Hot stuff: Flexeserve wins at LeicestershireLive Business Awards

Industry-leader in hot-holding, Flexeserve has won the Award for Excellence in Manufacturing at the LeicestershireLive Business Awards 2020/21.

The LeicestershireLive Business Awards is an annual event that “aims to celebrate success, recognise achievement and highlight the innovative people and companies throughout Leicestershire who are putting their region on the map.”

We were thrilled to have been awarded the event’s highest accolade in manufacturing, which was sponsored by food manufacturers, Samworth Brothers. In addition to this, we were also awarded runner-up for International Trade and Export in recognition of our growing success in overseas sales.

Partners from across all departments of Flexeserve, including the manufacturing team, were in attendance at the ceremony, which was held at The Maher Centre in Leicester on Thursday 16th September 2021.

Jamie Joyce, our CEO – pictured here holding the award, together with Mark Manley, Production Manager (left) and Lee Sullivan of Samworth Brothers (right) – was delighted with the achievement. He said: “The amazing result at the LeicestershireLive Business Awards recognises the efforts of our entire team. When I reflect on the past two years, and what we have managed to achieve, during the most challenging time for our business – and, indeed, for everyone – I couldn’t be prouder.

“During this time, we have needed to fulfil pivotal, large-scale rollouts and everyone has risen to the occasion. We’ve increased the efficiency and productivity of our manufacturing operation whilst maintaining the high standard of quality synonymous with the Flexeserve brand.”

Responding to demand

Flexeserve, with its HQ in Hinckley, Leicestershire, has undergone a period of transformation in its manufacturing operations and facilities in response to a sharp rise in demand for its products overseas.

In recent years, we have secured major international customers that have made significant commitments to the brand with orders amounting to thousands of units. The magnitude of these requirements has helped to drive Flexeserve’s evolution – particularly where its manufacturing is concerned.

Mark Manley said: “We have been investing significant time and resource into taking a leap forward in the way we produce our industry-leading hot-holding units. Through recruitment, refurbishment and an overhaul of our manufacturing process, we have created a highly efficient production line based on LEAN manufacturing principles.

“Furthermore, we have received formal recognition of the quality of our manufacturing facilities – with ETL and CB certification, which assess to the highest standards.”

The development of a dedicated Production Engineering team – with specialists recruited from the automotive sector – worked closely with Operations, Supply Chain and Manufacturing to enhance and refine the efficiency and productivity of Flexeserve’s manufacturing operations.

Investing in our future

Jamie Joyce says: “One of the great sources of pride for us over the past couple of years has been the investments we have made in manufacturing. It is absolutely fundamental, in our pursuit of being the industry experts in hot-holding, that our manufacturing space and facilities are at the forefront of modernisation and populated by a highly-skilled team.

“This year, we launched our new Partner facility, The Hive, which is situated next to our manufacturing space. Here, Partners from all over the business, from the production lines right through to customer support desks – and the management team too, of course – meet, eat and innovate together. This aligns closely with the values of our employee-owned company.

“The impact of this new space on productivity, collaboration and wellbeing, shows that the investments we make in our Partners are just as important as those we make directly into manufacturing.”