Managing director of Capital International, Les Coates, is one of those people it would be very difficult not to feel fond of as soon as you meet him.

Sat across from me, with kind eyes and a ready smile, Les told me how he came to the island 30 years ago from Leeds, knowing very little about the Isle of Man at the time.

‘The transition moving here was a shock.

‘I came over during the TT originally, then officially moved in October and wondered where everyone had gone.’

He told me, laughing: ‘Once I realised the TT is an exceptional part of the year, I got a good sense of the community spirit, made friends, made roots, and now absolutely love it here.’

It wasn’t just the lovely people and landscape that grabbed hold of Les, the business sector in the island is one he says is very exciting.

‘There are a lot of technology industry companies here that offer a good career to people who are just starting out on their first journey.’

Capital was created more than 25 years ago as an investment business set up by Anthony Long and his father Peter.

It’s now grown to a business approaching more than 200 employees on the island and 50 people in South Africa, and also has a new bank set up three years ago.

‘We feel it’s really important to support the local community and particularly young people’ Les tells me.

Capital has a graduate programme, encouraging people who have left the island for university to come back and work for them.

They also put an onus on school leavers to come in and offer them a real career path. They’re supportive with studies, training, and tuition and try to grow their own in the Isle of Man.

‘It’s all about the future of the island, isn’t it?’ says Les when I ask him why they put such an emphasis on helping young people in the community.

‘We want to try and grow the population in line with government’s aim to build to 100,000 people living here and I think it’s really important to do that because that will then bring more infrastructure and facilities that will continue to attract people.

‘So, it’s important to get young people in to help grow the population and improve the Isle of Man as a whole.’

Capital has a strong emphasis on the values it wants to promote.

I asked Les what those values are on a business level and day-to-day employee level.

‘We have three core values; innovation (specifically focused on the tech industry and trying to push the boundaries of new products and services), excellence (trying and do things right the first time in everything they do) and integrity.

‘On a daily level, the feel in the office is that of a really friendly place to work. It feels like you’re joining a family when you join Capital.

‘I think because it’s locally owned it has that sense of belonging where people help each other and work together. It’s a really great culture to work in.’

A vibe I feel like I picked up on while interviewing Les and other employees that morning. Everyone seemed relaxed and happy.

With conscious efforts to reduce their carbon footprint and community charity initiatives, the Capital culture doesn’t stop at the front doors of the building, which Les believes is crucial.

‘I think it’s really important for us to put back into the community. Capital has its own ESG initiative called Conscious Capital run by our own sustainability officer Nancy Shefford.

‘The goal is to become carbon neutral by the end of 2025 and to encourage everyone to participate in away days doing things like tree planting or supporting a local charity.’

Many business meetings can end up littered with unfathomable jargon but wrapping up my meeting with Les, I felt like I’d spoken to a person who easily represents the values of the company he represents.

Though the emphasis on innovation and excellence that most companies strive for was present in abundance, it was the kind/empathetic culture and focus on supporting local young people and the community that shone through.