May 20-Keynote speaker Sir Richard Needham engaged conference delegates with a trenchant address to open the Moulding Business Debate at the PDM10 trade show, Telford, on Tuesday (18 May).
The director for international and commercial affairs (and sometime deputy chairman) at leading vacuum cleaner business Dyson was responsible for implementing the company s controversial decision to move its manufacturing from the UK to the Far East in 2002.
Needham remains unrepentant about the move, asserting that the transfer immediately raised Dyson s gross margin on vacuum cleaners from around 40 to 60%. Among other reasons, he cited problems with erratic supply and quality from Dyson s European (not merely UK) moulding suppliers.
However, Needham offered upbeat suggestions for UK moulders in addressing current market conditions. China s Confucian culture, he said, emphasises deference rather than lateral thinking, whereas the UK s education system and habits of thought still confer distinct advantages for entrepreneurship.
It is evidently unrealistic to bring back tooling for current work from the Far East to Britain, noted Needham, but Britain should look to compete assertively for new projects and products.
Richard Needham was a government minister in Margaret Thatcher s and John Major's administrations. He is credited with being the most successful British trade minister since the second world war.
Recently, as Chairman of Avon Rubber, he has helped the company to transform from being a small player in the automotive tyre sector to a market-leading specialist in personal respiratory gear for the military and other demanding markets.
Needham offered PDM delegates concise and pithy advice distilled from his own experience.
On entrepreneurship and general management:
Discover and grow the diamonds in your business key differentiators which will embed your brand in customers consciousness.
Be aggressive about profit margins don t cut them, even in a recession!
Trust your instinct in addressing different market sectors go where your "nose" tells you.
Take your intellectual property seriously, with proper attention to patenting and rights.
Don t confine your board of directors to specialist accountants while some are necessary, they should have a broad outlook and versatile skillset.
On human resources and management psychology:
Don t bother with headhunters.
Talk with your management team one-to-one don t merely address them en masse.
Make sure that credit for success goes to whomsoever is directly responsible not just to top management!
The director for international and commercial affairs (and sometime deputy chairman) at leading vacuum cleaner business Dyson was responsible for implementing the company s controversial decision to move its manufacturing from the UK to the Far East in 2002.
Needham remains unrepentant about the move, asserting that the transfer immediately raised Dyson s gross margin on vacuum cleaners from around 40 to 60%. Among other reasons, he cited problems with erratic supply and quality from Dyson s European (not merely UK) moulding suppliers.
However, Needham offered upbeat suggestions for UK moulders in addressing current market conditions. China s Confucian culture, he said, emphasises deference rather than lateral thinking, whereas the UK s education system and habits of thought still confer distinct advantages for entrepreneurship.
It is evidently unrealistic to bring back tooling for current work from the Far East to Britain, noted Needham, but Britain should look to compete assertively for new projects and products.
Richard Needham was a government minister in Margaret Thatcher s and John Major's administrations. He is credited with being the most successful British trade minister since the second world war.
Recently, as Chairman of Avon Rubber, he has helped the company to transform from being a small player in the automotive tyre sector to a market-leading specialist in personal respiratory gear for the military and other demanding markets.
Needham offered PDM delegates concise and pithy advice distilled from his own experience.
On entrepreneurship and general management:
Discover and grow the diamonds in your business key differentiators which will embed your brand in customers consciousness.
Be aggressive about profit margins don t cut them, even in a recession!
Trust your instinct in addressing different market sectors go where your "nose" tells you.
Take your intellectual property seriously, with proper attention to patenting and rights.
Don t confine your board of directors to specialist accountants while some are necessary, they should have a broad outlook and versatile skillset.
On human resources and management psychology:
Don t bother with headhunters.
Talk with your management team one-to-one don t merely address them en masse.
Make sure that credit for success goes to whomsoever is directly responsible not just to top management!
