Ukhuni Business Furniture

COMPANY PROFILE

2015

Ukhuni Business Furniture

www.ukhuni.co.za | +27 11 887 9243

company profile

A comprehensive solution Editorial: Harriet Pattison

Building upon a reputation as a reliable and innovative supplier of office furniture, Ukhuni Business Furniture has been in the industry for more than 20 years.

With less than 1% yearly staff turnover and doing its bit for the local community with a strong focus on sustainability, it’s no wonder Managing Director, Michael Stein, has positive words for his team of dedicated employees.

Office furniture is not just practical but a necessary requirement in so many businesses today. Whether a company employs 30 or 300 staff members, they will need a place to work, to study and ultimately, to be successful.

Comfort, cost and design are imperative and this month, we look at Ukhuni Business Furniture, a company that inherently believes it is the dedication and commitment of its long-running team that holds the key to its continued success.

BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL REPUTATION With more than two decades operating within the South African business furniture industry, Ukhuni was initially started in 1993 in a furniture dealership called Business Furniture Centre in Johannesburg. Run by Norman and Michael Stein, it produced a catalogue range of office

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chairs and desks.

As with all start-up companies, a sterling reputation is not a title obtained overnight, it takes hard work, reliability and unerring dedication.

Speaking to Ukhuni Business Furniture Managing Director, Michael Stein last year, he explains that soon after taking over the Business Furniture Centre, the demand from corporate customers steadily increased for the company.

“This necessitated a need for product development and a design for more systemised office furniture,” he explains. “We then started to develop our own manufacturing plant and from there, we commissioned some industrial designers to develop a product for us which we then invested in.”

Starting to develop its own systems and products, Ukhuni soon began to attract a much

Ukhuni Business Furniture

larger customer base and it wasn’t long before the commissions started to roll in from popular designers.

“We commissioned some really fantastic South African designers, one of the most well-known and best in South Africa, Brian Steinhobel. I didn’t even think he’d take my phone call but he did and we developed our first major chassis base desking system and we started learning the skills and started buying the machinery and developing our manufacturing capability.

“It took a while to get our reputation going and our products going but people really loved our service and our way of doing business and we started to land a few contracts,” Stein explains.

More than 20 years on since its inception and Ukhuni now produces an average of 15,000 work stations, seating and storage units for its corporate,

architectural and space planning markets with the company’s skills set allowing it to succeed across South Africa and into Africa.

In providing a comprehensive range of office furniture and solutions for so many corporate companies, Stein explains remaining true to the company’s core values of sound customer service, inspiring office solutions and business diversity is key in maintaining a leading role in an ever increasingly competitive market place.

“We have worked very hard on building a brand, developing products of integrity and a service level of integrity and have tried to operate at a high level of corporate governance.

“We are competing with a range of people who don’t necessarily have the range or scope of what we do so that’s resulted in us diversifying our business. We’ve had customers who have been with

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company profile

©Ukhuni Business Furniture | Ukhuni Connection

us from the day we started. We offer a consistent service, irrespective of the quantity they buy, so we could be doing a project for 3,000 work stations or for two, but each will receive the same level of love and service.”

STAFF COMMITMENT T h i s l e v el o f integrity and commitme nt s t a r t s with Ukhu ni’s em ploye e s - with an i m p r e ss i vely lo w s taf f turnov e r e stablishe d o v e r t h e y ears , the averag e se rv ice for staff a t U k h u ni is ten y ears . Focusing he av ily o n f a m i l y ru n valu es and a similar working en v i r on m en t, th e co mpany offe rs an inv aluable i n - h o u s e train ing p ro gram that is both d e p a r t m ent and co mp any spe cific.

N ow e m p lo y ing u p w a rds of 3 0 0 staff, Ste in ex pl a i n s there have b een a numbe r of succe ss s t o r i e s w ith in the co mpany, larg e ly attribute d t o t h e d ed icatio n and training it continue s

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“My management team have been with me a long time, through thick and thin. You have to be there for your staff and be there for your suppliers and your customers”

Ukhuni Business Furniture t o pro vid e. “ My h ead o f H u m an Re source s is a lady who st a r t ed as a s and er in our spray booth are a and t o d a y, s h e’s h ead o f Human Re source s. She has t w o c hild ren in Univ e rsity and owns he r own h o m e . An o ther example is my he ad of Board P r o d u ctio n , a gu y who starte d on the factory f l o o r and w as p ro b ably the most militant shop st e ward y o u co u ld me e t as a re pre se ntativ e of t h e Un io n. To d ay he owns his own car, has h i s ow n ho me an d runs our Board P roduction P l a n t. “ We als o p lace q uite a hig h inv e stme nt, for a sm a ll f amily b u s ine ss, in e xte rnal training wh e re w e are eith er bring ing in facilitators or w e are s end ing staff on spe cific training c o u r ses , s u ch as u p holste ry.”

Hi g h ligh ting j u s t a fe w of Ukhuni’s succe ss st or i es an d the gro wth and opportunitie s a v a i lab le to its s taf f, it’s no wonde r the c o m pany has b een re warde d with she e r de d i c atio n and hard work, subse que ntly h e l pin g to p ro vid e a re liable and e xpe rt se rv ice t o c u s to mers . “ The gro w th and opportunitie s av ailable t o ge ther w ith the s ucce ss storie s of pe ople wi t h in o u r b u s ines s has be e n amazing and that h a s res u lted in a lo ng le ng th of se rv ice , g rowth a n d retentio n o f s kills. It has also re sulte d in l e s s t han 1% s taf f t urnov e r in a ye ar, so it’s a v e r y p ro u d reco rd that we hav e built up,” Ste in e x p l a ins .

SUPPORT FOR SUSTAINABILITY With continued allegiance to both its clients and employees, Ukhuni also places a strong focus on the local community and the environment through Ukhuni HOPE – representing the social support of the company’s commitment to sustainable business.

Currently holding 1.33% of the company’s annual turnover, Ukhuni HOPE helps to ‘invest in the leaders of tomorrow’ – the employees and their families.

Recently joining forces with Food and Trees for Africa, Ukhuni HOPE purchased 111 trees before conducting a planting ceremony in Alex town, inviting its suppliers, staff and clients. It is estimated that these trees will use 41.57 tons of carbon dioxide over the course of 15 years, and in so doing will help to counter the carbon emissions of the company’s entire fleet over the period of a year.

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company profile A RELIABLE FRAMEWORK With substantial growth seen in South Africa over the last ten years, Ukhuni has invested in both the development of its manufacturing and marketing departments and in additional premises, helping to extend its footprint further into Africa and internationally.

“In 2013, we achieved about 15% of our sales north of Southern Africa into Africa, so that is a big growth opportunity,” explains Stein. “We’re having the quality of our service and products being confirmed in Europe and we’re finding now that the global corporates are switching the buying to us and appointing us to do their roll outs throughout Africa rather than importing the products from Asia, Europe or America to improve on logistics costs.”

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“We’re having the quality of our service and products being confirmed in Europe”

Ukhuni Business Furniture With the seemingly relentless state of the world’s economy and the impact on so many industries, both in South Africa and globally, it is companies like Ukhuni - that remain so heavily focused on its customers, employees and providing a continually valued service - that survive and so often thrive.

Focusing on what’s important, Stein explains that as the economy starts to grow and realign, it too will grow and flourish once more.

“The economy is under pressure and we need the economy to grow in order to grow our business. The protection of the level of employment we have is critical to our business, the staff really need to trust that this is their home. We see growth in the form of our diversified products and departments, for example, the branch type roll out business.”

The future for Ukhuni looks bright and with Stein’s unwavering dedication to both his business and staff – it will no doubt continue to exceed expectations, providing some of the country’s biggest businesses with comprehensive office furniture.

“I’ve often thought if I had to write a book about the success of business and I think one can put it down to looking after your staff but I think the basic answer is you have to show up.

“My management team have been with me a long time, through thick and thin. You have to be there for your staff and be there for your suppliers and your customers. We have all sacrificed a lot to build this company, day in and day out, you must show up and you have to work hard at the balance,” Stein concludes

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