Made in the Midlands has gone from strength to strength since its transformation from a printed newspaper campaign to a dedicated membership body in 2009.
Despite setbacks to the economy and struggles in recruitment, the business has remained strong. Jason Pitt, CEO reflected on what the secret ingredients are, as he stated: "Made in the Midlands is still embryonic when compared to mature models such as the Chamber of Commerce. However, we do have one big strength and that is nurturing key long term relationships."
The current Made in the Midlands management team includes Jason Pitt, CEO, Charles Addison, business development director, Ilona Dalecka, finance director, Andy Moore, strategic advisor and Chan Dhillon, head of web development.
Jason explained: "All of the management team were working together before Made in the Midlands was officially launched. We all met and worked together more than seven years ago in previous businesses.
"Our strategic advisor Andy, once owned a publication called Business Report which was the original vehicle that launched the Made in the Midlands campaign. Charles has nurtured his career from Business Report, right the way through to being a founding director of Made in the Midlands.
In the seven years Charles has been with the business he has received considerable investment to help drive the business forward including Chartered Institute of Marketing, MBA and a Manufacturing Awareness course which he now delivers to our latest recruits."
Charles progression is a great testament to the strength of the relationships established amongst the management team, as he said: The business drives forward because of the support we receive throughout the company from my co-directors to my team. I now realise why I have spent four of my seven years with the company in postgraduate education at University with mentorship supported by the business, this has taken my understanding and output to a new level.
Relationships with colleagues and customers alike transcend typical working partnerships which is what makes our model so unique. If you combine our core ethos of driving the regional manufacturing agenda on all fronts and then mix in real cutting edge, market leading technology, underpinned by a formidable, committed young and dynamic board - you can see Made in the Midlands is really going places. It is truly a privilege to be part of something so important."
Andy first met Jason 20 years ago and they have maintained their professional relationship ever since. Ilona is a graduate of Wolverhampton University and also began her career at Business Report, prior to becoming the finance director of Made in the Midlands.
Chan is the managing director of Kalexiko, which is a highly successful web development and user interface studio in Birmingham. Jason met Chans team in its infancy while both companies were based at Wolverhampton Science Park.
Kalexiko are a key partner of Made in the Midlands and have helped the business since the early days when the budgets were tight, to deliver an innovative platform which helps to promote Midlands manufacturing.
Collectively, the management team have been working together for more than 30 years, which signifies the real strength of the business and one of the main reasons for continual growth.
Made in the Midlands recently held the biggest event in company history, in the form of the 2016 Made in the Midlands Exhibition at the GTG Training Centre in Wolverhampton. The organization is always aiming to develop, as Made in the Midlands have recently extended their business model by creating other Made in brands, in the form of Made in Yorkshire and Made in London.