Meet the sponsors...

QWhy are you backing the Best Factory Awards? Sponsoring the Innovation Award seems a natural thing for us to do, really. The UK has a fantastic manufacturing heritage and has maintained that, even through tough times. What's so impressive is that the quality, innovation and attention to detail have never gone away. In some competitor countries, this isn't always the case, but what the awards show is that British manufacturing is made of sterner stuff. Innovation is also something that Epicor takes very seriously itself when developing and selling our own software solutions. So it will be great to celebrate this with the award winners and finalists. QWhat is the best business advice you've ever received? This relates to manufacturing and the advice was 'measure twice, cut once'. If you apply that to any circumstance, it's all about stepping back and reflecting before you react. The difference between British manufacturers and many of their competitors is that they are very good at this – and then delivering to the highest standards and specifications. QWhat makes British manufacturing great? Those manufacturers that had a false sense of pride in what they were doing are no longer around, while those with genuine pride and not focused on cheap solutions, but rather quality, are following in the tradition of the great British manufacturers that led the Industrial Revolution. The whole focus is on getting it right every time, all the way down the production line, and people recognise the value of what they deliver. QHave you ever won an award?
For what and when? I took part in the 'Young Enterprise' national awards when I was 17 and at school. Young Enterprise [the UK's largest business and enterprise education charity] encourages youngsters to start a business and make something – so it all comes back to innovation and entrepreneurship again. We formed a company that made clocks out of mirror tiles and music singles, and I won the managing director of the south-west award, which was great. More recently, I ran this year's London Marathon and raised money for TAMBA (the Twins and Multiple Births Association) and that was just as rewarding for me. QWhich manufacturing company do you most admire and why? It's really hard to come up with the name of just one company, as I get to visit a lot of manufacturers, week in, week out. I have the most admiration for those companies that have come up with an innovative product and, from there, grown a business around that, and then taken the next step by investing in the software solutions that will enable them to become significant players. It comes down to the grit and determination that underpins the British mentality – finding solutions to problems and going out on a limb to get things done. Unfortunately, we don't have the level of government backing other countries enjoy, although I think the tide is turning and that there is greater awareness now of how important manufacturing is to the UK. QIf you could run any factory, what would it produce? An innovative, renewable energy device that would be the next evolution of tidal power or wind turbine technology. As a little island surrounded by sea and winds, we are all but leading the world in the development of green energy, and, in this case, the political will and support to take this even further is there. QIf you could bestow one gift on UK manufacturing, what would that be? It would have to be a 'policy mind machine'. Governments of all persuasions take forever to come up with policies and put them into action, and often without hearing the views of manufacturing along the way. My machine would implant the policies manufacturing needs in the minds of ministers and get them passed!