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17th February 2012
Mulholland’s over riding message is, “You must trust us and don’t measure the banks on lending offers made; measure the offers completed.” Award winning epm:technology regularly stands up to beat the drum for manufacturing in the Midlands. However its approach to the credit crunch has now unknowingly set it apart as an example. “We kept it simple” said Mulholland. “We looked at the banks in detail and asked four banks, the same four questions and had sixteen different answers. From that point it was clear to me where banks were. |
“We decided to work hard to clear all our loans, take out all our unnecessary costs and start to measure the business daily. Once we had figured out how to do this, we focused on our skill base and turned off customers who did not pay well or who zapped all our energy, then and only then, could we begin to plan for the future. “Our plan was to fill our bank as quickly as we could and invest in new equipment to increase our capacity, ensuring we would be post-recession ready. During all this we even paid, in some cases upfront with orders to some of our suppliers, to ensure we were keeping epm’s supply chain alive and well.” Mulholland concluded “It’s not rocket science, try to be excellent at what you do, don’t waste money, pay your bills promptly, be proud of what you do, work hard but most of all, if you can’t afford it, you can’t have it. “In my opinion it really is that simple, we must now move on from painful mistakes caused by our credit fuelled culture of the past ten or so years. “The government needs to step back and stop holding us up and let the manufacturing and engineering industry help to trade UK PLC out of trouble and finally, please Mr. Cameron, give us a fighting chance.” |
epm:technology has been asked for real world experiences of dealing with banks through the Project Merlin deal, set out by the government in 2009/10 to encourage banks to lend to SME’s, kick starting the economic recovery process.
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10th March 2011
His visit on 7 March coincided with a regional Cabinet meeting held in Derby, as part of the government's plans to reach out to the regions. While the Cabinet met at local legend Rolls-Royce, the Minister’s visit to epm:technology provided managing director Graham Mulholland the opportunity to showcase that smaller engineering businesses are also competing strongly in the marketplace. During a tour of the hi-tech facility in Draycott the Minister took the opportunity to meet members of staff and discover how a rigorous apprenticeship scheme has helped to foster a highly skilled workforce with the know-how to meet the technical demands of F1 and other precision markets. David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science, said: "UK manufacturing is growing strongly and playing a central role in the economy and its recovery, and it was fascinating to see this work in action at epm:technology. "I was also fortunate enough to meet the company apprentices. Apprenticeships are a great way to earn money while you learn skills and build a career. That’s why the Government has put expanding the number of apprenticeships at the heart of its strategy to improve the nation’s skills. |
"Through the Growth Review we are working closely with the manufacturing industry so that all new policy proposals are focused on removing the barriers to economic growth." At the same time, Graham Mulholland made the case for close collaboration between businesses, educational establishments and the government, to ensure a robust future for composites engineering. “The East Midlands – and Derby especially – has an enviable heritage in engineering, thanks to pioneers like Rolls-Royce. At epm:technology, we strive to build that same heritage in composites, and to apply engineering skills into marketable products that are recognised worldwide. “A lot of current strategy in composites is centred on developing theoretical R&D, which can be an expensive and time-consuming process. I discussed with the Minister the need for a balanced approach to strategy that includes the input of commercially proven businesses who consistently supply cost-effective, on-time solutions to customers.” Graham, who is a member of the East Midland Innovation council for science and industry, confirmed that the example of epm:technology highlighted the issues at stake. “We are a rapidly growing business, and we need high-calibre engineers to support that growth. I am delighted to have been able to show the Minster the practical benefits that support for engineering can bring, both to the regional and national economy.” |
David Willetts MP, Minister for Universities and Science, has visited epm:technology to discover how the Derbyshire business is making a success manufacturing carbon fibre composite components for Formula 1 cars, aerospace, defence and other high performance applications. |
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epm:technology 20 Victoria Road Draycott Derby DE72 3PS tel: +44 01332 875451 email: info@epmtechnology.com |
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