the financial reward was eye-opening. “I actually earned more money from that side gig than my annual salary at the bank,” says Andy, laughing.

More importantly, Andy tells me that it reinforced something he had begun to sense years earlier when organising the ‘disco to meet girls’.

“That was a big moment for me. I actually realised that if you spot a gap in the market, create something useful and take a bit of a risk, you really can make it work.”

Like many entrepreneurs of the 1980s and 90s, Andy was soon drawn into property.

While working in mortgage sales, he noticed a pattern outside estate agents.

“Whenever there was a big flashy car parked outside, I’d ask who it belonged to. The answer was usually the ‘property developer’.” Andy liked the sound of that lifestyle, so he retrained and spent 15 years working as a property developer, including building St John’s Close in Gosport, making the town part of his life for more than 35 years.

St John's Close

Finding his calling: helping others start businesses

At the turn of the millennium, Andy’s career took another turn when he was given the chance to help unemployed people become self-employed.

Based in Cosham, he began supporting people between Cosham and Gosport who wanted to start their own businesses.

“I fell into it, and I’ve never fallen back out,” he says. “I loved it then, and I love it now. The variety of people I meet is incredible. They’re imaginative, full of ideas, and often at a really exciting stage in their lives.”

For the past five years, Andy has been working with IncuHive, a business support organisation that helps entrepreneurs launch and grow their ventures.

The people he works with couldn’t be more varied.

“At one end, you have someone who can’t find a job and is looking for a way forward. At the other end, you might have someone raising £500,000 for an idea that could transform an industry.”

In between are retailers, dog walkers, artists, tradespeople and creatives all trying to turn ideas into sustainable businesses.

Andy says the biggest challenge for most new business owners is persistence.

“Keeping going when you have knock-backs is the hardest thing,” he says.

From a practical point of view, finding customers is another hurdle. “You have to be a good salesperson in any business; you can’t just be good at what you do.” Andy explains.

Andy - IncuHive speech

One area he seems particularly passionate about is helping small businesses embrace artificial intelligence.

“It’s fantastic and a real game changer,”

Andy says AI can remove many of the mundane, time-consuming tasks that eat up a business owner’s day.

“A lot of people know AI exists, but they don’t know how to use it for their business. Something as simple as refining an email, drafting a social media post or brainstorming ideas can suddenly take seconds rather than hours, and most small businesses aren’t using it to its full potential yet.”

Andy believes becoming comfortable with digital tools is no longer optional.

“It’s absolutely essential that businesses become digitally savvy, because their competitors will and they will be left behind.”

I ask what the problem is.

“The problem isn’t resistance, it’s time. Most business owners are so focused on day-to-day work that they don’t step back or take that time to look at what could make life easier.”

For anyone curious about AI, Andy suggests starting with the basics. “I often recommend people try Claude, which has a free version. Open it up and type: ‘I run X business – how can I make my life easier?’ or, ‘how can I improve x?’ You’d be amazed at what comes back.”

From marketing ideas to customer outreach strategies, Andy says that AI can help entrepreneurs access knowledge and insights instantly.

“You suddenly have access to the world just by typing a simple question.”

After decades in business, Andy says the most rewarding part of his job is seeing entrepreneurs succeed. “Sharing people’s joy when their business starts working is fantastic.”

The hardest part? “When someone has a real opportunity but doesn’t make the most of it.”

I ask what makes a great entrepreneur? According to Andy, successful founders share a few key traits:

An open mind
Determination to succeed
Resilience when things go wrong.

“You also have to accept that you don’t know everything,” he adds.

I ask if he has any advice for anyone starting a business.

“Make the most of the help that’s available. Many new entrepreneurs try to do everything alone. But you don’t know what you don’t know. With mentoring, support programmes and local networks available, there’s no need to figure everything out alone and the hard way.”

Away from mentoring entrepreneurs, Andy enjoys family life with his wife, two grown-up children and two grandchildren. He also runs the ‘Start Your Own Business’ website and has written a books on entrepreneurship. Football also plays a big part in his life, he says.

“I am a season ticket holder at Portsmouth FC, and I have supported the club since my school took me to a game when I was aged 11. I got hooked immediately. I have even written a football-related book called ‘Where Are They Now?’, which follows former Portsmouth players.

Why Gosport is full of entrepreneurs

After decades connected to the area, Andy believes Gosport has something special.

“Gosport is a real hotbed of enterprise,”

Andy says he regularly meets people with bold ideas and the determination to build something of their own. “The town has lots of people who want to start businesses, and initiatives like the Gosport Best Independent Business Awards are really helping a lot of these creative businesses to be seen.”

Any final thoughts? I ask him as our coffees come to an end. “The future of business is constantly changing. With technology like AI transforming how people work, there’s huge opportunity ahead, and hopefully that means more time for people to enjoy life as well as work.” Well said.

To book a free digital help with Andy at IncuHive: