Interview with Paul Mason MD of Nordell Plastics

Paul Mason is MD of Nordell Plastics, one of the UK’s leading and independent plastics manufacturing and design refinement companies based in Worthing.

We have been working with Paul since 2019. A regular contributor at our MDHUB Peer groups, we know that Paul loves structure more than most, management models and frankly anything that will make it better for his team and the business – so when the pandemic was added into the mix we were really interested to see how Paul in particular would approach it. Well, rather well as it happens….

Paul’s brilliant engineering mind is perfect for problem solving and never has that fine mind been more challenged but also stimulated in the past 18 months.

Building upon Nordell’s core values of pride, effort, strength, respect, support and trust, Paul and his team have had (and continue to have) significant achievements in 2020 - 21 n Being classed as an essential business manufacturing critical parts, they remained open throughout – even though there was an immediate effect on reduced orders n Thinking quickly, they capitalised on an opportunity to manufacture medical consumables that required cleanroom manufacturing, requiring revised business planning and raising significant capital. This was not enough to fulfil demand so another one had to be built and production had to be extended to 24/7 working.

n They Introduced Workvivo – a brilliant two-way communications platform to ensure cross site communications were their very best during this period of significant growth. n They increased their staff from 80 to 194 n A management buy-out (MBO) was was completed in December 2020 which Paul has been working on since 2013 and Paul is now the sole owner of

Nordell. n With 60% growth built around an estimated turnover of £11.5 million n As Paul says “a fantastic problem to have” and has got him typically thinking, in his very understated way about “how to scale up well”. Paul’s early career started within the automotive industry as an apprentice working on car safety systems, going on to run projects for Ford, Chrysler and Opel before moving to work for Deutsch in Hastings. Here, a frustration with politics and red tape was too limiting for Paul’s innovative mind and he joined Nordell in 2002, becoming Operations Director in 2007. This allowed Paul to start looking at the business from the outside in and the future opportunities for Nordell. When the former owners were open to an MBO, Paul’s realisation that as a very opinionated individual, it would be very hard to work for anyone else, he began a fact finding mission on exactly how one went about buying a company with money he did not have.

Was it your intention when you set out on your career path to run a company and become a Business leader ? No. I always wanted to be an engineer and still describe myself as such. Dismantling and taking things part in my younger years, causing my fair share of problems, trying to understand how things worked, pushing boundaries, breaking rules, rebelling – trying to understand what makes things tick – that’s me. I was a bit of a handful at school, not great at English and thrown out of a few things along the way.

What has this early experience taught you about where you are now ? I have only ever done what I have wanted to do and I carry this belief with me today. When you do what you really want to do, a 1000 things come into force and then typically you can make it happen. Getting into a position where I became a bit of a nucleus in the business led to my progression and to me buying the business - I didn’t have to conform to do anything I didn’t want to do – it removed the shackles and gave me freedom. And I like to argue – I am an engineer. As the business grew and developed l surrounded myself with individuals who could hold an argument and do what is best for the business and now.

It’s in our culture – it is ok to challenge and let people speak their minds. As MD, which part of your role do you enjoy most ? I like to see development. I like to see “better” – that moment when someone really gets something, the confidence to challenge. It’s a good energy when teams get it right. I don’t like to see people struggle.

The role of an MD is to see how everything works together. I have to try hard as an engineer, not to just highlight the flaws that I see – knowing that what is working well is doing so because I have good people around me. I have to be careful not to just jump to root cause and need to take people with me. We have a very good mix within our Senior Leadership Team .We have an evolving Yin and Yang in our team that creates balance. I am not a particular people person and a man of few words. We are now investing in training and developing our future leaders.

What was your proudest professional moment ? It was a short lived moment and went by in a flash. It was the moment we finally got the finance in place, or so we thought, whilst realising we were £50K short in the car en route to the solicitors but we worked it out and I then had to sign the 46 documents with the special pen my wife has bought me for the occasion. It was a real moment of satisfaction.

Your Best Business Book and why? The Goal – The theory of constraints by Eliyahu M.Goldratt. It challenged my thought process for the better.

Which famous Inventor has inspired you most and why ? Elon Musk. Much the same as Steve Jobs, they both have the unique ability to see what is not there. I have tunnel vision compared to them. They can see things from the public perspective and I think that is a stratospheric ability,r ather than the toilet roll I look through!

LARGE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR COMPANY OF THE YEAR

What would irritate me most about you on a long haul flight – back in the day ? Probably my opinions! Depending on what the matter was. I can’t contain them.

But I am quite happy to be quiet on a flight. I would say I am not very high on the social interaction scale although I think my wife would rather I hold a conversation with her than watch a movie.

How do you relax – if that is not a silly question for an engineer ? I throw myself into projects as I feel good if I feel I have worked hard and achieved something. I go on a family run at the weekend with my six year old daughter on her bike and our puppy, who will do random things that puppies do. Watching a movie with my daughter – she just asks questions the whole time.

So, do you think she takes after her Dad? Yes – she is very competitive and opinionated and wants to do things her way – much to the disgust of my wife.

What did Winning the MD of the Year Award mean to you ? I was not expecting it at all. I didn’t feel I deserved it as we are all doing what we can at a very challenging time but I was grateful to be awarded it. Looking back at what we have achieved as an organisation, it has been pretty amazing and I was delighted to receive it on behalf of the Nordell team. It was quite a moment in time to reflect back – how we got out of the red bit and into the green bit and what we have been able to achieve as a business. It was a great event with very positive vibes.

Big thanks to the whole Nordell team, our suppliers and customers for their support and trust. And the support of the MDHUB as we continue with our development, you have been a real rock during this time.

I am interested to hear you are competitive Paul – I have never heard you mention it ? I have no choice – I have to compete. It is not in business, it is only personal. In business I don’t care what our competitors are doing as I don’t aspire to be like them – I want us to identify our own opportunities and work on this to make it happen. I am competitive as I want the business to develop. An hour spent worrying what others are doing, is an hour less for us to concentrate on what we are doing. But if someone overtakes me when I run, I want to overtake them back ! What do the next three years look like for Nordell? Rebuilding the basics after exceptional growth. Design and deliver the service of the business as a product – that is when we know we have nailed it and got it right and met expectations.

It’s not necessarily all about growth, if you can continue to grow as well as improve focus, you are a Super hero … or a liar !

For feathered friends Luna and Reg it was love at fi rst fl ight. Their relationship has fl ourished and now they are proud parents to little Jimmy

Since Mum Luna joined Cleankill Pest Control in 2018, the falconry service has grown signifi cantly in response to demand for environmentally friendly ways of dealing with nuisance birds such as pigeons, gulls and parakeets. Cleankill’s first full-time, trained bird handler Alan Day has now been joined by Richard Quartley and between them they look after six adult Harris hawks – Luna, Reg, Rooster, Heidi, Elvis and H.

Alongside fl ying birds of prey as a deterrent, the bird control team is busy checking properties for damaged netting and making sure any netting is as secure as possible to cope with the blustery autumn and winter weather. October and November are the months when you should call a professional pest control company like Cleankill to check your netting and repair any damage.

Commenting on the birth of little Jimmy, Managing Director Paul Bates said: “We welcome baby Jimmy to the family. When Alan started with Luna, we knew there was a gap in the market for a green pest control solution that could deal with pigeons and gulls in and around London. What we couldn’t have imagined is how much demand there would be.

“What has really impressed us is their effectiveness. Once the hawks are regularly fl own at a site, pigeons and gulls soon learn that it’s not a safe place to roost and choose to go elsewhere. The hawks don’t attack the birds, their presence is all that is needed.” All birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, although exceptions can be made for certain listed species including feral pigeons. The fi rst consideration for control of feral pigeons should be preventing access to their roosting site or scaring them away.

Professionally fi tted nets do not detract from the aesthetics of a building and won’t restrict light from entering. Bird spikes and bird wire are also well-tried and tested techniques for repelling birds from window ledges. Other methods include a special gel that appears as flames to birds, lasers, mini-electric shock and water jetting.

A more recent problem is pigeons nesting underneath solar panels. Blocking access holes can be a very skilled process.

Now employing 50 staff, awardwinning Cleankill Pest Control offers eradication and preventative services for all public health pests, including: mice; rats; cockroaches; wasps; fl eas; squirrels and pest birds. As a registered waste carrier, Cleankill also removes pigeon debris and other waste.

With offices in Surrey, East Sussex, Bristol and Buckinghamshire, Cleankill has many customers throughout London, Surrey, Sussex, the Home Counties, Bristol, Gloucestershire and Somerset.