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Build and rebuild
Page 26
Page 27
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Bodybuilder JCP almost went to the wall last year. We interview Paul Sandom, who is busy resurrecting the company.
By all accounts JCP has been through an extremely tough time over the past 12 months. Crippling debts fuelled huge losses in the company, while the focus on the people who matter the customers seemed to have been lost.The result,despite the best efforts of the major investors and some of the directors, was a heavy fall.
Paul Sandom, the new chairman and partowner of the company, was the turnaround expert parachuted in by the investment banks last year to sort out the business. According to Sandom,JCP was in a major muddle, but it was clear, he adds, that at the heart of the organisation was the germ of a successful business proposition.
High calibre
Sandom has been involved in projects to rescue a number of firms that found themselves in a mess. On this occasion the rescue strategy failed, arguably because the major investment firms decided to cut their substantial losses. But what San dem had seen clearly impressed him: For this size of business I have never come across a group of directors of such high calibre. There's also an excellent product line-up and the skills of the people are very strong.
While many industry observers will welcome the rise of JCP from the ashes, there will be those in the industry who look upon such companies with a suspicious eye.
Sandom is fully aware of these issues"Obviously a lot of creditors were hurt when the company got into trouble, but so were the directors. [Sales director Dave Simms, for example, lost more money than any other creditor apart from the banks.] My role now is to build a successful business with the people we have on board and there's every indication that the market wants what we have to offer."
To illustrate this point, CM understands that one of the major rental players has placed a significant order for J CF bodies, and a number of customers have remained loyal to the company and its output.
The JCP product line-up has been slimmed down to Luton, eurtainsider and box bodies, and the focus is on producing lightweight bodies in high volumes at the right price. "We still have the bodybuilding capability to do specialist equipment," Sandom says,"but we'll concentrate on ensuring that our existing products are right for our customers — and on remaining profitable.The longer-term strategy is to bring in new products, but these are early days."
The company recently relocated to a new 8,360m2 factory which brings all the production of the bodies under one roof. Manufacturing is arranged around a production line, and the robots that the previous owners had procured to boost production, hut never got working to full capacity, are now being used to their optimum. This ensures a fast turnaround of bodies, built to the same exacting standards every time.
Less damage