Alistair Houghton meets RAY MAWSON, managing director of stained glass firm Pearsons Glass

RAY MAWSON will never forget where he came from – because he can see it from his office window.

Mawson joined leading stained glass specialist Pearsons Glass at 16 as an office junior and, after a 35-year career at the Liverpool company, is today its managing director.

His office is perched above the shop floor where company staff process glass into products used in locations from Harrods to Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.

During his rise through the ranks at Pearsons, Mawson has seen the company evolve, with its stained glass arm doing less work for churches and more for contemporary artists, while its processing arm works on behalf of Britain’s biggest household names.

Pearsons, owned by the family of chairman Peter Vellins, recently invested £500,000 in a new processing plant to help it win new business despite the downturn.

But despite all the changes he has seen and his rise through the ranks to become managing director three years ago, Mawson says he has never lost touch with the shopfloor.

He said: “I came here from school as an office junior, and I’ve worked my way up to managing director.

“Peter and I have always been hands-on. Just because he’s chairman and I’m managing director doesn’t mean there’s anything we won’t do.

“We’re not just suit and tie people, which I hope the staff respect.”

Pearsons was founded in 1901 as J Pearson and Company. In its early days, its activities included cabinet and overmantel manufacturing, but over the years it began focusing on glass processing. The company became Pearsons Glass in 1977 when it was taken over by Mr Vellins.

Its head office and processing plant are based in Liverpool, while it also has smaller stained glass departments in Middlesex and East Kilbride. It employs 80 people and turns over around £6m.

Pearsons was already a leading player in the stained glass sector when, in 2004 it took over James Hetley & Co, a well-known East London supplier, and became the UK’s leading stained glass supplier.

As well as coloured glass, the division also supplies stained glass tools, fixtures and fittings used by artists, including the H-section “lead came” that is used to hold stained glass windows together.

Pearsons glass is being used in the new Museum of Liverpool on the waterfront.

Its products were used by artists exhibiting at last year’s Gathering Light display of contemporary stained glass in the Metropolitan Cathedral.

TRADITIONALLY, much of the glass and equipment was used by church restorers, but Mawson says those commissions have become less common. The company has responded by increasing sales to artists and designers using glass in their works of art.

Mawson said: “When we first started the stained glass division, most of the business came from lead light restorers who came and bought glass to restore church windows.

“Some of that work is ongoing, such as York Minster or Liverpool Cathedral. They’re long-term projects.

“We want to sell as much as we can to as many people as we can so we’ve had to diversify. Restoration work has diminished, but the art side has grown.”

That work has become so important that, for the last three years, Pearsons has sponsored the Pearsons Prize to recognise the best glass artists in the country. Each year, nine prizes are awarded in categories including best use of glass in architectural applications, while a prize is given to the best student designer and to the best overall entrant.

The awards ceremony has become one of the biggest events in the glass industry’s year, attracting delegates from all over Europe. The 2008 overall winner was Anthony Pollock for his work Three Pleasures and a Sin.

The core business for Pearsons’ glass processing division is providing glass for shopfronts and in-store displays. It supplies shopfitters, who in turn fit Pearsons products in stores such as Marks & Spencer, and even Harrods.

“A lot of our glass was used in Liverpool One,” said Mawson. “We were very excited about the project because our glass is used in Debenhams, John Lewis and a lot of the big stores.”

Everything is cut to order so the firm can respond quickly to clients’ needs.

“We buy glass in full loads of 23 tonnes at a time and then we cut it,” said Mawson.

“Everything we do is bespoke, there’s nothing in stock.

“We process glass from 3mm to 15mm thick – polishing, drilling, bevelling, toughening, sandblasting, in any size or shape. The more we can do to the glass, the better it is for us.”

Pearsons recently invested £500,000 in a new processing plant so it can handle larger glass panels in-house, meaning it no longer needs to outsource such work. It is also expanding its online sales operation, allowing it to have a dynamic price list so it can respond instantly to fluctuations in exchange rates.

That investment has been planned for some time, but has become even more important as the recession bites. Mawson says he expects sales to remain flat this year, but he says the company is now well-prepared for the future.

“We’re very active in terms of estimations and quotes,” he said. “If you just looked at our estimates, you would think there was nothing wrong.

“But it’s very slow at the moment in terms of orders being placed. Everybody seems to be holding off. I remain very positive for the future, but at the moment the marketplace is dulled. It’s not depressed, but everyone’s in limbo.

“The start of the year has been a little bit disappointing, but we’re cutting back where we need to cut back and saving where we need to save. We have heavily invested in machinery. I feel we have the staff and the machines and premises in place.

“When the level of business does pick up again, we’ll be in a very strong position.”

alistairhoughton