Conversations with: James Napier, General Manager of Gripsure

Ally Allington, Partner in our Truro office had the pleasure of going out to see James Napier a couple of weeks ago to discuss his recent win at the Cornwall Manufacturers Awards.

James won the Business Leadership award for his work at Gripsure, an anti-slip timber decking manufacturer in Cornwall.

Gripsure is one of the most prominent decking brands in Europe, has a manufacturing partner in Japan and plans to establish its non-slip decking brand in 12 more territories.

Despite its global reach, Gripsure has stayed true to its roots and all of their non-slip decking boards are handcrafted by their own hardworking team here in Cornwall.

James Napier started in the business in sales and has since had several roles before reaching General Manager and being in charge of production for the last two years.

Ally spoke with James about how he manages his team and what led him to win the Business Leadership Award.

James always tries to have a bit of fun with his team and has initiated a monthly development session where they perform team-building exercises whilst developing their skills. 

He also helps develop the trainees, ensuring they have a personal development plan in place.  

The team are allowed to pick their own hours within a framework, and they are more engaged as a result. They meet every morning to discuss the tasks for the day, and on any particular job the team are given a brief but with the freedom to use their creativity and learn from their mistakes.  

As a result of this culture, James feels he can now delegate more; the team are achieving better results and are all engaged in the business and contributing to its success. 

Keeping people motivated in winter when production naturally reduces can be a challenge and James has ensured there is lots of training in place, some internally delivered but also external manager-level training. 

James is very open about how his leadership success has come from significant investment in his own development.  He has worked closely with the director, Mike, on his own personal development plan, looking at his strengths and areas for development. They meet on a monthly basis to ensure James’s performance is supported and he can see how his role aligns with the more strategic objectives of the business.  He also uses this process to hold himself accountable.

James achieved his ILAM Level 5 from Truro College, and in recommending the course to others makes it very clear that you need to focus on self-evaluation, be honest with yourself and learn from your mistakes.

James completed the Continuous Improvement program run by Cornwall Manufacturers Group which has been invaluable in his own development, and now passes on his new skills to his team.

It is wonderful to see in action how this locally delivered management training has had such an impact on a team of people.

James has also had coaching input from SWMAS (the Manufacturing Advisory Service for manufacturers in the South West) to work more strategically on his goals, discussing what is working and what isn’t.  This has given him an independent sounding board that has challenged him and again helped to improve his leadership style.

This investment by the directors in James’s development and leadership has clearly paid dividends.

What is next for James and Gripsure? 

They are in the throes of moving to a bigger unit as the business has outgrown its current space.  During this process James and the directors are keeping the team actively involved in the new office set up, the design of the canteen, the workplace culture and how the team will be able to interact during the working day. 

When Ally asked James if he could give any advice on how to be successful in leadership in manufacturing he said: “I credit the team with everything, the group we have has worked so hard to achieve everything.  If I didn’t have the buy in from the team, it would not have happened.  They are absolutely brilliant”.

It clearly pays to have good people, but the investment in the management and leadership of those people clearly has a huge impact and it is a delight to see such a great company grow from strength to strength and have such a happy, engaged team, right here in the heart of Cornwall.