U I L Blending Solutions

A Message from Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett, followed by U I L Blending Solutions's best practice article

The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from U I L Blending Solutions is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.

Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett

Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles

www.uilblendingsolutions.co.uk

49UIL BLENDING SOLUTIONS |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2018

Mark and Lorna Hirons, directors

of UIL Blending Solutions

Based in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, in the north west of

England, UIL Blending Solutions command a position of

strength within the food and drink manufacturing industry.

Family owned and operated, UIL blend both liquids and powders,

and produce flavours and encapsulated ingredients. UIL work

closely with their customers to develop solutions in the form of

a liquid or powder blend that helps the user to not only develop

their final product, but also reduce supplier numbers, minimise

storage costs and greatly reduce, if not eliminate, errors in

the production process. Commercial director Mark Hirons will

explain how UIL work on a daily basis, as well as offering a view

on the marketplace that UIL operate within.

Excellence through focus

Honestly, I’m not a fan of marketing soundbites; I much prefer talking about

what we do, and our attitude towards our business partners. UIL started trading

roughly 30 years ago as Universal Ingredients, arguably as an accident of necessity.

We were formed to support another fledgling business that was having cashflow

issues. The three partners had contacts who required some contract blending to be

completed away from their site. For the next 20 years Universal Ingredients traded

with some growth in turnover, but without focus.

This changed ten years ago when my wife, Lorna, who is our technical director, and

I moved into the business. Lorna has a scientific background and was working with

GSK in regulatory affairs. My background is of a commercial nature.

FACTS ABOUT

UIL BLENDING SOLUTIONS

»Commercial director:

MarkHirons

»Established in 1986

»Based in Ellesmere Port,

Cheshire

»Services: Development and

manufacture of flavours

and powder blends for the

foodindustry

»No. of employees: 15

»Family-owned and operated

»www.uilblendingsolutions.co.uk

UIL Blending Solutions

Ambient liquid blending

facility

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

50 | UIL BLENDING SOLUTIONS

I believe that we brought an ambitious

attitude to a business that was already

competent at focusing on customer

service and nurturing relationships

both outwardly and internally.

We have overseen a rebranding

exercise, the aim of which was to

give us a clearer identity. We have

improved and extended our quality

accreditations, and we have taught an

attitude towards customer care that

demandsexcellence.

We are very aware that we own and

operate a small business within a huge

marketplace. This, however, gives us

the ability to offer flexibility within

our service offering that shows our

commitment to the customer.

Road trip

Roughly five years ago I was fortunate

to be able to demonstrate this in a

very practical way. One of our flavour

customers had made a mistake in

their ordering patterns, which had left

them with a large planned production

run without a vital ingredient. I won’t

bore you with the whole story, but

due to haulier time constraints, I found

myself hiring a van and driving for

close to 24 hours, reaching a factory

in Hungary, which enabled delivery of

our flavour and eradicated the need

for a potentially expensive period of

downtime for the customer.

Driving through open borders also

made the trip quick and easy for me,

but maybe I shouldn’t go there…

Difficult times

We joined the business at a very

difficult time not only for the business,

but also the world. The financial

crisis was really taking grip, and

the regularity of orders at Universal

Ingredients was certainly slowing

down. With that in mind we knew

that we had to be prepared to try

newthings.

We were approached by a client

who wanted their liquid sports drink

matched for the powder drink market.

Once Lorna had successfully matched

the product, we had a problem. The

cost of us blending the product to then

be sent elsewhere to be packaged was

prohibitive for ourclient.

The decision was made to borrow the

money to invest in a production line

that would enable us to manufacture

the complete product on site. Honestly,

borrowing the money was the easy

part. We had to nurture a culture

that would embrace this fulfilment.

I’m proud to say that as a business

we succeeded and have seen positive

results from this attitude.

Customer focus

At UIL we insist on delivering the best

service that we can. We are a small

team, but we make ourselves available

whether that is physically or on the

end of the phone to our business

partners. As mentioned before, our

ability and willingness to be flexible has

seen us garner business, as this truly is

valued in the marketplace.

Steam plant dedicated

to producing our liquid

savoury flavour range

Flexibility is

the key to our

excellence

“

51UIL BLENDING SOLUTIONS |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2018

Lorna and I are also very conscious

of building a culture that, while

professional, reflects our family values.

We don’t clock watch, never have,

and truly hope that we never will.

But the work gets done, maintaining

the standards that we demand. We

know that families will always come

first for our employees – Anthony

and Leonardo, our sons, come first

for us – thus, we understand that life

sometimes demands that time is spent

elsewhere. We encourage respect

within our team, and I believe that the

payback is loyalty and commitment.

Our industry

The food and drink industry constantly

evolves, which makes it an interesting

area to be a part of. Whether it is

the drive to reduce sugar in our

children’s diet, or salt reduction across

all demographics, we are asked on a

weekly basis to reformulate recipes for

the ever-changing market place.

The requirement for “cleaner” or

“free-from” labelling brings its own

challenges. We offer gluten-free

blending, which demands stricter levels

of controls over segregation of stored

ingredients, cleaning etc.

Constantly, we are asked to follow

different forms of accreditation,

which brings demands in terms of

maintaining records for our quality

department, and constant training in

areas of production.

Where we are

Since our arrival, Lorna and I have

quadrupled our liquid blending/

flavour capabilities, added two

powder blending areas and a sachet

production line and stimulated a

culture of quality and ambition. We

are developing more of our own

flavours and following on from

our success in the pet care market,

where we are constantly innovating.

We have increased our focus on the

rapidly increasing snacks and culinary

food market. Our customers range

from start-ups to large multinational

businesses, offering the same personal

service to all, while producing

excellent products and services that

are used internationally.

Customer

base includes

start-ups

through to

multinational

businesses

“

Powder blending facility for large-scale manufacture of

seasonings, culinary flavours, beverage and bakery mixes

One of our experienced

powder blenders

www.uilblendingsolutions.co.uk

This article was sponsored by U I L Blending Solutions. The Parliamentary Review is wholly funded by the representatives who write for it. The publication in which this article originally appeared contained the following foreword from The Rt Hon Theresa May MP.

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By The Rt Hon Theresa May MP

This foreword from the then Prime Minister appeared in the 2018/19 Parliamentary Review.

British politics provides ample material for analysis in the pages of The Parliamentary Review. For Her Majesty’s Government, our task in the year ahead is clear: to achieve the best Brexit deal for Britain and to carry on our work to build a more prosperous and united country – one that truly works for everyone.

The right Brexit deal will not be sufficient on its own to secure a more prosperous future for Britain. We also need to ensure that our economy is ready for what tomorrow will bring. Our Modern Industrial Strategy is our plan to do that. It means Government stepping up to secure the foundations of our productivity: providing an education system that delivers the skills our economy needs, improving school standards and transforming technical education; delivering infrastructure for growth; ensuring people have the homes they need in the places they want to live. It is all about taking action for the long-term that will pay dividends in the future.

But it also goes beyond that. Government, the private sector and academia working together as strategic partners achieve far more than we could separately. That is why we have set an ambitious goal of lifting UK public and private research and development investment to 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2027. It is why we are developing four Grand Challenges, the big drivers of social and economic change in the world today: harnessing artificial intelligence and the data revolution; leading in changes to the future of mobility; meeting the challenges of our ageing society; and driving ahead the revolution in clean growth. By focusing our efforts on making the most of these areas of enormous potential, we can develop new exports, grow new industries and create more good jobs in every part of our country.

Years of hard work and sacrifice from the British people have got our deficit down by over three quarters. We are building on this success by taking a balanced approach to public spending. We are continuing to deal with our debts, so that our economy can remain strong and we can protect people’s jobs, and at the same time we are investing in vital public services, like our NHS. We have set out plans to increase NHS funding annually by an average by 3.4 percent in real terms: that is £394 million a week more. In return, the NHS will produce a ten-year plan, led by doctors and nurses, to eliminate waste and improve patient care.

I believe that Britain can look to the future with confidence. We are leaving the EU and setting a new course for prosperity as a global trading nation. We have a Modern Industrial Strategy that is strengthening the foundations of our economy and helping us to seize the opportunities of the future. We are investing in the public services we all rely on and helping them to grow and improve. Building on our country’s great strengths – our world-class universities and researchers, our excellent services sector, our cutting edge manufacturers, our vibrant creative industries, our dedicated public servants – we can look towards a new decade that is ripe with possibility. The government I lead is doing all it can to make that brighter future a reality for everyone in our country.

British politics provides ample material for analysis in the pages of The Parliamentary Review

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP
Prime Minister