A father and son-in-law duo from the UK’s oldest whistle maker, ACME Whistles, famous for inventing the first-ever police whistle, silent dog whistle and the sports whistle that changed refereeing forever, take to the airwaves in the latest episode (22) on the family business podcast ‘It Runs In The Family’.

A new dynamic for the It Runs in The Family podcast, mother and daughter podcast host, Liz and Leila Willingham, hear from their first guests to be in-laws who have been passed the baton by the founders, the Hudson family.

The custodians of this 150-year-old Birmingham-based manufacturer, father and son-in-law, Simon Topman and Ben McFarlane, reveal that while their bond may not be through biological parenthood, their shared vision for the future is one to ensure ACME’s success for decades to come.

CEO Simon Topman says: “It is true to say that all the designs and whistles that you could buy from us, or our competitors, all began with the Hudson family and their original inventions. This very creative and intelligent family died out in 1982, they did 112 years. The third generation was childless and had no one to leave the business to in their family but my father worked here and said to me you should be interested in this, and he persuaded me. So, it moved from the Hudson family to the Topman family.”

On explaining how the whistle industry begun, Simon says: “The police’s 21,000-unit order in 1883 was the beginning of a whole industry. Our founder Joseph Hudson could never have guessed the impact it was going to have! To date we have made 460 million whistles over 150 years, and that was what he started with just that first police whistle.”

Simon and Ben exhibit pride in the history of the business and are advocates for the sense of succession and long-term success over financial gain, and their commitment to continuing the legacy is equal parts admirable, motivational and endearingly touching.

This episode covers:

• The inspiration for inventing the first whistle of the 460 million that ACME have sold to date
• Nurturing a sense of pride, immersion and curation for your family business rather than that of ownership
• Business-to-business and business-to-consumer markets and the new, novel opportunities that each has presented throughout the 150-year-history
• The unique sense of fortune to be a part of a family firm built on love and passion

The full conversation with the father and son-in-law is available now on all major podcasting platforms.

Launched in February 2021, It Runs In The Family podcast was set up by Liz Willingham, founder and managing director of Dorset-based PR and communications agency Liz Lean PR, and her daughter Leila, who is business and PR account manager at the agency, and is making its mark in the podcasting arena and hitting the charts - reaching number three in top family podcasts. To date, the mother and daughter duo have reached listeners in 42 countries, across six continents, with their podcast.

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