Making brave business decisions
Greg Johnson, managing director of G-Award Fabricator of the Year Warwick North West, expands on the ideas he shared at the FIT Show – offering insight into business leadership and entrepreneurship.
I never planned to end up in fenestration. Like many in our industry, I fell into it, joining my family’s business with little idea of where it might lead. I feel fortunate to have stepped into an established company like Warwick, but it came with its fair share of challenges.
My journey took a serious turn when my father was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2021.
Suddenly, at 34, I found myself taking over as Director of Warwick North West. It was sink or swim, and swimming meant making brave decisions, often with limited experience to guide me.
The business I inherited was solid but somewhat stuck in the past. Many processes were archaic, with systems and approaches that hadn’t changed in years. Making changes meant challenging the status quo and taking risks with a business that was already successful in many ways.
Skills shortage
I understand that the skills shortage plagues our entire industry, and when I took over as director of Warwick, I realised we were no different. We struggled to find skilled staff who wanted to join the fenestration industry.
However, what I found went beyond just recruitment – we had a major problem with retention. At the time, we were keeping only about 60% of our employees from year to year. We couldn’t afford to keep losing the talented people we already had, and it’s something I’ve heavily focused on since taking over Warwick.
We take a multi-pronged approach to this challenge. We have established partnerships with organisations like Nobody Left Behind and Inside Connections to create new pathways into our industry for young people, offenders, and those looking for a fresh start. We’ve also launched an apprenticeship program with Hugh Baird College, bringing young talent directly into our manufacturing operation.
This has bolstered our ranks, but we’ve also focused on internal development. Recently, we’ve promoted five employees under the age of 30 to a junior management tier, with each junior manager paired with a senior manager as a mentor. This approach has created clear progression paths that motivate our staff and future-proof our business against the wave of retirements our industry faces.
The results speak for themselves. I’m proud that our staff retention rate now exceeds 90%, and we’ve built a team that blends experience with fresh thinking. By retaining our best staff, the skills shortage hurts us less.
My father used to ask our employees what they made at Warwick. They’d invariably answer “windows” to which he’d respond, “Yes, we make windows, but we also need to make a profit.” It was a sentence that always resonated with me. When I took over, I wanted to add a third dimension to this thinking – we make windows, we make profit, and we make a difference in our community.
This philosophy led to what we now call our “three Cs” – Culture, Collaboration, and Community. We’ve partnered with Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, donating £25,000 and establishing ongoing support. We’ve sponsored local events, supported community organisations, and made social impact a core part of our business strategy.
These initiatives have been good for business. The judges specifically highlighted our commitment to the community when we won Fabricator of the Year at the 2024 G-Awards.
Speaking at the FIT Show
Recently, I had the pleasure of joining a panel discussion at the FIT Show in Birmingham. Sharing the stage with Ryan Breslin from Cherwell Windows, Stuart Dantzic from Caribbean Blinds, and Sarah Cresswell from the GGF was humbling and enlightening.
What struck me most was how similar the stories were from the other business leaders on the panel. Ryan and Stuart have taken over family businesses, found them to be outdated, and have had to make bold decisions to modernise operations – often in the face of resistance from family members who weren’t quite ready to let go of the reins!
They’ve both transformed their companies into industry leaders by committing to a clear vision and having the courage to follow through. It’s reassuring to know that the challenges I’ve faced aren’t unique to Warwick, and inspiring to see where that journey can lead.
Finding a path
If there’s one thing I’ve learned on this journey, it’s that entrepreneurship and leadership are related by distinct skills. Not every entrepreneur is a leader, and not every leader is an entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurs excel at spotting opportunities and taking risks, while leaders bring people together around a shared vision. In this industry, we need the courage to innovate and the ability to bring teams along on that journey.
My advice to anyone looking to grow in this industry is to be brave in your decisions, find a vision that energises you, and have faith in where you’re going.
The fenestration industry faces tough challenges, from the skills shortage to net zero to outdated and archaic practices and processes. However, these challenges also create opportunities for those willing to try something different. I’ve found that addressing these problems head-on and with creativity has been key to our success.
You don’t need to revolutionise everything overnight, but taking those first brave steps to change what isn’t working can make all the difference. That’s been true for us at Warwick, and I suspect it might be true for many businesses across our industry.
