Pre-met 103 Not Out!
Navigating a Time of World Crisis and Managing the Symptoms
Any world class cricket batsmen will tell you that getting close to a century is quite dangerous as attention to detail may lapse in the light of being so close to a 100. They might also tell you that is time to step up the ante, ensure you do the basics better than ever, and make sure you have your ‘A game’ with you.
This was exactly the position Pre-met found itself in towards the end of 2019, 100 years on since the inception of Lewis Springs Products, its merged partner since 2005. Frankly, had the new management team have taken its eye of the ball 3 years ago, it is extremely likely that Pre-met would no longer exist.
Facing the Challenges
The challenges were fierce, some would say hopeless, but the whole team, under new leadership, faced the unknowns of Brexit and the Global economy head-on. At that moment, the unleashed impact of the Covid 19 pandemic and further supply chain challenges were about to add to that stark reality.
History Repeats Itself
History has a habit of repeating itself. The Great Depression of 1929–39 was perhaps the worst financial and economic disaster of the 20th century. In 1973 the OPEC Oil Price Shock member countries reacted to the US sending arms to Israel by an embargo on oil. In the Asian crisis of 1997 massive debt accumulation lead to economic collapse in some Asian countries.
From 1998 to 2000, the dotcom bubble expanded and then burst leading to the stock market to crash in 2000 and many technology startups folded. Next, from 2008 to 2009 a global financial crisis saw the world economy take a dive into recession.
A resilient business has to be prepared for every eventuality. In December 2019 we were only just getting an inkling that we would all need to throw away the old rule book..
The symptoms about to hit in 2020
In 2020 we were facing included global automotive plant closures, the birth of the new word "keyworker" and a gut feeling that Pre-met sales would drop by c.40%. Clearly, there was a dire need to match resources to this level even to stand a chance of survival with the severity of the situation. Government financial support was the saving grace, without which we now know, failure would have been a dead cert.
Taking Action to Survive
With an impending crisis, we got to work immediately, taking decisive action in the face of global uncertainty. Furthermore, we planned a mass furlough strategy, leaving a core team in place for an unknown period post-Easter 2020. Following this, we created a survival business plan and gained bank/government loans with little margin for error.
One of the hardest challenges was using Zoom to inform 40% of the workforce they would have no job in 4 weeks’ time.
Three Years On
Three years on and Pre-Met is stronger than ever before in our 100 plus years history. Indeed, we have attained a sense of resilience beyond belief through a resounding team effort, not to mention the importance of our strong supplier partnerships.
Bright Future
Pre-Met exited the Covid crisis with a renewed sense of valuing its people, on a much stronger financial footing; and is now part way through a £500k 3-year re-investment plan. In Quarter 1 of January 2020 some might have considered such aspirations ludicrous.
103 years, we have had a good innings so far!
Stay tuned for more insight into the Pre-met story as we look to pave the way for others to hopefully achieve a double century.
