Meet your Keylite Team

David Loughran
Technical Team Leader

Jamie McGuinness
Area Sales Manager, North Wales & North West

THE KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL RELATIONSHIP

By Mariah Archer, Internal Sales Advisor

There has been lots said about how to build a successful business relationship, from communication to understanding your client’s needs, to meeting expectations. The past few months have tested everyone’s relationship, but in many instances this has helped to create closer businesses bonds, which can only be a good thing. But will it last, and how important is that personal contact?

Like many businesses, Keylite had to furlough members of staff when the country went into lockdown due to Covid-19. I was one of those, furloughed for four weeks which gave me a lovely opportunity to spend one-on-one time and have picnics in the garden with my two year old son. However, after this period it was straight back to work, although some members of the team worked from home.

For those who had the new experience of home working, the transition was seamless – partly due to the fact that many people were in the same boat. However, how did this remote operation impact productivity and those all-important client relationships?

The internal sales team at Keylite is much like an extended family. We all work closely together and support each other. There is a great atmosphere in the office and the general vibe does rub off on people, resulting in a proactive team with a can-do attitude that will go above and beyond. This is largely down to the office interaction and the personalities therein. Thankfully, despite lockdown and some staff working from home, the team managed to maintain its approach and meet our clients’ expectations.

In fact, I think it is fair to say we exceeded our clients’ expectations. There was a general consensus that during lockdown things would take longer and be more difficult. Our excellent productivity during this time offset those concerns. Keylite kept the warehouse open throughout and with the team managing the phone lines, we ensured that every call was answered, every query was dealt with and each order was processed and despatched. My role entails liaising with our merchant customer base, answering price requests, quotations and technical questions. These could be from anywhere in the UK.

The relationship that the internal sales team at Keylite have with our merchant customers is something we are proud of. It’s reassuring to be asked for by name, and it is through this personal contact that we can build relationships and ensure that our customers’ expectations are met. Our customers know that if they call us, we will answer. There’s no waiting and no offer of a call back ‘within a day or two’. They call, we answer and whatever they need help with, we’re there.

With lockdown lifted, the entire team are back in the office. We’re observing new measures but our approach hasn’t changed. The can-do attitude the team has is helping us ‘take back control’ and ensure that our customer needs are met. Covid-19 has had its challenges but I’m pleased to say that Keylite hasn’t let it affect the way in which it supports its customers. We have maintained our relationships through doing what we are best at – being there for our customers and ensuring their business needs are met.

BACK AND BETTER THAN BEFORE

By Lee Squelch, Area Sales Manager, South Wales

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a massive impact on every business, not just in the UK but worldwide. It has changed the business landscape for many. Sectors such as travel, hospitality and retail have been severely hit, but thankfully construction was one of the first back. However, much has changed in a relatively short period of time and the question is: are we back to how it was, or is this the start of a new way of working?

At the start of lockdown, like many other sales staff, I was furloughed. Businesses had to adjust the way they were operating and decisions needed to be made as to which staff would be furloughed or remain working – albeit from home. Keylite considered this very carefully and a plan was put in place that saw our distribution centre remain open and our internal sales and technical support teams working from home. This ensured customer orders and queries could still be managed and products despatched. This, in effect, saw the business continue to operate.

Thankfully, the industry has bounced back quicker than most other sectors, and staff that were furloughed have been brought back. This is largely due to demand – sites are open and it is ‘back to work’ – although there are new operational procedures in place to safeguard everyone’s health.

So, how has this all affected how I work and how Keylite operates? Keylite has always been a proactive company. There is a company-wide ethos of traditional values in terms of a hands-on, professional way of working and supporting customers. We work hard to generate leads and drive sales for our customers, and we have integrity when it comes to advice.

The company has worked hard to build relationships with our customers whether they are merchants, architects or contractors. They know the quality of the product and they know that we will go the extra mile to provide support and assistance. Thankfully, despite the pandemic, this hasn’t changed. But it has allowed us time to reflect.

The lockdown and furlough has allowed every business the opportunity to step back and look at what it does. For many, it has been an opportunity to review and refine procedures and processes. All too often we find that a procedure is in place and whilst it works, it doesn’t get reviewed because ‘that is how we have always done it’. However, in many cases procedures can be improved, and this improvement often means time and cost savings.

The same goes for how people work. As staff gradually come back to work I am finding that it is a ‘new improved’ version of their former selves. I myself used lockdown to get back into shape. With no work commitments, I was running and weight training six days a week losing six stone for the year, four stone of which was during lockdown. The whole process was so much quicker and now I am back at work, I’m still training three to four days a week. I don’t think I’m the only one as everyone seems to be invigorated and keen to get back to work, and with this comes a new-found desire and drive.

Now that I’m back on the road visiting customers, I seem to have discovered a much more organised way of working. My function hasn’t changed, but the way in which I’m going about my working day has.

This new approach feels like a ‘leaner and fitter’ sales function and Keylite operation. We have always taken pride in how we go about our business, but we’ve discovered a formula that allows us to work with even greater efficiency.

I’m glad to be back and pleased to be part of a hard-working team that’s committed to ‘taking back control’. I’m looking forward to catching up with my customers, renewing relationships and creating new ones. I’m back, and the only thing that’s changed is I’m now a better ‘me’ than the one that existed earlier this year.

KEYLITE STAFF OFFER A LESSON IN RESILIENCE DURING COVID CRISIS

By Matthew King, National Sales Director

Aside from the very real threat it continues to pose to people’s health around the world, the coronavirus pandemic has been a learning curve for businesses across all sectors.

As Keylite’s Sales Director, I’m one of four directors to have worked throughout the current crisis. Five other staff members have also remained on duty following our decision to keep the company open, thus enabling us to supply our customers who continued to trade and build during the nationwide lockdown. During this time I was able to experience a side of the business I haven’t regularly encountered for many years. With the majority of our sales staff furloughed, it meant helping customers access our products from stockists outside of their usual supply chain due to closures during lockdown. This also led to senior staff learning more about how our sales teams manage projects via our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system; an insight that’s allowed us to refine and further improve the process.
The sales teams were brought back from furlough in July. Our Managing Director Jim Blanthorne summed-up the contrasting situation rather well, remarking that as the returnees came back full of vim and vigour, they were met by staff who had been at the works frontline for nearly four months, and were therefore more battle-weary, than bright-eyed or bushy-tailed.

Out of all the departments, bringing the Field Sales team back from furlough presented the greatest challenge. Unlike the finance and customer service teams, for example, who we can make safe provision for in the office or facilitate them working from home, we had to find new ways of working for our field sales team, which number about 30 nationwide. Travelling the country, visiting workplaces and meeting customers face-to-face, remains an essential part of a sales person’s remit; it is what we judge them on, and how they earn their success. However, the ongoing Covid restrictions have denied them this aspect of their job; therefore we had to devise a plan to enable customer contact to continue. Like a lot of companies, this meant using smart communication options such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams to make client contact. And rather than meet customers at their branch or place of work, field sales staff have taken to holding business appointments in Covid-safe spaces such as coffee houses. With the virus less likely to spread outdoors, parks and other community areas have also served as makeshift meeting areas. Such imagination and fortitude has enabled business to continue at a brisk pace for Keylite, despite the enormous challenges we’ve faced this year.

Make no mistake; our sales team is doing a cracking job. I consider myself lucky to be blessed with such fantastically-talented colleagues whose abilities have really come to the forefront at this unprecedented time. The efforts of our internal and external employees resulted in us achieving our sales expectations for Q3, which could lead to even further success, particularly with the Repair, Maintenance and Improvement (RMI) sector currently holding up well.

The resilience displayed by the construction industry and the country as a whole gives me great reason for optimism that whatever the next few months have in store, we will come through it stronger and wiser. And what a lot we’ve had to deal with in the past decade or so: the 2008 recession, Brexit uncertainty and the current pandemic, which is likely to be around for a while yet. However, the construction industry has kept plugging away throughout those travails, and I’m proud to be a member of a sector that is once again leading the economic fightback in the wake of the latest crisis.

THE GREAT UNKNOWN

By Debbie Phillips, National Business Development Manager

This year has been a rollercoaster. When the pandemic lockdown started in March, few people thought it would last more than a few weeks. The reality is very different. Months later we are in a situation where people are working partly from home, partly from the office and with very few customer physical interactions. Week to week the rules and guidance are changing and this great unknown in terms of where you are working and how you are working is having an impact on us all. But is this a positive impact or negative, or a bit of both?

I’ve worked for Keylite for just over a year. Like many, I was placed on furlough when lockdown started. This was a new experience and to be honest I was glad when I was brought back in to work. I am used to working from home, albeit it not five days a week but it was interesting to see how quickly everyone adapted. I think this is partly down to the fact that everyone was in the same boat and it therefore gave us all a common conversation.

However, working from home has its drawbacks. I for one like face-to-face interaction. I’m used to meeting with specifiers and housebuilders and talking about projects. Whilst this can be managed online, it doesn’t have the same intimacy that a face-to-face meeting has. On the flip side, working online during lockdown did cut back on travel and in what many people see as wasted time. But I don’t see it like that.

I like driving and I find that time in the car, alone, is a good time for thinking. This could be thinking about the meeting I am about to attend or thinking about the meeting I have just had. It is during these travel periods that I find I can be the most creative. This time, at least a large part of it, has now gone.

I’m now finding that I’m being ruled by Microsoft Teams, with meetings every hour, on the hour. All too often this means that there is no time for thinking space. So, are we potentially going to lose this time? Are we going to be working on an hourly rota system going from one meeting to another? I think this could have a significant impact on our mental health.
With government encouraging us to work from home, the focus on good mental health has never been more important. Some are finding that remote working is aiding their productivity but for others it is very difficult. It is especially difficult for those who live alone – solitary working and living can be very difficult to manage.

The mental health of staff working from home should be a top priority for business and I’m delighted in the way in which Keylite have been supporting their staff over the past six months. At no point have I felt alone or isolated. There has always been someone I can talk to and the company has done everything in its power to keep staff informed.

Like many businesses, Keylite is now managing the ‘work from home if you can work from home’ protocol but is ready to change as the rules change. We have all learnt that to be successful we need to be agile. Keylite has always put its relationships with customers first and throughout lockdown this hasn’t changed. Yes, we have had to adapt how we communicate with customers – less face-to-face CPD’s and more online calls – but we are prepared for the future, whatever it holds.

Yes, the future is the great unknown but we understand the importance of continuing to support our customers. Keylite also understands the importance of helping staff find a healthy balance between working from home and interacting with colleagues and customers. I’ve found my balance and I’ve made time for my creative thinking between my Teams calls. It’s my way of coping and I’m ready for whatever the next few months throws at us.

LOCKDOWN DRIVES TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION

By David Loughran, Technical Team Leader

Lockdown has affected every business, no matter what sector it operates in. Thankfully the construction sector has been one of the first sectors to bounce back, but it has not been an easy ride. News headlines have focussed on the difficulties that people and businesses are facing but for some, Keylite included, lockdown has helped facilitate improvements in the way we operate, with simple uses of technology being one.

A lot has been said about how traditional the construction sector is. As an industry we are slow to adopt technology. Part of this I think is the fear of how difficult adoption can be, often set against how busy people are. There is also the mentality of ‘we have always done it this way’ which blocks any possible change. However sometimes, something happens that forces you to do something different and it makes you realise that you have been missing a trick!

I manage a team that provide technical support to customers. This often relates to onsite installation issues where we deal with the installer or operational issues where we are dealing with the homeowner or building occupier. Traditionally we would look to solve any issues via a phone call but in many instances, it is difficult to establish exactly what the problem is so the simple option is to send an engineer to attend site and solve the problem. This, on the face of it seems like very good customer care – and it is. However, with these engineer visits comes cost implications and also time implications. Lockdown has made us look at a different approach.

Under lockdown, I like most people was working form home. With this came the use of online meetings. This adoption of online meetings, whether Facetime, Teams or Zoom, started off with those working from home but was quickly adopted by those still managing to work on site. As a result, rather than getting phone calls from installers, I was receiving Facetime calls. This has the effect of being able to have a more personal call with someone, being able to see who you were talking to, but it also provided a way of investigating issues more effectively.

Trying to resolve technical issues over the phone is not always easy. You are never quite sure what someone is looking at. Are they looking at it from the side, angle or direction that you are thinking of? Where you refer to a component, do they understand what you are talking about? Being able to see what your customer can see solves this. It is much easier to diagnose an issue when you can see what the problem is.

By having facetime calls with installer and end customers during lockdown we found that we were able to address many issues and solve them there and then. This eliminated the need for a site engineer to visit, reducing cost and time implications, as well as helping to create a safer working environment by limiting the number of people on a site and associated travel.

You might think that video calls for technical issues is an obvious thing to do but it is surprising how it takes a major event, like a global lockdown, to change how we work. To make this work it has to be both ways – Keyite need to be able to provide the video service and the customer or installer has to know how to use it.

Before lockdown video calls from mobile phones on construction sites wasn’t that popular. Lockdown has made people of every generation turn to using their phone to make video calls. This has in turn helped us change how Keyite can provide an improved technical support service.

I would like to think that this new way of providing technical support will continue. It is quick and effective and the response we have had from customers when we fix an issue there and then speaks for itself.

Lockdown hasn’t been easy but I can take some pleasure in knowing that from this we have learnt and adapted and as a result we will be stronger, more agile and effective in the future.

THE WORLD’S A DIFFERENT PLACE, BUT KEYLITE’S QUALITY REMAINS AS HIGH AS EVER

By Bryan O’Keeffe, Area Sales Manager, Dublin/ Leinster

I’m a sales representative for the Greater Dublin area and surrounding counties. It’s my job to supply builders’ merchants with the Keylite roof windows they need for their customers involved in building projects across the country.

I started at Keylite in March – just as the country went into its first lockdown. It meant I was furloughed for the first couple of months of my employment. Due to being quarantined, I was unable to attend the company’s official training course in-person. Instead, I was offered online training through the Keylite Academy, which was brilliant and so beneficial. Thanks to this remote programme, when I was able to start the job properly, I managed to hit the ground running – introducing myself to customers, explaining my role and what Keylite had to offer in terms of products and service.

Whilst visiting suppliers, it’s obviously important to abide by Covid-19 regulations including wearing face coverings at all times when inside their premises. As a sales person though, this aspect can be a little frustrating. It means people are unable to see the real me, and makes relating to customers a little more difficult. But health is paramount and this small inconvenience is a price worth paying to keep people safe.
In Ireland we’re in the midst of a second lockdown which ends on December 2nd. The construction industry remains open for business thank goodness, as do the building sites. With current regulations limiting the number of people allowed in shops at any one time, I have to be very selective with the visits I make to merchants. The last thing I want to do is take up the space of a potential customer. Fortunately, we have a number of loyal clients who are able to update us on stock levels and the like without the need for face-to-face contact.

Despite the challenges the whole world – not just Keylite sales people – are facing right now, the phone continues to ring and we’re still taking lots of orders and enquiries. Things will continue to improve as the health crisis lessens. When we begin to return to some kind of normalcy, I’m confident our decision to keep Keylite operations up-and-running in support of our clients will stand us in good stead. I think customers have appreciated us being there for them throughout this challenging time, therefore when the good times return, I’m certain they will be there for us.

I’m sure they understand as I do that although things have been very different of late, some things remain the same such as Keylite’s products and service, which are second-to-none.

GOOD SALES PEOPLE ALWAYS FIND A WAY TO SUCCEED

By Jonathan Boland, GB Regional Sales Director North

I compare references to ‘market conditions and uncertainty’ to a sales person blaming poor sales levels on the weather: if you’re paid to deliver results, you have to find a way to deliver them.
Fortunately, Keylite sales staff have ‘found a way’ and performed above expectations despite the tumultuous events of 2020. That success was built upon a trio of stolid virtues: hard graft, planning, teamwork. These came to fruition when the senior sales team returned to work ahead of our field-based colleagues following the initial lockdown in March. For the first three weeks we devised a detailed road map, a type of back-to-work induction plan for the salesforce. The result was a very intensive three-to-four hour video conference with individual staff members, which was essentially held to deliver the message that things would not be returning to normal once work resumed post-lockdown. We said it was a case of acknowledging the challenges we were up against would be a little more difficult in the current covid climate, but nothing had changed in terms of the ability of the sales team to overcome such adversity. This set the stage for us to present our sales targets and outline how these were going to be achieved.
Making progress, taking control
We’re what you might refer to as old school when it comes to sales; the product doesn’t sell itself. The key to success is getting the item in front of customers. With pandemic restrictions limiting face-to-face meetings – which is how we at Keylite prefer to do business – we decided to become an extension of our customers’ salesforce. We did a deal with our merchants. We said, ‘Tell us which clients of yours are currently involved in building projects, and we will visit them on your behalf’. The pledge was backed up by a promise that any orders secured from the visit would be fed through the merchant. Back-selling is massively important to engaging with our customers. There’s nothing to make a salesperson feel more switched-on than being able to say to a merchant, ‘You remember that client you told me to visit? Well, here’s the order for them.’ We’ve always been proactive, but this approach was particularly important to re-establishing business links as we emerged from lockdown. Our customers appreciated it, too.
Speaking of initiatives, we recently launched the Keylite Merchant Training Academy. Designed to give customers the confidence and knowledge to sell our products, the online programme means merchants can log-on at any time to access the information they need. The academy was a result of us reconfiguring the face-to-face training process we carried out prior to lockdown. We thought, ‘How can we get the same result, but provide something slightly different?’ The feedback the academy’s garnered from customers has been fantastic. Indeed, many have praised our approach to business throughout lockdown, with the term ‘refreshing’ being used more than once. They’ve appreciated the fact we’ve come to them with a plan. We’ve said, ‘This is how we’re going to do business together for the next few weeks and months’, rather than putting the onus on them to arrive at a solution.
Positivity breeds success
Because we import products, I think it’s difficult to make predictions in terms of future business projections. What I can say is we are very-well prepared to make a success of 2021. My budget next year is to grow the business, and I’ve set out plans for individuals within my team which detail how this will be achieved. On December 2nd each team member will present their own business plan, outlining how they intend to increase their new and existing customer base.
In my opinion, a positive attitude is crucial to sales success during the difficult times we’re all facing. Being passionate and enthusiastic about a product gives a salesperson an edge; an edge which could make all the difference when it comes to making a sale. Having said I’m reluctant to make predictions, here’s one I’m happy to put my name to: Keylite’s sales team will never been found wanting for passion or enthusiasm. This team will always ‘find a way’ to succeed.

COMMITMENT TO CUSTOMER SUPPORT MEANS DESPITE THE CORONA-CRISIS, IT IS BUSINESS AS USUAL FOR KEYLITE

By Janagan Kanesalingham, Area Sales Manager South East

I’m Keylite’s Area Sales Manager for south east England, which focuses on three target markets: merchants, regional/national building firms, and architects.
Developing relationships with construction companies takes care of the lion’s share of my time. Orders I gain from them are back-sold to merchants. This is an incredibly important way of increasing product sales. Actively giving a merchant business provides them with more of an incentive to promote our items. As I see it, bringing something of value to a business makes that business realise how valuable we are to them. It’s an ethos that has stood me in good stead throughout lockdowns one and two.

Customer appreciation

Like it has been for many people, many of whom have their lost jobs and livelihoods, the pandemic has been challenging for me in a work sense. During the first lockdown I was furloughed for just over three months. Thankfully, however, due to the relationships I’ve established with clients in my three years at Keylite, the time spent in quarantine wasn’t detrimental in business terms. In fact, as soon as I was able to return to work, it was a case of picking-up where I left off. At this point I should say a huge thank you to Keylite’s office staff, some of whom remained working throughout the pandemic, dealing with orders from merchants whose clients were able to continue working as a result. Customers really appreciate this sort of service, and in the long-run we as company profit from such gratitude.

It was good to be back to work following the first lockdown and if I’m honest, things were even busier than the pre-quarantine period. I think this was due to building firms working harder and longer to catch-up on work missed due to the pandemic. Construction and manufacturing companies being allowed to continue working during the second lockdown was obviously good news for Keylite, which is involved with both sectors. I’m in contact with building firms carrying out numerous live projects across the regions and as long as proper precautions are in place – social distancing, masks etc – customers are very happy to meet and discuss their product requirements. In that respect, despite the ongoing restrictions, it’s been business as usual for me.

Missing that ‘personal touch’

I do hope it won’t be too long before life in general can return to something like normal. Technology has been brilliant at keeping me in touch with customers I’m unable to meet in-person, but speaking via Zoom, email or the phone is no substitute for doing business face-to-face. Keylite’s success has been built on providing a ‘personal touch’; it’s what helps us stand out from our competitors and why we’ve been able to build a large and loyal customer base.

It’s worth reiterating, that the level of commitment we’ve shown to clients, by going the extra mile to understand and meet their requirements throughout all times and circumstances, has paid off during this exceptionally testing period. And with the Prime Minister insisting the country must ‘build, build, build’ to help subdue the threat of a post-pandemic recession, Keylite’s hard work during these months of uncertainty will almost certainly be of benefit when good times –hopefully – return to all in 2021.

MAINTAINING BUSINESS OPERATIONS DUREING LOCKDOWN

By Matt Grimmett – Supply Chain Manager

In order to maintain business operations during lockdown and ensure we kept customers supplied with the products they needed to continue working, it meant adapting a new daily work routine quickly and efficiently.

This was particularly pertinent to our distribution process, which required a complete restructure to uphold service levels during the crisis. The reconfiguration included creating a transport link involving numerous distribution streams to keep deliveries on track to Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and Great Britain, with orders being shipped directly from our distribution facility in Burton. That process remains operative, but we’ve returned to distributing throughout Ireland via our Keystone Group network. Essentially, this involves sending out one order-packed lorry per day to Ireland, with our secondary distribution stream taking care of any overspill.

Adapting

It’s taken an incredible effort on everyone’s part at Keylite to adapt a new service delivery process. The coronavirus pandemic remains a going concern across the globe in terms of health and the world economy, but I feel we as a company have emerged from the first few months of the crisis in good shape. The challenge for us at present is ensuring deliveries keep pace with demand, which is a nice challenge to have. We’ve seen some changes in the product market since the pandemic took hold. Our loft ladder range is proving a huge success, presumably as people look for domestic projects to undertake whilst remaining on local or national lockdown. We’ve had to really ramp-up our loft ladder production, and we’re producing the product in record number in order to meet demand.

Future positives

We’re hearing a lot of good news stories from merchants in our sector in terms of business projection for the next few months. Most are predicting Q1 will be very profitable in 2021. This is due to the tariffs that could be introduced as a result of the UK’s exit from the EU on January 1st next year. The uncertainty around the issue has led to many customers looking to get ahead of the game by stocking-up on orders before any penury charges result in higher-priced products. Therefore it’s anticipated manufacturers, merchants and the like will benefit from this rush-to-buy in early 2021. I’m also hearing lots of positive noise from the construction industry as a whole, particularly in relation to the housing sector. The government introduced a stamp duty holiday up to £500k in July, which is due to end 31st March 2021. It’s this finale that is driving housebuilders to finish builds and make their sales in Q1. Buyers would have to find additional monies after this deadline and mortgage deals could collapse as a result.

Ultimately, our continued success and the buoyancy of the manufacturing market as a whole will depend upon companies understanding where added value can make our service offering, uniquely valuing for our customer base. The manufacturing industry is fast evolving. Therefore, we need to ensure we’re up-to-speed with our clients’ needs, providing the best service we can. Having seen the way Keylite responded to the challenge lockdown presented, I’m sure our customers know we won’t let them down.

ADAPTING TO THE ‘NEW NORMAL’ ENSURES KEYLITE MAINTAINS EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE LEVELE THROUGH COVID CRISIS

By Jamie McGuinness, Keylite Area Sales Manager for north Wales and north-west England

Regardless of business or personal circumstances, this year has been incredibly tough on everyone. One of the positive aspects we as a company should focus on during these testing times is the way in which colleagues, and the organisation as a whole, have pulled together. We have all had to adapt to a new way of working and it’s been incredibly pleasing to witness how each and every one of us has risen to the challenge.

As Area Sales Manager for north Wales and north-west England, pre-pandemic I’d be on the road five days a week, travelling between the regions and meeting contacts from my customer base comprising merchants, builders and roofing companies. Since returning from furlough which ended in July, although I’m still journeying between my home in Wales and towns such as Preston and Bolton, at all other times my phone and laptop helps to keep me in touch with customers, as well as chase new business leads. We are a face-to-face business which is very much merchant-focused, so not being able to fulfil that usual practice has been a little frustrating at times – but adapt, we have. That said, although we’ve had to reduce the number of our in-person meetings, we’ve still been able to drive sales through our merchant stockists. Business hasn’t suffered as a result of us – at times – being confined to barracks (so to speak).

New initiatives

As a further example of how we’ve managed to reconfigure our customer service offering in order to offer pre-pandemic levels of support, the sales teams have been hosting video conference demonstrations for clients. As well as proving extremely popular as a remote training and educational tool, such initiatives have enabled us to maintain meaningful contact with customers. It meant, in a business sense, we were able to pick up where we left off following the first lockdown.

Construction being the green light to continue throughout lockdown has obviously been good for the industry. But will activity levels return to a pre-pandemic norm when covid restrictions are fully-lifted? In my opinion, the industry as a whole could face a challenging 2020 Q4, with 2021 Q1 being equally as unpredictable. It also remains to be seen how the economy reacts to the business interruption we’ve experienced this year. Will talk of recession dissuade homeowners from embarking on home improvement projects which do so much to boost the building trade?

On a more positive note, the government appears to be continuing to press ahead with its pledge to build 300,000 homes per year to tackle the current housing crisis. So, whilst that plan remains on track, I’m confident the industry will continue to ride the crest of this wave of uncertainty and return to full growth by mid-2021.

Yes, for all sorts of reasons, the challenges that the UK and the rest of the world have faced this year have been unique. But better times await, of that I’m sure. As stated, I’m proud to be able to say that as a business, Keylite has not carried on as usual, we’ve adapted to the new environment that’s been thrust upon us and continued to support our customers in the way we always have. Here’s to a happier new year for all.

TEAM EFFORT HELPS KEYLITE TAKE BACK CONTROL AS NEW YEAR BECKONS

By Frazer Forbes – Warehouse Despatch Manager at Keylite

It’s been a challenging 2020 for everyone, but the year’s end has thankfully given the world far more reason for optimism. My position as Keylite’s Warehouse Despatch Manager meant I worked throughout both lockdowns at our Burton-upon-Trent site. The company continued to function and orders continued to accumulate during the 1st lockdown therefore myself and two colleagues were on hand within the warehouse function to ensure each order was picked, packed and despatched to customers.

Demand for Keylite products remained high during lockdown. Our loft ladder range was particular popular due – I imagine – to people filling the enforced downtime with DIY projects, home extensions and the like. It was important that we stayed open for customers. Being there for them helped instil a sense of assurance and loyalty that will hopefully not be forgotten.

In terms of the way the warehouse worked during lockdown, the priority was to ensure the workplace itself was Covid safe. This involved setting up the site for social distancing, installing hand sanitisers and creating signage notifying staff and visitors of the safety guide lines. Everyone has abided by the measures, actions which have helped warehouse staff remain in good health since we returned to full capacity in May.

We appear to be reaping the benefits of the hard work we put in to keep orders fulfilled and deliveries flowing during lockdown. Online sales continue to increase and Keylite business as a whole is growing by the day. This is due to a huge team effort from everyone connected with the company; from warehouse to customer service staff, to the sales teams, and hauliers who transport our products to destinations across the UK and Ireland. On a personal note, I cannot thank my team enough for their efforts. During lockdown and ever since they’ve worked tirelessly, going beyond what is expected of them. But it’s been a joint effort, and the rapport that has built up between staff across all levels of the business will stand us in good stead long after the pandemic passes.

Employees’ fantastic ‘can do’ attitude, coupled with the excellent relationships we’ve continued to forge with customers means as a brighter new year beckons, Keylite is definitely ‘taking back control’.