Car components company has plans to double in size
BOSSES at Cheadle car parts manufacturer Klarius have revealed plans to double the size of the company within the next five years.
Company CEO Mark Brickhill has opened up about a major shake-up at the Cheadle company which has resulted in a handful of redundancies.
But despite the six job losses, the senior management team is rolling out a number of new initiatives which will help the business to meet its objectives by 2023 – and retain more staff in the future.
The plans include holding regular town hall meetings with the entire workforce and the launch of the Klarius Works Council – where representatives from each area of the business are invited to raises issues with the management team.
But most importantly, the company is looking to introduce flexible working hours for staff.
This will allow Klarius to better manage the peaks and troughs of manufacturing – and reduce the need to make redundancies during quieter periods.
Mark, who joined the company in July, said: “I am committed to improving our productivity and capability and we are planning to do everything possible to mitigate the challenges we are facing. There is so much potential here, but this is not a two minute job. We are at the start of a significant transformation.
“Our business is seasonal and that seasonality is down to two things, firstly, people don’t spend money on their cars on the run up to Christmas and secondly, the UK has two vehicle registration releases each year – in March and August – which provide spikes in new car purchases and in turn, our manufacturing processes.
“Historically, where we have taken labour on in March and April and then, when the downturn comes in September and October, we are forced to lay people off.
“I know what redundancy is like and I didn’t join Klarius to make people redundant.
“I want to grow a successful business and I genuinely regret the situation I inherited.
“We are creating more roles than are being made redundant overall, but it has been impossible to ignore the seasonality of the business. However, going forward we believe that there is another way.”
He added: “We are communicating better with our staff, we hold regular meetings and we are making other changes to ensure the organisation is as efficient as possible.
“At the same time, we are considering a flexible working arrangement – and financial incentives – for staff, which will help us to manage our production schedule and the manufacturing spikes.
“Putting these operational plans in place will mean that we don’t have to bring people in for just six or eight months. It is an investment, but it is one I think will pay off.”
Mark said: “The business is consistently growing, we are winning new contracts and we are consistently investing. We are a good company – but we want to be a great company.”