When he had to down-size his company, golf retailer John Andrew ‘got on his bike’ to help keep loyal employees in work.
Mr Andrew, 46, chairman of Huddersfield-based Direct Golf UK, was forced to shed 26 jobs and outsource distribution to a firm in Wetherby.
Hit by the economic downturn and poor trade due to prolonged wet weather, Mr Andrew had to cut his workforce.
But instead of just handing out redundancy cheques, he hired a human resources consultant and went the extra mile to offer one-to-one advice, free training courses and personal recommendations.
With some employees having been with him for 10 years or more, Mr Andrew hit the phones speaking to business contacts and suppliers asking if they had vacancies for good people.
The firm wrote to the top 100 Huddersfield companies and Mr Andrew even paid for an advert in the Examiner saying: “Staff for hire.”
As a result he managed to find jobs for 80% and plans to keep in touch with those still out of work.
Golf professional Mr Andrew, who set up Direct Golf in 1990, signed a deal with Mosaic Fulfilment Solutions to move his distribution centre.
Many of his warehouse staff declined to move the 40 miles to Wetherby and Mr Andrew said: “I decided to be very proactive.
“Some of these people had worked for me a long time. I phoned up 20 managing directors, wrote personal references and offered training in health and safety, first aid and forklift truck driving.
“One employee joined me straight out of the Army and she was brilliant, bringing all that training into a commercial business.
“But she was worried about having to seek another job and had probably only had two or three job interviews in her life so I sat her down and gave her some interview tips.”
Mr Andrew, who has 20 shops throughout the UK and employs more than 200 people, has now launched a new business venture alongside his golf stores.
The Bike-Shed.com will sell bikes and accessories and aim to cash in on the cycling boom in the run-up to the Tour de France coming to Yorkshire in July.
Direct Golf’s store in Leeds Road, Huddersfield, has seen turnover drop by 25% in a year and the upstairs has now become a bike outlet.
The new business has also allowed some employees to transfer over. They include Steve Hopwood, Paul Oldroyd, James Armstrong, Joe Vanusack and Mr Andrew’s nephew Sam.
“All businesses go through peaks and troughs and you have to adapt to survive,” said Mr Andrew, who lives in Shepley.
“We have seen a 20% to 30% decline in the golf so hopefully adding cycling to the mix can make up the difference.”
Mr Andrew had intended to move his head office from Union Mill in Bankwell Road, Milnsbridge, to Wetherby but scrapped the plan as around half his workforce refused to go.
“It’s at least an hour’s journey by car – and I didn’t fancy that much myself,” added Mr Andrew.
Click here to take you back to more Huddersfield news.
Want to read, watch and hear more? You can download the FREE Examiner Apple App here, the FREE Examiner Android App here or you can view the paper as an e-edition on your Apple, Android or Kindle device by clicking here
To follow us on Twitter click here
