Hilary Devey Quotes

102 Hilary Devey Quotes (Dragons Den Quotes, The Intern Quotes, Pall-Ex Quotes)

1 2 3



It’s mythical – there’s no glass ceiling. A manicured fist will smash it as easily as a male fist.
Hilary Devey

I don’t do bullsh*t.
Hilary Devey

Failure was not an option. It just wasn’t in my vocabulary.
Hilary Devey

It’s not material possessions that matter, it’s people that matter.
Hilary Devey

I thought it was now or never.
Hilary Devey

[On declaring that she would never end up like her father at the age of seven and going on to build Pall-Ex] I didn’t. the drive that was sparked into life in that moment is what’s seen me through the last fifty years of ups and downs – with a h*ll of a lot of hard graft in between. It’s helped me build a business with an annual turnover of 100 million pounds in the UK and Ireland alone, providing jobs for 7,500 people across nine countries.
Hilary Devey

Nothing is ever as straightforward as you think it’s going to be.
Hilary Devey

I wanted to be more in control of my own destiny…
Hilary Devey

I had a burning ambition to achieve something.
Hilary Devey

There has to be an easier way than this.
Hilary Devey



I knew I was going to succeed.
Hilary Devey

If you don’t have faith in yourself, then nobody else will have faith in you.
Hilary Devey

Don’t be put off by working in a man’s world.
Hilary Devey

You can go as far and as fast as you want to go.
Hilary Devey

You just have to be tenacious and focused and very disciplined.
Hilary Devey

I’ve made a lot of mistakes.
Hilary Devey

My mistakes are as much responsible for making me who I am as my achievements.
Hilary Devey

I don’t want to be a miserable millionaire living in a palatial mansion.
Hilary Devey

I want to leave a legacy. And I’d like that legacy to be ‘She gave as much as she got.’
Hilary Devey

I didn’t have a Hollywood moment when I decided to become an entrepreneur.
Hilary Devey



[At the age of seven on her father’s business going bust.] I can remember thinking just one thing: ‘I will never end up like this. I will never let this happen to me.’
Hilary Devey

Building a business from scratch brings huge rewards; but there are sacrifices too…
Hilary Devey

When you know what becoming a successful entrepreneur really takes, you can decide if you’re prepared to pay the price.
Hilary Devey

Trying to put my childhood into one neat box is complicated because it was so turbulent.
Hilary Devey

I honestly believe you’re dealt the cards that life thinks you can handle and your job is to just get on with it.
Hilary Devey

I’ve very seldom sat down and felt sorry for myself. And the few times I have I’ve soon got up, dusted myself off and carried on again.
Hilary Devey

The women in my family are like something out of a Barbara Taylor Bradford novel.
Hilary Devey

I was about three when I developed Bell’s palsy, which made the left side of my face droop… It didn’t fully clear up until I was about eight.
Hilary Devey

I’m not a slave to trends, because what’s the point of looking like everyone else?
Hilary Devey

[On wearing a cream jacket on dragons den.] It’s fashion, I like it, and if people take the piss then I say: Sold them. I’ve worked hard for those shoulder pads.
Hilary Devey



I realized early on that you have to be adaptable, bend to whatever direction life takes you, which is a quality you need to succeed in business…
Hilary Devey

Kids… They trust their instinct, while adults are too busy listening to all the noise rattling around inside their heads instead of what their guts are telling them.
Hilary Devey

I loved being in the thick of things.
Hilary Devey

Money ran through Dad’s fingers because he was always generous, the first to buy a round and the last to leave anyone else to foot the bill.
Hilary Devey

I wanted to be more in control of my own destiny and I had a burning ambition to achieve something. It was a big risk because I was earning a comfortable salary, but I thought it was now or never.
Hilary Devey

[On the idea that helped create Pall-Ex] I heard him say that they could do a delivery to Scotland but it would not get there until the following Wednesday. For me, coming from a parcels background, that was like going back 20 to 30 years. I asked the haulier why he couldn’t deliver until the next Wednesday and he said it would not be cost-effective until they could fill a whole vehicle. I thought ‘There has to be an easier way than this.’
Hilary Devey

[On recruiting hauliers to her network] I set myself certain criteria – the members had to be financially solvent and they had to have certain operational standards. I think some thought: ‘Who is this madwoman, what is she talking about?’ My system gave them the luxury of telling their customers that they could deliver their pallets the next day. I sold the concept to them on the idea of ‘every postcode, every day.’
Hilary Devey

[On her first logistical hub for Pall-Ex] It had no running water, no electricity and chemical loos.
Hilary Devey

I wrote operational procedures and made members abide by them. If they didn’t, I expelled them from the network. After I had done that once, they knew I meant business and that I would not compromise my standards. The ethos of the company is that they treat other’s freight as they would treat their own. It’s really strictly enforced.
Hilary Devey

I’m very straight-talking and I think hauliers respond to that. They may not like me, but hopefully I’ve earned their respect now.
Hilary Devey



1 2 3


Return from Hilary Devey Quotes to Quoteswise.com