Lee Davies, managing director of Beesley & Fildes
Alex Turner meets LEE DAVIES, managing director of 190-year-old Knowsley firm Beesley & Fildes
THERE are many examples of businesses set up in the wake of a recession – but there aren’t many remaining from the recession that followed the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
But, in 1820, Robert Beesley, aged 21, chose not to follow in his father’s footsteps as a professional beer taster, instead setting up in Prescot as a painter, plumber and glazier.
The business was passed down to his son, James, who in turn handed it on to his sons, Joseph and William.
The fourth generation, William’s son William-Joseph, was joined by his brother-in-law, James Fildes, to create Beesley & Fildes in the aftermath of World War I, then Jack and Bill – sons of William-Joseph – started in the family firm in 1947.
Beesley’s sixth generation now run the business, with Jack’s sons John and Paul on the board alongside their wives, Jean and Julie respectively. Jack’s third son, Gerard, who also worked in the business, died earlier this year.
Despite the long history, it is only relatively recently that the business has grown. After acquiring its Huyton site in 1987, it bought or opened 10 more sites between 1995 and 2007, in a rapid expansion of the business that saw it peak at sales of £28.5m and 277 staff.
However, the recession has affected the plans of most businesses, with the construction industry among the first to be hit – and hit hardest.
The core business of Beesley and Fildes remains a builders, plumbing and timber merchants, while it also operates a kitchen and bathroom showroom and a garden centre.
The company’s response to the downturn has been led by Maghull-born Lee Davies, the company’s finance director since 2001 before also taking on the role of managing director in January, 2009.
“I called the first meeting about cost controls in July, 2008,” said Davies. “As a company, we reacted quickly as to where we were.
“It was quite difficult at the time to get employees to understand why it was needed.
“It has been very challenging. Taking on the MD role at that time could be seen as a baptism of fire, but we have worked hard and have worked through it.
“We were a very acquisitive business. We had aspirations to grow our turnover and to acquire more outlets, but due to the conditions those aspirations have been put on hold for the time being and we have concentrated on stabilising the business.”
That required some difficult decisions – “the most difficult decision of my career”, he said – including two batches of redundancies, in July, 2008, and March, 2009, which totalled 18 people, with staff levels also reducing naturally, to 215.
He said: “To get rid of people that don’t deserve it is difficult. The most difficult time of my career and for this business, which had never made anyone redundant before.
“We have managed to do it in the right way, I feel. There have been job shares, reduction in hours – our employees have worked with us to keep those numbers to a minimum.
“Ultimately, if we hadn’t made those decisions at the time, the company would have been in a worse position.”
Davies has also led by example, having undertaken the dual role of MD and FD for nearly two years.
“In an ideal world, we would have an MD and an FD, but, given the reductions we were making, it didn’t seem to be the right thing to do at the time,” he said.
There was also a sharp focus on cost control, which included mothballing some vehicles, reducing stock levels, renegotiating facilities with its bank and ensuring additional funding was in place, although that remains unused.
The outlook remains uncertain, with the optimism of spring stunted by the cold wind of spending cuts.
“In the early part of this year, we did see some growth, there did appear to be some green shoots out there,” he said. “But in the last couple of months it has tailed off. Our figures are comparable to last year’s, although our bottom line is in a better position.
“If and when turnover improves and the climate improves, we are in a much better position and a much stronger business going forward.
“That will lead to a much more successful business and then the process of organic growth and growth through acquisition will start again.”
Visibility is poor, stretching no further than the next 18 months – “I would be ambitious or stupid to look any further than that” – but it is clear Davies is itching to shed some of the FD’s natural reticence and develop the business further.
He said: “It’s about maximising the potential of what we have got, that’s the first port of call. We have got sites turning over considerably less than they have historically.
“As we grow as a business, we would look to spread. Our sites are all within a 25-mile radius, we have to be careful we don’t become our own competitor.
“It will be a case of the right deal, the right location, 10 years ago I wouldn’t have expected to own a garden centre.”
It is the potential of Whitakers Garden Centre, in Prescot, which the firm bought in 2006, that excites Davies.
He said: “We invested heavily – about £1.5m-plus. Its turnover has quadrupled in that time, but we are still looking to get our return on investment.
“It’s understanding a different business. We are reliant on recruiting the right people and we have got a good manager there.
“The garden centre links to the builders’ merchants in a landscaping sense, but gift shops and the bistro are new to us.”
Davies describes himself as hands-on, which stretches to working long hours, including going to the garden centre’s preview evening tomorrow night, one of a number of things that he hopes will help it continue to bloom.
“A garden centre has to be a destination. What can we offer there so a family can go and spend some time there. We are looking at a variety of things and we have got a lot of land.
“People tend to spend time at a garden centre and we want them to bring their family so we need to keep the whole family entertained.
“We do have planning permission for a couple more buildings there, it’s a prime location just off the M57.”
Davies, who left Deyes High School as a 16-year-old and joined Liverpool quantity surveyors Tweeds, has already spent more than half his working life at Beesley & Fildes – where he’s very happy to stay.
“My ambition business-wise is to grow the business,” he said. “Should the family ever want to sell the business, I would like to be in a position to lead an MBO.
“We have a lot of staff who are very loyal and have been here for 20 years-plus.
“It’s what I know, it’s what I’m good at and I don’t see myself leaving the business.”
