Business Growth for Handy Ltd
Posted on: September 13th 2022
Despite the tumult of the past 30 months, it has always been business as usual at Handy Ltd. Our managing director, Nick Harland-Smith discusses how Handy has grown, developed and helped the bedding and upholstery industries during recent times.
Our office and distribution centre remained open throughout the pandemic, and we were privileged during the first lockdown to have even been involved in supplying the PPE industry with urgently needed raw materials.
We are proud to say that no employee was asked to take a reduction in their salary during the period, and despite a tough 2020, we experienced our strongest ever year of sales in 2021 and this followed through into the first quarter of 2022. As is the case for many businesses, slightly tougher times have ensued since then.
Nonetheless, we remain positive in outlook to the extent that we have grown our team by hiring two additional people to handle the increased volume of purchasing and sales enquiries for our products. We also have continued to invest in our systems and product handling capabilities, all of which is contributing to a more efficient and leaner operation.
We are pleased that the environmental impact is increasingly coming into the forefront of most businesses and as such we have embarked upon becoming a member company of the National Bed Federation’s “Pledge for Our Planet” scheme. Focussing on reduced waste, increased recycling with reduced carbon output, we look forward to demonstrating how we are becoming an increasingly sustainable business, taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. 75% of our vehicle fleet is now all-electric and we are now using recycled cartons with recyclable paper tape and strapping for our packaging needs.
As a company we thoroughly enjoyed the sponsored 24 hour table tennis marathon we organised in support of the Furniture Maker’s Company (FMC) Step to It campaign back in March of this year. The FMC’s Step 2 It Campaign was set up to encourage the UK furnishing industry to organise and take part in a sports-based activity or challenge to generate vital funds to help those struggling financially. The event brought our team closer together whilst raising over £2,000 for the charity.
We also look forward to exhibiting at the upcoming National Bed Federation Bed Show in late September where will be displaying some new and eye-catching additions to our range. Handy is also increasing its attention to the sourcing and design of its products with recycling in mind. Either looking to incorporate recycled materials into the manufacture of our products or creating products that ease the process of recycling when the chair, bed or mattress reaches its end of life.
We expanded our product range of elastic webbing, hook & loop, piping cord & flanged edge roll, elastic, narrow woven polyester tapes, non-woven fabrics and valance board by acquiring the non-zip related assets and sales from Aero Zip Ltd, bolstering our offering to the bedding and upholstery industries.
Handy has also added another commercial partner by becoming the sole UK/Eire representative for RAM Elettronica S.p.A. RAM produce an exceptional range of automated and computerised foam cutting and processing machinery along with machines that will cut a variety of other substrates. We know that these pieces of kit will be of immense interest to many of our customers that are either converting foam or working with foam.
Customers who are converting foam, or working with foam daily, are already appreciating the many benefits of our water-based glue systems by Swiss owned Simalfa, including its green credentials.
Ultimately, life and work are all about relationships and people. Over 90% of current material purchases are placed with suppliers that we have worked with over 20 years, which include organisations such as SCAAT and Astor Berning GmbH, and these strong partnerships have helped ensure a focus on high-quality products, reliability, and service excellence.
The Handy team remain as tight, as happy, and as committed as ever. We value the relationships that we enjoy with each other, with the people that supply us and with the people we serve. For more information get in touch with us today.
Our office and distribution centre remained open throughout the pandemic, and we were privileged during the first lockdown to have even been involved in supplying the PPE industry with urgently needed raw materials.
We are proud to say that no employee was asked to take a reduction in their salary during the period, and despite a tough 2020, we experienced our strongest ever year of sales in 2021 and this followed through into the first quarter of 2022. As is the case for many businesses, slightly tougher times have ensued since then.
Nonetheless, we remain positive in outlook to the extent that we have grown our team by hiring two additional people to handle the increased volume of purchasing and sales enquiries for our products. We also have continued to invest in our systems and product handling capabilities, all of which is contributing to a more efficient and leaner operation.
We are pleased that the environmental impact is increasingly coming into the forefront of most businesses and as such we have embarked upon becoming a member company of the National Bed Federation’s “Pledge for Our Planet” scheme. Focussing on reduced waste, increased recycling with reduced carbon output, we look forward to demonstrating how we are becoming an increasingly sustainable business, taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. 75% of our vehicle fleet is now all-electric and we are now using recycled cartons with recyclable paper tape and strapping for our packaging needs.
As a company we thoroughly enjoyed the sponsored 24 hour table tennis marathon we organised in support of the Furniture Maker’s Company (FMC) Step to It campaign back in March of this year. The FMC’s Step 2 It Campaign was set up to encourage the UK furnishing industry to organise and take part in a sports-based activity or challenge to generate vital funds to help those struggling financially. The event brought our team closer together whilst raising over £2,000 for the charity.
We also look forward to exhibiting at the upcoming National Bed Federation Bed Show in late September where will be displaying some new and eye-catching additions to our range. Handy is also increasing its attention to the sourcing and design of its products with recycling in mind. Either looking to incorporate recycled materials into the manufacture of our products or creating products that ease the process of recycling when the chair, bed or mattress reaches its end of life.
We expanded our product range of elastic webbing, hook & loop, piping cord & flanged edge roll, elastic, narrow woven polyester tapes, non-woven fabrics and valance board by acquiring the non-zip related assets and sales from Aero Zip Ltd, bolstering our offering to the bedding and upholstery industries.
Handy has also added another commercial partner by becoming the sole UK/Eire representative for RAM Elettronica S.p.A. RAM produce an exceptional range of automated and computerised foam cutting and processing machinery along with machines that will cut a variety of other substrates. We know that these pieces of kit will be of immense interest to many of our customers that are either converting foam or working with foam.
Customers who are converting foam, or working with foam daily, are already appreciating the many benefits of our water-based glue systems by Swiss owned Simalfa, including its green credentials.
Ultimately, life and work are all about relationships and people. Over 90% of current material purchases are placed with suppliers that we have worked with over 20 years, which include organisations such as SCAAT and Astor Berning GmbH, and these strong partnerships have helped ensure a focus on high-quality products, reliability, and service excellence.
The Handy team remain as tight, as happy, and as committed as ever. We value the relationships that we enjoy with each other, with the people that supply us and with the people we serve. For more information get in touch with us today.
