Award Winners - AIB Electrical Wholesale (Glasgow) Ltd – Lesley-Jean
Shaw, Director
AIB
Electrical Wholesale are an independent Electrical Wholesalers &
Distributors, located in Govan, Glasgow. They provide a wide product
range for the electrical trade including lighting; cable; switchgear
and all associated accessories from main manufacturers such as MK,
Thorn, Eaton/MEM, Osram and Contactum.
As a well established family business, the directors are challenged
with growing the business in today’s competitive environment
while trying to maintain some of the traditional methods of running
a family business. Personally, Lesley-Jean was looking for a practical
programme that would widen her managerial skills and boost her confidence
to drive the business forward with her fellow directors. She had considered
doing an MBA but the long timescale and theoretical nature didn’t
really appeal. Following the residential weekend at the start of the
business map, Lesley-Jean knew she had made the right choice:
“If I get nothing else from the programme
it’s already been worth every penny.” The
business map met both her personal development and business
needs. “The learning style was very relaxed
and interactive while being very practical and challenging. It really
made me think about what we had to do to bring our business up to
date and maintain our competitive edge, now I know”.
AIB operate in a very price sensitive sector. Lesley-Jean knew that
AIB could compete on price but had to operate more efficiently to
increase profitability: “The ‘Manage your operations’
module helped me to look at how we could be more efficient and showed
me how to set measures against key aspects of our business. As a result
of the business map, AIB now has a clear strategy
in place to allow Lesley-Jean to take the business to the next level.
“The entire programme has been thoughtfully designed, and is
delivered by first-class trainers. It’s made me consider my
business in new ways, and has been a great learning experience”.
Because of the things Lesley-Jean learned on the business map and
was able to demonstrate to the judging panel how she would use them
to improve the business she went on to win the Award for Management
Excellence.
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