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| Sharing The Benefit Of Experience Issue 12 |
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If the format of this Newsletter is distorted, Click Here
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Welcome to the Business Support Network E-Zine.
The Business Support Network is a British Plastics Federation initiative, bringing together an elite group of companies who all work in support of the plastics industry.
To find out More about the BSN CLICK HERE
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Are you Ready for REACH?
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The new EU REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals) legislation came into force on the 1st of June. This is the most significant piece of legislation to effect the chemicals and plastics industry for years. In a nutshell REACH requiries users of chemicals to register the substances they use in their products and materials. This follows on from the EU's evaluation of the safety of the chemicals, and if the evaluation finds the chemicals to be safe they are then authorised for use.
For those who are still unclear about how this legislation will effect them help is available. To receive advice and guidance on REACH you can contact the:
HSE REACH helpdesk on 0845408 9575, [email protected].
Specifically for the plastics industry converters EuPC have set-up a REACH helpdesk on [email protected].
The EU will also be holding a workshop on the 21st of June, to launch their guidance and tools for pre-registration, data sharing and registration visit: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/reach/reach_intro.htm.
BPF members can download the highly informative presentations from the recent BPF REACH seminar from the extranet.
CLICK HERE TO LOG ON AND DOWNLOAD THE REACH PRESENTATIONS
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8 Associations Alliance Call for a 'Strong Department for Trade and Industry'
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For some time the media have speculated that incoming Prime Minister Gordon Brown will break up the Department of Trade and Industry.
The Eight Associations (BPF, BRPPA, BCF, PAFA GTMA, PMMDA, SPRA and NIPA) have written to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and stated, We need a strong Government Department to be the voice for business in Government, particularly at Cabinet level. Never has the need for support for the manufacturing sector been greater.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL PRESS RELEASE
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Plastics Recycling Council Join the BPF
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The Plastics Recycling Council has recently become an Affiliate Member of the British Plastics Federation. The arrangement will allow the Recycling Council to benefit from a package of services provided by the BPF including provision of the Council's Secretariat.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL PRESS RELEASE
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CPA (PAID) Joins the BPF Business Support Network
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The most recent recruit to the BPF support network is CPA (PAID) Limited. PAID is a division of the Credit Protection Association Plc who since 1914 have been provided credit management services to the British industry.
The PAID service is directed specifically at companies, who by virtue of competitive pressures, are required to grant open accounts trading terms. There are many of those within our various Business Groups.
The Credit Protection Association has earned a well deserved reputation for its prevention rather than cure approach to credit management. PAID continues in this tradition by providing a range of services which support the credit though all of the stages from credit granting through debt collection to debt protection so that companies can expand without fear of making bad debts.
Most BPF members know only to well how much time and effort is spent on granting credit and then worrying about getting paid. The PAID service removes this worry enabling members to make well informed credit decisions in a fraction of the time spent hitherto in taking bank reports or trade references. Once the sale is made and the debt due the BPF member can use the renowned CPA account recovery programme which usually results in payment in full. In the absence of such a happy outcome, the member has the option to sell the debt to PAID on a non-recourse basis thereby obtaining credit protection.
CPA (PAID) General Manager, David Hawkins, says We are delighted to join the Business Support Network. We already have a number of members in the plastics sector who make effective use of our various services and we look forward to spreading our gospel wider within the industry.
If you wish to know more, please contact Steve Maguire on 0208 846 0048 or [email protected].
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IMSM - Facing up to Global Challenges
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At the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, 2 key issues were voted as having the most significant impact on the world economy- climate change and emerging markets. While big business has recognised these for some time, and are increasingly taking steps to include these factors in forward planning, smaller manufacturers have been slower to react.
Companies which can demonstrate they recognise the need to take a responsible position on the environment will be more likely than ever to win on-going business from the larger corporations, and public sector purchasing departments.
ISO, which was represented at Davos by its Secretary-General Alan Bryden, was able to highlight some current developments. The ISO14001 family of International Standards relating to environmental management and related issues, such environmental labelling and life cycle analysis is being increasingly implemented worldwide in public and private sectors to achieve good environmental practice. The latest addition looks at greenhouse gas accounting and verification, which provides metrics for the emerging trading markets of carbon emission rights.
He declared:International Standards can be the vehicle to disseminate good practices and to open world markets for clean technologies, thus ensuring that the ambitious national and regional policies currently being adopted are synergetic rather than fragmenting. Alan Bryden concluded by encouraging global leaders to ensure that their countries and companies become even more engaged in developing and implementing International Standards, adding, ISO is in the 'engine room' of positive globalization, enabling best practice to be formulated and broadly promoted to contribute to the sustainable development of the planet.
IMSM’s Michael Bright commented, In the global economy, many manufacturers are sourcing products and parts from around the world, which is also their new marketplace. It is no longer possible to ignore the emerging economies of China and India, the impact of technologies that allow faster communication and world wide networks, or the increasing strength and demands of the customer, wherever they are located. With more than 10 years' experience of helping businesses achieve ISO standards, we are finding, both at home and in export markets, that these standards provide an effective mechanism for developing business.
He continued, As supply chains become more complex and fragmented, businesses need to have a documented system of operating procedures, such as ISO9001. This tells customers that a business has documented what they do, follows that set of procedures, reviews them regularly, and can prove it by external auditing. It is one way to demonstrate efficiency, and build up trust with customers, wherever in the world they are.
With over 770,000 ISO 9001:2000 certificates* issued in 161 countries, 2005, companies which work to the ISO standards are demonstrating they can work with customers locally, nationally and internationally, demonstrating British expertise and flexibility.
*Source: http://www.iso.org
www.imsm.com
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Listgrove Strengthens Team and Services to Benefit Recruitment for the Plastics Industry
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More than ever, successful companies need good people. And for the plastics sector that means a call to Listgrove Ltd. Over the past year the expansion in business and in services at the sector's leading recruitment and HR company sees Managing Director, Jason Markham in confident mood.
The past six months have been particularly intensive, says Markham, and have seen us invest in new people, new infrastructure and brand new premises.
A total of four new recruits have joined Listgrove in recent weeks. Sammantha Hanson is Listgrove's new Northern Business Manager and brings a successful track record in recruitment and in executive search. Closely involved in client support presentations on the Listgrove stand at the May Total Packaging exhibition, Sammantha is set to make a real impact with Listgrove's sizeable client base in the North.
Jane Edwards, formerly HR Manager of Swish Products, has also joined the company as part of the Executive Services Team. Jane’s new role is a crucial one for us, says Markham, and she is making great inroads in establishing the Stratford office, its services and systems. Jane's role will also involve keeping these systems keep pace with a level of business that continues to rise, year on year.
Piotr Smukowski joins the Listgrove team as part of the company's graduate intake. Educated to postgraduate level in economics and business studies, Peter will initially be attached to Listgrove's service centre for the Midlands.
To further support Listgrove's new teams and new infrastructure, Phillipa Marsh also joins on the administrative support side.
The strategic Listgrove move to Stratford has been underpinned with company investment in IT, management systems and in personnel. The new Listgrove building is a purpose-built facility and comes equipped with bespoke areas and facilities for interviewing, training and assessment programmes.
Listgrove's bold new brochure - Performance Through People - also does its part to underscore the expansion with a restatement of the company’s time honoured skills and values - and present some newer offerings: For our literature we wanted something bold and fresh that would enliven the market and - at the same time - advertise resources, such as our eNetworking and our HR management services, says Markham.
This year has seen constant and ongoing development of Listgrove services in Human Resources in order to complement the core work in recruitment. Companies today need such a very varied range of HR services, says Markham. And what we now offer allows businesses to take a much more strategic view of their HR issues and needs. Our newer services further enable companies and HR departments to focus and deepen their core strengths while selecting and then delegating a range of other tasks, skills and competences to us.
Listgrove HR services, for example, now include:HR Policies and Procedure reviews and action planning; HR Administration Management; Competency Based Structures; People Recruitment; People Management - support and consultancy; People Training, Coaching and Development; Psychometric Testing; Competency Based Interviewing - Assessment and Frameworks.
Many of these issues were raised with visitors to the Listgrove stand at the Total Packaging and Processing Exhibition at the NEC, May 14-18 where Listgrove also received a number of key commissions in the packaging sector. And Listgrove is now looking forward to raising further business at the plastics industry's key worldwide show - K 2007, Dusseldorf, October 24-31. Listgrove will exhibit as part of the BPF presence there. We set great store by the Federation and through our membership of the BPF's Business Support Network, and we expect a creative and successful time at K this Autumn, says Markham.
All further details from Jason Markham at Listgrove Ltd. Tel. 0121 643 1944 www.listgrove.com
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LME Free Hedging Workshops for the Plastics Industry
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The half-day workshops will help the plastics industry to understand how hedging can help organisations to better manage their polymer price risk, and therefore better predict costs, and profits. In addition, they will explore the benefits of regional contracts and additional prompt dates, and their implications on trading.
CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE LME WEBSITE AND FIND OUT MORE
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Bank of England May Inflation Report
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The Bank of England has just released its May inflation overview. Including information on financial markets, domestic demand, overseas trade and the outlook for GDP growth.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE REPORT
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HOW DO I.... Sell My Business?
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A new BPF series of ready guides to practitioners in the plastics industry. Focus: IMSM in conjunction with www.plasticsacquisitions.com .
1. Building
You may have a building to rent or sell. If you wish to include this in the sale or make the sale of the building an option, you will need an up-to-date valuation. If, as is increasingly the case, your business may be relocated after sale, don't forget to mention to your neighbours that your building may soon become available. You may well have a good tenant or purchaser right next door to you and this will save you the cost of an Estate Agent's fee.
2. Fixed Assets
Fixed Assets include things such as machinery, ancillary equipment etc. You may however wish to retain some of them, such as your company car, perhaps a computer or some office furniture. If so you need to list those items or delete them from the asset schedule you provide.
3. Stock and Work In Progress
Your future buyer will not want to buy obsolete stock or raw material and so it is a good idea to spring-clean and de-clutter your operation to make your business look attractive. Because the value of the above will change daily it is often better to agree a value for raw material and stock that is acceptable to both parties.
4. Debtor - Creditor List
Increasingly, buyers are suggesting that, instead of funding the purchase of the debtor book, the parties agree a date and that all sales and purchases are taken over. This means that the buyer does not have to fund the book and this can simplify and speed the sale.
5. Goodwill
Whilst the earlier items are relatively simple to price, the goodwill is the item that needs the most thought. There are almost as many ideas on how to value goodwill as there are businesses, and your business may be the exception to the rule, but as a rough guide, a buyer may pay three or four times the net profit (the PBIT or profit before tax) for a thriving, profitable business and perhaps the equivalent of two years profit for a static but stable business. If the business is in rapid decline the profit multiple may be as low as one year. If the business is making a loss, the buyer will usually want to check the margins on individual parts and contracts in order to see if they can run the work profitably. Typically, the purchaser will want to achieve a payback in a period of between three to five years.
For more information, please go to: www.plasticsacquisitions.com .
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Need Rapid Help?
Get your questions answered
Why not ask the Business Support Network a question at:
www.plasticssupport.net
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