Corporate Vision October 2017

8 CORPORATE VISION / October 2017 , Neatcrown Corwen Ltd.’s mission is to provide manufacturing solutions in the liquid, powder and pellet markets. Managing Director, Benjamin Griffiths was delighted to achieve the 2017 CEO of the Year-UK accolade, after whichwe enjoyed an in-depth interview with him to discover more about his career background and his approach to leadership. The Skill of Cultivating Persistence Bugs on your roses; weeds on a driveway or tomatoes wilting in the greenhouse are a gardener’s worst nightmare. They can ruin months of careful planning, but for over 40 years in the UK, Neatcrown Corwen Ltd.’s factory has produced some of the leading brands to take care of these problems. In fact, they produce the worldwide majority under licence for SBM Development of household names such as Baby Bio Houseplant food, Phostrogen plant food and the Provado bug killer range. Neatcrown sells into 35 countries, from the Caribbean to Australasia and during the busiest times of year, they provide employment for over 100 people in the small North Wales town of Corwen. With unemployment in the area significantly higher than the national average, it has been important that for the firm to have provided stable jobs for local people. In some cases, this has been for three generations of families in the area. The firm’s success is due entirely to the people they have in the business, indeed Managing Director Benjamin Griffiths believe that it has been easier for every team member to contribute, due to the following simple set of beliefs. • Providing a service for their customers that no one else can; • Helping their team members achieve more than they thought was possible and; • Reminding the local community how thankful they are for their support. Benjamin goes on to develop the point and why it is important to understand how and who makes you money, plus his reflections on winning the prestigious 2017 CEO of the Year-UK accolade, as the interview kicks off. “I believe it has been this mantra that has kept us profitable for over eight years. Too many directors see the wage bill in terms of an expense on the profit and loss, rather than rewarding the asset your team members represent. You do not go into a gold mine looking for dirt and it is the same with teams. They all can contribute, but it is up to your culture and structure to ensure that they do. “In any business, it is important to understand how and who makes you money. In our business, it is the operators on the production lines and no other team member including myself, directly ‘adds value’. Of course, indirectly we do, but one of the biggest transformations was for everyone to accept that if they weren’t working directly on the production line, then their role was to make the production operatives’ lives easier. “I have been asked to answer what it feels like to win this award and what key attributes I have that makes me an award-winning CEO. In honesty, it feels about 50 years too early to win this award, I am sure there are many more CEOs who have had greater success, over a longer period time and overcome many more challenges than I have. What I can offer, is an insight into how I can run multiple companies 1709CV09