Sector Focus – Entrepreneurs setting the pace in 2022

We speak to two local business leaders / women entrepreneurs to see how they have adapted over the past 2 years, the lessons learnt, and how they are setting the pace for 2022…

Denise Chilton – Professional Certified Coach and Leadership Development Specialist with over 10 years’ coaching experience.

As a career and leadership coach Denise Chilton had to adapt her business to ensure she could continue to deliver support through the pandemic.

‘I think like everybody else, the first few weeks of the pandemic. I went oh my goodness. I’m going to lose my business, and I think that was really because of the domino effect of clients cancelling work. I remember there was a point when I decided I need a plan to come out of the other end otherwise I wouldn’t survive.

Denise has been working virtually for the last twelve years, working with clients all over the world, with her furthest located in Bangladesh so, fortunately already had the means in place to transfer all her coaching online.

‘But what was interesting, was most of my face-to-face work was within the northwest pre pandemic and now as we return to working face to face again it is moving back to the way it was.’

As we went into the first lockdown Denise worked on an NHS Looking After You Too programme providing a safe space for primary care staff to talk through what they were going through on the front line with an experienced coach.

‘That was a great piece of work, which was a privilege to be asked to do.

I started to notice in business that people were feeling disconnected, and that managers and business owners were really struggling with managing performance virtually.

Denise began putting on sessions to allow teams in businesses to connect with each other in a virtual environment. It was an opportunity to put business as normal aside and help others to connect.

I actually took some time out to do some self-development, I did a diploma in team coaching, whilst, at the same time taking time for my own self-care not burning myself out so I’ve had a really positive experience of the pandemic.

I think there was something I learnt about the importance of connection during the last 2 years, and also about how we connect with each other. I think the consistent thing in business is that you must be agile and able to adapt to your market and look for new ways. Otherwise, we won’t survive.

You can get some real great results from working virtually you just have to connect in a different way.

Moving forward in 2022, Denise is using her new skills from the pandemic.

I know what really works well for me and I know where I can give my best. So I think what the pandemic has done even more, it’s really helped me refine my offer. For me it’s about doing meaningful work.

Setting my own pace and doing work that is really aligned to my values and where I think I add the most value, when I do that then I get a better balance because actually, I do all my other stuff as well. My activity and my lifestyle choices. So for me, it’s about getting the balance right and then I can fully show up for the people I work for.

Find out more about Denise Chilton’s Coaching on her website, here; Denise Chilton: Executive and Career Coaching

Bronzie UK Ltd – Bronzie is a luxury tanning & accessories brand founded in the summer of 2014 by beauty expert Leanne LeGuen

Bronzie offers a wide range of tanning accessories including a back and body mitt, and after-tanning jumpsuit, and as we come out the pandemic and BREXIT, Bronzie continues to go from strength to strength.

Two years on, people are getting back to planning holidays, and getting back out for tanning but the retailer game has changed, businesses have gone online, with websites and Instagram, and more predominantly Tiktok.

Bronzie is stepping into the social media aspect, with Tiktoks featuring real people tanning. You can see them here; Bronzie UK (@bronzieuk) TikTok | Watch Bronzie UK’s Newest TikTok Videos

Leanne said: ‘We’re in an industry where there’s such big brands out there, a continuous conversation we have is how do we compete with the big brands that have the big budgets? For me, it’s discovering what we have has a brand that they haven’t, it’s about a personal touch. For us it’s showing the realness of real people tanning.’

Bronzie is a small business who tries to keep costs down as much as they can. This, Leanne feels helped the business during the pandemic, she says; ‘It’s taught me how resilient we are, if we had 10/15 staff, I don’t know how I would’ve done, but I am thankful we’re small.’

Bronzie is continuing to grow and develop as they look forward to taking their brand global, branching out into the European and US market.

Leanne says, there’s so much you can do it’s just having the knowledge and the people around to help you.

Bronzie is Australian made, using Australian kakadu plums that work to stimulate collagen production and reduce fine lines & wrinkles, Cruelty Free and Rich in Antioxidants, you can find their full range on their website; Bronzie | Fake Tan, Tanning Mitts, After Tan Jumpsuits & Accessories – bronzieuk

Behind the Doors: Hardwood Sales

Investing to grow is not a new concept but it is one that still eludes many businesses – not so with Hardwood Sales in Knowsley where annual turnover is on track to hit £30m this year, against £23 last year.

And that is thanks to investment in new machinery over the past couple of years totalling almost £5m. Director John McCoy said: “We are much more than just a timber yard. We can supply customers to their exact specifications using precision engineering.”

Operating out of a 75,000 sq ft, nine-acre site, Hardwood Sales has a legitimate claim to be the UK’s leading independent hardwood specialist importer. It was founded in 2006 by three friends – John McCoy, Tony Collins and John Crosbie.

Its headquarters houses a mill, multi-rip saw and lacquering facilities. The business imports hardwoods from Europe, America, Africa and the Far East and offers its diverse array of customers a bespoke machining service to suit individual specifications. It employs around 70 people.

According to John McCoy, Hardwood Sales has built special relationships with many of its regular customers and has established a reputation for turning around urgent jobs in “impossible timescales”.

He explained: “We do a lot of work for clients in London. Some of it can be quite complex. The other week we had one request for a three to four-day turnaround on a job that would normally take a month. We have an amazing team here and we dropped everything and got it done.

“That is the kind of relationship we have with our clients. We will work with them to make sure things get done. You say you want it by Tuesday, then we will do our best to get it to you by Tuesday. That kind of commitment is really appreciated.”

Hardwood Sales’ customer roll ranges from small joinery manufacturers in Ireland to some of the best hotels in the world. It has worked on celebrity mansions, luxury apartment skyscrapers, schools, hospitals, prisons and has even supplied hardwood to Chester Zoo. It exports products to around 10 countries worldwide.

One of its current jobs is to supply a £1bn development that is transforming former Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s war rooms into a five-star Raffles Hotel and 90 apartments that will sell for £15m each.

The business is enjoying considerable growth and success right now but, similar to many companies, Hardwood Sales has had to adapt to challenges thrown up by both the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit.

“I’ll be honest, when the pandemic first hit we were initially quite scared,” explained John. “However, within a short space of time we had customers ringing us up saying ‘please don’t close’. That was an indication of how much demand there is for what we do.

“We found ourselves doing a lot of work for the NHS. A lot of hospitals and laboratories had to be reconfigured to cope with the virus so we were building new doorframes and screens. We started to get similar requests from door manufacturers.

“In terms of Brexit, that has created challenges of its own. We had to adjust in terms of currencies and over the past six months we have been seeing issues around deliveries. Pre-Brexit it might have taken three to four days to get a delivery from within the EU. Now, with all the extra paperwork, you can easily add a week onto that.”

This means to make sure they can continue to fulfil orders from customers, Hardwood Sales now has to keep a higher level of stock than it used to. At any one time, it will carry 2,500 cubic metres of consistent quality hardwood in stock with another 500 cubic metres waiting to dock.

Sustainability is now on the radar of most businesses and in the case of Hardwood Sales, there are two aspects to that. All its wood has to come from sustainable, and legal sources. John Added: “We do a lot of work for Government organisations and so we have to absolutely stay on top of that.

“And in terms of our own carbon footprint we have invested in the latest machinery that helps us cut down on both waste and energy usage. When we engineer the wood it produces a better yield with less waste. That has also helped us become more profitable.

“This is important because, like most businesses, we are facing rising costs – energy prices, haulage costs. We are navigating through that right now and the big question you always face as a business is how much of the extra costs do you pass on to your customers.”

Hardwood Sales’ Knowsley base gets frequent visits from customers and other people within the wood industry. John says they are always amazed at what the company has managed to build in such a short space of time.

“What we have built here is one of the most advanced hardwood engineering facilities in the UK and people in the trade who come here always remark on how incredible it is what we have achieved,”

“As I said, we are so much more than just a timber yard and our reputation for expertise is growing. We are seeing an increasing number of requests for timber to be machined to precise, and often complex, specifications.

“Myself and the other two founders are still very much hands-on. We have a great team and one of the challenges is finding people with the right experience to bring into the business. That is why we also invest in young people. We have people who we took on when they were young who now have senior roles in the business.

“We actively encourage established members of our team to work closely with the next generation of our people so vital skills are passed on. We have built a fantastic business here – we are really pushing the boundaries in terms of what you can do with wood.”