58 DEBATE


So you’ve got all of those challenges and they’re all driving price increases and longer lead times making it more challenging to service your customers and to have that competitive edge.


Added to that, you’ve got consumer behaviour. We’re in a recessive market at the moment and that will continue to be a challenge, particularly for the brands which are our clients.


Is ESG becoming increasingly important to you?


KS: It’s an integral part of the business. There is a massive discussion around sustainability because the energy usage in making paper is massive.


The social element of ESG is equally important. We’re very good at it here in Lancashire because a lot of businesses are connected to the social fabric of the area that they work in. It is a really good investment because you’re creating a better community around you which eventually will then feed into your business.


The push towards net zero is going to be a key driver and it is going to result in higher costs.


ESG is an integral part of the business and we should take it seriously and incorporate it. Don’t just use it as a marketing gimmick because that will backfire on you at some point.


LW: If you are going to do it, it needs to be genuine. The focus is sometimes very much on the environment but the social side is key too.


If we can give back and build our communities, not only is it going to make it a better place for us to live but it also going to get people ready to come into our businesses and grow.


If you’re in a position to help, then help. We’ve just set up an initiative called LWD Gives. All our staff are getting two extra days holiday a year fully paid and they can use that time to volunteer in the local community, they can use it to design things for an event, fundraise. trying to give back.


It’s just about us


JV:The social side in our industry is becoming more apparent, just putting back into the community. The very nature of what we do also covers environmental and governance.


Recycling metal makes 80 per cent less Co2 than the production of raw materials and recycling steel.


This makes the metals recycling industry a key driver in the government achievements of the net zero targets.


VP: There’s an education gap. It’s something that I feel so passionately about because from


an ESG perspective, as a business, we’ve been doing this for some years.


We’ve got plans. We report on it year on year. Great for when we’re tendering.


Brands in the private sector are really starting to talk about it, especially the big brands.


DR: The better companies are focused on it because they realise it drives sustainability.


It


drives your profits effectively. What it does do with the bigger contracts, it gets you a seat at the table. It doesn’t necessarily get you a contract but it gets you that seat.


We’ve always put our clients at the heart of


everything and that goes right throughout the business


Is the way you present yourself important to your profitability? How do you communicate the good things you do?


VP: We want to be industry experts, we want to be thought leaders, particularly amongst our clients but, actually, the news articles and social posts that do better are about our people and about our awards.


KS: There is your reputation in the local area, the values that you have built into your company and you portray outwards.


As a small company internationally, we’re massively recognised in our sector and that’s purely because of the work we’ve done, talking about tissue and sustainability and becoming thought leaders.


We were the only UK company in the Tissue World conference that takes place once a year in Düsseldorf and we were leading on sustainability.


The whole company brand needs to underpinned by the values you build in there, in terms of ‘this is who we want to be’.


JV:We’re a very competitive industry where we’re dealing with commodities and it basically comes down to price at the end of the day.


We are competitive but we back it up with service. We pride ourselves on the way we deal with and communicate with the customers.


Being a family business operating since 1980, our customers trust us, which is important.


We care about what they’re doing, what their goals are. We want to keep them and look after them and keep that relationship going.


DR:There are a lot of companies that splash money on advertising and it goes nowhere.


It’s where brand always comes in. If you’ve got a good brand and you shout about it in the right way then it will work for you.


If you’re not looking after your clients, they’re going to go away.


LW: It is all about perception. We talk a lot about great service, about delivering for our customers, our people, our staff but if your brand isn’t reflecting that.


Humanising the brand makes it into a tangible asset for a business. So it’s not just a logo, it’s not just a website. It is all of these things working together.


It’s how someone answers the phone. If you’ve


got someone going to a networking event, if you’re sending three members of staff out to three different networking events, are they all describing your business in the same way? Is there consistency there?


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Get in touch today to see how we can help... 01253 892031 | hello@studiolwd.co.uk www.studiolwd.co.uk


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