SAM Mouldings Wins the UK Business Excellence Award 2000

Springfarm Architectural Mouldings Ltd - or SAM Mouldings as it is better known in the marketplace - has had good reason to celebrate its success in the past week. Not only has the company celebrated its 10th anniversary but it has also received the UK Business Excellence Award 2000.  Managing Director, Sam McCrea and his wife Julienne, Director of Business Excellence were presented with the award by HRH The Princess Royal at a gala ceremony in the London Hilton on Tuesday 31 October.

Hundreds of organisations throughout the UK apply for business excellence awards each year but only a few reach the national finals. Each application is examined by a team of independent assessors, who are experienced managers from leading UK organisations.  The assessors conduct a rigorous inspection of every aspect of an award applicant's operations before making their recommendations to an independent awards jury.

Now as the company celebrates its 10 th anniversary, SAM Mouldings is embarking on a new phase of expansion with the move to new larger premises in Newpark Industrial Estate, Antrim, in order to meet increasing demand from customers in UK and Ireland. "I always wanted to start my own business and make a success of it," said Sam McCrea. "However, becoming the UK's premier supplier of MDF mouldings and achieving the highest level of business excellence recognition has far exceeded my expectations."

Working with well-formulated strategic planning - in conjunction with Quality Standard ISO 9002 (awarded in 1991), Investors in People recognition (awarded in 1998), the Business Excellence Model and the Theory of Constraints - has provided a solid foundation on which the company can grow. 

Sam and Julienne believe that people are the company's most important resource and that by recognising and rewarding employees for their efforts, they have created a culture within the company where involvement and empowerment are second nature.

"A caring understanding approach goes a long way in business just like in a family", said Julienne. "We need to be aware of what our staff want and we need to have the right systems in place in order to foster long-term relationships." 

The results of this enlightened approach speak for themselves as during the last five years SAM Mouldings turnover has increased by 329% and employment levels are up 233%.