Award finalists put people first

Apr 16 2008 by Sion Barry, Western Mail

THE finalists in the Welsh People Development Company of the Year category can be unveiled today. The award is one of nine categories in the Western Mail Business Awards for Wales 2008, which will be staged at a ceremony at Cardiff International Arena on May 23. This year’s finalists are Pensord, Corus Strip Products and Watkin Jones. Last year the title went to Newport-based consolidated lender Picture Financial. The awards, now in their eleventh year, will be presented by television presenter Bill Turnbull. Other categories in the awards, in association with the University of Glamorgan’s Business School, include Welsh Company of the Year Business Achiever. To book a table at the awards dinner contact Emma Brennan on 029 2058 3819 or email emma.brennan@mediawales.co.uk

Corus in the spotlight

Company: Corus Strip Products UK (CSP UK), part of the Tata Steel Group.

Sector: Steel

Annual turnover: CSP UK circa £1.bn

Number of employees: CSP UK employs 5,185 at three sites in Wales: Port Talbot, Llanwern and Pontarddulais

What are your aspirations for the business in the next five years?

We aspire to be the global steel industry benchmark for value creation and for corporate citizenship. Within this, CSP UK's mission is “to create a sustainable steel industry in Wales”.

This means that the business seeks to extend “sustainability” in every sense of the word: to be an economic generator and source of prosperity, to be innovative and dynamic in pursuing innovation, but equally not only to meet its challenges with respect to health, safety and the environment, but to be a driving force in positively shaping our community and improving the workplace and our surroundings.

With respect to specific business aspirations our priorities are to:

Broaden our customer base

Improve our cost base

Improve our effectiveness through structured business processes

Improve the capability of our people to deliver our goals

Respect our employees, community and the environment

How much do you invest in training?

Our budget for people development is £2.9m per annum.

What is your annual staff retention level as a percentage of workforce?

Our current turnover figure is 5.2%. A high retention level emphasises the need for a strong culture of continuous improvement and a dynamic sense of change in people development. These facts underlie the importance of The Journey and the heavy investment into it as a long-term commitment.

Do you face difficulties in recruiting staff?

We have recruited about 400 people into CSP UK every year for the past five years or so, and the number of employees in the business has grown gradually by about 700 in that same time. As we increase production, we are also producing higher quality materials and activity on our sites has increased proportionately. At the same time, capital investment in CSP UK's site at Port Talbot alone has reached nearly £70m in the first quarter of 2008. All this is creating jobs, notably in specialist engineering, continuous improvement and support services. Recruiting the right people to the right roles is always challenging – and for some roles the difficult task is in selection rather than attraction. We have this kind of experience in "bulk" roles. However, we face difficulties in attracting applicants in specialist skills, and craft, engineering and technical specialists.

In order to overcome these challenges, we have forged special relationships with both Cardiff and Swansea Universities where we are closely involved with an engineering doctorate scheme. We also have a programme of schools liaison.

What percentage of your workforce is under 25 or over 55?

Under 25: 416, 8%. Over 55: 373, 7%.

Pensord in the spotlight 

Number of employees: 137

Location: Pontllanfraith, Blackwood.

Sector: Printing

Annual turnover / profits:

In the four and a half years since a management buyout at the company, Pensord has grown its turnover to more than £11m.

Turnover has increased by 78% from £6.24m in 2002 to £11.08m in 2007, while pre-tax profits have moved from a loss of £361,000 to a profit of £768,000.

What does the company do?

Founded in 1969 by the Billboard Company of America to produce the weekly publication Record Retailer, Pensord is a specialist periodical magazine printer, printing over 300 magazine titles for some of the UK’s leading publishers. Since the management buyout in 2003 the company’s fortunes have been rejuvenated, with investment in excess of £8m in leading edge equipment and the launch of the Pensord Charter to underpin the company’s business culture.

What are your aspirations for the business in the next five years?

At the company’s management buyout in 2003 we pledged to double the size of the company in five years and are on track to achieve this.

The next five years will see consolidation and further growth, with further investment in new equipment, and the ongoing development of staff – the “Pensord People”.

We are now focusing on extending our customer offering in the digital arena by means of “digital editions” of our customers’ magazines; this will be complementary to our print services and enhance customer retention.

How much do you invest in training?

Through the recent exercise to achieve Investor in People status we have identified that every member of staff has received training in the last two years. Much of this training has been internal and the cost is therefore not easy to calculate.

Whatever it has cost has been well worth it. It always pays to invest in your people. Through training we can enhance everyone’s understanding of how this business works, and show that we all have a significant role to play in our success.

What is your annual staff retention as a percentage of workforce?

We are seen as an employer of choice in the local area and 14 of our staff have returned to us over the years having left and worked elsewhere. As a result staff retention is high at 94% and indeed the average length of service (excluding those who joined us as a result of expansion in 2007) is 13 and a half years.

Do you face difficulties in recruiting suitable staff?

We have a strong reputation in the area, and are considered a very good employer. A number of staff have returned to us after experiencing life away from Pensord.

Do you think Wales has an adequately skilled workforce?

We very rarely have difficulty in filling a vacancy and conduct our own in-house training to deliver industry specific skills. What’s really important to us are basic literacy and numeracy skills and these do seem to be deteriorating over the years.

What percentage of your workforce is under 25 or over 55?

10% of our people are aged under 25. 16% are aged over 55.

Watkin Jones in the spotlight

Number of employees: 285

Location: Bangor.

Sector: Construction

Annual turnover/profits: Turnover £110m/profits £12.7m

What does the company do?

Medium-sized developer and contractor, encompassing general contracting and house building, and specialising in the development of student accommodation schemes.

What are your aspirations for the business in the next five years?

To continue to grow the business in terms of sales and profit by promoting the continuous well-being of all employees to ensure this is achieved. Since recognising the importance of these aspirations in 2002, the group has enjoyed year on year growth in both sales and profit.

We are committed to ensuring that the group provides excellent opportunities for its employees. Training remains high on our agenda and we continue to invest significantly in this area to ensure that staff benefit from their own personal development and are qualified to meet the needs of the group in the years ahead.

How much do you invest in training?

Year on year we invest more and more in training and development. In 2007 we invested £1.3m – a growth of 61% from 2006.

What is your annual staff retention level as a percentage of workforce?

Our current staff retention figures for 07/08 to date is 7%.

Do you face difficulties in recruiting suitable staff?

We have, and continue to face difficulties in recruiting staff, however due to our recent investment in training and recognition from industry watchdogs such as Construction Skills and Constructing Excellence we have noted a sharp increase in potential candidates approaching us directly. In order to improve our catchment area we have also recently opened an office in Warrington.

We have a dedicated HR, recruitment and training team who are employed to ensure everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Do you think Wales has an adequately skilled workforce?

The skills gap is one of the biggest problems facing employers and remains high on Watkin Jones Group’s agenda. This requires a long-term plan of action to which the company is committed.

We continue to target and work with secondary schools, further education colleges and careers offices in promoting the construction industry and its vast career opportunities.

What percentage of your workforce is under 25 or over 55?

Currently, of the 285 employees, we employ 18.