Holding Industry Together Since 1870
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Holding Industry Together Since 1870
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Announcement Wednesday 5th November 2008 The nominees for the Sheffield Business Awards have been published today and Williams Fasteners are very proud to be placed in the shortlist for two awards. For the third year running, the company has been nominated in the award which recognises the training and development taking place within the business. This year, The City Strategy Excellence in Skills Award is looking to recognise an organisation showing evidence of significant business improvement and success through the effective training and personal development of its workforce. The improvement in training and development which has taken place at Williams Fasteners since the management buy-out is one of the reasons for the success of the business. By investing in the employees and involving everyone in the future of the business, turnover, profits and morale have improved tremendously over the last three years. Despite the credit crunch, where other companies are cutting back on their training budget, Williams is investing even more time and money in their staff and the investment is paying off for each individual as well as the company.
Susan, who owns the company with fellow director Tony Searles, has been with the company since November 2001. Starting as Company Accountant and then being appointed as a board director in December 2003, Susan had no hesitation when the opportunity for the management buy-out was offered in July 2005. Her leadership and management skills have been improved through attending many courses and receiving training specifically aimed at her new position. She took qualifications in directorship and management and as a result of new skills; she has transformed the way that Williams is now run, being creative and motivational in her approach. She encourages everyone to develop their skills and works with managers and staff to aid them in their development. She is innovative when it comes to motivating employees and has introduced a number of benefits for all employees that has resulted in improvements in sales, profits and staff morale. She is inspirational when it comes to setting goals and objectives as they are both challenging and rewarding and understood by everyone who is involved with Williams Fasteners and improve the quality of the working conditions as well as the success of the business. Tony Searles says “I have been employed at Williams for 30 years and during that time have seen many changes, both good and bad, which included many Managing Directors who were either members of the founding family or consultants appointed on their behalf. Williams Fasteners hit rock bottom in the summer of 2001 after a series of bad decisions which resulted in losses, and as sales manager I could see a huge decline in sales and future business. When Sue arrived she immediately addressed the problems with management information and as a result of us receiving accurate and timely reports and accounts, it enabled the management team to make decisions that were productive for the business. Despite being an accountant, Sue had an amazing understanding of the business needs and worked with all the managers to improve every area within the business – even the sales team could not fault her pushing them to achieve targets that were set to encourage growth and profit. As a result of Sue’s expertise handling in setting objectives, goals and targets, everyone is now benefitting from financial rewards as a result of performance bonuses being paid each year since the management buy-out. Sue is a visionary! She introduced our company vision in 2006 and has worked with every individual to encourage them to adopt their own personal development plan to help develop their skills and knowledge. This resulted in the company being awarded the Investors in People Standard in December 2006 and has been recognized by Rotherham Chamber of Commerce when we won the Training and Development Award in October 2006. Susan continues to address the vision, setting new objectives as we reach and surpass existing targets, encouraging the involvement of managers and staff in the future of the business. She keeps me on my toes, always coming up with new ideas to improve morale and motivate the staff to meet the challenges of the current economic climate. Over the last 12 months, Susan has been able to get involved in helping other organisations in Sheffield by encouraging them to develop and prosper. Sue has encouraged everyone at Williams to get involved with fund raising and with her at the helm, every event we do to raise funds for charity result in the staff at Williams having a great day. On 14th November for Children in Need, every office is focusing on a film and will be dressed up accordingly. If anyone would like to join us for a coffee, bring your wallets, make a donation and join us for a drink to raise funds for this worthy cause! Sue will be joining the accounts team as one of the Pink Ladies (Grease!) and I refused to be a schoolboy, but will be one of the teachers for St Trinians! I could not have picked a better business partner. Susan is a friend, colleague, mentor and true professional – it is a pleasure to work alongside her and I am very pleased that she has received this much deserved nomination. There is no doubt in my mind that she deserves this award as in my view she is definitely the business person of the year.”
If you would like to visit Williams Fasteners, Sheffield, on 14th November, please call Angela or Rachel on 0114 256 5200 to make an appointment.
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Copyright © 2005
Williams Fasteners
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