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Written by Guest Blogger

Over the next few months, we want to introduce you to the owners at Scott & Fyfe – the employees!

Now in the fourth of our employee profiles, please meet Peter Thomson, employee owner, chair of the Employee Forum and much more.

Can you please tell us a little about yourself and what you do?

My job role at Scott & Fyfe is project technician of knitting and development and I am also chairman of the Employee Forum. The forum is a group of nominated employees who are tasked with driving engagement within the company. This manifests itself in many ways including improving communications, organising social events and improving the working conditions.  

How long have you been working at Scott and Fyfe?

I have been working here for almost 16 years now and in that time I have covered a lot. I was brought in primarily to develop the knitted product range for the company as they had not been heavily involved in knitting to that point and I had a strong knitting background. My role then expanded into more development work where for example, I worked on a projects developing woven and extruded products such as our flexible micro drip irrigation solution and a range of stitch bonded products for the Composite POD. 

Have you seen many changes during your 15 years at Scott and Fyfe?

In regards to change, employee ownership has been a big change in the company over the past few years and it really was a step in the right direction as it is beneficial for both the company and employees.

Another key change over my time is that the company is now more innovative, we tap into the resources that we always had but never used. An example of this would be that we now take advantage of the varied skills of our employees and this has resulted in drastic changes from the markets we go after to the way we now recruit new and different types of people.

Is there anything interesting about yourself others might not know?

There's lots, I was previously a member of the Arbroath Royal British Legion Pipe Band as a part of the drum core. I never set out to join this but whilst taking my son to his lessons there was a space available and a need to fill it so I stepped in. After that I kept going back and enjoyed it thoroughly for many years. In doing this we became Grade 4B Champions in 2001 and I was fortunate enough to play my last gig centre spot on Murrayfield for a Scotland Vs Italy match!!

I also used to break and school horses alongside my day job which is fairly different.

What has been the highlight of your time at Scott and Fyfe so far?

We used to make a side impact air bag product and the previous owner of Scott & Fyfe wanted to film the whole testing process which was to increase the pressure until the bag burst. So he brought in his camera and three of us tested this constantly from 9am to 3pm with no breaks, painstakingly increasing the pressure by 0.01 bar at a time. Finally the bag burst at 3pm… only for us to realise he hadn’t taken the lens off of the camera so had shot nothing the entire day!! I think his exact words were “well guys, I will see you again tomorrow morning” I have never laughed so much in my life.

• company
• employee ownership
• guest blog

• Company
• Employee Ownership

Written by Guest Blogger

Over a three month period we want to introduce you to the owners of Scott & Fyfe – the employees!

Therefore, each Wednesday we will be sharing one to one interviews with 12 of our employee owners so that you can get to know us a little better.

Now in the third week of our employee profiles, please meet Michelle Quadrelli, Business Director of our Pipe Fabric Technology POD. 

Can you please tell us a little about yourself and what you do?

Hello, I am Michelle Quadrelli my role in the company is Business Director for our Pipe Fabric Technology POD. I am entrusted with the leadership of this business area and look after the customer base, performance and strategic growth. Market areas range from irrigation to infrastructure repair.

How long have you worked at Scott and Fyfe?

I have worked here for over 12 years now. As a Textile Design graduate from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, Dundee University, I started working with Scott & Fyfe in 2003. Over that time I have worked in various roles. I started with the company as Sales & Marketing Assistant and progressed through our Sales & Marketing Department to Sales & Marketing Manager. I then moved into a Business Management role before taking on my current role as Business Director.

Have you seen many changes during your 12 years at Scott and Fyfe?

There have been a lot of changes during my time here. In fact I can’t think of many things that haven’t changed. The most significant changes I have seen has been our company structure and way of working along with the move to Employee Ownership.

Our change in structure allowed Scott & Fyfe to move from a traditional textile company to a design led enterprise with innovation at our core. I have moved from working within an enclosed single office environment to being based within an open plan inspiring innovation space working alongside colleagues from different areas, experience and backgrounds in multi-functional teams. The move from departments to our Pod Structure has also given me the opportunity to personally progress with my career and enabled me to start up a completely new business within Scott & Fyfe which focusses on Pipe Fabric Technology. All the products we make within this business area, we did not make 5 years ago and it has been the fastest growing business area within Scott & Fyfe.

Changing from family ownership to employee ownership has really supported our change in structure. Employees or should I say shareholders feel empowered to speak up and influence how the business is run and suggestions on improvements that could be made are welcomed. Returns on our efforts and hard work go straight back to us as individuals.

Is there anything interesting about yourself others may not know?

I was the Primary 7 badminton champion at school.  I was also born with no knuckles for the pinkie fingers on both my hands, weird I know!

What has been the highlight of your time at Scott & Fyfe so far?

There has been many highlights at S&F however one of my main highlights was winning the Phillip Baxendale Employee Innovation Award in 2012. I was nominated by our chairman Nick Kuenssberg for the communications campaign that I put together for the announcement to our employees that we would be moving to employee ownership. It was a great campaign I was privileged to be involved with and as well as creating a separate website for employees on Employee Ownership, I also created boarding passes for each employee to receive during the announcement, which had tear off shareholder business cards and a ticket for their journey to employee ownership.

• company
• employee ownership
• guest blog

• Company
• Employee Ownership

Written by Guest Blogger

Over the next few months, we want to introduce you to the owners at Scott & Fyfe – the employees!

Therefore, each Wednesday, for 12 weeks we will be sharing one-to-one interviews with 12 of our employee owners so that you can get to know us a little better.

This week we are pleased to introduce you to David Nicoll in the second of our Meet the Owner, employee profiles.    

Can you please tell us a little about yourself and what you do?

Of course, I am David (Davie) Nicoll and I work in the weaving department within S&F. Overall I operate and carry out maintenance of our weaving looms however, I have worked in quite a few departments including extrusion, coating, slitting and beaming. In coating for example, we are currently purchasing a new extrusion coating machine that will see me working on acceptance trials and installation. This will be taking up a lot of my time next year.

My role is varied as we are a fairly small team, another project I am working on at the moment is a waste reduction initiative. Here I am working in a team to identify areas that produce the most waste for the company and we are putting in new processes to improve this.  

How long have you worked at Scott and Fyfe?

I have actually been working at Scott & Fyfe for over 30 years!

I started with the company as an apprentice engineer, this took four years and I spent the next four as an engineer. I have been a weaving technician ever since although I also work significantly within development. During my 30 years I was fortunate enough to spend time in Switzerland training with Sulzer to further my knowledge of weaving.

Have you seen many changes during your 30 years at Scott and Fyfe?

Ow yes definitely, with the move to employee ownership employees have gained more benefits from the company and it is fair to say I have seen a huge difference over the past 5 years alone. For example, the Innovation Space where the offices are based used to be a storage area with pieces of old equipment and bales which actually went on fire back in 1986 – this is why there is a more modern roof in this part of the building.

Over the time I have also watched the company grow from a small company with a small product range to its present state, a much bigger company with a rapidly expanding product range.

Is there anything interesting about you others may not know?

In my spare time I am a member and stage manager of the “Tayport Amateur Dramatic and Musicals Society” building the set and props for the 2 shows the society holds each year. This year the Christmas show was Alice in wonderland and I have been spending almost all of my spare time working on the set design for this – the shows ran from the 9^th of December til Saturday the 12^th of December.

• company
• employee ownership
• guest blog

• Company
• Employee Ownership

Written by Guest_Blogger

Over the next few months, we want to introduce you to the owners at Scott & Fyfe – the employees!

Therefore, over the following 12 weeks we will be sharing one-to-one interviews with 12 of our employee owners so that you can get to know us a little better. To keep up to date with these, keep checking back here, on LinkedIn or on Twitter with #IAMSF #MeetTheOwner.

This week Lois Bennett took time out of her busy schedule to tell us more about herself.

Let’s start with the basics, can you please tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do at Scott & Fyfe?   

My name is Lois Bennett and I work as a trainee Purchaser and Stock Controller within Scott & Fyfe. Overall this means I look after the stock of raw materials that we have and identify what we need to purchase in the near future. On a daily basis I walk round the factory checking what is needed on the shop floor and in the warehouse.  I can usually be found on the end of the phone to somewhere exotic requesting products OR in the warehouse sweet talking (i.e. annoying) our warehouse men into shifting large amounts of stock for me!

How long have you been working at Scott and Fyfe?

I have been working here for just over 3 months now – so not long! I’m finding that it is a very challenging and diverse role, something I have longed for since I left university!  The entire workforce here are great and have been very helpful to me as ‘the newbie’.

What are your thoughts on employee ownership so far?

I love the idea of employee ownership as it means that employees have a shared responsibility of the work that is being done/ completed. Also because we are employee owned everyone has an equal contribution and there are no right or wrong suggestions. It definitely helps with the old school office-factory divide as everyone is in it together!

Can you think of something that your colleagues might not know about you?

I used to play the saxophone at high school and was in the concert band!  Embarrassing.   I have also had a diverse career so far - working as a supervisor in a smoothie shop and I was also a secondary school teacher! I taught RMPS (Religious, Moral and Philosophical Studies) it is the class at school that everyone seems to mess around in and doesn’t pay attention to - yeah that one!)  

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• Employee Ownership

Written by John Lupton

Scott & Fyfe is happy to have celebrated its second Employee Ownership Day. A day dedicated to celebrate the significant benefits employee ownership delivers to the UK economy as set up by the Employee Ownership Association in 2013.

To celebrate this day, we asked our new employees exactly what joining Scott & Fyfe as an Employee Owned company means for them, as they are the first employees to join the company since we made the transition. It has been great as a company to have so many new faces join us and shows the progress we are making. We all appreciate the great work that they are doing.

To mark the day, we also held a coffee morning for all employees within the Innovation Space with bacon rolls for all. The POD leaders remained in their PODS and provided presentations to anyone interested to share what they are working on, on a day-to-day basis.

Jason Argo

"Joining an employee owned company is refreshing. Compared to other companies Scott & Fyfe enable all employees to speak their minds. Everyone has a can do attitude that is driven by the fact that they all are considered equal. You aren't just another number."

David Greig

"Employee Ownership is a great thing to be a part of because it not only ensures that the company is run by people who know the business but it also means that we are all committed to its future and success."

Liz Nisbet

"I joined Scott & Fyfe as an employee owned company believing that all employees would have a personal interest in making the company successful as our efforts will be rewarded. We all have the same goal and if our company grows we will reap the benefits."

Scott Shields

"Joining the Employee Owned company, I was met with a warm welcome and friendly, helpful people."

Lewis McGonigle

"I have found joining and fitting in at Scott & Fyfe remarkably easy as everyone has been welcoming. As Scott & Fyfe is integral within the Tayport community it has been a pleasure becoming part of the Employee Owned team."

Chris Williams

"I was very interested in employee ownership before I started here, wondering what the differences would be. I think the effect is subtle and not always obvious. Most people feel employee ownership could be a useful force for the company. I'm quite excited at the prospect of buying shares and working with everyone to improve the company, there's a great foundation here to build on."

Greig Noble

"I came to Scott & Fyfe having never worked for an Employee Owned Company before and saw a real difference in the amount of information shared with employees about the company's performance."

Felipe Vergera

"Scott & Fyfe has taught me that employee ownership is a learning process, which involves a huge behavioural change. It is not simply acquiring shares and becoming an owner of a piece of the company but it is also a process of understanding my responsibilities as a shareholder. For me this means:

• Judging my own work and my colleague’s work for improvements
• Gaining a voice in key decision-making
• Having the ability to plan and action changes or opportunities to improve"