Howard Trotter, Business Manager of Birmingham window and door manufacturer Shelforce, was among a stellar line-up of experts invited to speak at this year’s FIT Show.
The UK’sonly dedicated exhibition for the window, door, flat glass and components industry featured more than 300 of the industry’s leading brands at the NEC Birmingham. Visitors to the Insight Theatre were inspired as Howard spoke about how the Shelforceteam creates high-quality and competitive products through maximising their unique and diverse talents. Shelforce has been providing employment for disabled workers since 1839 and the company is leading the way in inclusive employment with 75% of its workforce currently disabled.
We’ve benefitted hugely from the in-built resilience of disabled workers – explained Howard. – They overcome bigger obstacles every day than many of us will face in a year – and that means they’ve got a toughness and a determination that’ll see them through any business or production issue in the workplace.
Indeed, in the last four years, Shelforce has managed to triple its turnover and went from an operating loss of £1.8 million to now making a profit.
I was delighted to be able to speak at the FIT Show – added Howard. – It was a great opportunity to talk about our vision of a fully-inclusive world-class workforce and how disabled people can make exceptionally loyal, dedicated, hard-working employees in this industry. One of our aims is to encourage other businesses to adopt our inclusive employment approach and give it a try, and events such as the FIT Show provide the perfect platform to get that message out.
Shelforce specialises in providing high-quality products to local authority building projects around the country, including Birmingham City Council.
