In Your Shoes - Gary Henderson

Monday

Unusually, I’m starting my week with a day off as it’s Easter Monday. This is the last of a few days in Aviemore, glamping in an Eco Pod at the Badaguish Outdoor Centre. The weather has been great and we’ve been cycling, taken part in an Easter egg hunt and just spent lots of time outdoors.

I know many business owners struggle to take time off but I really value being able to spend time together as a family. I’m very lucky to have a strong team behind me that can deal with everything on a day-to-day basis which allows me to have the time off without worrying about what’s happening.

Tuesday

Back to work but it’s another unusual day me for. Our Purchasing Manager has been in hospital and I’m stepping in to help out the team. Although we hold a large fastener stock, it’s impossible to have everything, which means we have to source items every day.  We were open over the Easter weekend but all our suppliers were closed and there’s a backlog to deal with. One of our key values is being responsive and the customers are waiting…

I’m quite conscious that I need to be working on the business rather than in the business, but needs must be dealt with. It actually feels quite good to get back in amongst the action and get a better feel for what’s changed since I was last involved. It’s also an opportunity to identify potential improvements that aren’t so obvious when you deal with it every day.

Wednesday

Wednesday's are meeting days and I’m back to normal today – almost. Paula, our Finance & Admin Manager, has organised for the company to take part in On Your Feet Britain – a challenge to convert sitting time to standing time. Thankfully, it’s a beautiful day for a lunchtime walk with a couple of guys from the warehouse.

One of the keys to our success is creating a flexible environment for our employees and working from home is at the heart of that. Wednesday just happens to be the most convenient day for everyone to get together in the office. I chair the fortnightly meeting with the Leadership Team to review how we’re progressing with our quarterly plan.

I also hold the position of Vice Chair at the British and Irish Association of Fastener Distributors, which has over 100 member companies. We have an online meeting of the admin committee in the afternoon to discuss succession planning.

Thursday

We have customers in a variety of industries, locally, nationally and internationally but our growth has predominantly come through reputation and word of mouth. We are now being more deliberate and proactive with a focus on geographic areas (Dundee & Angus being one of them) and businesses in specific sectors. I get together with the Commercial team weekly to review the progress we’ve made and plans for the next week. The products we sell can be really interesting but it’s the variety of businesses we work with and what they do with the products that gets me excited.

I registered to attend the All Energy exhibition and conference in Glasgow in May with one of my colleagues. I’m responsible for providing the team with insights into higher level activities that will determine where we prioritise our efforts and events like this are ideal for that.

Friday

I start the day with a remote meeting with IT. We’ve developed almost all of our own systems to help run the business and we’re in the process of a major technology upgrade. We review the progress made and next steps for the Warehouse Management System. We’re just about ready to start with user testing.

I normally use Friday afternoon to look after any tasks I’ve been allocated in our Quality Management System and today is no different.

Just like that, the working week is over and I’m off to collect a scarifier to get started on some lawn renovation at home over the weekend. 2 days of manual labour ahead!