it, you’ve just sprinted 500 metres away from
where you want to be.
“As a result, we are being sensibly cautious:
we don’t want to just dive into this. Let us
profile what we think would look good first, add
maximum value to our organisation for ourselves
and the customers, then you can get the M&A
teams looking at it in the future. And then let’s
do it strategically, rather than ad hoc.”
PP Control & Automation has built its global
reputation on delivering strategic manufacturing
outsourcing services to some of the world’s largest
machinery builders.
Developing relationships that allows its clients
to focus on their core competencies and leaves
PP C&A to add value and take care of non-core
manufacturing processes delivers numerous
benefits, including reduced operating costs, the
elimination of unnecessary stock and a reduction
in work in process.
Importantly, this equates to improved
manufacturing lead times and delivers immediate
agility, with the ability to reduce and increase
volumes at the press of a button.
World-class processes and an engaged
workforce are key to this success, two attributes
that are the envy of most in the sector. This can’t
just be picked up and recreated in a sister factory,
says Hague. “We’ve spent 15 years plus developing
cultural engagement here, and that’s not going to
necessarily exist somewhere else. That will be the
challenge. We won’t be naive enough to think it
will automatically happen, so what we’ll have to do
is replicate all the good things that we did here.
“And, because we have learned a lot from our
mistakes, we can probably shortcut it: what took
us maybe eight to 10 years to do at PP, we might be
able to do in four to five years in another business
NOV/DEC 2019 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
because we’ve learned from
getting things wrong.”
One thing the company
has got wrong in the past is a
foray into the German market,
which Hague admits was a
“failure”, not just due to the
language barriers, but also
due to what he describes as a
“naivety” in underestimating
the need to have not just a
German-based sales operation,
but the necessity in having
a manufacturing base in the
country as well.
“By contrast, in both Canada
and the US, especially in the
areas that we’re looking, there is
a very established supply chain.
You know before you start that
you’ve got the infrastructure,
you’ve got the people, you’ve
got the skills. You’re starting
from a stronger position - we
already have existing customers
who have North American sites
and, with Ardenton’s knowledge
of the market and geographies,
it certainly has strong appeal.”
Often, a change in
ownership can see the company
lose its identity and become
a cog in the larger machine.
Hague is adamant this won’t
happen with the partnership
between PP Control &
Automation and Ardenton.
“Ardenton’s model is very
much that we’re an independent
business with an independent
structure,” he says. “They have
invested in us because they see a
great business and have trust in
the directors and management
team to further grow the
organisation. They are there
to support us and challenge
us on that journey and they
are proving to be an excellent
partner for the business.”
To the naked eye, it’s very
hard to tell that a change in
ownership has happened at all.
There’s no mention of Ardenton
on any business card, and there
are no flags announcing it
outside. “If you ask an employee
on the shopfloor, ‘how has your
job changed since the change?’
they would say that there was
no change,” says Hague.
In many ways, this is the
biggest endorsement of all – a
company being so well-run that
it can go through a change in
ownership and have everything
carry on as normal. Hague,
in particular, is full of pride
when he reflects on how the
past 18 months have gone for
PP Control & Automation:
“Fundamentally, it’s a gamechanger.
I often say to all our
employees, when I look back on
the decision that David and I
took 20 months ago now, when
we chose to go with Ardenton,
the best thing I can say right
now is that I haven’t regretted
it since the day we agreed
it. They have proven to be
everything they said they were
going to be, they’ve invested
where they said they would,
and have set our company up
for a bright future.”
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