A vision for the future

As Steve & David touch down in Beijing, their work colleagues back home are hard at work on the company's blueprint for the future. While office staff across the country were forced to stay at home because of the snow, a dozen of our finest made it to to the Holiday Inn for a full day's agenda. Fantastic Fireworks celebrates 25 years of success this year and while I'm delighted to have got us this far, I wanted everyone to be able to have a say in how and where we go from here. My 'bible' for the day was a book called the E Myth - Why Most Small Businesses Fail. Its premise is that they fail because they don't have a plan. I have to admit that I didn' have a plan when I started the company back in 1985, in fact I didn't have a clue. We succeeded because the fireworks phenomenon was in its infancy and we were among the first to realise its potential. Twenty-five years on we face a new challenge: How to build on our past success in a rapidly changing market place. Firstly it is highly competitive, with hundreds of firework companies chasing the same targets, second our buying public are far more sophisticated, and third we are fighting against a recession. What then will make our clients hear us above the din of all those shouting for their business? Our agenda included topics such as how to provide a better, more consistent customer experience, how to make our displays even more fantastic and, in this health and safety conscious era, how we can maintain and improve our already highly regarded safety standards. There was no talk of sales targets or gross margins, just a united desire to live up to and beyond the name which got us here in the first place. We have a young, creative and energetic team all eager to make their mark. Adding a wealth of experience and expertise to the mix are our highly respected senior pyrotechnicians Ian Woodroof, Steve Boothman & Paul Roberts plus a legion of the most dedicated firers in the land. I'm proud to be leading this team on its first exciting steps into the next 25 years.