John Barnes & Richard Richardson turned Harry Ramsden's from a single Fish & Chip shop in Yorkshire into a highly successful international brand on a shoestring before selling the business to Compass PLC, the world's largest catering company.

They fell into a way of thinking which they now call Marketing Judo, based on the principles of Judo where brains matter more than brawn, and where anyone can become a Black Belt if they move quickly, train hard enough and keep their balance when others don't!

Marketing Judo is a new approach designed for people and companies who want to build a brand or business but don't have big budgets. That's the position John Barnes and Richard Richardson, found themselves in when they arrived at the original Harry Ramsden's restaurant in 1988.

John and Richard gave up their big company jobs and using the leverage of borrowed money, moved to Yorkshire and bought a fish and chip shop! 12 years later, having opened in 7 countries, floated on the stock market and grown UK brand awareness from 17 per cent to 73 per cent, they sold to one of their Judo partners Granada-now Compass.

At Harry Ramsden's they fell into a way of thinking, which they now call Marketing Judo. In Judo, you lever other people's strengths or assets to your own advantage. In Judo, your mind matters more than your size. In Judo, anyone can become a black belt if they move quickly enough, keep their balance when others don't and train hard enough.

Marketing Judo is not an academic concept. It's a practical hands-on framework based on John and Richard's own experiences that they have found helpful in developing business strategies and marketing plans for companies with limited budgets.

Their framework, called the Marketing Judo Game Plan, is a series of seven moves designed to help you achieve marketing success. Since they sold Harry Ramsden's they have gone back in and are applying these moves successfully both to their own and other companies.

Together they have written a book Marketing Judo - Building your business using brains not budget and are now frequent speakers at corporate and industry conferences.

Packed with amusing stories and events from their own experiences as well as practical examples from a whole range of companies, they demonstrate how it's always possible to find a competitive advantage - however small your budget or large your opponent!