Interview

LEADING FROM THE FRONT

Having worked extensively within the cable management sector for nearly 40 years, Simon Hudson-Smith has witnessed many changes. Carly Wills talks to him about his life and career, and the exciting developments at the Hudson Group.

CW: Tell us about yourself and how you got into the sector

SHS: I was in the electrical wholesale industry in the late 80’s and early 90’s. I was working at a company called OLC Electrical in Maidenhead and I got to know Marc Swaffer, the Sales Manager at Arena Cable Management. We worked together on several projects and in 1993 we decided to set up in business together, and so RMS was born as a specialist cable management wholesaler. For the first few years we partnered with different suppliers across the industry, but we soon realised we needed a dedicated manufacturer for cable containment that could provide the support and flexibility for the projects we were involved with. So, in 1998 we set up Armorduct as our manufacturing facility for cable management products – initially trunking, tray, floor systems and bespoke specials, with the later addition of cable basket. It was really our capability to produce ‘specials’ that made us stand out from our competitors as our customers were always asking for modifications to standard products, or needing specifically-designed solutions. We found that being able to complement our offer with an in-house design service really helped with the challenges faced by every project. 25 years later, we’re still doing exactly that – helping customers overcome problems, because, inevitably, every project has its own unique challenges! Sadly, Marc passed away in 2019 but I remain committed to driving and growing what we started together. This year we are launching Milton Cable Management Systems, as a specialist arm of our business, and we’ve also formed a new partnership with Wibe Group to help re-launch and support the much-respected Mita brand. CW: For those who may not know, can you give us an overview of the work that Hudson Group does?

SHS: Hudson Group is one of the UK’s leading independent groups of cable management companies – RMS, Armorduct and Milton. Each business has its own specialism: RMS provides expert modular and offsite manufacturing services for high volume, fast install cable containment solutions. Armorduct designs and manufactures standard and bespoke steel cable management systems including cable trunking, tray, basket, and floor boxes, while Milton provides cable containment solutions for corrosive and hazardous environments.

CW: Tell us about your current role – what are you responsible for and what does the normal working day consist of?

Simon HudsonSmith with the 1959 Austin A35 raced by both Simon and his previous partner Marc Swaffer in the HRDC (Historic Racing Drivers Club) series

SHS: I’m the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the Hudson Group and still very much hands-on with each of the businesses. After 30 years it’s a hard habit to break!

As we expand, and the demands upon cable management systems evolve, a significant amount of my time is spent looking at the future direction of the Hudson Group, identifying new areas to move into and maximising the value we can bring to the industry. I’m also exploring new partnerships and building a strong leadership team, as this is the key to our future development.

CW: What are the best things about your role? What are the most challenging?

SHS: I’ve gained enormous satisfaction from seeing the businesses flourish. In many ways they feel very much like my ‘kids’, and with the right encouragement and direction I hope they’ll continue to go from strength to strength.

Every day presents new challenges and being in a position to address them and influence change is incredibly rewarding. However, the loss of Marc Swaffer was a huge blow – both personally and professionally. He is remembered fondly as a big character within our businesses, and in the electrical industry, and we’ve had to work hard to replace his influence and experience.

This has only been possible by colleagues from across the business stepping up and helping to move us forward. In particular, Pete Willsher (MD of RMS) and Alfie Rowe (MD of Armorduct) have both demonstrated great leadership and brought the best out of their teams. At Hudson Group it’s very much a team philosophy, which has been built on tackling challenges head-on, as a team with our customers. Every project has challenges and we become project-team partners with our customers to help solve them!

CW: How has COVID-19 affected the industry?

SHS: Aside from the lack of direct interaction with colleagues and customers, it obviously created a huge amount of uncertainty at first. Like many other businesses, we wondered how we’d survive.

However, after the initial wobble, the industry seems to have recovered very strongly and we’re now seeing great momentum in projects across the board. As a company we learned a great deal during this time. We took the chance to re-structure, we put a defined corporate strategy in place and we are now seeing the benefits of these activities.

CW: Aside from COVID-19, what have been the biggest changes across the industry in recent times? What will be the biggest changes in the future?

SHS: Brexit has certainly given UK businesses a challenge in terms of dealing with European projects, particularly in the data centre world. UK contractors have had to find new ways of trading in Europe and suppliers like us have had to adapt to new ways of working to accommodate logistics and customs changes.

Likewise, the impending economic recession is causing a great deal of concern, along with supply chain and shipping challenges from China.

This is accelerating change across construction and, thanks to a forward thinking approach, the Hudson Group is able to be flexible and react positively. For example, modern methods of construction mean rising demand for modularisation, as not only have raw material costs increased dramatically, so too have labour costs.

The demand for on-site labour is outstripping supply and labour rates continue to increase – the more work you need to do on-site, the more people you need. This means more labour and management, more travel, more dependence on people, more training and skills required, and more equipment. This is not to mention the costs to cover CSCS and other qualifications, site inductions and toolbox training, which is mandatory for most sites.

CW: How is Hudson Group working to make construction more sustainable?

SHS: Every organisation I speak with is looking for new ways to ensure reliability, save time and money, and be more sustainable. Modular cable management is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint, as the delivered product contains less packaging than separate components, usually takes up less space and, as a result, requires less transportation. A specialist team will have assembled, tested, labelled and packaged the product, so when it arrives it’s ready to ‘plug and play’.

Modular systems also minimise material waste. Hudson Group companies also have a defined recycling policy, as we are ISO 14001 certified, to ensure that all waste packaging and other materials are segregated and recycled appropriately. Sustainability is a massive challenge for the construction industry – we’re playing our part now and investing in renewable energy to run our factories, plus monitoring systems to help optimise how we operate.

CW: What’s next for you and for the Hudson Group?

SHS: 2023 will see us celebrating 30 years in business for RMS and 25 years for Armorduct – quite a milestone year for both businesses.

And 2023 is going to be an important and exciting year for Hudson Group, as we develop our core strengths and values, and seek to grow our distributor base. I’m particularly looking forward to working in partnership with Wibe Group to promote the Mita brand.

Those of us that have worked in the cable management sector for some time will be familiar with Mita, and it has been much missed in recent years. It will also offer the opportunity to highlight the benefits of glass reinforced polyester (GRP) based products within various applications. GRP offers a robust and durable cable management solution that is fire and corrosion resistant, lighter than steel but equal in strength. It is also easy to handle, without adding unnecessary weight to an installation.

While we are proud to make our products in the UK, we also recognise that Brexit has fundamentally altered the trading landscape. Therefore, RMS is expanding into Europe – initially in Amsterdam and Frankfurt – so we can offer our UK partners better service and support for their data centre and modular work throughout the European Union.

CW: What do you think are the most exciting products or technologies coming to the market?

SHS: As well as modularisation, for the reasons explained above, 3D CAD software technologies are helping us work more effectively and precisely. Often used for our work in creating modular solutions, we can take building information modelling (BIM) and Revit files, extract the mechanical and electrical layers and work with contractors to develop the best solutions for their cable management needs.

The developments in smart buildings and data centres are also incredibly exciting. It’s no secret that demand for data is skyrocketing as our world becomes ever more connected with data intensive applications. In response, data centres must be capable of storing and managing massive amounts of information, while using the latest network cabling infrastructure. This is an area where we are seeing strong demand for our products.

CW: What are your interests away from work?

SHS: Power boating, car racing and travel!