Marketing Stockport member Windmill Tapes and Labels has been blown away by the attention paid to them by Lloyd Blankfein, the chief executive of US based Goldman Sachs.
Andy Southern, owner of Cheadle Hulme
based Windmill Tapes and Labels and one
of the first participants in a small business
programme in the UK run by Goldman
Sachs, met with Mr Blankfein when he
arrived from the US to give his formal
approval to the project.
The scheme – 10,000 small businesses – originated in America and launched here in 2010 with the aim of providing small businesses in the Northwest, Yorkshire, the Midlands and London with assistance from other local but larger organisations to drive growth and develop a local community of well informed entrepreneurs.
Andrew Southern commented:
“Goldman Sachs have already run this scheme in the US and recognised that small businesses such as ours can play a vital role in driving growth and job creation in the UK too. The scheme is delivered by local experts, ours being through the Manchester Metropolitan University Business School – and is aimed at giving business owners like me the skills to drive growth.
“During the 3 month course I have personally benefited from the experience that has helped me to plan for the future success of my business and have already seen my workforce grow and acquired Commercial Label Products, helping the company to expand by almost 50pc”.
Windmill is building a new factory alongside the existing base at Birdhall Lane in Stockport for its growing labels business and plans further investment in digital printing equipment.
Andrew has also learned the importance of working alongside his team for the good of the local community and for good internal relations:
“We now have a CSR (corporate social responsibility) policy and I am encouraging staff to volunteer for local charity initiatives – good for both team bonding and to provide assistance to the wider community.”
For more information visit – www.windmilltapes.co.uk