Alex Turner meets BEN LUDZKER,manging director of Kays Medical

BEN LUDZKER is a man who appears to be in a hurry.

After university, the management graduate headed to London and started working in restaurants “to learn from the ground up” because he wanted to run his own.

But then reality, and impatience, kicked in.

He said: “It became apparent I wasn’t just going to open a restaurant just like that, so I started to get more involved in the family business.”

The family business is Kays Medical, the medical supplies and training company founded by his parents, David and Joyce, in 1976.

Based on the edge of Liverpool city centre, it evolved from a pharmacy into a small chain of pharmacies, then diversified into supplying merchant ships then into industry more widely.

Ludzker became a director in early 2004 and quickly set his sights on being in charge. He said: “I wanted to take over the reins as quickly as possible – but it wasn’t until I became managing director that I realised what the job involved.

“I had grown up with the company, my summer holidays were spent in the warehouse, sweeping the floors or packing first aid boxes.

“Being a family business, I always knew I would spend a certain amount of my professional life in the business. When I moved to Kays, I worked in each of the departments. I looked after the warehouse for six months, worked in accounts, marketing, to understand how it all worked.”

He became managing director in April, 2006, with his father becoming chairman and his mother continuing as company secretary.

Ludzker is looking to run the business in what he describes as “a more corporate fashion”.

“We have expanded considerably over the last five years or so,” he said. “I am looking to put a board of directors in place that has a skill-set that will enable Kays to grow.

“For that to happen, I need skills and breadth beyond the entrepreneurial nature of me, my mum and dad. That’s not enough any more.

“They have a tremendous skill-set, but there comes a point where you can’t do everything yourself.

“I want to make sure that we have the people and skills in the business that can take us to the next level. It’s important to have the infrastructure in place to build on your aspirations and put them into place.”

A major step in that direction was the appointment earlier this year of a group financial director, Darren Biddlecombe, who was chief accountant at £175m-turnover Liverpool firm S Norton & Co after originally qualifying as a chartered accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Ludzker said: “He’s got some great experience and it was really good to take someone on board with that experience in practice and industry.

“He’s only been here for three months but already is having a major impact on how we run things, especially in these economic times where every penny counts.”

In the first couple of years in charge, before the recession, Ludzker embarked on two major changes: a £750,000 refurbishment of its premises and an acquisition.

Kays bought Response UK in December, 2008, a company which provided biohazards and chemical hazards supplies and training .

“The deal was to aid our growth strategy, but also because there was a very good strategic fit.

“It was a seed that was planted by my father over a decade ago. We had worked with Response and their managing director, Mike Poole, for many years.

“My father said to him ‘if you are ever interested in selling, call us’. After the first discussion, it was me that worked with Mike to take the deal through.”

The acquisition boosted Kays Medical’s turnover in the year to March, contributing about 60% of the near-£1m growth as sales reached a company record of £4.25m.

The other 40% was organic, with Ludzker attributing it to “a mixture of hard work, strategic planning and luck”.

The first two factors led to the development of a range called ResponseBeta, which includes disinfectants, hand sanitisers, surface and skin wipes.

A partnership with Deep Heat manufacturer Mentholatum saw the hand sanitiser sold through Boots during the swine flu pandemic, and finished as one of the retailer’s top-10 best-selling products in 2009.

“We benefited greatly from swine flu,” he said. “The reason we could make it a success was our partnership with Mentholatum. They had an avenue into the consumer marketplace which we wouldn’t have and they could use our technology and our manufacturing provision to get it into the marketplace.”

Ludzker is looking for the company to maintain the level of sales achieved last year, with the marketplace remaining challenging.

He said: “If we hold our position this year, I wouldn’t be uncomfortable. Growth will be shown only through acquisition or a strategic partnership.

“The two factors that basically decide how much first aid and health and safety equipment are the number of staff and risk level.

“In some of the main areas that we deal with – heavy industry and high-risk industry – the number of people employed are reducing still. When they reduce staff, that has a huge impact on us.”

After the successful integration of Response UK, Ludzker is on the look-out for other companies whose products or services would complement the current offer of Kays Medical.

“Acquisition is absolutely one of our focus points moving forward. Now I have got one under my belt, I am far more experienced about what’s involved,” he said.

“There’s a couple of businesses that we think could have a good fit but it is very, very early stages. It’s not something that we can just wing, we have to spend some time on it.”

Ludzker describes working in the family business as a “challenge”, adding: “It’s an unusual position because the hierarchy is distorted significantly because of your familiarity and closeness.

“You do feel a sense of responsibility that’s probably very different to any other circumstances in a business environment.

“You have got to look after it and not take unreasonable risks.”

While he is very much focused on Kays at the moment, Ludzker can see a time when he will want to explore other opportunities.

“I am extremely ambitious,” he said. “I have other business interests, which is why I want to put a solid management structure in place here.

“Kays is more than just a stepping stone for me. I want to use those skills and experience in other areas as well as Kays.

“I can see a career for me outside of Kays, but it is unlikely that I will ever work for someone else.

“But working in other industries and environments – absolutely. But Kays at the moment is hugely important to me, for obvious reasons.”