Manufacturing specialist returns with new consultancy

TJ Duncan-Moir

A Nottinghamshire businesswoman has founded a new company which she says will help to rebuild businesses in the East Midlands that were forced to temporarily close, reduce their operations or pivot because of the coronavirus pandemic.

TJ Duncan-Moir – who was named in the top 20 leading figures in the UK manufacturing industry a couple of years ago – is formally launching Business Glu, a consultancy where she parachutes into companies to identify and fix problems in areas such as productivity, operations, sales, finances and HR.

Over the last few months, Duncan-Moir says she has already helped to mastermind a Coalville engineering firm’s switch from 3D printing parts for the aerospace industry to making PPE equipment for the NHS, care homes and food producers.

She was instrumental in putting funding arrangements in place to purchase new tooling for Ubiquitous Engineering. Duncan-Moir also enabled the firm to protect its design for face shields and even got the PPE listed on Amazon, all of which lead to increased revenue and profitability.

Before the lockdown, she also worked with a metal fabrication company in North Nottinghamshire to secure a project worth £440,000 by identifying ways to improve the firm’s process for following up on projects where they had previously submitted a quote. This enabled the firm to secure an order from a giant online retailer – and this has since led to the company having two more orders in the pipeline worth £1m.

Duncan-Moir says that the formal launch of Business Glu got waylaid by the onset of the lockdown – but even then, she was still able to find new clients and provide remote support.

“My work with the metal fabrication company was me proving to myself that I could distill all my 30 years’ experience to identity the blockers within my client’s business and put measures in place to help them to grow,” she said.

“Business Glu was originally conceived to support firms that are struggling to address the reasons why they are not as productive or profitable as they should be. Given that the region’s economy stalled during the coronavirus pandemic, now is an opportune time to work with companies that either want to get back to where they were pre-lockdown or see opportunities ahead and want to take full advantage of them.”

She added: “It’s vital that in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, businesses can get back up to speed as soon as possible – and this is where I can help,” she said.

“A lot of businesses will have their noses to the grindstone again, but where I come in is that I can help with making processes more efficient. I can also help by starting to map out new opportunities.

“With my first client, I could see straightaway all the pitfalls – and in the space of just five weeks, I was able to put sustainable processes in place that were fundamental to them securing an order that has completely changed their trajectory.”

Duncan-Moir says that her strapline of ‘Business Glu: creating a strong bond between you and your business’ distils everything she has learned after spending three decades in manufacturing. She says she also has a toolbox of things available to help businesses, including a network of specialists in areas such as marketing, recruitment, HR, law, research & development, graphic design, insurance, finance, accountancy, banking, asset finance, PR and coaching.

“My aim is to go into a business, identity the issues – which are commonly rooted in departmentalisation, the relationships between management and staff, business processes and internal communications – and then put structures in place to resolve these,” she said. “It’s remarkable how much this frees up time, particularly for business leaders, to get to a place where they’re driving the business forward.

“The key is to put sustainable measures in place, which means businesses aren’t dependent on me delivering everything. I have the best success when I can initially identify issues and implement change – and then visit at intervals to review activity and set new goals.

“I’m really proud that I was able to make such an impact for my first client, and that makes me very excited for the future,” Duncan-Moir added. “I must also thank the East Midlands Chamber of Commerce, as they have been really supportive and have also encouraged me to speak at business events to tell my story.”

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