Switching gear to excel in the future When Sean Smith took over running his dad’s company eight years ago, he never would have thought he’d have it in the running for not one but four categories of the Niche Business Awards WORDS BY KERRY SMITH
M
ichael Smith Switchgear was formed by Sean Smith’s dad in 1985 and Sean, along with Emily Smith who also runs the company, has driven the firm into the future. The company continued to recruit throughout the pandemic, never ceased manufacturing, and avoided furloughing staff. The company is through to the semi-finals for Employer of the Year and Business Growth in the Niche Business Awards 2021, while Sean is up for Businessman of the Year, and Emily for Businesswoman of the Year. Emily, who Chairs a manufacturing committee for Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, commented: “I was really proud watching the announcement on YouTube. The calibre of the other semifinalists is really high, so to be recognised is a real accolade.” Further proof of Sean and Emily’s achievements has come with as another award announcement. “Just yesterday we found out that we’ve won the Health and Safety Gold Medal Award by RoSPA. This is only awarded to companies that have won the Gold Award for five consecutive years, which is a great achievement for a company
of our size,” Sean told me. But the pair admit not many people understand what Michael Smith Switchgear really do. “We build fuse boxes that you have in your house, but on an industrial scale,” Emily laughed. Sean added: “Any business with premises over the size of a football pitch generally needs one of our switchboards for electrical distribution. We’ve done work for local and national universities, we were classed as key workers for local hospitals last year, and we work with big companies such as a large crisp manufacturer in the local area. A lot of people who work in office blocks probably have no idea that our switchboards are the reasons their computers turn on every day!” While Sean runs the sales, operations, and technical side of the business, Emily takes care of HR, health and safety, and finance. Together, they’ve built a ‘family business mentality’ between their 50-plus employees. Employees are a business’s best asset according to Emily, and Sean says they get to know each team member and their families, with some staff having worked there more than 20 years. “No one is a payroll number here. We encourage
WE WANT TO BE AT THE FOREFRONT OF ALL THE THINGS CHANGING IN THE WORLD
achieving a work-life balance, promote internally, and reward overtime whilst monitoring why staff may feel they need to work extra. We also have dedicated mental health first aiders,” Sean explained. Since Sean and Emily have run the business, it has sustainably grown by 156%, their premises doubled three years ago, and they’ve just finished an office extension making their building over 28,000sq ft. Michael Smith Switchgear hasn’t just grown physically though. “We want to be at the forefront of all the things changing in the world,” Emily expressed. “Especially for mental health and the environment. We want to lead people into the future, not just by running our business based on our products. We’ve just replaced all lighting with LEDs, installed solar panels, and we’re looking to invest in electric vehicles, a green roof, and aiming to be carbonneutral, which would be a real achievement for a manufacturing company. Our packaging is also environmentally-friendly.” Watch this space for the results of the Niche Business Awards 2021. Visit mssl.uk.com for more information on Michael Smith Switchgear. NICHE | 69
