Mister Blister wraps up more business with a new digital approach
Overview:
The Business Growth Hub helped Salford-based manufacturing business Mister Blister wrap up more business with a new digital approach.
The challenge:
Mister Blister is an established business specialising in innovative and eye-catching packaging solutions. They have been up and running for over 20 years but in order to continue to grow and attract the most number of clients they wanted to update their approach to sales and production.
The solution:
They were referred to the Hub by the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), now part of the Hub's growth service. Nick Brandwood from MAS had been working with Gary Briscoe, Managing Director of Mister Blister, with a number of shop floor improvements, and in addition to this, they had worked together to secure funding for new tooling. This new tooling enabled them to improve their food packaging offering and attract a new kind of client.
They then looked at the possibility of a new B2B e-commerce platform, which would allow clients to buy packaging products quickly and easily online. In order to get this project moving, more funding would be needed, and Nick referred Gary to the Digital Growth Department of the Business Growth Hub, for more information on the Co-Investment Fund and how it might get their e-commerce platform up and running.
The Co-Investment Fund is an initiative giving businesses between £1000 and £3000 to invest in specialist expertise and advice that will drive growth. Rahim Lakha, one of the Hub's digital growth advisors, talked Gary through the process of applying for this funding, and Mister Blister managed to secure £3000 of funding, which enabled them to turn their idea of an e-commerce platform into a reality.
“This funding was a catalyst for change” explained Rahim. “Gary knew the direction he wanted to take his business in, and the additional funds from the Co-Investment Fund meant he was able to adopt this new digital approach that much faster.”
“Working with the Hub has given us access to other businesses that have the experience and expertise to assist us with our future growth,” said Gary. “From the initial meeting at our site both Nick and Rahim understood where we needed help and were quickly able to recommend local businesses who could work with us. In these austere times, the funding contributions are invaluable and have enabled us to complete our e-commerce program which is now bringing additional business into our Company.”
The new digital approach hasn’t stopped with the new ecommerce platform. Gary continues to work with the Manufacturing Advisory Service, where he is developing Enterprise Resource Planning; a kind of business management software, designed to simplify processes and improve efficiency. Gary was also one of the key speakers at manufacturing event; Manufacturing Matters.
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