Well what a challenging and another unpredictable year we all have had and as a company – PREA Ltd – we have had to adapt and change how we do business in the plastics, rubber, composites, adhesives and polyurethane regardless of the sector.
Pharma, Medical and Industrial has overtaken Aerospace and Automotive. Our clients are small family businesses to multinationals have had to change through our guidance. They like our approach since we are from the industry and talk the same language, it helps being time served and still working in the industry !!
On the mergers and acquisitions side globally since October 2020 came back with a boost . We have been working with Strategics and other investors in acquiring and selling companies globally. There was always a lot to do with preparation for sale, due diligence and acquisitions, restructuring… it kept us busy. In addition we have had to recruit employees for these businesses and in some cases offer outplacement services.
In addition the recruitment side of the business is at an all time high and are recruiting for several positions, nationally/ globally. We have been recruiting globally from director level to technical, sales and operations, again there were more vacancies to fill than people actually available. We have noticed that people of a certain age – time travellers !! – have learnt that they can live on lower incomes, prefer a life balance, retire early. In addition since there has been serious negligence and ignorance in training over the years, candidates have been limited to fit new roles. To fill this void our team of consultants have been bridging the gap.
We have been restructuring companies and focussing on training prior to and during COVID and working on working safely with staggered working patterns.
Something that I personally wanted to do when working at corporate years ago was to have a 4 day working week. I can remember at the time the CEO thought it was crazy idea.
What we have ended up doing was have some employees working Monday to Thursday and some Tuesday to Friday. Not only did it improve productivity, it improved mental health, reduced stress, reduced sickness absenteeism win win for all. We still did face some opposition from business owners and employees.
Yours truly has been busy for the last 19 months as Chairman for a composite company 5 months part time, Interim CEO for a thermoplastics company 7 months, full time and interim Managing Director, full time 6 months for a rubber moulding company, from SME to multinationals.
With the technical consultancy we have adapted by teams, zoom to help with formulation and processing.
We will have limited staff between Christmas and New Year working to serve our clients that work between the festive period.
Pravin S Mistry BSc(Hons)
Mobile UK: 07810 882 339 International: +44 7810 882 339
Direct Line UK: 0161 207 8007 International: + 44 161 207 8007
PREA ltd. PREA HOUSE. MANCHESTER. ENGLAND. UK. M43 0AB
email prea@prea.co.uk
Global Headquarters Manchester UK with offices worldwide
