PRODUCT NEWS
COMPANY SPOTLIGHT
In it for the long haul How Mackays of Cambridge rose to the challenges of soldiering on through COVID-19
By PETER BRETT
MANY of our readers might know about Mackays of Cambridge, or indeed, they might have met force-of-nature and managing director Neil Mackay. In his ‘portfolio’, when he isn’t campaigning for various charitable causes, he has used all the media to draw the attention of the wider public and Government to the reality of ‘shoplifting’ for small retailers - aka theft, in Neil’s view.
He is not a man to leave any stone unturned, so you can imagine that the dangers of COVID-19 and the challenges for a local independent tool and hardware shop that has been around for over a century didn’t just mean shutting the doors and furloughing staff. It was time for thinking caps on to find “a solution that wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction”.
This meant some serious problem solving – but Mackays has a history of finding solutions. For example, the company was
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heavily involved in developing and supplying the temporary steel runways used by Allied WW2 aeroplanes in the deserts of North Africa.
Getting started After establishing that hardware retailers were in fact considered essential in the Government’s plan, Neil and the small management team had just a week or so to transform the retail premises, the ordering system, the staff organisation and rotas to be COVID-compliant and efficient enough for the small shopfloor team to manage the demands they might face.
Ingenuity and experience helps; for example, Neil used a pallet truck to lift and reposition heavy display stands to help mark out a set route from car park and front door to the service counter. Along with floor markings, this enabled customers to space themselves safely. An
iPad and a phone on the service counter are used to select items for counter staff to locate and then bring to the customer, thus minimising points of contact.
Neil notes that customers – a steady stream – quickly learned to observe the two-metre rule and didn’t complain about having to queue outside at busier times. The general feeling amongst customers seemed to be that just having a hardware supplier operating with good levels of service was worth a short wait.
It also built on a sort of underlying community feeling amongst the independent traders in this part of Cambridge. For example, in order to help maintain staff morale, Neil notes that the purchase of pork pies from a local independent butcher has helped both the workers and the butcher. A new understanding of mutual support has been engendered.
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