News - Finlays

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24 News Beverages continued... UK News Expanding Contracts In April Finlay Beverages secured a contract from HM Prison Service for 100% of their tea requirements. This improved on the part-share contract previously in place. Following the success of the Virgin Trains contract, FB hot beverage products are now on trial test with South West Trains and South East Trains franchises. Visits Finlay Beverages’ engineers have been crisscrossing the Channel, commissioning new machinery as part of Project One at South Elmsall, learning its uses and running trials. Gary Little and Nigel Sutton have made several trips to International Packaging Systems in In September, a team of tea production operatives, engineers and managers from South Elmsall visited UVA (Universal Packaging Machines) in Eindhoven, Holland for training ahead of delivery of a new polybag machine for the factory. Crailshiem, Germany to commission teabag machines, while engineers John Cheesmond and Chris Ward later underwent related control systems training. In September Mike Hickson, Project Engineering Manager, and Joe Stenton, Production Engineer, visited IMA in Italy to undertake a factory acceptance trial on a new caddy overwrapping machine. Appointments John Neale joined the Tea Sales Room team in March as Tea Buyer and Blender. John has worked in the tea trade since 1962 when he started as a trainee with a firm of tea brokers. John has known the Finlays buying teams in South Elmsall and London for many years, and has become a welcome member of the Finlays family. In June, Tom Blackwall joined Finlay Beverages from Northern Foods and has now settled into our Coffee Sales department as assistant Coffee Buyer and Blender. Tom has a food technology background and will use his skills in coffee blend development and in learning the commercial aspects of the coffee trade. In July Daniel Dawson joined Finlay Beverages as a Business Manager for Sainsbury’s account. Daniel previously worked for Red Mill Snack Foods where he managed their JS, Co-op, Morrisons, Somerfield, Waitrose and Lidl accounts. In July Doug Moseley joined Finlay Beverages from Del Monte Foods International where he worked for over five years as Account Manager for their Asda, Waitrose and Morrisons business. Doug has 20 years’ grocery industry experience, spanning food service, impulse & convenience and, more recently, the major multiple trade sectors. Doug has been appointed Business Manager for Asda’s account. Family Fun Day Supersize fun Finlay Beverages’ first Family Fun Day for employees and their families was held on 27 August at Frickley Cricket Club. The event was organised by a group of volunteers comprising Robert Landers, Suzanne Mason, Aileen Robinson, Paul Iveson, Julie Lowery, Cain Atkinson, Terri Waterhouse, Joann Witton and Royston Mould. Amusements included bouncy castles, a penalty shoot-out, face painting, a bungee run, a Punch & Judy Show and Sumo wrestling, all of which kept the children and most of the adults amused. Barbecued burgers and hot dogs were served while Paul and Julie manned the bar. A tombola stall run by Maureen Holden and Margaret Millward raised £415 for the local hospice. Long Service Awards Mike Hickson receiving his 35-year award from Finance Director Paul Jasper Mike Hickson completed 35 years’ service with the company in August. Mike started work with George Payne in 1971 in the R&D department in Croydon. His first project was to design a tilting dragee pan for chocolate coating Payne’s ‘Poppets’. Mike moved to Beverages in Yorkshire in July 1996, since when his business travels have taken him all over Europe. He has worked on many projects over the years including the Swindon Tea Factory, the building of South Elmsall Tea Factory and extension, the South Elmsall Coffee Factory, the closure and relocation of Croydon Coffee Factory, the South Elmsall Administrative building and the new Loading Dock at South Elmsall. Mike is currently working on Projects One and Two in South Elmsall. The following have received awards to mark 15 years’ service with the company: Martin Cliff, Stock Controller; Dawn Weston, Tea Operative; Mark Thompson, QA department; George Head, Warehouse: Ann Lumb, Tea Operative: Colin Waterhouse, Support Operative: Brian Magill, Engineering Team Leader: Gina Oxley, C21 Machine Operator. George Payne Shield Golf victor Jon McCormack with Paul Bacon On 2 September the 2006 George Payne golf tournament took place at Woolley Park Golf Club, West Yorkshire. After a very wet and windy start, the weather improved and scores ended very close. Warehouse Team Leader Jon McCormack (pictured with the shield) was the winner; second place went to Tea Engineer Chris Parker and in third place was IT Manager Paul Bacon. Prizes were awarded after a meal in the clubhouse. Employee Conference ‘Taking our People With Us’: Diana Breeze of Sainsbury's addressing the conference. The third Finlay Beverages Employee Conference took place on 29 September at The Grove, South Kirkby. Production ceased for the day as all 250 employees attended the programme of presentations (see ‘Walking the Talk’ right). Everyone enjoyed a meal and entertainment by Doncaster comedian Gary Marshall before the evening’s fun and games which, this year, included casino tables, bingo, laser shooting and crazy golf.
Walking the Talk Lee Byers At Finlay Beverages’ third annual Employee Conference, guest presenters Diana Breeze of Sainsbury’s and Ian Bettles of Smallpeice Enterprises, focused on different ways in which employees can be empowered to attain improved business results through culture change programmes. Diana, on behalf of Sainsbury’s, one of our longest established customers, explained how their Chief Executive Justin King, appointed in 2002, set in motion a major culture change programme: ‘Taking Our People With Us’. Various initiatives included a ‘Tell Justin’ scheme whereby all 30,000 Sainsbury staff were encouraged to send ideas and suggestions for business improvement direct to the Chief Executive for reply and action. Others involved employees tasting and recommending Sainsbury’s products to friends and family; leadership training; colleague councils for all managers; and daily ‘huddle’ meetings to discuss and agree key priorities for the business. Diana was pleased to report that Sainsbury’s have just posted their seventh consecutive quarterly improvement in sales growth since the programme began. The Asda training quality team meet Finlay Beverages' Russ Fowlkes, Commercial Director; Doug Moseley, Asda Business Manager; and Lee Byers, Marketing Controller. Ian Bettles of Smallpeice Enterprises entertained the conference with a highly individual presentation on better ways of working using ‘lean’ principles gleaned from years of experience with world class organisations. As an educational charity, Smallpeice improves business results by helping organisations to remove waste from the production process. The presentation gave numerous examples of how simple small changes can make a big difference to the end result through careful attention to detail; it included some hilarious examples of poor work execution. Finlay Beverages then took the opportunity to celebrate their success (reported in the Spring edition of Finlays Magazine) in gaining substantive new business from Asda, part of Wal Mart and one of the world’s largest retailers. The Asda Project Team, with Russ Fowlkes as sponsor and Lee Byers as Project Leader, used a professional video presentation, combining footage from around the South Elmsall site with vox pop style interviews, to explain how, in less than nine months, Finlay Beverages had been able to deliver a complex project from a blank sheet of paper to a complete range of finished products. The video was first class and combined footage from around the South Elmsall site together with Vox Pop style interviews with team members to tell the Asda story. It celebrated the work of everyone involved in preparing, pitching for and securing the Asda tea business. Finlay Beverages had targeted Asda on the basis that the business opportunity was both substantial and a good fit with our existing customers, including Sainsbury’s who appeal to a slightly different shopper profile. The Asda buying and quality team reviewing tea samples at South Elmsall (left to right: Dave Cresswell Trading Assistant; Stuart Menzies Trading Manager; Sophie Benter, Marketing Manage; Katherine Shipley Product/Quality Manager) Beginning with an in-depth analysis of the market and extensive store visits, our initial presentation to Asda focused on how we might take their tea business forward. A visit in October 2005 by Asda to our site in South Elmsall was to prove crucial. Finlay’s passion for quality and attention to detail was successfully demonstrated in every aspect of our operation. Having quoted for Asda’s tea business we began preparations by undergoing formal training in project management techniques. With only three months to launch, the pressure was on to deliver a full range of products from scratch. This presented a number of major challenges including the recruitment and training of a night shift. It is a tribute to everyone at Finlay Beverages that in such a short time we were able to deliver Asda products on schedule whilst meeting their stringent quality standards; we even managed to deliver some products two weeks early! Most rewarding of all, however, is that we were able to achieve all of this without letting our normal standards of excellence slip for existing customers. In fact, over this same period, we achieved Sainsbury’s Hero Supplier status for superlative customer service in delivering the right quality, at the right time in the right quantity. We were also awarded ‘The Grocer’ magazine Gold Award 2006 for Best Own Label Supplier (hot beverages category). The challenge, as ever, will be to continue to deliver on quality and service each and every day. We can only do this by ‘Taking Our People With Us’. 25
Page 1: Autumn/Winter ’06 Volume 42/No.2
Page 4 and 5: 4 View from the MD’s Desk Rupert
Page 6 and 7: 6 Rethinking the Brand Simon Large
Page 8 and 9: 8 Pullout to go in here lorem ipsum
Page 10 and 11: 10 Project Lily Nev Harries In 1996
Page 12 and 13: 12 Designing an open plan office to
Page 14 and 15: Clockwise: Colombian farmer, Orland
Page 16 and 17: 16 ‘A Special Place in the Heart
Page 18 and 19: 18 Pensioners’ Reunion The lunch
Page 20 and 21: 20 News Tea Estates continued... Ke
Page 22 and 23: 22 News Tea Estates continued... Sr
Page 26 and 27: 26 News Flowers Update Tim Blackbur
Page 28 and 29: 28 News Sri Lanka continued... Twic
Page 30 and 31: 30 Announcements Births Adil On May

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