• • • EDITOR’S INTERVIEW • • • Over the last decade, Cliff Electronics has


designed a lot of new products and Mr Hall said that he takes his hat off to the team for its work in this area. “We’ve got salesmen out on the road, who are


constantly looking for new customers,” Mr Hall said. “The problem we’ve got in this country is the skills base. “If I want to get someone to come in to run


moulding machines or be a toolmaker, young kids are not interested, they want to sit in front of a computer.” Mr Hall said that Cliff Electronics is proud to be


a member of the Interconnect Technology Suppliers Association (ITSA), the only UK association representing companies who operate in the interconnection technology arena. He said: “The association is a not-for-profit


organisation run by its members for the benefit of its members and their industry sectors. “Its activities are also focused on providing a


framework within which members can enjoy the benefits of UK dedicated statistical data, networking forums within which members can discuss and exchange non-competitive information and where mutually beneficial business opportunities can be explored for the benefit and success of the ITSA member and the industry. “It feels like a team effort when we get


Mr Hall said. “The US market is huge and we’ve seen a lot of growth, and we’ve put in a lot of time effort into developing that market.” Mr Hall said that one of the biggest challenges


facing his business is carriers. “Prices have gone up and it’s also a challenge


getting good quality carriers to actually pick up consignments on-time,” he said. “People say Brexit was quite hard for a lot of UK


companies, but because we deal internationally quite a lot and we dealt with Europe as well, we knew the paperwork side of it, so it’s wasn’t anything new to us. “I think Brexit, to an extent, helped us, because


our exports doubled. Before Brexit, our exports were probably about 25% of the total turnover, but now we’re 50/50.” Mr Hall said that he expects exports to overtake


the UK sales in the next two or three years. “Without a shadow of a doubt, as we grow, I


think we’ll be looking at 60/40 sales, to export, and then 75/25 in the next five years.” Mr Hall reiterated the work that goes into


developing quality products. “We do 15,000 insertions as a test,” he said. “We


test the material and we test the jack sockets as each batch comes in.” Mr Hall said that the business experienced a


slight dip during the pandemic, but it did not put any staff on furlough. “We didn’t need to,” he said. “The office staff


worked from home, which worked really well; there was a slight dip for two or three months, and then it just took off. “Working from home has worked quite well for


people, but we ask them to come in one day a week, which we are about to increase to two days a week. Working at home, staff seem to be more productive and they don’t get interrupted as much as they do in the office.”


electricalengineeringmagazine.co.uk ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • DECEMBER 2022/JANUARY 2023 15


together and talk about the problems associated with the market.” Mr Hall said that from his involvement with


ITSA, it hits home hard that all the connecter manufacturing companies have got an ageing workforce, and nothing’s coming up behind them. “They’ve tried to get people to come in, but


graduates and apprentices don’t want to know,” he said. “I think the biggest kick I get is to see people grow in the company. I love watching people grow


and get a kick out of sales guys winning business, and I love seeing new products. “Even though I’m the managing director, I go


down on the shop floor and talk to people to find out what’s going on; I go down there all the time.” Mr Hall said that he is very much hands-on and


he added that every day is different. “I get excited to see what’s going on around the


people,” he said, “and the products give me a huge buzz. “We’re definitely going to grow and I see the


company being more innovative in terms of new products in the future. We’re always looking at efficiencies in the warehouse and stores and in the future we’ll need more people, more space and new tooling.” Looking ahead, Mr Hall said that he’s looking to


grow the business by at least 6% in 2023. “We grew 12% in 2021 and 35% the year before,” he said. “There’s still plenty of money out there.”


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