PRODUCT REVIEWCOMPANY SPOTLIGHT


Supplies Neil understands very clearly that there was no point in opening a shop if you can’t guarantee supplies. But umpteen years in the tool trade can be very useful. Call it the Old Boy Network, Who you Know, subtle arm twisting or just a good business case, but Neil was able to contact key suppliers and arrange for continued ordering and delivery on a regular basis.


Unsurprisingly in my view, most suppliers proved to be flexible and willing to adjust systems, order quantities and delivery times to fit into the shortened opening hours at Mackays. Neil picked out Draper, Sealey and TIMco for special mention in this regard.


Internet business is an obvious outlet because it minimises contact, and Neil admits there is more work to do on this, but I guess by the time of publication, the systems will be sorted.


Team working Despite having to work almost on his own for the first week of the lockdown because some members of staff were self-isolating, a system was instituted where three-person shifts work for three weeks on, while the other team is furloughed, and then they swap over. In this way, any cross-over contact is minimised between teams, but also allows the teams to have a balance of expertise and skills that are needed to provide customers with the best advice.


The increased workload is managed by reducing the opening times. In typical Mackays tradition, one half of the main windows on the high street announce the new opening times in huge letters (10am till 4pm Mondays to Saturdays) while the other half of the windows carry a message to support and congratulate the NHS. It is no surprise that the normal levels of business have not been sustained, however; takings are healthy enough to warrant all the work, as well as providing a solid footing from which to step when “things return to normal” – the eternal cry at the moment!


But Neil is also proud of the fact that Mackays has been able to supply emergency requests from Addenbrooke’s Hospital. He often has to make deliveries of small items up to two or three times a day. Mackays has also supplied 24 workbenches to a company that has started to make ventilators, as well as finding a batch of 10mm fine taps needed for the job. They were in stock! Mackays also continues to supply and cut metals needed for key jobs and installations and sold all of his stock of work shoes to another start up.


Other minor ‘victories’ have included supplying adhesive black foam to a woman making visors for the NHS – a gift that had Twitter and Facebook buzzing with appreciation.


New skills and spin-offs They say that nothing you ever learn is wasted, but Neil says that he has had to acquire some new skills very quickly. To help with the website and for demos, Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop have had to be ‘sort of mastered’ very quickly.


After chatting with Neil at length, I have been amazed by his ability to think laterally, be inventive, and to have a positive outlook on how he can help others. Yes, it is important that Mackays can hit the ground running when the lockdown is lifted but that is not what will be remembered by the community, the NHS, the people and trades who were helped, and the staff that were valued and kept on rather than dumped at the first sign of trouble. I won’t go down the route of Blitz Spirit etc, but it is clear we need people like Neil and companies like Mackays to set an example.


Neil understands very clearly that there was no point in opening a shop if you can’t guarantee supplies. But umpteen years in the tool trade can be very useful."


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