Jointine Products [Lincoln] Ltd has been named Small Family Business of the Year in the East Midlands region at the 2021 Midlands Enterprise Awards.
The Midlands Enterprise Awards, now in their fourth year, seek to highlight the crème de la crème of business throughout the region. The accolades draw attention to a range of diverse and innovative businesses, all of which have gone above and beyond in a year ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Like many other companies, Jointine, a manufacturing firm in North Hykeham, Lincoln, which specialises in manufacturing paper gasket materials, has found itself having to face its own struggles this year with its order book 40 per cent behind projections.
The business, therefore, adopted a strategy of processing whatever work it had as soon as possible, which would ensure there were no backlogs when the lockdown ended. On the downside, this did mean that the firm could not fall back on the safety net of the furlough scheme.
However, even with the downtime the business had, Jointine committed to paying salaries in full throughout and has successfully remained Covid-free to date.
Managing Director, Jane Smith, told SME News: “It is hard for us to talk about success when more than four million people worldwide have lost their lives to the Covid pandemic. It feels terribly hollow to describe how our order book was 40 per cent behind plan when people were literally fighting for their lives. But we still had a responsibility to the welfare of seventeen people in the business, which is what we focussed on.
“We are pleased to say that 2021 has been relentlessly busy but bringing an entirely different catalogue of challenges to rise to, including rising raw material prices, through to cardboard and paper shortages. But we survived a global pandemic, so how hard can this be?
“We truly value the recognition given to us by the Midlands Enterprise Awards. Being named as Small Family Business of the Year is such a wonderful way to recognise these achievements.”
Jane, who became a widow in the early days of the pandemic, also paid tribute to her loyal workforce within Jointine, whose “support and positivity makes the company the success that it is.”
Jointine’s brand names, Flexoid®, Cranflex® and Oakenstrong® dominate the international market and the firm has a repeat order rate of more than 95 per cent. Despite its modest 17-strong workforce, it is the only business of its kind in the UK with just two major competitors worldwide, supplying to over 50 different countries.
Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash
