North West business briefs: Sales Geek; Optimise Healthcare; Fractory; Nutrition Group
Blackburn sales training company Sales Geek has opened its second operation in London. The latest expansion will support growing businesses in the South West of the capital.
This follows the opening of Sales Geek’s first London office, covering London North East in late 2021.
The new operation, in Croydon, will be headed by Jerry Meldrum, who brings 20 years’ experience in sales, with previous positions including more than three years as sales director for Pelican Procurement Services and senior sales roles with Compass Group UK & Ireland and John Smith & Son Group.
Established in 2017, Sales Geek has doubled in size every year since launch, while its Sales Geek Hub app now has users across the globe.
Jerry Meldrum said: “Put quite simply, I support businesses to sell more through Sales Geek’s Your Sales Director and Your Sales Trainer packages. These use proven methods to achieve more leads, more pipeline, more revenue, higher conversion, more customers, account growth, streamlined operation and more business.
“I’m looking to work with business of all shapes and sizes in South West London, from SMEs and start-ups to multimillion-pound organisations, helping them accelerate their growth using frameworks, techniques and strategies that have already supported over 500 businesses.”
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From left: Dr Nithya Anandan, Dr Rashad Nazir, Lauren Campbell
Warrington healthcare group, Expert TMS, has embarked on an ambitious expansion plan which includes the opening of two new clinics in Liverpool and Cardiff under its new identity, Optimise Healthcare Group.
Demand for its mental healthcare schemes have surged during the COVID pandemic, leading to a 1,150% increase in its seven-figure turnover compared with the previous year.
Optimise has signed a one-year licence agreement with renowned Ghosh Medical Group, to operate a clinic at its Rodney Street practice in Liverpool city centre, involving more than £100,000 of investment. The Cardiff site has been taken on a 14 month lease.
Founded in 2018 by medical director, Dr Nithya Anandan, Optimise, alongside the group’s CEO, Dr Rashad Nazir, and managing director, Lauren Campbell, now employs a growing team of nine. Recent appointments include new registered manager, Sarah Mills, and Vanessa Thurston at the Cardiff clinic who, together, bring 19 years of experience in the sector with them.
Dr Nithya Anandan said: “The Liverpool expansion is particularly exciting and not only sees us collaborate more with GP services and an expansion of the healthcare side of our operations, but we find ourselves in the heart of Rodney Street working with Dr Arun Ghosh whose reputation precedes him.”
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Nikodem Pancewicz, left, and Martin Vares
Manchester-based Fractory, a cloud manufacturing company connecting UK engineers to production capacity online, has expanded to the US market and opened an office in Chicago, Illinois.
Expanding to the US market has been the long term goal of the company, which raised £6.5m in funding last year. Co-founder and CEO, Martine Vares, said: “We’ve proven the value our service creates based on our experience in the UK and mainland Europe – that experience and the £6.5m we raised last year puts us in a really strong position to make an impact in the US market.”
Fractory said the US has a long history of outsourcing manufacturing from China – as it’s a cheaper option. There is an increasing need for an alternative, especially among the engineering companies looking for more sustainable and ethical manufacturing. The UK, with its strong manufacturing industry, could be one of the candidates. Vares said: “We have over 60 UK-based manufacturing partners whose quality of work is second to none. So we can answer the US market’s needs by enabling easy access to the UK’s resources.”
The company’s US operations will be run by Nikodem Pancewicz, a Harvard graduate who specialises in sustainable manufacturing and supply chains. Nikodem’s extensive experience, among other industry giants, is from ABB and Eaton. In both corporations, he has managed large scale multimillion projects.
Fractory is an automated on demand manufacturing platform connecting engineering and manufacturing companies. The company aims to make more efficient use of the available machinery, filling the production gaps by distributing jobs according to manufacturer availability, lead time, expertise and capabilities.
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Richard Greathead
Nutrition Group has seen its total sales grow by 22% in the past 12 months. The Blackpool-based international food supplement and health product business achieved revenues of £24.1m. It is the second double digit percentage annual sales growth in two years. In 2019/20 it reported £18.8m sales, a 36.1% rise.
The business supplies some of the world’s most renowned nutrition brands. Its growing client base includes major vitamin brands and well known online sports nutrition businesses and health food multiples.
The family-owned company has seen sales grow throughout the COVID-19 pandemic alongside a dramatic rise in demand for its immune system-boosting products. With a 150- strong workforce, Nutrition Group specialises in manufacturing tablets, capsules and protein bars for the health supplements market. The business, which was founded more than 25 years ago, currently produces two billion tablets and 500 million capsules a year.
Nutrition Group chief executive, Richard Greathead, said: “It has been another 12 months of sustained growth and development for the business in challenging times, thanks to the hard work and dedication of our workforce. They have shown a real commitment to excellence and the flexibility and resilience they have shown to face the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic over the last two years has to be admired.
“Looking ahead, we’re seeing continuing strong orders throughout our vitamin supplement and healthy snacks divisions. Our programme of major investment in our production capability also continues to move forward, to ensure we remain at the forefront of our sector and are able to meet the needs of our clients moving forward.”
