There has been little information out there on how to lead a business during a global pandemic whilst also juggling other activities associated with the boardroom. Read our top tips and stories for leading during a crisis from members of Made in the Midlands and Made in Yorkshire.
At the start of the pandemic, Made in Group organised several Mastermind groups for leaders to share best practice and get problems off their chests to relieve some of the pressure regarding business challenges.
These discussion groups highlighted that there is an immense amount of knowledge and experience, which offers some reassurance that despite external pressures and political uncertainty we do have large numbers of competent people in leadership roles across British industry.
We’ve reached out to some of these members so they can share their thoughts on what makes a good leader during a crisis and how you can learn from these spirited leaders.
ThreeWayPressings Group: Bringing Business Back to Britain
Between March and July 2020, manufacturers experienced their biggest decline in production and sales since 2013. The pandemic not only massively affected production but also the resilience of UK supply chains.
However, businesses such as Tipton based manufacturer ThreeWayPressing (TWP) Group started staying ahead of the curve, during this time, by reshoring some of its production.
Paterson Photography, part of the TWP Group, reshored the production of their ball and socket heads, used on camera tripods, from China. Their capability and innovative forward-thinking allowed the firm to design the product themselves and produce it at a lower price than purchasing from further afield. Phil Stanley, Managing Director at ThreeWayPressings, said:
“The pandemic has proved that our reliance on supply chains can easily be affected. We have led during the crisis by taking matters into our own hands, looking at our own capabilities and producing the product accordingly at a lower price.
It’s also helping the environment by not getting these goods imported, we also aren't waiting for the products to arrive."
Citizen Machinery: Innovate, Innovate and Innovate Some More
Citizen Machinery, a world-leading CNC machine tool manufacturer, is leading during the crisis by listening to market needs and ‘constantly innovating’. This year alone the global manufacturer, with UK based demonstration and engineering facilities, has introduced 8 new machines to market and plans to launch another 3 in Spring 2021. Since 2016, the firm has seen a 20-25% increase in yearly growth, which has continued well in 2020 even after its challenges. Edward James, Managing Director at Citizen Machinery UK, said:
“We have spent a lot of time this year working with our large customer base to understand what they really need. By working with us on cost per part, efficiency and automation they can become more flexible and achieve more with less. COVID has further shown weaknesses and it is clear that efficiency challenges exist in many of customers.
We are continually leading during the global crisis and beyond by continually training our specialist team in new areas of technology and have recently employed 3 new staff, further we are actively looking for 2 to 3 more.”
Interflex: Diversifying into New Markets and Networking
Acoustic and Trim component suppliers for the automotive industry Interflex have diversified into new markets as a result of the global pandemic, to meet current demands of the industry. The firm has invested in new equipment that will help them produce half a million CE marked face masks a week. On top of this, they are also producing other vital PPE such as medical-grade gowns, aprons and face visors.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Interflex put out a call to manufacturers notifying them of the company’s availability to help with production needs, leading to the successful new leg of the business ‘Pinnacle PPE’.
The firm has also continued to invest in the Interflex leg of the business by investing in the property; redecorating and maintenance on equipment. However, the real success of the business has been down to opportunities through networking with like-minded individuals through virtual events and meetings. Jim Griffin, Managing Director at Interflex said:
“As leaders of businesses, networking is key for finding opportunities in difficult times. These people can give us the next tip to take our businesses further and have proven a success for us here at Interflex. The work you are looking for is around the corner and attending events, like breakfast mornings with MIM, is helping with this.”
Heald: Supporting Employees and Increasing Stock Levels
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Since the start of the pandemic in March, Heald decided to increase stock levels of raw materials and major component parts, to mitigate any supply chain problems. Managing Director at Heald, Debbie Heald said:
“This has helped us meet our delivery lead times without delays to our customers.”
Continuous communication to employees has also been a key factor in the businesses success. The team have created a WhatsApp group to ensure all employees are aware of government updates and give guidance to avoid any misunderstanding of rules. Debbie concluded:
“I am leading as I have always done by sharing information, giving reassurance, supporting my team and ensuring consideration for their health, safety and well-being. Most of all just getting on with it and continuing to trade.”
AUS Ltd: Embracing the Digital Era
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Like many other manufacturers, AUS Ltd has continued to innovate over the course of the pandemic. This has led to industry-changing and innovative designs such as their sustainable plastic footbridge - produced for the rail network and span wire clamp also used in the rail industry. Simon Gibson, Managing Director at AUS, said:
“We have been fortunate during the pandemic as we supply to key industries the majority of the time. However, government grants towards innovation have massively affected our success, as we believe innovation is the future.”
However, the firm has also embraced the digital era over the last several months, in terms of reaching out to customers, prospecting and reaching their audience in general. This has included investment in their social media marketing and rebuilding its website to include e-commerce. Simon added:
“By investing in our digital marketing strategy, we have noticed the increase in awareness of our products across our social channels. The digital world is vital at the moment as it is the only way to reach everyone.”
CBE+: The Importance of Networking and Continuous Communication
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After being impacted by supply chain issues, CBE+ quickly realised that communication has been a leading aspect in their success over the course of the pandemic. They kept constant and clear communication with their suppliers to ensure their needs were met and vice versa.
In addition to this, the firm has continued to network with their customers and relationships made with the Made in Yorkshire network. Marie Cooper, CEO at CBE+, said:
“Ensuring we stay close to our customers and connections through a wide variety of communication platforms has been key to staying ahead of the curve within our business. This has covered everything from understanding each other’s needs and capabilities and how we can help and support each other keep up to date with what is happening within the industry.”
These connections have led to various opportunities including working with Made in the Midlands member Boneham & Turner on the central effort for the ventilator challenge.
Andel Plastics: Restructuring Working Hours to Ensure Safety and Production
Toolmaking and injection moulding specialists Andel Plastics has also prioritized communication to lead during the crisis. Helena Flowers, Managing Director at Andel Plastics, spent time ringing their customers and suppliers to see how they were approaching things at the start of the pandemic.
This also applied to employees within the firm, giving them regular and clear communication around Government guidelines and how it will apply to the business. Helena said:
“Giving the reasoning behind my decisions quite clearly in writing, I think helped people appreciate that I was considering a lot of facts as they were, looking at all the angles and making the best possible decision at the time, even if that then changed as the situation developed.”
This has led to changes within the business such as the restructuring of working shifts to ensure staff safety and continuous production. Helena concluded:
“Once our customers' production started to ramp up again after lockdown, we changed to a 24-hour shift pattern. This enabled us to create two ‘bubbles’ of staff, so at least if one person on a shift had symptoms the business could still run – after a deep clean- with the other shift.
We have since increased our capacity by putting on a night shift three nights a week, to do that we employed three new people.”
Stauff UK: Adjusting Lead Times to Meet Customer Demands
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Lastly, Stauff UK - global pipework component manufacturers felt that their success has also been down to clear communication as well as making adjustments in the businesses to suit current demands. John Morris, Managing Director at Stauff UK, said:
“Regular and transparent communication with all of our employees has been paramount during this situation and fully appreciated.
We produced our own roadmap back in March outlining how and when we would review the situation going forward and what steps we would take. This roadmap was updated and communicated as and when the situation became clearer or government guidelines changed.
All decisions were executed swiftly and feedback was encouraged from the teams across all 4 locations.”
In terms of making changes in the business, John concluded:
“We are part of a global company and have local representation in most countries so we have a network of colleagues to assist us with overseas suppliers, we adjusted our lead times accordingly by combining our knowledge and the overseas knowledge to ensure we could meet all of our customers’ demands.”