As we come to the end of 2022, we can look back on a year that has several challenges and opportunities.
A year that has not only seen the impact of supply chain issues post Covid and Brexit but, we are also facing new challenges with the war in Ukraine and the effect that is having on energy prices and of course, inflation hitting an eye watering 11%.
This year, Managing Director Neil Clifton, was contacted for his views on how manufacturing businesses were adapting to the pressures with interviews requested from the BBC, Sky, Fox News as well as several broad sheet newspapers.
At the start of the year, we saw demand down from our automotive customers as they were failing to fulfil orders due to the semi-conductor crisis, however through on boarding new customers from March onwards, we are delighted to be ending the year with our largest order book in our history and we are very pleased that it comes from a vastly diverse portfolio of customers and sectors.
In fact, we know that 99% of our customers remain loyal and it is through their repeat business that we are seeing the success.
Over the years, we have invested the time to build their trust in our capacity, capability and confidence and this is now delivering results.
To ensure that we continue to deliver for our customers we have recruited two new managers in recent months. Adam Iddles joins as Manufacturing Manager and Darren Laker as a Machinist Manager. Both have a history of working within our industry and know our capabilities well. Their immediate impact is to improve visual management ensuring that all members of staff have access and knowledge of the jobs we are working on, this is often in excess of 100 projects in various stages of design, manufacture or commissioning.
We are also back to working night shifts so that we can offer 24hrs support on projects.
Investing in our team is a continual focus, running regular training throughout the year to support their development including Slinging, Forklift Truck driving, Press operations. We’re also pleased to share with you that we’ve passed our annual recertification of the AS9100 Rev D Accreditation. With less than 1% of Engineering companies in the UK with the AS9100 certification it really is an achievement to be proud of for the whole team at Cube.
There will be a few team celebrations across the festive season, but we are all looking forward to a well-earned break before starting 2023.
We’re going into the year with a strong position, healthy pipeline and optimism that there will be more, realistic opportunities ahead.
14th December 2022