Alan Burton

Alan Burton

Alan and his wife Sue both sold their last business in 1998 but soon became bored with retirement, Alan with his natural enthusiasm for sales and building partnerships with customers and suppliers alike has allowed the business to invest in modern state of the art acrylic and stainless steel fabrication equipment and his mission is to see Simplastics as the premier UK fabricator of all things in plastic.
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Sue is the joint MD and financial brains behind the business along with her husband Alan they purchased the business in 2001 after running other successful businesses.

Alan Burton Managing Director

Managing director, Alan Burton says this change provided the ideal opportunity to take a fresh look at the business.

He says: "As a company geared for growth, we wanted a method of benchmarking our performance month on month, year on year.

"We achieved the Investor in People Standard last year and looked at using the EFQM Model to help us become an even better business and to ensure our plans for growth are sustainable."

Business Link Nottinghamshire is helping Simplastics get the most from the Model.

Alan says any doubts he had about understanding the jargon were soon dismissed.
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Alan said: "It can improve systems, disciplines and the recording of information but the approach needs to be a balanced one.
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Alan recommends the EFQM Model to other businesses.

"Even if they just do a bit of it, they will be a lot better off as it keeps tabs on everything."

An abundance of anecdotal evidence at Simplastics has been replaced by more visual measurements.

"Everyone is extremely positive about EFQM," says Alan."People are more conscious of what we're about and are taking ownership of the company and their role."

Alan sees the EFQM Model as a way of making the business an entity in its own right.