Exciting times ahead for new Ferranti chief

ONLY weeks after being appointed managing director of Ferranti Technologies, Steve Warren was faced with some difficult decisions.

The worldwide recession and subsequent downturn in technical and manufacturing requirements for commercial aircraft, meant the Waterhead business had to shed 10 per cent of its workforce.

“The numbers had to be trimmed and it was painful, but the business had to be stabilised,” he said.

“We had a mis-match in work in the factory and skillsets on the shopfloor and we had to downsize the workforce,” the company’s former business development director added.

In the end, 13 staff were made redundant, the other numbers being achieved by voluntary departures but the pain of those early days in the top seat were clearly evident for the 49-year-old from Altrincham.

Having reorganised the staff — and Ferranti is actually recruiting engineers — Mr Warren and his management team then set about reorganising the business to achieve greater efficiency, greater focus and greater accountability across the company’s three business units.

This model has been in place only a matter of days and has been embraced by everyone from the directors to the support staff.

In terms of a baptism of fire, these first two months have been hectic for the man who succeeded Terry Scuoler, who departed in March for a job with the Engineering Employers’ Federation in London after 10 years at Cairo House.

Mr Warren, who started his career as a systems engineer at Ferranti’s Moston factory, was one of several candidates for the top job, owners Elbit Systems having options from internal and external candidates.

He believes his background on the engineering floor — before his move into sales and marketing disciplines — will be crucial as he sets about working with his senior team.

This comprises financial director Fred Brinksman and commercial director Ken Mills plus business unit directors Roger Gaskell (manufacturing and support solutions), Darren Fortune (power and control) and Shmuel Maman (avionic and mission systems).

Their task is to grow the business along the three new units — manufacturing and support solutions, power control and avionic and mission systems — and integrate and ultimately grow a fourth, training and simulation. This is in the planning stage and will be added during the year.

Around 120 of the company’s workforce of 170 are directly engaged with the manufacturing and support solutions unit headed by Mr Gaskell, and 85 of these are engineers on the shopfloor. With the total support of his senior management team, Mr Warren is clearly intent on ensuring that manufacturing excellence remains at the forefront of Ferranti Technologies’ offer.

“It is extremely important that Ferranti and Oldham retains this manufacturing ethos,” he said before revealing that the evidence of FTL’s status in this area has been recognised by Supply Chain 21, an aerospace industry initiative.

The UK has has more than 2,600 companies associated with the aerospace sector, of which 500 have signed up to SC21, which is administered by the sector group Aerospace Defence and Security.

Of these 500, a total of 32 have been awarded Bronze Status and Ferranti Technologies are the latest to receive the accolade having been nominated and adjudicated by their customers.

Only 12 have the Silver level award and none the Gold standard.

“We are extremely proud to have been given this award, which differentiates us from our competition and states that we create and maintain customer partnerships,” said Mr Gaskell.

Four months into his tenure as managing director of one of Oldham’s iconic manufacturing companies, Steve Warren has had quite an in-tray.

This all leaves the impression that the new kids on the Waterhead block have not yet even worked their way through half their agenda for growth and change.