Devolution ‘can drive growth’ say Liverpool leaders

A PANEL of business leaders from some of the region’s most dynamic companies believe the increased devolution power to the North will help unlock further growth.

Speaking at the Invest to Grow Merseyside forum organised by Barclays last week, executives from Aqua Fabrications, B&M Retail , The Contact Company, Plumb Nation and Uren, said risk- taking, skills, and most importantly putting customers first, had been essential ingredients of their success.

There was agreement from the panel too that investment in training and development of staff is vital to both retain talent and future-proof their businesses.

For Lynda Smith, managing director of Skelmersdale-based manufacturing company Aqua Fabrications, the need to steer more young people into a career in engineering and manufacturing through apprenticeships is “crucial” to the future of the economy.

“Not everyone is suited to university”, she said, as she argued for more support from the government to fund apprenticeships.

Asif Hamid, founder of the Birkenhead-based call centre operator The Contact Company, agreed, as he explained how important investment in people was to his business, which in nine years has grown from nothing to £15m.

Hamid, a former executive at media company Bertelsmann, who is chairman of Wirral Chamber of Commerce  and also a member of the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, said that as a result of his business investing in its people, TCC has an industry-leading staff retention levels.

He also said banks should ensure their staff sitting on credit committees, get out of the office and “get under the skin of business” to improve their understanding of the issues growing businesses face, particularly around cashflow.

Plumb Nation founder Royden Evans, who remortgaged his house to start his venture, said for him, the critical messages to share were to ensure customer services is always the best it can be, and to focus on return on investment.

He said his biggest cost was advertising online, and after using third-party digital marketing agencies with mixed results, conversion rates had surged after when he had hired a former plumber – with deep sector and product knowledge – and trained him in digital marketing.

For Ross Stewart, managing director of the Cheshire-based food ingredients supplier, Uren, and Paul McDonald, chief financial officer at discount retailer B&M Bargains, ensuring customers get what they need, when they want it and at the right price was fundamental.

The pair also said their growth had been enabled by expanding into international markets. B&M last year acquired a stake in a German business, Jawoll, while family-owned Uren, has manufacturing sites in Chile and Poland and sales offices worldwide.

Stewart said Uren had been forced to source product, in this case raspberries from overseas, after a severe frost wrecked its crop at its Scottish farm.

He revealed the fruit from Serbia had been as good, if not better than their own, and had cost far less, and also taught them a lesson.

“We learned that we can’t source everything overseas, and if customers want product, we have to get on a plane and find it.”

McDonald said for B&M, which processes 3.5 million customer transactions a week, trends soon appear if their products and pricing was wrong.

“Our whole ethos is around giving a great product at a great prices.”