TECHNOLOGY
Happy place – Fitfactory ’ s staff turnover has gone from 75 % to zero per cent in the last three years .
Culture club – The way Fitfactory operates , in which staff collaborate and feel valued , is just as important as the bottom line , says its CEO Jason Pritchard .
We ’ re always looking at ways of improving the offering we have because technology advances so quickly .” successive year of growth – and profit margins continue to improve .
And that growth has seen various awards come Fitfactory ’ s way , including Jason being crowned Business Leader of the Year at the Tees Tech Awards and clinching a place in The Manufacturer ’ s list of the UK ’ s top 100 business leaders for engineering and manufacturing .
Fitfactory also won the Innovation title at the Make UK Awards for the North- East , Yorkshire and Humberside - and was shortlisted for several others - for an MES ( manufacturing execution system ) that combines machine monitoring , production scheduling and shop floor data capture into a single application .
But what do awards mean for a company like Fitfactory ?
Jason answers : “ It ’ s easy to get your blinkers on and think Fitfactory is the only place where your work counts , but the awards show that other people think their work is of great value and will be of great value to industry in the UK .
“ It also backs up the importance of the culture we have here . It ’ s okay me internally saying we ’ ve got a great culture but to get external validation confirms to people it ‘ s a really good place to work .
“ It gives people in the company the confidence to know they ’ ve got a strong leader who ’ s got their back , and it helps attract new people to the business .”
The rapidly changing software world means Fitfactory is always keeping on top of security issues and developing groundbreaking products .
Jason says : “ The biggest product we ’ re developing at the moment has been in development for three years , with £ 1.5m worth of investment put in so far .
“ It ’ s a big , big product , but we ’ re also constantly developing and enhancing our current products , with a whole suite of products designed for process improvement across engineering and manufacturing .
“ And as more and more products become Cloud-based , we ’ ve got to stay on top of the security aspect to make sure they don ’ t have any data leaks or outages .
“ We went through Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation and are in the process of ISO 27001 .
“ We ’ re always looking at ways of improving the offering we have because technology advances so quickly .”
Fitfactory currently has offices in Stockton , Glasgow , Cardiff and a development office in China , with staff from Wales recently visiting Stockton for sales training and new team member integration .
And as Jason reflects on Fitfactory ’ s 2024 – indeed , on his first three years – he feels that going from 70 % staff turnover to zero per cent says a lot .
He boldly states : “ We ’ ve had a really good year but we want to do even better next year – more of the same in terms of culture , more jobs and product development .
“ But compared to when I started , I ’ m massively different . I ’ m a more complete person who can take a step back and analyse stuff before making a rash decision .
“ And I ’ ve been challenged by employing a new generation of people who favour the work-life balance which has shifted my way of thinking to wanting a company with an amazing work-life balance and which allows people to thrive in work and at home .”
Visit fitfactory . com
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