When Jean Richardson found a disused building on a Merseyside industrial estate, even her nearest and dearest must have given her a sideways glance.

The 38,000ft² building had no electricity and Jean had no equipment – but she knew exactly what she was going to do. With 26 years’ experience in processing panels she was going to set up her own business – and do it bigger and better than anything before.

Even Jean questions whether it was bravery or foolishness but now, more than two years on, the success of Trade Fabrication Systems is testament to the former – and to her foresight.

Employing a staff of 13, TFS works closely with the UK’s leading panel manufacturers to produce coated and laminated panels for the building industry. The finishes include ‘peel off’ protective films for flooring systems, class O fire retardant films, flooring finishes, anti-slip coatings and bitumen coated roofing systems, as well as ancillary products. The flooring panels provide cost savings for the housebuilder, as well as a safe working platform during construction. It was Jean’s father, Stan Richardson, who pioneered ‘peel off’ protective flooring systems and he provides a consultancy role to his daughter’s business.

Market niche

Since its start-up in October 1998, TFS has gone ‘from strength to strength’, says Jean, largely because she recognised a niche in the market and set about supplying it. She could have gone into the competitive market of manufacturing PVA formed laminates but knew that success lay in providing something unique.

‘We solved a lot of the problems that were being faced in the market place,’ she says.

Success also lies in the simplicity of the product. ‘The key is to keep it simple,’ says Jean. ‘It’s a simple product but of high quality –but it is difficult to produce.’

The Merseyside business has a production capacity of 10,500 flooring panels a day and provides a good proportion of the UK market. The key to gaining greater market share is not through expanding her customer base, but through expanding the range of products offered. And in this respect TFS is in a prime position to help the construction industry meet the Egan report’s recommendations of improved site efficiency through greater use of prefabricated components.

‘We have a very interesting future because we’re developing products for the new generation of building – system build. We supply the flooring, we supply the tape for the joints, we supply the glue – and it all goes out on one vehicle, straight onto site,’ explains Jean.

‘We all know there’s a shortage of skilled labour out there so we’ve got to make it as easy as possible for them,’ she adds.

This systems approach to building often demands just in time delivery, which is where the cost benefits are – and also the headaches. ‘If one person in the supply chain fails, the whole thing falls to bits,’ says Jean. ‘We all know that it’s difficult enough selling the product, but when you’ve got to manufacture it as well, you’ve got two problems: you’ve got to make sure the boards come off that line and there’s a customer base ready to take them.’

Changes in building trends have enhanced the need for TFS products and Jean keeps abreast of revisions to Building Regulations in order to anticipate future market needs. To this end she is already looking to the next generation of products.

‘I see the business developing into having a wider range of exciting products,’ she says. ‘We have to increase protection to borders: the next generation of peel-offs is ready to be launched, with a patent application pending.’

All the R&D for these products is carried out in-house by experienced personnel.

The indications for next year suggest that the company will either be running three shifts or will install another line, and a panel saw installed recently will enable panels to be cut to size.

Customer requirements

Jean regards the company’s ability to listen to customers’ requirements as one of its key strengths. It may seem an obvious tactic but it is one that many in business seem to ignore.

‘A lot of people in manufacturing miss the whole point of giving people what the customer wants,’ she says. In the case of TFS, this is solving people’s problems on site – by providing both the product and advice.

‘There was a need in the market for a particular product and basically we filled that need,’ says Jean. ‘If we can solve problems on site, we are onto a winner.’

The trouble is, TFS is sort of the Cinderella of the business. While TFS places the film on the board, the product goes out bearing the board manufacturer’s name. It’s not something that worries Jean, as long as the ‘discerning builder’ gets to know the product.

‘We’re not really promoting an end product, that’s what our customers do,’ she says. ‘What we have to promote is the TFS name and TFS as a company. If we can get that name into the market place and a major builder says “I want that film on a board”, we have been successful.’

The fact that Jean is a woman running a successful company in what is still very much a man’s world, cannot be ignored. And while some might be surprised to find her at the helm, her business acumen and knowledge of the industry must soon stifle any temptation to comment.

If anything differentiates Jean from her business counterparts – across all industries – it is her approach to management. And it is something she considers carefully. When her friend, chartered accountant and financial director of JD Sports, Peter Cowgill, offered to be her business partner, Jean was thrilled.

‘He wanted to invest in a company where he didn’t have to get involved in management; I was looking for an investor who wouldn’t interfere with my style of management.’

Jean describes herself as ‘an iron fist in a kid glove’ but her no nonsense approach is really one of compromise rather than conflict. She emphasises team work so that all her staff feel a responsibility for the business – an important concept, especially in the early days when cash flow was sometimes tight. Jean uses ‘common sense and courtesy’ in managing but she takes an attitude of pastoral care over her staff, recognising that a happy staff has benefits all round: she pays wages that are above the local average, provides a good pension scheme, and pays bonuses according to production as well. And it works – the company’s forklift driver has worked with Jean for 14 years.

‘It means they share in the success of the business too,’ says Jean.

It’s a similar, straightforward approach that she adopts with her clients. ‘The only way we’ve been successful is by being totally honest,’ says Jean. ‘We get the respect of people by doing what we say we’ll do.’