14 Jun 2018
Section 01
Where Presspahn began
Presspahn was established in 1900,
supplying electrical paper to the transformer
manufacturing industry for insulation.
Working out of 38 Wall Street, Bradford,
the business grew a solid reputation for
delivering high-quality products and services.
Bought by Malcolm Pinder in 1982, the business
has expanded from providing electrical paper
for insulation to the manufacturing industry, to
providing electrical insulation, thermal insulation,
mica insulation materials and component parts to
a wide range of industries, including; Switchgear,
Transformers, Aerospace, White Goods, Printing,
Automotive, Electrical Trade and Building and
Construction.
In 1984 they landed a contract to supply high
temperature insulation to Black and Decker, then in
1988 they were chosen to supply insulation for the
Channel Tunnel after which their reputation for their
expertise and delivery of reliable products continued
on a strong path. By 1995 they started winning a
number of key contracts with big names such as
Panasonic, Sanyo and Sharp.
Section 02
Making sure staff are treated fairly
The current Managing Director Matthew Pinder
has been running the business for over 13 years
and has a strong ethos that the management
of staff is not a one-way street and that they
need to be properly looked after.
Matthew values the HR consultancy service that he
gets from Alcumus PSM, explaining ‘The advice I get
ensures I take the right actions, I’m compliant with
legislation and that staff understand the rules and
regulations and can see consistent solid approaches
to each aspect of their work’
He goes on to explain ‘Staff don’t want inconsistency
with one being dealt with one way and then another
member of staff getting a different set of rules’.
With the advice from his dedicated senior HR
consultant Marie-Clare Swallow, Matthew has put in
place standard policies and procedures to make sure
the business is run well and the staff are properly
looked after.
When speaking of his experience with Alcumus PSM,
Matthew explains, ‘It saves me countless hours and
costs of HR training that I would have to do and
the paperwork and documentation I would have to
produce. Having Marie-Clare there, I don’t have to
know everything about HR, I just email or call her
about a specific topic, give her the facts and she
advises accordingly.’ He continues ‘She gives me
honest and clear advice, even if it’s not what I want
to hear, she has my businesses best interests at heart
and that is invaluable’.
Section 03
Protecting the
business from itself
Alcumus PSM supports Presspahn with both
HR and H&S services and when speaking of
H&S, Matthew has a different view, ‘Health and
safety is about being compliant and protecting
the business from poor choices’. From his
perspective, ‘The advice ensures the time I put
in is effective because I have had the expertise
and advice to go about my health and safety
implementation the best way. It protects my
business from mistakes that could cost people
their jobs or cause injury’.
Matthew adds, ‘My consultant gives honest advice
on how I should conduct myself, it’s not simply put
up guards and switch everything off, it’s always done
in a way that allows me to practically support our
business operations.’
‘Health and safety can feel over bearing sometimes,
but the advice we are given by Alcumus PSM has
never felt like that, and to be honest its prevented
me from implementing processes the wrong way
or worse, missing things because I don’t have the
expertise to identify the risk’.
Injuries in the work place can cause businesses a
significant amount in lost man hours and labour, and
the time that it takes to investigate incidences and
report them under RIDDOR to the HSE can have a
big impact. According to the HSE, in 2016/17 there
were 31.2m working days lost due to work-related
illness and injury, which cost businesses an estimated
£14.9bn.
Having worked with Alcumus PSM since the
beginning, Matthew takes pride in the fact that
putting the recommended mechanisms in place for
H&S has made Presspahn a safer and cleaner place
to work. He adds ‘We’ve not had a RIDDOR incident
in over 13 years, and that incident was unfortunately
a human error that couldn’t have been predicted’.
Section 04
Straight talking, honest
and valuable advice
For many SMEs, having that consistent and
reliable go to person for HR and H&S is
very important. The relationship between
Presspahn and Alcumus PSM has grown
from the trust, respect and friendship that
developed between two hardworking and
honest businessmen.
In light of the acquisition of Drury PSM by Alcumus
Group in 2011, Matthew advises ‘Competitors ask
me all the time whether the service I now get is
different, and my answer is the same every time,
no. It’s not what I have experienced at all. To me
it made no difference, the name changed but the
vision and relationship stayed as it was when Tony
Izzard owned the business. Essentially we carried on
business as usual’.
‘I value the relationship 100%, Marie-Clare has
upheld the honest, straight talking approach that
Malcolm had with Tony Izzard, and for me that is very
important’.
For many SMEs keeping the costs down is vital and
regardless of the size or turnover of the business,
legal obligations are the same across the board.
Making sure you have a cost-effective solution in
place to cover you for employment law and H&S
legislative compliance is key. When asked about the
costs of Alcumus PSM’s services, Matthew comments
‘The costs are appropriate and provide value for
money for the expertise I’m getting. It would be
very expensive for me to employ, for example, a HR
consultant of Marie-Clare’s level, knowledge and
expertise’.
Presspahn have been in existence for over 93 years
and continues to grow in the fast-paced market of
which it lives in. Although the success of the business
is completely down to the hard work and innovation
of Presspahn’s management and staff, Matthew
explains that ‘We are here and we are doing well.
Alcumus PSM help me with the HR and H&S aspects
so that I can concentrate on what I do best, and
that’s looking after my customers with our products
and services’.
Download PDF
Alcumus Holdings Ltd
Website
T: 01296 678440
Axys House
Heol Crochendy
Parc Nantgarw
CF15 7TW
Cardiff, South Glamorgan
United Kingdom