Like many local manufacturing companies in the Thames Gateway, Barking based picture frame manufacturer, Frames Direct, have recently undergone some turbulent times. A few years ago, the company’s outlook was not looking too optimistic; increasing competition from emerging economies such as China, and the growing popularity of out-of-town shopping meant that the company’s traditional client base, high street shops, was declining, and so was the company’s future. The company even ventured onto the web to try and reverse the their fortune; however the initial results were not great and the company did not really fully understand how they could harness the potential of the Internet into their business model.

John Burgess, Co-Managing Director of Frames Direct, explains: “The outlook for the company was looking quite bleak a few years back. All of a sudden we found ourselves in a position where we were either looking at scaling back our operations significantly, or looking at the prospect of early retirement”.

It was around this time that John serendipitously received a knock at the door from Barrie Hughes of the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) who had been introducing himself to companies on the Barking Estate that afternoon. Barrie was going around the estate to talk to companies about the Government backed support that SMEs could access, and specifically the services offered by members of the Benefits 4 Business (B4B) network – a group of organisations that provide access to a network of experts to help SMEs develop and grow their business.

After an initial diagnostic with Barrie, the company was referred onto David Hall at Building East for some web-based marketing advice. At the same time the company was also referred on to the Lean Learning Academy, who after observing the company’s operations advised John to take himself out of the factory and into the office to concentrate on building up the company’s internet sales channel, and that he replace himself in the factory with an additional member of staff.  Although reluctant in the beginning, John realised that things needed to change if the company was to survive, and that even though a new member of staff would stretch the company’s resources, he decided that if he was to go under, then he would go under fighting!

Through the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Workforce Skills for Life initiative, John’s workforce underwent a series of training courses, such as computer training, customer care, teamwork and supervisory skills. As a result, one of his employees was promoted from the factory floor to run the office, thus enabling John to concentrate on generating more new business.

It was at this time that John was introduced to Knowledge Dock. John had always toyed with the idea of producing artwork to go with the frames that the company was manufacturing, specifically photos to canvas. Through the East London Fashion Innovation Champion Project (ELFIC)*, run by Michael Riches, John was able to explore this new business channel and Michael was able to provide John’s staff with training in some software packages. He even helped John to write up a business plan for this new product line.

At the same time, John was also introduced to Richard Keenan, the Business Projects Executive for supervised student placements at Knowledge Dock. After an initial consultation it became apparent that if Frames Direct was going to succeed in the online world, the company needed to drastically overhaul its website and devise a new strategy if it was to take advantage of this potentially lucrative sales channel. With the help of Richard, the company participated in the Shell Step scheme where a student went on placement for eight weeks and developed a new website for the company.

“The launch of the new website was when the fortunes of the company suddenly took a change for the better. In the space of a month our sales doubled from £2,000 to £4,000 per week. The project taught me so much about the internet as a sales channel. I had never even contemplated how the placement of our website on search engines affected the number of people who visited out website, never mind Google Ad Words as a promotional tool.”

Since then, the company has not looked back. The company recently participated in another supervised student project run by Knowledge Dock, Enterprise Bureau*, where they recruited a student during the summer to help them research their market and competitors in order to devise a new strategic marketing plan for the company, with the aim of penetrating into new markets and expanding their sales channels. Furthermore, as a result of the project, the company also received support to help get them on to the approved suppliers’ list of a number of local authorities.

“The support that I have received from Knowledge Dock and the B4B network has been invaluable. In the space of 18 months the company has been transformed beyond recognition. At present, we are generating around £8,000 per week in sales orders from the internet and we are even selling abroad. In the past few weeks we have sent goods abroad to the US and Europe. I have even had to stop advertising on Google Ad Words because we simply cannot cope with the sales orders that we are currently receiving.

“Prior to the new website I would say that 65% of our business was generated via traditional sales channels whilst the web accounted for 35%. Now 70% of our orders come from the web and only 30% come from our traditional sales channels; and to think that 18 months ago the company did not even own a PC!”

Already the company has enlisted Knowledge Dock’s support to help them to upgrade their website so that it will also act as a CRM system for the company and also automate the invoicing process, thus replacing the current paper-based system which is both time-consuming and inefficient.

“18 months ago I was worried about the company going-under. Fast forward 18 months; I have now taken on four new members of staff, my turnover has quadrupled, my team is much more motivated and my main concern is not how much sales I generate, but how we will meet this demand! I thought that the busier the company became the more time I could spend decreasing my handicap, instead I am having to work every Saturday as well; not that I am complaining as I know which situation I would rather be in”.

So proud is John of the company’s achievements his only regret is that it has come at a time in his career where he wants to wind down and not take big risks.

“If I was twenty years younger, I am sure that I could take the company to even greater heights. I am a picture framer by trade, and I know that I don’t have a lot of business knowledge. However, I do know that with the support of organisations such as Knowledge Dock and organisations within the B4B network, this company can achieve so much more. It is just a shame that this has come at a time when both my business partner and I are at an age where we don’t want to take big risks, such as investing in new machinery or moving premises to help the company grow”.

However, with the help of Knowledge Dock, the company is now beginning to explore the area of succession planning so that someone else can assume the mantle and take Frames Direct forward.

Gareth Lewis, Enterprise Services Manager at Knowledge Dock, said: “Frames Direct is a great example of how SMEs can benefit from interacting with business support organisations. There is a plethora of support programmes available to SMEs and often the support they receive can radically transform their business, as in the case of Frames Direct”.

*The ELFIC and EB programmes are funded by ERDF.