Turnaround specialist to add more than a coat of paint at Runcorn coatings firm

Apr 15 2009 by Alex Turner, Liverpool Daily Post

Alex Turner meets MARK FRANCKEL, newly-appointed chief executive of Weilburger Coatings

THE three weeks since taking up his appointment as chief executive of Weilburger Coatings, in Runcorn, have proven to be very busy for Mark Franckel.

Industrial paint firm Weilburger has just announced it is merging with Trimite, an industrial paint and powder coatings manufacturer, headquartered in Uxbridge, Middlesex, to create a company with a turnover of more than £40m – a move that is not without its difficulties.

But the 46-year-old was showing none of that concern when he opened the company’s front door for me and another person, who was there for another meeting that was to run concurrently last Monday morning.

It is a sign of how much he feels there is to do – his day was to finish 200 miles away meeting accountants – but his relaxed demeanour rarely slipped throughout.

Except when he chose to.

“I am very down-to-earth,” he said. “Down-to-earth with a hard underbelly.

“I do create a team but I want results. The guys will know very clearly what they have to deliver and their rewards will be based around that.”

And the results being demanded are simple – to turn around a loss-making company.

“Trimite has been losing money, so the main goal is to put together a profitable group. I am not going to say ‘double the turnover’ because we are in recession, but once we are profitable we will then start to grow the business.”

He is vague about how deep-rooted the problems are, only admitting there have been “two or three years” of losses. “It wasn’t just the recession, the business model wasn’t working,” he added.

The challenge that Trimite presents is made clear by the appointment of Mr Franckel, who is a turnaround specialist, and the speed with which he is embarking on a major restructure.

The new, combined, business will have three divisions – pre-treatment, powder coating and paint technology – as well as a central sales and marketing division.

“The whole point of doing the deal is Trimite is very well-known for supplying industrial paint, but Weilburger also do a lot of paint and coatings for people.

“Trimite also has a powder facility in Bristol. We can start to offer our customers pre-treatment who then buy either the powder or paint – complete coating solutions.”

The sector, which Mr Franckel expects to undergo a period of consolidation, is split into two markets in the UK.

There are manufacturers who typically want a small amount of paint, from as little as a couple of tins – which has been Trimite’s focus – and those who order thousands of litres of bespoke paint – Weilburger Coatings’ market.

The changes will result in some job losses among Trimite’s 200-strong workforce, although it is not yet clear how many.

In the company’s formal statement, Mr Franckel was quoted as saying: “The sale and accompanying restructure mean that it is likely we will have to lose some people. I feel very sorry for those who may no longer be part of our business, but we have had to take this difficult decision to start the consultation process to ensure we have a long-term future.”

In person, he was no less sympathetic but far more forthright. “I have been an engineer, which taught me that nothing comes quickly and nothing comes without pain,” he said.

FRANCKEL’S move from engineer to businessman took place almost by accident, as he had originally expected to be an engineer for the rest of his career after completing an industrial design degree at Newcastle University and an apprenticeship at the UK Atomic Energy Agency, in Warrington.

His next move was to Black & Decker, where he became involved in mergers and acquisitions, and restructuring, which laid the platform for this second part of his career.

He said: “What moved me away from engineering to business was I went through the sales and marketing route.

“I went from the customer-focused end. I could see that what the customer wanted was very different from what the company could see.”

He moved to become sales and marketing director for the Leicester-based machine tool firm, Jones & Shipman, and later took the opportunity to buy the firm.

This led to the creation of a machine tool group, Precision Technologies Group, also buying Rochdale-based Holroyd and Binns & Berry in Huddersfield.

“Being small in any of these industries, machine tool or coatings, is very tough,” he said. “To make money, you have to be international to buy the raw materials. The merger with Trimite creates a mass where we can make money – that’s what it’s about.

“At Trimite, we will allow customers to buy colours off the internet.

“People tell me we can’t do that, our structures can’t do that. Well, we will have to change our structures.”

He happily admits to not knowing too much about the sector, but is confident “the business is full of experts who really do know their stuff.”

He added: “I have got enough technical people – this business needs traditional management tools. People like clear direction. Take raw materials: are we ordering it to last a year or to last six months?

“If a production manager is not involved in the business, he may save money by buying 12 months’ worth, but it is using up cashflow.

“I will get people involved and they will know the day-to-day numbers.

“With visibility you get accountability, that’s the bit people always find tough. We will all know the numbers and we will all buy in to them.

“The leader has to get the strategy right and put a team in place to deliver. Anyone who pretends they do that themselves is kidding themselves.”

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