DIRECTOROFTHEMONTH
‘Working
5 to 5’
Ian Short, Morley Glass
& Glazing MD discusses
why he’s always first
to work, looking at the
bigger picture, glass
crushing, and even Walt
Disney in September’s
Director of the Month…
When did you start the company?
I started Morley Glass & Glazing in 1998 as
a sealed unit manufacturer, with a team of four.
I saw a gap in the industry for a high-quality
niche product and started to manufacture
sealed units with ScreenLine integral blinds
inside from 2003. It really helped differentiate
us and ensured we thrived; today we have an
expanded product range and we employ over
78 members of staff.
Describe your working day...
One thing that has stood me in good stead is
always being prepared to be the first to arrive.
That can mean getting to the office at 5am but
it’s worth it to have some relatively quiet time,
and also means I get more time to spend out
on the shop floor during the day. I like to leave
the office by 5pm as I’m involved with lots
of charities and often have to go to trustees’
meetings or simply go and lend a hand.
‘I love being in a position
to give back to the local
community and charities’
What is your workspace like?
I am a very clean and tidy person, so I
insist that my workspace and indeed the
whole factory are spotless and ordered. We
moved to this factory in 2016 to increase our
production capacity. We planned the space
carefully so that it has a natural flow and is
hugely efficient for the team so that they can
easily manufacture up to 4000 sealed units
with integral blinds inside every week.
What websites help you?
Our own website www.morleyglass.
co.uk is the biggest help to our business. We
don’t employ any salespeople, but we have a
fantastic PR and marketing agency which runs
an integrated marketing campaign that directs
traffic to our website and generates all our
sales leads. The Morley Glass social media
channels are also hugely valuable in terms
of engagement, direct sales and for sending
people to our website for more information,
quotes and to place orders.
Most useful business tool?
We recently invested in FleetWizard
software which optimises dispatch and delivery.
The automated route planning software
gives us a clear visual of our weekly orders
nationwide and enables us to carry out easy
load planning for our 26 vans that takes into
consideration both location and load capacities,
helping to save both time and fuel. We simply
load data into the software’s easy-to-use
dashboard which then automates multi-depot,
multi-route, multi-drop scheduling. Optimal
trips are created, and resources assigned in
a fraction of the time needed for a manual
planning process.
Best business decision in
your current role?
Appointing a general manager to manage the
day-to-day operations has given me the time
to be a true managing director. I’m very lucky
to have Kevin Murphy who takes a lot of the
day-to-day stress off my shoulders, and allows
me more time with our suppliers, including
regular trips to Italy to discuss new product
developments. My focus is now on strategic
growth; looking at the bigger picture without
getting too involved in the nitty gritty. I enjoy
inputting into the marketing campaign and I
love being in a position to give back to the
local community and charities.
We also recently installed a glass crushing
machine into the factory which allows us to
take the glass from old windows and doors,
crush it and recycle it via Saint-Gobain Glass.
This saves our customers time and money,
as we don’t charge them to recycle it, and it
prevents the glass from going to landfill. All
the money that we receive from Saint-Gobain
for the glass is then donated to local charities
or community projects for environmentally
friendly initiatives.
Favourite role models and why?
I respect and admire Walt Disney,
businessman Bob Iger and chef Raymond
Blanc for their attention to detail and their
recognition that one business isn’t about just
one thing: it’s the many layers of quality and
service that keep you focused and successful.
How do you unwind?
I learned to dance the samba and a few other
dances a couple of years ago and I still love to
dance when I can. It’s a great way to relax and
forget the stresses of the day. I enjoy holidays
with my family and I also love steam trains.
www.morleyglass.co.uk
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