Health manufacturer prepares for dynamic changes ahead.

"The Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme has been central to our growth."

Management buyouts (MBOs) can have several motivating factors behind them. The motivation for the leadership team at Minerva, a Cardiff-based custom ear moulds maker, was clear: securing a bright future for the business.

Since the successful MBO was completed in 2017, Minerva has enjoyed growth and invested in its research and development to ensure it is at the vanguard of change in the sector.

Minerva has been supported through Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme (AGP). The AGP provides targeted support for ambitious, growing firms. The programme is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government.

Nicola Watkins, a part of the leadership team which put together the MBO, explains how it came together, what they have learned and how the company has changed its culture as it has overcome challenges such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tell us about Minerva
We're a business with historical roots and are proud of those roots. We were founded about the same time that the NHS came into being, and ever since, we have partnered with the NHS to improve the lives of people with hearing challenges.

Although we have been around for decades, innovation is one of our core strengths. We develop and manufacture custom moulds for hearing aids used by the NHS and private hearing aid companies. We also have a custom hearing protection department which designs and makes custom earpieces for commercial sectors, sportspeople and the entertainment industry. We're an innovative business, and over the last few years, we've taken massive strides in adopting 3D printing and artificial intelligence.

This has been a period of significant change for us. As a management team, we acquired the company through an MBO in 2017. The following year we joined the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme, and since then, we have increased our workforce by 36%, with 16% of that growth happening since Covid-19. Our team is now 42 people strong. Business Wales AGP has been key to that growth. Innovation has meant opening up opportunities for younger people to join the business so we can look forward to the future and be confident in our succession planning.

We're on a modernisation journey, and we expect the integration of AI technology to increase our efficiency, reduce production costs, and further improve product quality. We're also well-positioned to take advantage of the growing demand for advanced hearing aids and industrial ear protection, which we expect to drive our growth in the coming years.

Thanks to these developments, we believe Minerva is well-positioned to continue to grow and succeed in the years to come.

What are your proudest moments in business so far?
When we went through the MBO, we could not have foreseen the challenges. For a company like ours, the pandemic, of course, posed an enormous hurdle. But it also pushed our efforts to innovate. We involved our staff in critical decisions, which has strengthened Minerva and given us the tools to cope with future challenges.

We've come out of the pandemic with a more engaged and flexible workforce. When we realised our biggest market would take the longest time to recover, we knew we had to cut costs to survive. So all employees were given a vote to influence the company's path – and they chose to reduce their hours by 25% temporarily rather than see colleagues made redundant. This showed their commitment to the business and has contributed to fostering a more agile, engaged culture.

We've also received recognition for our work and were named Manufacturer of the Year in Cardiff Business Awards 2020. This sort of thing is a great way to remind us that we're doing the right things.

What challenges have you faced in business
Firstly, the MBO was a challenge for us. We'd all worked together here for many years, and when the owner decided to sell, it was clear that we all had a shared vision and goal for this company. We didn't want to see the company disappear or colleagues lose their jobs. So we worked with the Development Bank of Wales to finance the MBO and invested our own money. We're all proud of how far Minerva has come since then.

Of course, after the MBO was completed, Covid-19 hit. As soon as that happened, the health market for our products shut down immediately. We used the furlough scheme before embarking on steps to plan for an extended market shutdown. As I mentioned, we moved quickly to restructure and fully engaged our employees in decision-making about available options. I think that has strengthened us as a company.

If you were starting again, what would you do differently?
We would have prepared more as a leadership team for the cultural and professional challenges of owning a business. Given a chance again, we would go into it, having learned more about what it would mean for us. 

How has support from Business Wales AGP helped your business?
We've had a wealth of support from the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme since we completed the MBO. The programme has supported us in several areas. These include efficiency and productivity planning and measurement; marketing coaching and planning; website reviews and development; IT support for better financial reporting; and introducing and managing AI and 3D technology. Business Wales AGP also helped us secure an Economic Resilience Fund grant. This support has been an enormous help as we create a dynamic and innovative future for the business.

What advice and guidance would you give other businesses starting out?

• Look for a trusted source of advice, such as the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme, especially in preparing for an MBO.  

• Don't think you know it all - even if you are hugely experienced.

• Raise as much capital as you need but not too much to burden the business. 

• Innovate more quickly and introduce automation for greater productivity. 

• Invest in technology to ensure you are staying competitive.

• Invest in strategic marketing to have a solid evidence base for growth.

To learn more about Minerva, visit here.
Further information on the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme

 

The Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme is a pan-Wales programme part funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government.

The serial entrepreneur hoping to make renewables even more sustainable.

“Taking part in the Green Growth Accelerator has been critically important to helping us solve our nation’s biggest challenge”

As we move to an energy sector increasingly using renewables, there might also be opportunities to enhance and safeguard our natural world too.

That’s what a Pembrokeshire business leader is hoping to develop as he leads research into offshore energy production and how it can safeguard native plant and animal life. Jonathan Williams has been working with the Green Growth Accelerator to research his ideas.

The Green Growth Accelerator was designed to help businesses to develop green, innovative ideas that would help to address the particular net zero challenges that we are facing as a nation.

The Green Growth Accelerator is part of the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme (AGP). The AGP provides targeted support for ambitious growing firms. The programme is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government.

 Serial food and drink entrepreneur and passionate environmentalist, Jonathan Williams, gives an overview of his business, why sustainability matters so much and how the support he’s been given has aided his company’s green goals.

Tell us about Pembrokeshire Beach Food Company
I guess a good place to start is with a bit of my background. I suppose you could call me a serial food and drink entrepreneur. I’m from Pembrokeshire, I’m a trained chef and I have an MSc in environmental sciences. Not only that, I love surfing and at my core is a passion for the sea and the coastal environment – being from Pembrokeshire, how could I not be?

Fortunately, I’ve been able to sync my passions and my interests with my work. One of my businesses, the Pembrokeshire Beach Food Company, supplies native ingredients harvested from the Welsh coast and sea to other firms.

All this has led me to look at how we can exploit the changes we’re making to our offshore landscapes as we develop more and more renewable energy production out at sea. Working with the Green Growth Accelerator has been pivotal to our work in this area.

What’s your latest project all about?
I wanted to develop something which would make the drive for renewables sustainable, something that would safeguard sea life and seaweeds, crustaceans, molluscs – what you might call aquaculture – on the basis that they are massive carbon sequesters.

We can massively harness the opportunities being created by the drive for offshore energy by encouraging native species of molluscs and other animals and plant life to use them as a habitat. This in turn can help capture carbon, which is obviously so crucial in helping to find solutions to climate change.

These new structures actually enhance or create places for the growth of indigenous species. We can safeguard and create habitats that are not harvested but are left to grow and prosper, thus creating a blue carbon approach which massively sequesters carbon. The simple end game is to enhance the pure health of the sea.

How has the Green Growth Accelerator helped your business?
Through our work with AGP we’ve been awarded £21,000 for our research project, which has a total cost of around £31,000. We’ve commissioned a specialist study to identify and speak to stakeholders involved with commercial development of the sea environment on the west Wales coast.

This has led to some exciting developments, and an organisation called the Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum has been commissioned to undertake this study to assess the views and current thinking of those involved with such offshore and coastal projects. Those consulted include businesses, developers, Crown Estates and the public sector.

The project remit was also to help identify future potential project funders (blue marine funding) for its next stages. Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum will be completing its study at the end of June.

The next project stages will involve the design (and IP protection) of appropriate systems to safeguard/create natural sea based eco systems. These will initially be trialled in the proposed Marine Energy Test Area, which is already identified and being developed off the Pembrokeshire coast.

We’ve also got a complementary study being run by the Marine Energy Engineering Centre of Excellence (MEECE), which is carrying out a major literature review into this area – required as due diligence to help identify and attract future project funding. This review is looking into what is in existence already, as well as what is being proposed and incorporates the science, benefits and ideas and opportunities.

The Green SMART grant funding award is critically important in helping me to objectively understand the thinking and actions of those intent on harnessing the power of the sea in the form of renewable energy and how their activities may be capitalised upon to do so in a benign and sustainable way.

This phase of the project has to be right and provide accurate information which will heavily influence subsequent project stages. We are really looking forward to progressing this important work, and we are incredibly grateful to the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme for its support.

To learn more about the Pembrokeshire Beach Food Company visit here.

Further information on the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme

 

The Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme is a pan-Wales programme part funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government.

ISO accreditation is key to software company’s international ambitions.

“We are geared up to target highly competitive markets, thanks to the work we have done with Business Wales AGP”

Even the most ambitious growing firms sometimes need that little extra differentiation to secure business in a competitive global marketplace.

Cardiff-based Amplyfi is a great example of the hard work often needed to ensure a company has the competitive edge it needs to succeed.

Amplyfi has been supported through Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme (AGP), and the company worked with the programme’s experts to win ISO certification to help with its growth goals. The AGP provides targeted support for ambitious growing firms. The programme is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government.

Here, Rony Seamons of Amplyfi walks us through the process of securing ISO certification and highlights the invaluable support from Business Wales AGP on their journey.

Tell us about Amplyfi
Here at Amplyfi, we’re a high-tech software company providing business intelligence to large organisations. We deliver the tech through a Software as a Service (SaaS) offering, with all our products delivered via the cloud. Our headquarters are in Cardiff, and we have 50 team members globally. We operate across almost any sector – our customers are in major industries like finance, energy, pharma and many others. We’re at a really exciting point in our development, which is in no small part thanks to the support and expertise provided by the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme.

What are your proudest moments in business so far?
To really get to the heart of this question, I think I need to share an overview of where we were and what we aim to be.

We’re a small business, as I mentioned before. And while we have 50 people in our team, we have ambitions to build on this. We want Amplyfi to break into new markets, and we want to work with large, multinational businesses. But one of the major barriers we’ve had to overcome was the highly complex procurement and supply-chain due diligence processes which larger firms use to select partners and suppliers. Most of these big companies have really well-established procurement processes that can easily prevent a sale going ahead if their strict criteria are not met.

One of the major criteria they focus on is around quality management systems (QMS) and data security, and for obvious reasons they have some really high expectations – which can either secure or block procurement from going through. When you enter the procurement process there’s often a lengthy questionnaire to answer, needing lots of detail on both QMS and how we as a company manage data security. For a firm with a small team, this process would take up valuable time and resources to complete, but we identified that if we had industry-recognised certification in this area then a lot of time could be saved and the route through procurement would become much simpler.

ISO was seen as the most relevant awarding body for the work that we carried out and the industries we worked with.

Because of this, we approached our Business Wales AGP Relationship Manager to see if we could receive any support to overcome these barriers. It was such a boost when we were told there was an ISO specialist mentor on the programme and so the connection was made.

For us, it was so important during these early discussions with our RM that we could explain and point to the barriers we were facing, and the value to the business of overcoming them in terms of future commercial growth.

Our Relationship Manager has worked in large organisations and understood how difficult navigating the procurement processes can be for a small business. He recognised what a significant impact on the business gaining ISO certification would have. He sourced us a coach who is not an expert in his field, but was exactly the right type of person to work with a business like us. He’d worked in fast-paced industries and understood the resource constraints we are working under. He was a superb match for us and we’ve all learned so much.

What challenges have you faced in business
Clearly, we’d hit a stumbling block before we worked with the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme in obtaining ISO certification. The benefits of securing that prestigious certification will strengthen our business and provide a strong platform for us to grow. While the process was a challenge, it’s also given us the opportunity to plan for an exciting future.

If you were starting again, what would you do differently?
We have learned plenty of lessons. We would definitely have assigned a team from across the relevant business functions to work on ISO certification. This would have helped share the burden of preparing all the evidence and would also have helped share the expertise.

To save some time, we researched the requirements of the ISO certificate and tried to start pulling the relevant evidence together. In hindsight I think we would have waited for an initial consultation with the ISO mentor. They have vast experience in this field and had developed a highly efficient process to follow. Consequently, we had to unwind some of the work we’d already done in order to follow a process that would more easily pave the way for certification.

Something else which would have benefited this process, and the business itself as a result, is if we had introduced a better project management tool to help manage all the work required for an ISO audit. There are many clauses to cover in both 9001 and 27001, which means there’s a lot of evidence to gather from across the business.

We’ve since introduced Trello boards to manage the whole process and that gives us full visibility of who’s leading on which area and what needs to be completed.

In the early stages we didn’t flag our ISO certification status until deep into the procurement process which meant some of the commercial value was lost. We now flag this as early as possible in the sales process, where we give assurance of the quality and security of our work by mentioning our two ISO certificates in initial sales meetings. In a highly competitive market, and as a relatively unknown organisation, these industry-recognised certificates gave assurance and validation that we’re a highly professional organisation.

How has support from Business Wales AGP helped your business?
The support and access to expertise we have been able to benefit from through the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme has been second to none. It’s not overstating things to describe the service as brilliant. In total we received 18 days of support from Brian Taylor of ISOGuy which helped us achieve certification in ISO 9001 and 27001. We are now geared up to target highly competitive new markets, thanks directly to the work we’ve done with the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme.

What advice and guidance would you give other businesses starting out?

• Find a mentor that is not just an expert in their field, but who is also a good match culturally for your business.

• Use a project management tool like Trello to manage the process.

• Create an ISO team to cover all the work, but always nominate one person to lead the work.

• Communicate the “why” for gaining the ISO certificates to the whole organisation – this helps gain buy-in from all team members.

• Use the certification as a selling point as early as possible in the sales cycle.

To learn more about Amplyfi, visit here.

Further information on the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme

 

The Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme is a pan-Wales programme part funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government.