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A Cheshire-based business went through monumental growth and tripled its turnover due to the coronavirus pandemic. They turned to a education programme to cope with the demand, and now other county businesses have the opportunity to apply for the government-backed scheme.
The Swift Organisation, based in Adlington, near Macclesfield, is a family-run business offering luxury and bespoke garden rooms. When the country was plunged into lockdown, demand for their services went ‘through the roof’.
The company went through an unexpected but welcomed period of growth, as more and more people required gyms, offices, and entertainment spaces in their garden.
READ: Cheshire village pub set to reopen after Covid and Brexit forced closure
To help with the unprecedented demand, Project Manager Matthew Leighton turned to a business growth programme called ‘Help To Grow: Management’. The scheme aims to teach senior management leaders about resilience, recovery and long-term progression following the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
It is taught by small business and enterprise experts from Manchester Metropolitan University. It aims to help businesses across Cheshire develop their own post-Covid-19 plan for growth.
Students take part in eight online sessions and four in-person workshops at Birchwood Park in Warrington. They also have access to Man Met’s alumni network and one-to-one mentoring.
Matthew said: “When the world shut down and people couldn’t access the sorts of places they normally would, they looked to people like us to build them a gym, office or entertaining space in their garden.
“You can get too big too quick so, whilst we welcomed that forced growth – as a small, intimate team – we wanted to maintain a sense of closeness while scaling up.” The 12-week course, delivered by Manchester Metropolitan University, taught Matthew how to deal with the increase in demand whilst keeping the high standards of a close-knit team.
Matthew recently graduated from the programme, which started in December. He now wants to take on more responsibility within the company, which is owned by Martin and Cath Lawson, and is hoping to be a company director himself over the coming years.
He said: “I’m good at operations and getting things done but, sometimes, you don’t know what you don’t know. The course came along at exactly the right moment.
“I’m more aware of things I need to work on, and I learned so much from being able to talk to directors at other businesses about their experiences and the challenges they have faced. I am now aiming to be a director myself within the next two years.”
The Swift Organisation won Houzz 2022 awards for ‘Best in Design’ and ‘Best in Service’.
Another business in Macclesfield has also benefited from the scheme, called Pro-Stretch. The sustainable trim manufacturing company was founded by Christine Morgan in 2003, and is based at Lower Marton Farm on Davenport Lane.
Christine, from Congleton, also experienced phenomenal growth during the pandemic. Lockdown saw the company earn a record turnover as demand from her global customer base increased. Pro-Stretch employs 10 people in the UK and has staff at factories in China and Vietnam.
She joined the programme to help see the business “through fresh eyes”. She said: “I wanted to perform a ‘health check’ on the business – looking closely at areas such as Marketing, operations and finance.
“As a direct result of the pandemic, most of our meetings now take place over Microsoft Teams, which means I am no longer spending most of my time on a plane – travelling around the world to meet with clients as far afield as China.
“That one change alone has made us so much more efficient and sustainable. The course is helping me to build on that success by introducing more improvements.”
Peer groups and mentoring were particularly valuable to Christine. She continued: “With so much of our attention on global markets, being on the course has helped me to feel more connected to the region’s business community and to expand my network here in Cheshire.”
Businesses across Cheshire are encouraged to apply for the course. They must have been in operation for at least one year and employ between five and 249 employees.
A senior management decision-maker must be put forward as the individual taking part in the scheme, which is 90 per cent funded by the government. Businesses must pay only £750 once they have been accepted.
Applications for the next cohort of business managers and leaders must be submitted before Tuesday (March 29).
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