Here’s how we opened the doorway to success – Introduction
In January 2005, Carlisle and other parts of Cumbria were hit by severe flooding which left many people homeless and businesses destroyed.
Without warning the area of Willowholme in Carlisle was wiped out, all of the businesses located there were washed away over night.
Two year’s on from the flooding, many businesses are now just getting back on their feet. Some have had to re-locate to areas with a lower risk of flooding, others haven’t been able to recover.
This guide looks at one company which was destroyed by the flooding, but with huge efforts from their staff and other organisations, were able to get back onto their feet and enjoy huge success as a result.
The Doorway to Success
Clark Door Limited design and manufacture specialist door systems. The company was founded in 1973 as a joint venture between Christian Salvesen Incorporated of the USA and Christian Salvesen Plc. Now employing 70 staff, the company was severally affected by the floods of January 2005. Along with many other businesses in the Willowholme area, Clark Door lost everything overnight. The company had a full order book but all of their plant, computer systems and stock were gone
“What we did” by Paul Ashley, Managing Director
Got professional advice
Stephen Broomhead from the North West Regional Development Agency first told me about the flood recovery grant being offered to businesses in Carlisle affected by the floods. Recovering from the floods was a huge task, as a company we adopted a phased approach to the disaster recovery plan. Initially we found short term temporary accommodation for both office and factory staff. We then moved to temporary accommodation at Kingmoor Park and set about replacing production equipment and where necessary hired generators, compressors, welding machines etc to enable us to get back into low volume production very quickly so we could meet urgent orders. We had to sub-contract a significant amount of work to third parties, which we would normally have manufactured ourselves.
Having previously worked with MAS (Manufacturing Advisory Service), I asked them if they could help design the layout of our new premises in order to maximise process flow. This would allow us to get things right from the start. The response from MAS was magnificent; they even came in evenings to work with us to make sure no time was lost. Thanks to their help we were able to achieve 60% output within 8 weeks, and within 6 months we were back to full production. The MAS work was funded through the flood recovery grant, along with some other consultancy and marketing activities; this was both welcomed and valued.
Since the flooding we have spent several millions of pounds on our recovery, although the financial support received from Business Link represented a percentage of this the Business Link staff provided a valuable sounding board for ideas and options.
Looking ahead
We now have a new factory laid out to modern engineering principles and look forward to producing our doors to a higher standard and more competitive cost than was previously possible. Our office staff are still located in temporary portacabin offices and are now finalising our plans for permanent offices. We now want to concentrate on product development and sales growth and build upon the success we have already achieved in establishing our manufacturing base.
What I’d do differently
Hindsight is a great teacher, we really couldn’t have planned for the floods which hit Carlisle but the processes carried out were appropriate to our situation. Thanks to the hard work and commitment of Clark Door employees, our management team and the support of Business Link, we have been able to rebuild a stronger and better business, we are all looking forward to the challenges ahead.
