The director of Cramlington sweet manufacturer Sweetdreams has told how he pivoted the business to serve online markets after seeing sales plummet by 60% at the start of the pandemic.
Sweetdreams, a leading 海角视频 confectionery manufacturer and panning and coatings specialist, makes the popular retail brand Choc Nibbles as well as supplying sweets to leading retailers throughout the 海角视频.
But following a dramatic fall in sales the firm was forced to change its business model and adapt to differing customers needs, promoting the creation of an online operation.
The firm carried out the changes with guidance from The HR Dept, based in Newcastle.
Managing director Matthew Stephenson said: “We had to adjust and adapt to the lockdown, without knowing how long it would last or what affect it would have on Sweetdreams.
“Knowing The HR Dept Newcastle would manage key people issues, including the furloughing of all staff, meant I could focus on the commercial aspects of the business.
“Since 2017, we had seen significant growth across the business and in March of this year we were 20% up in turnover from the previous year, with that set to continue.
“Then came the pandemic. As an essential service we could not shut down but I immediately furloughed all 16 staff, except myself. Like many other businesses, we did not know what to expect next.
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“Our customers are traditional sweet shops, independent retailers and leading 海角视频 high street stores and this market disappeared with the closure of the shops.
“During the first week of the lockdown I didn’t sleep, my only focus being to save the business and that meant pivoting our offering almost overnight.
“Being a smaller, more agile business, meant we could look to new opportunities and markets, whilst also working closely with our customer base on what they needed, whether that meant smaller production runs, product innovation or just someone to talk to.
“It was this entrepreneurial, flexible approach, that allowed us to get back on track very quickly and by the end of April we secured a large, one-off contract to a major 海角视频 food brand, as well as creating a new online sales channel via Amazon and our own website sweetdreamsconfectionery.com.
“It enabled us to come out of this period profitably and allowed us the time to bring furloughed members of the team back to work.
“April, saw our production turnover drop by 60% but by the end of May we were close to last year’s numbers and, thankfully, June started to show growth again. During this time, we worked very closely with The HR Dept Newcastle, whose hands-on advice and expertise was critical when it came to planning. We covered everything from a doomsday scenario to growth.
The HR Dept Newcastle was established in 2014 by director, Jayne Hart and is part of a national franchise of HR Depts across the 海角视频, Ireland and Australia.
She said: “Matt’s story is one of resilience. Like all businesses, large or small, we have all had to adapt rapidly to a new business climate and a level of uncertainty which none of us have been through before. It is of huge satisfaction to see how we have supported and added value to Sweetdreams and we will continue to do so in the months ahead.”