Bright future ahead for Oldham based light designer
Ligero Design is an Oldham based designer and manufacturer of sustainable LED lighting solutions. With the help of specialist Green Technologies and Services Advisors, the company implemented new sales and marketing systems that increased engagement on social media and generated new leads. A successful application for a COVID-19 Small Business Recovery Grant during the pandemic also helped the business to purchase production machinery that has significantly increased productivity.
Saving energy, saving planet
Based in Oldham, Ligero Design is a manufacturer of bespoke LED lighting solutions for industrial, commercial and architectural projects. Its products provide practical, efficient and real-time energy savings for their clients which deliver better and more sustainable lighting experiences and significant cost savings.
To ensure the business’s ongoing growth, Ashley Hulme, director at Ligero Design, sought the Hub’s support with creating a more effective sales and marketing strategy.
Ashley had identified that Ligero Design’s incumbent sales pipeline monitoring system was not as efficient as it could be. He also recognised that it could benefit from a more targeted and strategic approach to social media.
Getting Switched On
The Hub enrolled Ashley on the fully-funded business development programme, Switched On, which was designed to support the growth of small and medium green technologies and services businesses.
Ashley took part in a sales masterclass, where he was introduced to a new CRM system that could help him track Ligero Design’s sales pipeline more clearly and implement sales automation techniques. Using the skills and knowledge that he acquired in the masterclass, Ashley installed the new CRM and witnessed a 20% increase in sales enquiries as a result.
Through a separate marketing masterclass, Ashley also learnt about the importance of developing a clear and structured pitch, using tools such as Hootsuite to target audiences on social media more effectively and sharing company values to humanise the business’s social presence, which resulted in engagement with Ligero Design’s social profiles increasing by 40%.
“The Switched On masterclasses helped us take a holistic approach to sales and marketing, and we’re already seeing the incredible results of implementing the skills that we acquired during those sessions,” Ashley says.
“From boosting engagement across our social channels to ensuring that our sales pipeline is as efficient as our lighting solutions, the Hub’s support positioned us to ensure that 2020 was biggest and best year yet. We also used our newfound skills to design and deliver a new brand that will directly help us launch a new range of bespoke LED lighting products.”
Ashley Hulme, Director, Ligero Design
Equipment boost
2020 ended up being one of Ligero Designs’ most successful years to-date, despite the impact of COVID-19. However, 2021 proved much more difficult because of COVID-related supply issues in the market.
During this time, the business benefitted from a COVID-19 Small Business Recovery Grant to purchase new machinery that significantly increased productivity.
“We managed to make a big difference to our production speed and leadtimes in-house by purchasing an automated wire stripping and cutting machine with the support of grant funding through the Growth Hub,” Ashley comments.
“Previously, all the cutting and stripping in our manufacturing facility was done by hand, which is a really time-consuming process. The new machine can do in one hour what would previously take about half a week, so it’s made a massive difference. The Growth Hub was extremely helpful in helping us get that piece of kit.”
Ligero has now taken on a new unit adjacent to its current site, giving it more space for storage and manufacturing. The business has also launched a new service to support carbon reduction initiatives around the world, as Ashley explains: “A portion of every project we complete is now donated to tree planting or other carbon reduction projects through an organisation called Ecologi, so customers know that their lighting doesn’t just help them, but others around the globe.”