EDITOR’S CHOICE
STRATEGIC SUCCESSION PLAN
BROANMAIN PLASTICS
Precision engineering firm appoints first female MD
Dorking-based Broanmain Plastics has
appointed a new Managing Director. Jo
Davis takes up the helm at the precision
and technical plastics injection moulding
company from January 2020, having led
operations at the family business since
2018.
Jo’s appointment forms part of the
company’s strategic succession plan,
which involves investing in a more diverse
workforce from shop floor to boardroom.
Since taking on the role of Operations
Director, Jo has cemented the company’s
industry reputation as a skills champion
and an investor in employee welllbeing.
Incumbent MD Wilf Davis is moving into
the role of Chair, maintaining his strategic
interest in company’s direction and
governance, which his family founded more
than 60 years ago.
As part of the restructure, Thomas Catinat
has been promoted internally to operations
manager, taking on the responsibility
of production and overseeing quality
assurance and the tool room. Kamil Stec
has also been named tool room manager
having just completed his engineering
apprenticeship with the firm.
Commenting on her appointment as MD,
Jo said: “We have a fantastically talented
team here at Broanmain. In the past year
we have won a number of exciting new
projects, production and tooling contracts.
With the teams’ support, we will continue
to assist our growing customer base and
building on our strong reputation for service
and moulding innovation in the electronics,
precision optics, automotive, medical and
consumer sectors.”
Thomas will report directly into Jo,
managing the 30 strong production, after-
moulding, assembly, quality, stores and
tool room teams. Commenting on what
this means for customers, Thomas said:
“The number of clients we serve has been
growing for several years now. We have
made a number of changes internally,
streamlining production, investing in
machinery and reorganising the toolroom.
Now, having a single reporting line across
Effective January 2020, Jo Davis is the new managing director at Broanmain Plastics
all operations at the two sites will make
us even more efficient, multi-skilled and
responsive to our customer’s manufacturing
requirements and prototype projects.”
Having already embarked on a significant
expansion of its mass-manufacturing
production facility with the acquisition of
a fully-operational moulding site on the
Surrey/Sussex borders late 2018, for the
past 12-months Jo and the team have
concentrated on streamlining operations,
cross-skilling staff across the two sites
and building a culture of innovation and
continuous improvement. The heightened
professionalism and enthusiasm has been
noted by a number of existing and new
customers, including Specac who awarded
Broanmain their New Supplier of 2019
accolade.
Excited about what the future holds for the
company, Jo reaffirms her call for greater
diversity in plastics engineering. In the last
few years Broanmain has continued to push
the parameters. The company’s approach
to recruitment, reward and recognition,
training and development, employee
wellbeing and succession planning resulted
in them being shortlisted for a Plastic
Industry Award in 2018. “More importantly,
Broanmain has a strong and loyal team in
place to ensure customers receive service
continuity. This is especially important for
complex tooling and moulding validation
projects, as customers like the assurance
that they are dealing with people who truly
understand their business and what they
are trying to accomplish,” adds Jo.
As MD, Jo believes that the company’s
recent investment in machinery and
personnel is giving customers greater
confidence to switch suppliers and move
overseas moulding to the UK. Reporting
that the majority of customers they work
with have UK-based production lines, she
notes that many have re-evaluated their
component supply chain in recent years to
better-guarantee delivery reliability.
Much of the company’s long-term
succession planning has been drawn from
Jo’s previous experience in commercial
law, predominantly litigation and
employment law, to ensure Broanmain
continued to invest in its people’s
development. Thomas and Kamil’s recent
promotions are testament to this. Since
Jo joined the company in 2001, turnover
at Broanmain Plastics has more than
doubled.
For further information, please visit www.broanmainplastics.co.uk
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PECM Issue 43