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MIDLANDS BUSINESS INSIDER                            www.midlandsbusinessinsider.com

                                                                                      ™
                                                       VOL.29 NO.1 £10 JANUARY 2021

        NINE LIVES
       WATERWORLD’S MO CHAUDRY AND EIGHT OTHER BUSINESS LEADERS
        TELL OF HOW THEY LANDED ON THEIR FEET DURING LOCKDOWN
NINE LIVES - VOL.29 NO.1 £10 JANUARY 2021 - Flickread
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NINE LIVES - VOL.29 NO.1 £10 JANUARY 2021 - Flickread
Businesses featured
in this issue

                                                      JANUARY 2021
AB Produce                              28
Acclimatise                            53*
Addo Food Group                        53*
Advanced Medical Solutions Group       53#
Aeristech                              53#
AEW                                     20        		AGENDA

                                             4
Air IT                                 53*
Airtech Controls                       53#
                                                   4	Profile – Ideagen’s Ben Dorks: The chief executive of
Amazon,                             20, 28            the super-acquisitive IT business on why it has such
Apollo Chemicals Group                 53#
Arcadis                                 34            a hunger for buying businesses
Armitage Pet Care                      53*         6	Vision 2021 – the economy: The world has altered
Aston Martin Lagonda                   53#
Barrett                                 37            radically in the last 12 months – the coming year looks
Barwood Land                            37
BHM Knitwear                           53*
                                                      like one of major change too
Birds Bakery                             7         7	My lockdown: In a special report Insider speaks to nine
Bombardier,                             18
Bosch                                   15            business leaders who overcame the problems of the
British Land                            20            pandemic and found new opportunities for 2021
Chase Distillery                       53#
Clifton Packaging                        7
Clowes
Codemasters
                                        37
                                       53#
                                                      DIGITAL + TECH

                                             7
CoMech                                   7        15	5G: The great leveller that will put small businesses
CWB                                     53
Daimler                                53#            on an equal footing with big corporations
David Wilson Homes                      37
Davidsons Homes                         37
Derby County                           53*        		MANUFACTURING
D-Risq                                 53#
Drummond Estate                         37
                                                  20	Vision 2021 – manufacturing: Innovation and exports will be
Dukeshill Ham Company                  53#            the twin drivers of the revival of Midland manufacturing
East Midlands Demolition               53*
Experian                                28
Fenflow
Frasers
                                       53*
                                       53*
                                                  		LOGISTICS
Games Workshop                          28        22	Vision 2021: The explosive growth of online retail will
Gazeley                                 20
GKN                                     18
                                                      drive further change in one of the region’s key industries
Hammond Estates                         37
Holland Alexander                        7
                                                  		SKILLS
                                             28
Homeserve                               24
House of Fraser                        53*        24	Vision 2021 – skills: Businesses say action is needed
Huub                               48, 53*
Ideagen                                  4            to avoid a post-Covid skills crisis
Jaguar Land Rover                       18
James and James                         48
JCB                                     18        		 ECONOMIC REPORT
Jerroms                                53#
John Pye & Sons                          7        28	East Midlands Economy: The region sets out its stall to
Knights                                53#            create 84,000 jobs and boost its economy by £4.8bn
Kuhne + Nagel                           28
LearnPlay Foundation                   53#        30	Freeports survey: Almost half of Midland businesses
Leicester Tissue Company               53*
LEVC                                    18
                                                      say creating a freeport in the region will increase profits
Lindhurst                               37            and jobs
Macildowie                               7
Maltgrade                               37
Mazak                                   15        		PROPERTY
McAuliffe                               34

                                             41
Microtrading                           53*        32	Vision 2021 – property: Quality, location, comfort and
MyWorkWear                               7
National Grid                           18
                                                       openness are no longer luxuries, but essentials
Nestle                                  28        34	Planning: The government wants a revolution in

                                             48
Network Space.                          20
Persimmon                               37             planning. But are we in danger of losing control
Pharmaseal International               53*        37 	Residential Property: A series of huge housing schemes
PPS                                     53
Raleigh Adhesive Coatings              53#             are planned for the East Midlands. Where and when will
Reconomy                               53#
Redrow Homes                            34
                                                       they be built?
ReSource Mortgages                      53        41	Midlands Residential Property Awards: The winners
Rolls-Royce                         18, 25
Rutland Partners                       53*
Segro                                   28        		DEALS
Smartbox                               53#
Sports Direct                          53*        48	Vision 2021 – deals: A rush of business owners could
St Modwen                               20
Staffline                              53*
                                                      be on the verge of selling up. What’s driving the race
Starship                                20            for the door?
Tamlite                                  7
Tarmac                                  18        53	Deal despatches: Who’s buying, who’s selling,
Taylor Wimpey                           37            who’s advising?
The Access Group                       53*
Timico                                  15
Tonik Energy
Toyota
                                       53#
                                        18
                                                  		BULLRINGER/TRENT
UK Flooring Direct                     53*        56	Gossip: All the printable gossip from our chaps
Uniper                                  28
Urban & Civic                           37            about town
Very Group                              28
Vodafone                                15
Waterworld                               7
Wattbike                                48        MIDLANDS BUSINESS INSIDER – DIGITAL EDITION
Wavenet                                53#
William Davis Homes                     37        www.insidermedia.com/membership/app
X-Mist                                 53#

Key: * East Midlands only
      #
        West Midlands only
                                                                                     insider JANUARY 2021 |   1
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EDITORIAL t: 07737 360 253
Editor Kurt Jacobs
kurt.jacobs@newsco.com
                                                                                                   Thank you
Business editor Ian Griffin                                                                        Insider would like to issue a heartfelt thank you to all our
ian.griffin@newsco.com                                                                             magazine readers, advertisers and event sponsors who have
Sub-editors Keith Morris, Matthew Rogers
                                                                                                   continued to back us through these testing times. As the
RESEARCH t: 0161 907 9714                                                                          business community is at the very centre of what we do, we
Senior researcher Rob Mayfield
                                                                                                   know it’s been a difficult time for many. We appreciate your
SALES t: 0121 214 6560                                                                             understanding and are truly grateful for your unwavering support.
Regional sales director Tracey Bull
Business development director Craig Dorham
Property services manager Jack Myatt
Business development manager
Nicky Burgess
                                                                                                Kurt Jacobs, editor
PRODUCTION t: 0161 907 9732
Production director Bob Stoney
Design & production Martin Bain
                                                                    Big-picture thinking
EVENTS t: 0161 907 9741
                                                                    Read it too quickly and you might miss it. There it is at the bottom of page 28 – the
Events director Lianne Reid                                         East Midlands needs an elected mayor, say major regional politicians. To which, as
MEMBERSHIP/SUBSCRIPTIONS
                                                                    Insider’s editor, I can only add “and pretty damn quickly, please”.
t: 0161 907 9733                                                       The East Midlands is at last getting its act together in developing a clear region-wide
subscriptions@newsco.com                                            strategy for its economy. The creation of the East Midlands Development Corporation
Head of membership sales & marketing
Suraj Shrestha
                                                                    (EMDC) is the first significant coming together of local authorities and partners to
                                                                    boost economic development for a decade. It is bringing big-picture thinking to a
ADMINISTRATION/ACCOUNTS
t: 0161 907 9696
                                                                    region in which at a political level, for years, seemed to share only an airport and
e: insider@newsco.com                                               mutual distrust. EMDC has been formed when the region appears to have so many
DIGITAL – Editorial
                                                                    opportunities going for it, such as HS2, the developments around East Midlands
Digital news editor Laurence Kilgannon                              Airport, Segro Logistics Park and Britain’s only inland freeport (p30).
Insider Daily News Jon Robinson                                        But how much more advanced would the East Midlands be if it had an elected mayor
t: 0844 980 0195
                                                                    fighting its case, as the West Midlands has? The establishment of a directly elected
WEST MIDLANDS                                                       mayor and creation of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) have had a
t: 0121 212 0077
f: 0121 214 6568
                                                                    huge impact on the West’s prospects. Its transport policy is far more co-ordinated,
Midlands Business Insider                                           inward investment strategy more advanced, development programme clearly defined.
Livery Place, 35 Livery Street, Birmingham B3 2PB                      Having an elected mayor has given the West Midlands a voice. I talk more of the
EAST MIDLANDS
                                                                    position than the person, but Andy Street has been able to speak directly and with
t: 0115 684 7535                                                    authority to government, business leaders and investors. It allows Street to make
                                                                    pitches for investments like a gigafactory in Coventry, which would transform the
                                                                    region’s automotive industry. The role has also been instrumental in securing government
                                                                    backing for initiatives such as making the West Midlands Britain’s first region-wide
                                                                    test bed for 5G (p15), another technology that will revolutionise the economy. While
                                                                    the leaders of the East Midlands have done a great deal individually, combining their
                                                                    calls into a single clear regional voice would carry far more loudly. All governments
                                                                    like to centralise, such as is now happening in planning regulations (p34), and England
                                                                    needs strong regional leaders to pull powers back. The East Midlands needs a mayor.

                                                                    kurt.jacobs@newsco.com
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NINE LIVES - VOL.29 NO.1 £10 JANUARY 2021 - Flickread
B     en Dorks buys businesses,
      in bulk. While some
bosses make a key acquisition
here, go for a niche strategic
takeover there, he prefers to
count his corporate purchases
by the score.
    “We’ve made 19 acquisitions                                                                                              Ben Dorks
so far, and I want to carry on
making another three or four

                                                       “SURFING
each year,” says the chief
executive of Ideagen. “There’s
never been a better time to do

                                                       A WAVE OF
it: while most potential buyers
are waiting for the tide to come
back, we’re surfing this wave
of chaos because, frankly,

                                                        CHAOS”
we’ll never get bigger bang for
our buck than we will in times
like these. Give it another 18
months, when things have
picked up again, and it’ll be far                            Ideagen is on a growth mission
more difficult.”
    Ideagen was born to buy.
The Nottingham-based IT             “North Star” – is to be valued   as one of the 1,000 Companies       highly-regulated industries. It
business was created in 2011        as a £1bn business by 2023.      to Inspire Britain, based on        has 6,000 customers world-
by chairman David Hornsby as        Ideagen is already halfway       its turnover growth over three      wide, including eight of Britain’s
a shell company with the ex-        there, based on a turnover of    years and by out-performing         biggest accountancies, 180
press purpose of becoming a         about £60-64m in 2020 and        its peers. The company,             hospitals, three quarters of the
major player in the information     an EBITDA of around £18m: the    based in Ruddington, near           world’s largest pharma firms
management sector through a         target is to hit £100m revenue   Nottingham, specialises in the      and “all the top aerospace and
series of acquisitions.             in short order.                  regulatory and compliance           defence companies”. Idea-
    Listed on the AIM market           Ideagen was recently named    markets, handling IT issues in      gen has grown to 600 staff,
in 2012, its strategy – its         by the London Stock Exchange     quality, safety audit and risk in   about a tenth of whom are

4   | insider JANUARY 2021
NINE LIVES - VOL.29 NO.1 £10 JANUARY 2021 - Flickread
Interview: Ben Dorks, Ideagen
                                                                                                                                          AGENDA

                                       IDEAGEN: A HISTORY OF ACQUISITIONS
                                                                                                                         “More than that, you want to
                                       DATE                  ACQUISITION                            DEAL VALUE        ride the momentum generated
                                       09 Jan 2012           Proquis                                  £3,240,000.00   by the acquisition process, to
                                       17 Dec 2012           Plumtree Group                           £2,500,000.00   create change and challenges.
                                       03 Jul 2013           MSS Management Systems Services          £1,179,000.00      “If you can’t quickly and
                                       20 Nov 2013           Pentana                                  £3,050,000.00   fully integrate the technology,
                                                                                                                      the platforms, the people, you
                                       25 Jun 2014           EIBS                                     £1,550,000.00
                                                                                                                      end up with ghost cultures
                                       13 Jan 2015           Gael                                    £18,000,000.00
                                                                                                                      – individual silos and offices,
                                       08 Aug 2016           Covalent Software                        £4,700,000.00   each with their own develop-
                                       09 Dec 2016           IPI Solutions                            £7,020,000.00   ers, service teams, customers,
                                       28 Apr 2017           Pleasetech                              £12,000,000.00   systems, agendas.
                                       06 Apr 2018           Medforce Technologies                    £6,195,474.00      “Eventually they don’t work
                                                                                                                      for you: they work for their
                                       05 Sep 2018           InspectionXpert                          £5,883,383.00
                                                                                                                      specific products but not the
                                       28 Sep 2018           Morgan Kai Group                        £20,500,000.00
                                                                                                                      wider business. It becomes
                                       14 Jan 2019           Scannell Solutions                       £3,500,000.00   organisational debt.”
                                       10 Jun 2019           Redland Business Solutions              £18,000,000.00      Dorks argues that accel-
                                       11 Oct 2019           Optima Diagnostics                       £1,800,000.00   erated integration creates
                                       06 Mar 2020           Workrite                                 £6,800,000.00   opportunities for people within
                                                                                                                      the bought business: half of
                                       10 Aug 2020           Qualsys                                 £15,600,000.00
                                                                                                                      Ideagen’s senior directors
                                                                                                                      joined the group through
                                     a series of small players: its last           “You want to ride                  acquisitions – including Dorks
                                     buy – Sheffield-based Qualsys                                                    himself who came on board in
                                     – was a £15.6m purchase. That                   the momentum                     2013 when his firm, Nottingham’s
                                     followed notable acquisitions                 generated by the                   EIBS, was bought. He believes
                                     such as Bromsgrove’s Redland                                                     that growing the business
based in the US – its biggest        Business Solutions in mid-2019               acquisition process,                quickly not only attracts
export market – and 60-odd           for £18m, and Leeds’ Morgan                    to create change                  income, but talent. Indeed just
at a development hub in the          Kai Group in 2018 for £20.5m.                                                    after our interview Ideagen
Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpa.       In all, Ideagen has spent about               and challenges.”                   announced it was creating 150
However, Ruddington remains          £130m buying businesses                              Ben Dorks                   jobs in Ruddington in customer
the biggest office and centre of     since it started on the acquisi-                                                 support, sales and marketing
                                                                                    chief executive, Ideagen
operations.                          tion trail by picking up Proquis                                                 functions.
   “We’re looking at annual          in 2011 for £3.2m.                                                                  “Most people in businesses
growth of between 20 and 30             The motive for acquisitions               programme is, Ideagen has           we acquire stay – more than
per cent, achieving half of that     is more than just accumulating               already closed Qualsys’             half of our people have been
through acquisition and half         turnover: it is also driven by               Sheffield offices, and brought      here for longer than two
organically,” says Dorks. “To give   getting hold of new tech and                 its work, and people, down to       years – they like the fact we’re
an idea of how far we’re come,       breaking into new markets. The               Ruddington.                         changing and will change
eight years ago the business         business also stresses that                     Dorks proudly shows a            again,” he says. “When we turn
was turning over just £2.3m,         winning new clients through its              72-point framework, covering        up at a business that’s going
and we didn’t break the £10m         acquisitions is not a replacement            all Ideagen’s functions, on         to be integrated we tell their
figure until 2015. But that’s the    for contracts falling off – Dorks            how well it has been brought        people ‘this is your chance to
way it has to be: if you’re not      says the group’s recurring                   into the fold. For example a        shine, to challenge the status
growing, you’re dead.                revenue rate is about 95 per                 business bought in March was        quo of what’s always been,
   “It’s much easier to manage       cent.                                        wholly integrated by mid-           because we are here with
a company that's growing                One thing Dorks professes                 summer on all of Dorks’ points      our ears wide open, listening
because you’re surrounded by         himself fanatical about is the               – people, brand, systems.           to you’.
positivity which naturally gives     quick and complete integration                  “Making an acquisition isn’t        “There are individuals who
you more energy. When you’re         of every business that Ideagen               easy, but the really hard work      want to continue working in
struggling, when every day           acquires: “I don’t believe in                comes in successfully integrat-     that small company environ-
feels like swimming against the      integration by osmosis: it has               ing that business into the wider    ment, be a big fish in a small
tide, it’s mentally and physically   to be planned and executed                   organisation, because that’s        pond. That’s fine, those people
exhausting.”                         quickly.”                                    where you maximise its value,       quickly leave. Here it’s a pacey
   When Dorks talks about ac-           To illustrate just how planned            ensure a full return on capital,”   momentum, and it's not for
quisitions this is not picking off   and focused the integration                  says Dorks.                         everybody.” n

                                                                                                                                 insider JANUARY 2021 |   5
NINE LIVES - VOL.29 NO.1 £10 JANUARY 2021 - Flickread
VISION2021               ECONOMY

GROWTH
INJECTION
Robust Midlands will lead recovery

A     year ago no one would have imagined the economy, the impact
      the strength of the economy in
2021 would depend not on a Brexit deal,
                                                 from Covid being stronger
                                                 than the impact from Brexit.”
                                                                                                                  This would be a
                                                                                                             major fillip for the gov-
                                                                                                            ernment’s levelling up
but the success of a vaccine.                       However, Andrew Bailey,                                 agenda. So too would be
   But after 12 months of being ravaged          governor of the Bank of                                    a government-supported
by a global pandemic, that’s the position        England, has warned a no-deal                              major battery factory – or
UK plc, along with the rest of the world’s       Brexit will cause more damage to                           gigafactory – for the region.
economies, finds itself in.                      the economy than the pandemic.                               The fact that the region is
   Unsurprisingly, the UK economy will see          A no-deal would certainly hurt the                     less reliant on public trans-
a double-digit slump in 2020. But the fall is Midlands because of its                                    port than other parts of the
expected to be around 11 per cent, when it reliance on the automotive sector                            country – not normally seen
could have been a lot, lot worse.                and export market.                                    as something to be proud of –
   Third-quarter growth of 15 per cent and          The good news is the region has                 has actually been an advantage
the very real prospect of a number of            plenty in the pipeline to stimulate                during the pandemic, says
highly effective vaccines being rolled out       growth, with a much-needed post-Covid             Hammond. “Around 80 per cent
by the spring have                                                    boost coming from           of journeys are done on public
helped to end 2020                                                    both Coventry City         transport in London, compared with
on an upbeat note.             “A recovery shaped                     of Culture 2021 and       30 per cent in Birmingham. In many
The new year will bring
                                  like a ‘W’ with a                   the Birmingham            ways London is going to be more
a strong but steady                                                   Commonwealth              challenged for longer.”
recovery.                        swoosh. But with                     Games in 2022.               But investment in public transport
   However, we
                             pockets of really deep                      This will help the     infrastructure forms a key part of the
shouldn’t get too excit-                                              West Midlands regain         government’s levelling up agenda.
ed. It’s likely to take at   distress underneath.” a lot of lost economic                           The £83bn HS2 project, the
least two years before                                                ground, with growth           flagship policy of the levelling
                                      Ian Stewart
the economy is back                                                   expected at 8.9 per           up initiative, will have a more
                                            Deloitte
to pre-Covid levels.                                                  cent in 2021 after            positive impact on the Midlands
   UK growth in 2021 is                                               a fall of 10.6 per            than any other region, say
predicted to hit anywhere between 7.2 per        cent in the past 12 months, according to           experts. However, speculation
cent (according to KPMG) and 4.4 per cent KPMG. Meanwhile, the East Midlands                         that the National Infrastructure
(Deloitte).                                      could pick up by 8.6 per cent in 2021,              Commission will recommend
   The scale of such growth – two to three       after shrinking by 10 per cent in 2020,             the eastern leg of the scheme
times higher than the long-term trend –          says KPMG.                                          ends at East Midlands Parkway
will completely overshadow the impact of            But KPMG is quick to point out these             in south-west Nottinghamshire,
the 31 December Brexit, whether there’s          levels of growth are dependent on                   instead of going on to Sheffield,
a deal or not, says Ian Stewart, Deloitte’s      “a vaccine ending the pandemic by                    will be a major blow, local
chief economist.                                 mid-2021”.                                            politicians warn.
   “We’re predicting a recovery that is             One thing that drives growth is                          A final decision was due
shaped like a ‘W’ with a swoosh.                 investment, and the “promising”                         to be announced as Insider
But even if GDP levels remain steady there       prospect of a partial relocation of the                went to press. Whether it
will be pockets of really deep distress          Ministry of Housing, Communities and                 marks another government
underneath that.                                 Local Communities from London to                     U-turn could be key to the
   “However, it could be that the post-Brexit Wolverhampton, says Matt Hammond,                       region’s growth in 2021 and the
period, on paper, looks a positive one for       PWC’s Midlands chair.                                years ahead. n

6   | insider JANUARY 2021
NINE LIVES - VOL.29 NO.1 £10 JANUARY 2021 - Flickread
My lockdown
                            AGENDA

A LIFT AFTER
 LOCKDOWN
  How Covid changed our businesses

       T    he past year has been by far the most challenging
            period businesses have ever faced. Lockdowns
       and trading restrictions have left companies reeling, and
       many have gone to the wall. While most have
       survived, many have thrived, thanks to their ability
       to quickly adapt and a good dose of far-sighted
       management.
          Here, Insider speaks to nine businesses from a
       range of sectors about their experiences during
       2020, looking at how they coped, the changes they
       made, what new opportunities they pursued and
       how the past 12 months have changed their business
       in the long term.

                                                                   Holland Alex­ander:
                                                                   The live events
                                                                   company has felt
                                                                   the full force of
                                                                   lockdown

                                                                                   insider JANUARY 2021 |   7
NINE LIVES - VOL.29 NO.1 £10 JANUARY 2021 - Flickread
THE PACKAGING
COMPANY
At a time when an invisible bug brought
the world to a standstill, preventing
contamination in our food supply has never
been as critical.
   Clifton Packaging makes the air-tight
film and plastic containers which ensure
our groceries stay fresh, edible and – more
importantly than ever – safe.
   The Leicester-based company specialises
in anti-bacterial film used to kill germs in
meat packaging, an innovation developed
way before most people had even heard of
coronavirus.                                   We’ve always maintained a strong CSR             Changing to survive is second nature to
   Looking for a way to prevent chicken        [corporate social responsibility] ethic.”     the business, says Sheikh. “We’ve always
from being contaminated during                    Clifton’s work in the community ranges     looked to adapt to change.
transportation and while on supermarket        from delivering hot meals to the elderly to      “Don’t wait for the government to fix
shelves, it developed a specialist film        helping small startups make their mark.       everything, because they won’t.
containing an antibacterial coating.              “It’s about looking out for smaller        And customers aren’t interested in your
   “If you buy chicken you pick up a tray      businesses and empowering them,”              problems. They’re only interested in
with your hands. But that tray has             says Sheikh.                                  keeping their own factory running.”
 bacteria on it,” says chairman Zed Sheikh.       “We’ve really put our foot on the gas         One of the biggest problems Clifton
“We supply the film on top of the              when it comes to support work in the          faced during lockdown was getting
packaging. It’s about eliminating as much      community.”                                   workers to its factory after bus services
bacteria as possible.”                            Sheikh and his family know a thing or      were cut and employees were scared
   Unsurprisingly, the family-owned            two about starting from the bottom. Along     about using public transport.
manufacturer has seen a surge in sales         with thousands of other Asians, they were        The business had to hire minibuses to
during the Covid crisis, a success it is       expelled from Uganda in 1972 and came         get their workforce to and from their shifts,
sharing with not only its 120 employees,       to the UK with nothing.                       costing £1,200 per week.
but its community as well.                        Sheikh founded the business with his          But, despite the extra expense, the
   “Businesses have to take the lead in        late brother Khalid, selling carrier bags.    company has still seen profits grow and
community development during a crisis          They moved to Leicester two years later,      turnover rise by 10 per cent to £27m.
like this,” says Sheikh. “We’ve been going     when younger brothers, Shahid and Tahir,      Staff will be getting a bonus this year in
for 40 years after starting from zero.         joined the growing enterprise.                recognition of their dedication.
                                                                                                However, there are still many challenges
                                                                                             on the horizon to which they will need to
                                                                                             adapt, Brexit being one of them.
                                                                                                “When Brexit kicks in the dynamics will
                                                                                             change. It will initially take two weeks to
                                                                                             clear our imports at the seaports. That’s a
                                                                                             big concern because we get the majority
                                                                                             of our raw material from overseas.”
                                                                                                Another issue it will need to address is
                                                                                             a government plan to introduce a tax in
                                                                                             April 2022 on plastic packaging which
                                                                                             does not contain at least 30 per cent of
                                                                                             recycled materials.
                                                                                                Sheikh and his family have responded
                                                                                             in the only way they know – by looking to
                                                                                             the future.
                                                                                                Around £3m has been invested in a
                                                                                             new 96,000 sq ft factory near to its existing
                                                                                             56,000 sq ft site at Meridian Business
                                                                                             Park. The plant, which will serve two new
               Zed Sheikh                                                                    customers, will be equipped with high-tech
                                                                                             machinery and create 20 jobs.

8   | insider JANUARY 2021
My lockdown
                                                                 AGENDA

                                                                                                                             Mo Chaudry

THE LEISURE                                                                                       will come if we have a good brand: if
COMPANY                                                                                           we can do OK under the direst of
It was the year in which Waterworld was to           “We haven’t wasted                           circumstances, then when the good times
have come of age. Some 21 years after              these months by going                          arrive we’ll be ready.”
he had bought the then-loss making                                                                   The other thing Chaudry says saw the
leisure attraction, Mo Chaudry was looking        to sleep: we’ve continued                       business through lockdown was that he
forward to 2020, reaping the rewards of            to focus on upgrading.”                        kept control of debts and has made a point
some £20m worth of investments and                                                                of owning the freeholds on his property.
hitting a £40m turnover for the first time.                   Mo Chaudry                          From the start he has focused on owning,
   “It has been a complete write off,” he                        Waterworld                       rather than leasing, the properties his
admits. “I was expecting turnover to rise by                                                      businesses are based in. This meant he
a third and to make about £6-7m in profit,          “Yes, you need process and procedure,         was able to get a £6m bank loan to fund
but we'll be lucky to break even.”               but you also need entrepreneurial flair. You     the Waterworld development – up to then
   Chaudry has been putting in a series          need to duck and dive, to negotiate and          the business had been debt-free for two
of investments in the Stoke-on-Trent             drive ideas. But Covid and lockdown put          decades.
based attraction, which claims to be North       the last part of the development work back          “I'm old school on this: I’m happiest
Staffordshire’s biggest tourist draw. Last       six months, and meant the attraction was         owning assets and freeholds,” he says. “If
year he installed four new water slides,         open for just a few weeks over the summer        Waterworld failed I’d at least have 12 acres
and was investing in the attraction’s gym,       – its peak period – and operating under          on the best land in North Staffordshire
indoor golf, restaurant and front of house,      social distancing rules.”                        which, because a link road is happening
due to be completed in the spring.                  Yet despite it all, Chaudry is almost         right in front of us, has become super
   He bought the business in 1999 from           uncannily upbeat about Waterworld’s pros-        prime. I can see why a lot of businesses
Rank, when it was losing money for               pects: it’s partly because of initial reaction   don't what to be tied to freehold because
“something less” than the £3m asking             in those few short weeks that the attraction     they want to scale up to 200 facilities, but
price after being given just 24 hours to bid,    was open, and an almost obsessively              that’s left many of them stranded because
and reckons the group – which includes           prudent attitude to risk.                        they can’t afford to pay big leases.
property – is worth about £50m thanks               “When we re-opened Waterworld on 25              “I think in 2021 we're going to have
to some shrewd investments and a keen            July we had five weeks left of the summer        quite a boom in the leisure and hospitality
eye on costs. “It’s amazing what you can         season,” he says. “We didn't know how            industry. We haven't wasted these months
do if you if it’s your money on the line:        people would react. I was so pleased             by going to sleep: we've continued to
large corporates are driven by process and       when we saw a gradual build up, building         focus on upgrading.
procedures – it’s no one's personal liability,   momentum to the point where we were                 “Next year we'll be back to where we
and they can pass the buck on. If it’s your      only 20 per cent down on a record six            were expecting and hopefully may even
pocket, it hurts,” says Chaudry.                 weeks the year before. It showed people          go further.”

                                                                                                                        insider JANUARY 2021 |   9
THE ONLINE                                     back to the auctions and all the new            goods, making the operation slick and
DISCOUNTER                                     innovations. The previous record month          highly profitable.
In the auction game it pays to act quickly     was £400,000,” says Pye.                           As well as being the UK’s leading
and confidently – just as well for a              The business was founded when Pye’s          auction website, it is the world’s 48th most
company forced to change its entire            father John started up an auction business      viewed auction site, two places ahead of
business model almost overnight.               in Nottingham’s Cattle Market in 1968 to        the world-famous Sotheby’s.
   Nottingham-based John Pye & Sons,           offload goods which weren’t good enough            But it’s not just Covid which is proving a
the UK’s largest auction network, had          for his antique shop.                           boon. Big retailers in Europe wanting to get
been growing strongly on the back of              The business, which counts John Lewis        rid of excess stock before the end of the
an internet-only sales operation, which        as a client, is still owned by Pye senior and   Brexit transition period on 31 December
allowed punters to bid for a wide range of     his wife Anne (Adam’s mother). But Adam         have turned to Pye. These include Euro Car
cut-price end-of-line and returned goods.      and his management team, which includes         Parts, owner of Unipart. Pye recently sold
But when the pandemic made customers           brother James, have run the business for        48 artic lorry loads of car parts on behalf of
unwilling to travel to collect goods, it had   the past 11 years. Other customers include      the customer in one go.
to introduce a delivery service for the        DFS, Sofology and Dwell.                           This soaring activity means next year’s
500,000 products it sold each week.               The business, which has 500 staff,           turnover is expected to rise by 50 per cent
   “We lost £1m during the first lockdown,     has been compared to eBay, but without          to £30m.
and realised we had to make key                the consumer regulations. Buyers bid for           However, it’s not all plain-sailing. The
changes very quickly,” says managing           goods in the same way, but unlike eBay          company is losing £100,000 each month
director Adam Pye.                             the bidding process doesn’t have a time         by being unable to carry out its contract
   “We offered a delivery service for all      limit and ends when no one bids for three       with the DVLA to sell vehicles seized for
our goods, and we implemented it in            minutes. Because it’s an auction house          having no taxation because of Covid.
three days.”                                   and not a retailer, it’s a case of buyer           Also, during the second lockdown it was
   This, together with investment in new       beware. This means the company doesn’t          unable to operate in England, although it
technology, saw a near 50 per cent surge       have to offer refunds on faulty or unwanted     could still run its auctions in Scotland and
in its customer base, a 30 per cent jump in                                                    Wales, where it has 400,000 sq ft of show-
sales and its most profitable month ever.                                                      room space. The group has 22 showroom
   The sharp drop in customers coming             “We offered a delivery                       sites across the UK totalling 600,000 sq ft.
into its showrooms to view goods – which         service for all our goods,                       “It’s important we match the innovation
range from end-of-line TVs and white                                                           in technology with having the physical
goods to jewellery and watches – ended            and we implemented it                        presence to allow us to show the stock,”
up increasing productivity because staff              in three days.”                          says Pye. “If you can’t display the stock
were freed up to put on more auctions.                                                         you’re not an auction business, but just
   “In the first month we were back trading                   Adam Pye                         another retailer.”
in June we made nearly £700,000 profit                     John Pye & Sons
because of the thirst and desire to get                                                        THE EVENTS
                                                                                               ORGANISER
                                                                                               One day she was hosting an event for
                                                                                               thousands of delegates, then everything
                                                                                               suddenly stopped.
                                                                                                  Lockdown devastated Louise Holland’s
                                                                                               events business, but she and her team
                                                                                               picked themselves up and embraced new
                                                                                               ways of working. The biggest innovation
                                                                                               has been doing more on digital platforms,
                                                                                               with the company now hosting a range of
                                                                                               online events.
                                                                                                  These include everything from an
                                                                                               e-sport conference to virtual Christmas
                                                                                               parties for staff who work remotely.
                                                                                                  “We had hosted a series of events in
                                                                                               Leicester at the end of January, where we
                                                                                               had 3,000 guests per day for five days,
                                                                                               and some were international travellers
                                                                                               from the Far East,” says Holland, managing
                                                                                               director of Leicester-based Holland
                                                                              Adam Pye         Alexander. “But so much was unknown
                                                                                               about Covid at that stage. Then things

10   | insider JANUARY 2021
My lockdown
                                                                  AGENDA

started to get serious around six weeks later.”
   All the company’s projects were either           Colin Lawson
cancelled or put into 2021, leaving the
team hunting around for alternatives.
   “Meanwhile, your overheads and staffing
costs have to be paid. Furlough helped.
But there are other overheads you need
to deal with too. I moved us into a smaller
office and saved 80 per cent costs.
   “We tried to be innovative to manage
our financial position, while at the same
time looking after our people. There was no
use in panicking. We had to be on the front
foot, making some good choices. Trying to
be really smart with what we did.
   “We talked about what we could do
instead of what we couldn’t. It made us
less negative.”
   Ensuring her staff, now all working from
home, were managing in their personal
as well as their professional lives was also
important.
   “I allowed staff to work around their
family commitments, and allowed people                                                            “Anything that lights up, we’re involved in,”
to work less hours without less pay.                 “We talked about what                        says Lawson.
   “You have to appreciate everyone’s orbit.                                                          The business’s other saving grace was
The pressure they were under to keep their           we could do instead of                       the breadth of sectors it supplied – from
households going. I tried to make sure                what we couldn’t. It                        school and transport to retail and con-
there were no phone calls from me outside                                                         struction – which meant it had not tied its
10am to 3pm.”                                        made us less negative.”                      fortunes to any particular market: while it
   Holland is optimistic about returning to                  Louise Holland                       supplies developers working on long-
in-person events next summer, but says                       Holland Alexander                    term projects, half of Tamlite’s sales are
digital will still play a significant role.                                                       wholesale – “a man in a white van being
   “We have a festival in east London                                                             told on Monday morning that he needs to
which we’ve moved three times. It’s the           returning we saw strengths we didn’t            fit some lights in a school”.
UK’s first e-sport festival of its kind, which    realise we had.”                                     The company had to make sure it was
mixes industry and consumers. We’re                  The lighting group’s big strength was that   on a secure financial footing so that as
hoping to have a lot of speakers from             it had retained its British manufacturing       markets came back it was able to build
New York and LA who can deliver their             base. Whereas many other companies in           up stock and bring sales people back.
speech via video. The upside of digital is        its sector had outsourced production over-      And there is plenty to go for: in the UK the
you’re able to secure a broader range of          seas, the family-owned business was still       lighting market is highly fragmented, with
speakers.                                         proudly making kit in its sites in Tamworth     the ten biggest manufacturers combined
   “That digital acceleration was happening       and Redditch, which meant it was able           sharing less than a quarter of the £1.6bn
anyway because of the green agenda.               to respond quickly as customer projects         a year UK market. Tamlite still plans to
It was probably going to force us down this       that had been put on hold during the early      increase its turnover organically by half to
route anyway. One of the few wins to              stages of the pandemic restarted.               £75m by 2023, particularly with a push
come out of the pandemic is people                   “There was a real sense of urgency to        towards the ‘specification’ market.
realising digital can be good for an event,       get those jobs completed,” says Lawson.             “We’re not out of the woods yet, and
and is not inferior.”                             “We were not waiting 15-16 weeks for            we’re concerned that while we’ve got
                                                  products to be shipped in from the Far          growth in the projects that were signed
THE MANUFACTURER                                  East, but were quickly back up to pro-          off a year ago, we don’t know about those
“It was a bit of serendipity – that bit of luck   duction and able to supply some of the          that were due to be signed off since the
every business needs,” says Colin Lawson,         finished stock we’d built up, still in boxes.   pandemic started – for example many
head of sales and marketing at Tamlite.           It meant we could make and supply               universities have had their capital
“We’d had a downturn as the pandemic hit          equipment quickly when others couldn’t.”        spending cut,” says Lawson. “Although
– April and May were a ghost town and we             Tamlite, established 50 years ago,           we’re doing OK now, and we’re in a good
were forced to furlough staff. But as soon        has grown to become a £50m turnover             position, we’re under no illusions that the
as construction and other sectors started         business, employing about 250 people.           next 12 months will be tough.”

                                                                                                                        insider JANUARY 2021 |   11
Xxxxxxxxxxx
SECTION HEADER

THE SPECIALIST
SUPPLIER
“I think the low point was a letter from
Sadiq Khan about cutbacks at
Transport for London,” says Matt Pallett.
“In effect he was saying ‘thanks, good luck
and see you soon’.”
    The mass closure of the Tube by the
London mayor in the early days of the
pandemic was a hard blow to CoMech,
which handles metal testing and calibration
on 90 per cent of the nation’s rail network.
    Yet the lockdown brought the Derby-
based firm unexpected immediate, almost
counter-intuitive benefits. It led to it radically
rethinking the way it works and actively
embracing distance working, something
the managing director thinks could help
treble turnover over the next few years.
    “Covid-19 had a really interesting impact
on our workflow,” says Pallett. “In the first
two months of lockdown we were really
busy, which was surprising because a lot
of our customers either closed down or
furloughed staff, and sent equipment to
calibrate to us.
    “A lot of companies panicked and sent
staff home, so we stepped in to relieve the
stress. As time went on work slowed down,
then picked up. It’s now evening out.”
    CoMech, founded 40 years ago by
Pallett’s father Keith, focuses on calibration,
asset management and selling products to
the rail industry.
    It has been through a number of
                                                                                                                                James Taylor
transformations, starting as a provider
of metal testing services for the nuclear
industry before merging its operations with              “It’s about having that                   We sent them to work from home with their
the ex-British rail calibration laboratories                                                       laptops and phones during the lockdown,
organisation Serco Rail, so becoming the                   culture of trust and                    and it’s been alright – we’re working well
UK rail industry’s only technical support                 flexibility. You need                    though Zoom, phone calls come through a
provider for measurement.                                                                          virtual switchboard, so do we really need to
    In addition to testing and calibration                    to adapt to the                      come into an office?
CoMech has an asset management tool                        situation quickly.”                        “We haven’t become any less productive,
that tells clients what equipment they have,                                                       we’re typically each saving two hours a
its repair and maintenance history, and                          James Taylor                      day in commuting, and if we need to meet
when it needs retesting and possibly retiring.                      Macildowie                     someone we can easily organise a get
Which leads nicely to the company’s                                                                together anywhere in the UK.”
latest venture – an online store run by              The business currently turns over about
Pallet’s sister Zoe selling kit, such as fire        £3.3m; Pallett wants to take that to £5m in   THE RECRUITER
extinguishers and multimeters, to clients.           the next 18 months and is aiming for £10m     For James Taylor the biggest moment of
    Now the business is looking at under-            by the middle of the decade.                  panic came when the government closed
going another major transformation: having             “We've only got a year’s lease left on      down schools.
sent many staff to work from home during             the offices, so it raises the question do        “I realised we were going to have kids
lockdown, it is considering whether this             we really need to renew it,” he adds. “The    being at home while staff still had a job to
should be a permanent arrangement,                   30-odd people in our testing facility do      do,” says the chief executive of recruitment
and whether to reopen its head office on             need to come in, but I’m not so sure about    business Macildowie. Taylor told employees
Derby’s RTC Business Park at all.                    the 15 or do from the main office building.   to prioritise looking after their children and

12   | insider JANUARY 2021
My lockdown
                                                                  AGENDA

trusted them to get their work done when        over the past three years and we went               and 3,000-4,000 views for an average
they could.                                     into the Covid crisis after our best-ever           LinkedIn post.”
   “It’s about having that culture of trust     financial year.”                                       The company is expected to increase
and flexibility.                                   MyWorkwear, the trading name for                 turnover from £1.3m to £2m next year, with
   “As a manager you need to adapt to the       JM Worthington & Co, was founded                    the aim of getting to £5m within the next
situation quickly otherwise you’re going to     in 1976 by Worthington’s father Mike,               two to three years.
be in a mess.”                                  initially producing golf and cycle bags. The           “We have a great team here, with a
   Macildowie has a strong history of caring    business developed when it won contracts            really good work ethic,” says Worthington.
for its workforce. The company, which           to produce bespoke clothing for Halfords            “A few years ago the plan was to build the
specialises in HR, finance, procurement         and a chain of car garages.                         business up and sell it on, but I’m now
and construction staff, came 23rd in The           Worthington joined in 2000 with a                enjoying it too much.”
Sunday Times Best Small Companies to            strong IT background.
Work For in 2019 listing. In the same year it      “The first thing I said to my dad was
also took home third place in the Midlands’     we had to get on the internet. We haven’t              “The first thing I said to
Best Companies to Work For, among a             looked back.”
75-strong list.                                    During lockdown the company was                      my dad was we had to
   The Nottingham-based company,                initially forced to furlough all 15 of its staff.       get on the internet. We
which has offices in Leicester and              Then things started to pick up when it
Milton Keynes, was eventually forced to         started supplying PPE and benefited from                 haven’t looked back.”
furlough three-quarters of its 80-strong        a surge in shoppers looking to buy online                   James Worthington
team as lockdown began to bite. After the       and avoid travelling into town centres.
                                                                                                                   MyWorkWear
restrictions eased Taylor came up with a           Worthington’s appearance on ITV News
way of keeping the workforce connected,         and an interview on Sky News of director
as well as keeping them fit.                    Ben Simpson also helped to boost the                THE FOOD RETAIL CHAIN
   He organised a weekly 10km walk              website’s profile nationally.                       Birds Bakery has seen huge demand for
around the picturesque Swithland Water             “From around August it went berserk,”            its popular cakes and breads from
with up to six staff, allowing them to quiz     says Worthington. “We have been                     locked down customers in need of some
him on the business, swap ideas and help        swamped. We went from employing 15                  comfort food.
recreate some of the office banter they         people to 23, and we have three more                   The 101-year-old Derby-based chain,
were missing.                                   people coming on board.                             which has 61 stores across the
   Things are now looking up, with a 20            “We now have a twilight shift, and we’ve         East Midlands, says while many of its
per cent month on month increase in             been working weekends to meet demand.”              shops had suffered from a drop in high
vacancies in October.                              Worthington says they have been                  street footfall, it had seen an uplift in its
   Taylor has also used lockdown to             helped by the fact two of its competitors           delivery operation.
reposition the business to offer clients        went bust, but says all the hard work and              “Like most businesses the coronavirus
advice on not only recruitment of new staff,    investment of the past few years put                   pandemic has been a challenging
but to retain existing ones.                    them in a great position to react                           time, as many of our shops
                                                to the crisis.                                                are located on the high street and
THE WORKWEAR                                       “By becoming a digital                                       city centres, so that has had
SUPPLIER                                        business we were perfectly set                                  some impact,” says sales and
“There’s been an element of luck. But           for this. The website traffic has                               marketing director Mike Holling.
we’ve also worked very hard,” says James        gone up by about 70 per cent. In                                    “We’ve put procedures in
Worthington.                                    October we were 65 per cent over                                   place and are operating
  The managing director of Telford-based        our growth target. We’re tech savvy.                                                our delivery
workwear supplier MyWorkWear is talking            “As long as you communicate                                                        service and
about the fact his business has seen sales      with your customer, telling                                                            our ring and
soar by 50 per cent after being “swamped”       them about a delay, nine                                                               reserve
with orders over the past few months.           times out of ten they’re                                                                service for
  But the real hard work was done before        happy with that.                                                                        those who
the pandemic, starting when Worthington            “We’ve worked very                                                                   are unable
made the decision 20 years ago to take          hard in the past cou-                                                                   or don’t feel
the business totally online.                    ple of years getting                                                                   comfortable
  Then, three years ago, he closed the          the business out                                                                      leaving the
manufacturing division and outsourced           there via social                                                                     house.” n
production overseas, cutting costs and          media. I get over
creating a much slicker operation.              two million views
  “It’s the best thing we ever did,” says       per year on my
Worthington. “We have seen strong growth        LinkedIn profile,                         James
                                                                                        Worthington
©2020 EYGM Limited. All Rights Reserved. ED None.
Can your private
business come
back stronger?
:mad\af_ j]kada]f[] ^gj o`YlÌk f]pl Yf\
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#COVID19 #PrivateBusiness
5G
                                                                                                                       DIGITAL + TECH

THE INTERNET
                                                                                                                                     SPONSORED BY

OF EVERYWHERE
The hoaxers and conspiracy theorists are right to be concerned about 5G – it is going
to change the world... but for the better, and particularly for SMEs. The digital technology
is set to help change today’s business, and transform tomorrow’s

I t’s being heralded as the great leveller:
  the development that will put small
businesses on an equal footing with
                                               – ironic, as the region has been set as the
                                               great example of how it can be used in
                                               business and en-masse.
                                                                                                  intelligence, autonomous vehicles and
                                                                                                  remote surgery,” says Farrelly.
                                                                                                     “The greatest long-term benefits of
international corporations. “Why is 5G            But don’t underestimate its impact              5G will not be communications between
important? Because it allows SMEs to play      from a low-key start: 5G is set to be a            people, but between things, it will be the
with the big boys on a level playing field,”   quiet revolution that will change everyday         engine oil of improvement,” adds Adrian
says Paul Farrelly, enterprise business        activities in scores of small ways, while at       Baschnonga, lead analyst in global tele-
director at Timico, the Newark-based IT        the same time often radically changing             communications at EY. “Longer term, the
services firm. “It will enable them to buy     the ways in which businesses work and              implications and benefits could be huge.”
a technology that can radically change                                                               Most of these great changes will be
their business but without having to set up                                                       some time away. Before then we
complex systems of their own.                    “5G enables smart cities,                        will see 5G-enabled devices entering
   “Put simply, 5G means the small engi-                                                          our lives and business quietly, making
                                                   artificial intelligence,
neering firm can have exactly the same                                                            improvements we are barely aware of but
capability as JLR.”                               autonomous vehicles                             opening up huge opportunities.
   “5G could drive up national productivity,                                                         “There will be thousands of small ways
                                                   and remote surgery.”
an issue which has held our economy                                                               in which 5G will change people’s lives,
back for decades, by about 5 per cent,”                     Paul Farrelly                         such as sensors in bins controlling the
adds Mark Stansfeld, chairman of WM5G –                           Timico                          routes and timings of bin lorries, so we
the body tasked with overseeing                                                                   never see bins overflowing,” says Dan
5G’s introduction to the Midlands and                                                             Pech, regional director at Vodafone. “We’ll
co-founder of telecom business giffgaff.       interact with each other and the consumer.         see millions of domestic devices meas-
“And SMEs may find adoption easier             This is the tech that will, eventually, give       uring utility usage in real-time, allowing
because they’re nimble.”                       us the self-driving car, machines that tell        better use of energy and stopping flooding.
                                               us they need repairing in advance, fridges            “We need to be realistic about time
THE BACKGROUND                                 that automatically order new groceries,            frames and see this as an eight-year
Despite the elaborate hoaxes about it be-      smart clothes that constantly check your           journey: the 5G system is still being rolled
ing responsible for Covid-19 and concerns      vital signs.                                       out. While there are some immediate
about Chinese spies eavesdropping, 5G             “What makes 5G exciting is that it’s not        benefits to businesses it will still be two
has arrived rather quietly in the Midlands     just mobile: it enables smart cities, artificial   to three years before the network is fully

                                                                                                                       insider JANUARY 2021 |   15
5G
                                                                                                                      DIGITAL + TECH
SPONSORED BY

functioning, and maybe four to five years
before we see the real impacts on sectors
such as industry, but those changes will
eventually be profound.”
   “5G can bring some immediate benefits
to businesses,” adds Baschnonga. “It can
help build resilience and get businesses
through the current crisis. The technology
helps them ‘pivot’ and adapt to a rapidly
changing economy. It is already supporting
remote working from being hit by network
outages because it’s a more robust
technology option. And it fundamentally
improves data transmission allowing flatter,
more robust architectures.”
   Roll out has been delayed by the gov-
ernment’s controversial decision over the
summer to stop Huawei from providing the
equipment for the system – the Chinese
company is one of only three businesses
in the world that can provide the technology
needed for the 5G network.
   However, the Midlands is doubly                 Mark Stansfeld
blessed when it comes to getting a head
start. Worcestershire was chosen by the          thousands of pictures as it passes through      And the technology is starting to spread
government as a national test bed for the        their gut to detect any issues, beaming         rapidly. Last month the University of War-
manufacturing possibilities of 5G.               the images back to the lab. It is also exper-   wick and BT launched the first 5G network
   Meanwhile, the West Midlands conurbation      imenting with real-time remote monitoring       on a British university campus. And it will
was chosen as the first region-wide test         of data like blood pressure, heart rates and    soon be extended to “Silicon Spa” – as
bed – a giant Petri dish – for the technology.   sugar levels among the elderly.                 Leamington Spa is often nicknamed
This has led to it trialling schemes in             On the horizon are emergency ambu-           because of its digital games companies.
healtchcare, such as domestic endoscopy          lances live-streaming data from patients
services to tackle bowel cancer – patients       to doctors in A&E, meaning medics are           THE IMPACT ON BUSINESS
swallow a smart pill at home that takes          ready to operate the moment they arrive.        In the West Midlands there has been a
                                                                                                 particular focus on getting SMEs to adopt
                                                                                                 5G by literally allowing them to play with
                                                                                                 it. WM5G has been setting up accelerator
                                                                                                 units in Wolverhampton, Birmingham and
                                                                                                 Coventry in which businesses can come to
                                                                                                 experiment with the technology for free.
                                                                                                     “The trick for SMEs should be to embrace
                                                                                                 5G and then look at the possibilities in
                                                                                                 terms of adoption, because SMEs will find
                                                                                                 their own solutions after playing with it,”
                                                                                                 says Stansfeld.
                                                                                                     “What we’re driving is not the technology
                                                                                                 but the business outcomes it can provide,”
                                                                                                 adds Pech. “SME directors know their
                                                                                                 businesses better than we ever could: our
                                                                                                 job is to bounce ideas around with them
                                                                                                 that have practical outcomes.”
                                                                                                     The Midland case studies usually put
                                                                                                 forward as examples of how early adopters

                                                                                                                       insider JANUARY 2021 |   17
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can use 5G to get a business edge are                                                           collective “neat but so what” shrug among
the Worcester-based manufacturers Mazak          “What we’re driving is                         most business leaders. But to speak to
and Bosch.                                                                                      pundits is to discover that real transforma-
    Boiler-maker Bosch has been using 5G        not the technology but                          tive possibilities are in other improvements
to experiment with predictive maintenance       the business outcomes                           in the system.
– working out when its machines need                                                               The first is ultra-low latency – the speed
repairing before they go wrong. It is now           it can provide.”                            at which a signal travels. Currently, digital
expanding its use of 5G to look at running                   Dan Pech                           signals travel at 20-50 milliseconds, too
autonomous vehicles in the factory.                                                             quick for humans to notice but still slow
                                                               Vodafone
    Meanwhile Mazak, as part of its 5G                                                          enough to stop many potential applica-
experimentation, has been equipping its                                                         tions. However, 5G brings in speeds of
apprentices with microphones and              THE TECHNOLOGY                                    less than one millisecond – faster than
augmented reality (AR) glasses, which         “It’s not that important to get obsessed          the human brain interacts with its nerve
project extra data and images on objects      about the tech behind 5G – it’s merely an         endings. That allows technologies like
in the “real” world: it connects engineers    enabler that allows businesses to come up         autonomous vehicles, robotic surgery and
fixing machines in factories around the       with new techniques. 5G fundamentally is          a genuine Internet of Things to take place.
country to people sitting at computers in     not a mobile technology – it is a business        This, far more than the super-speeds,
Mazak's base in Worcester. It is especially   solution,” says Farrelly.                         is the step that allows radical technical
useful for less experienced engineers             Despite Farrelly’s claims about ignoring      innovations to take place.
who might not be able to fix the problem      the tech, understanding the potential                The second improvement is separating
themselves and can transmit high-quality      of 5G for SMEs involves a bit of insight into     “the core”. Currently, whole swathes of the
video to more experienced ones who can        what the system is and how it differs from        telecom system have to be reshaped to
help out with a problem.                      existing mobile systems – 5G is                   allow new services and technology. That is
    Mazak has also developed Smooth –         not a souped-up version of 4G, it is a            done away with by 5G: instead, business-
a technology that gathers and analyses        technological transformation.                     es can create “microservices” – such as
factory floor data to make faster, better-        “3G gave us texting and basic commu-          specific digital communications between
informed decisions and increase output.       nications, 4G gave us video on demand             two machines – similar to the way they
It is now looking to a factory where every    and fast data. 5G replaces superfast              can develop an app for a smartphone.
aspect of production is connected and         broadband,” he adds. “Its real impact is          Suddenly, creating new services for 5G
analysed, with automated scheduling           not people-to-people communications,              becomes cheap, bespoke and accessible
and advanced digital simulations of           but in the way it connects machines and           – and it’s that which will allow SMEs to
components.                                   objects. It allows the Internet of Things [IoT]   develop solutions that currently only large
    The University of Warwick will be using   to occur.”                                        corporates can create.
its new 5G network to experiment with             The 4G system runs at about 100                  The third major change is untethering,
autonomous pods – slow-moving self-driv-      megabytes per second: a high-definition           or freeing machines from cables. Unless
ing cars – allowing them to exchange live     Hollywood blockbuster takes about ten             a business buys an expensive bespoke
data, including information on obstacles to   minutes to download on a good signal:             internal system, currently any machines
make pedestrians safer.                       5G lets users achieve that in perhaps             needing high-speed communications must
                                              ten seconds. This will probably lead to a         use copper wires and fibre – they cannot
                                                                                                rely on wi-fi. These machines are effec-
                                                                                                tively tethered to the internet. However, 5G
                                                                                                allows machines to link via mobile – that
                                                                                                is they become untethered – on the same
                                                                                                site or even at some distance.
                                                                                                   The fourth breakthrough is network
                                                                                                slicing. Parts of the 5G network can be
                                                                                                assigned for specific users or sectors,
                                                                                                so that when children pour out of school
                                                                                                at 3.30pm ambulances don’t suddenly
                                                                                                find their link with the hospital, giving that
                                                                                                critical information on a patient’s vital
                                                                                                signs, drops out. Similarly, network slicing
                                                                                                ensures a 5G-enabled robot forklift does
                                                                                                not go careering about into staff or into
                                                                                                stock because the network has become
                                                                                                overloaded.
                                                                                                   The final revolution is that 5G can carry
                                                                                5G tower
                                                                                                many more signals simultaneously.

18   | insider JANUARY 2021
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