Culture

Our success is built on our ability to harness the dedication and talents of our people. Our experience is that people work best when they are treated in the right way, and given the responsibility and authority (within the widest possible guidelines) to get on and do the job.

A Corporate culture is “the total sum of the values, customs, traditions, and meanings that make a company unique”. The key principles of our culture are:

• Integrity runs through us - we are open, honest and fair in our dealings with staff, customers, suppliers and business partners alike.
• We show respect for all
• We make decisions for the benefit of the whole business, not for ourselves or for our department.
• We believe in team-working and partnerships
• We are not hierarchical - we delegate to the appropriate level
• We think long term.
• We believe that all employees come to work to do a good job
• We take an interest in our colleagues and look after them, inside and outside of work - and expect them to look after us
• We have a sense of humour
• We encourage people to challenge us constructively
• We aim for the highest standards of professionalism, yet are relaxed and unassuming
• We admit to our own mistakes, but expect no blame for them

Here are some examples of our culture in action:

• Customers can receive quick answers from their immediate contact, as we don’t pass day to day decisions up the hierarchy
• If there is a problem, we raise it immediately with our customers, and have a solution ready
• Factory staff show customers round the factory, not sales staff
• We operate a ‘no blame’ culture, so mistakes are discovered early. However, we expect people to be responsible for their own actions, and not to keep making the same mistakesWe regularly review pay and conditions of service to reflect market rates and recognise personal contribution. Benefits such as pensions, life assurance and healthcare are offered to all.
• We operate self-managing teams wherever we can
• We avoid open signs of hierarchy, such as directors’ parking spaces.

The success of this approach can be judged not just by our strong financial performance, but also by a staff turnover of around 5% per year.

We also believe that our culture plays a big role in helping us developing and maintaining successful customer relationships (several of our customers have been with us for a long time, some as long as 30 years).