NIGEL HANN – SALES DIRECTOR

My first year as a Director has indeed been challenging and I have seen more change in the last 12 months than the preceding 12 years working for the company! The pandemic forced all of us to quickly adapt to the way in which we work and the way we live our lives.

For many of us this will be the first time we have faced such restrictions to our liberty, unlike our predecessors who had to endure far greater suffering in their lives. This was epitomised in the UK by Captain Sir Tom Moore who served his country in the second world war and spent his 100th year fundraising over £30M for the National Health Service. He sadly passed away in February but his spirit and never give up attitude was an inspiration to so many as we moved through 2020.

At TMD we reacted to the pandemic quickly and even before the first lockdown was announced in March 2020 the company was implementing changes to our procedures, work place and policies to ensure we were protecting our staff at all costs.

Following the first lockdown only essential workers continued to visit our facility in Hayes, and our US subsidiary in Baltimore implemented similar measures. All other staff were either working from home or furloughed. Weekly bulletins were issued throughout by our Group CEO, Dave Brown, and we invested heavily into PPE and signage throughout the company which were often over and above the government recommendations at the time.

We continued to maintain production throughout and are achieving growth which is an amazing testament to all colleagues at the company. Although there were many examples of pride coming from TMD employees for the way in which the company managed through 2020, perhaps the most rewarding came from our furloughed staff all of whom were protected from financial loss whilst their colleagues kept the wheels turning. The fact that they were fully aware of the unprecedented circumstances that lead to their situation was reflected in the much appreciated message of support received by me, fellow board directors, and co-workers.

Although I am eminently aware that many people have suffered real loss I do not recall a time when I have been prouder to work for TMD.
As we move forward in 2021 the vaccine programme in the UK is advancing at a fast pace and throughout the world we are seeing signs that better times are ahead. I am sure we will still have some bumps in the road but we can now look forward with optimism.

I hope in this version of “In Focus” we will demonstrate the strides TMD is making with investment into new products, our people and our capabilities.