Company Report: Bell's Healthcare
Bell's Healthcare When Ken Wells joined Bell's Healthcare in the midst of the economic downturn, he saw it as an opportunity to turn the company on its head

"When I took over, the company was down year-on-year by about £500,000," explains Ken Wells, Managing Director of Bell's Healthcare. That's quite a burden for any experienced businessman to take on but when it coincided with an economic slowdown, as it did for Wells, he had his work cut out.

25 years in the health and beauty industry had seen Wells hold positions at L'Oreal and Reckitt Benckiser, where he was Commercial Director. With Bell's in dire straits and the economy showing signs of weakness, his strategy had to be ambitious and bold.

"A lot of companies were reviewing their costs and looking at making savings left, right and centre," says Wells. "What we decided to do was look at our total sales."

Having identified sales and purchasing as the company's weak points, he recruited a brand new sales team and put extra resources into purchasing to increase efficiency.

Wells' determination and business sense has paid off, and the firm now has 20 new products preparing for launch in the coming year.

"Some people will always look at hard times as a need to cut costs," he explains. "Sometimes, you can actually look at it as an opportunity, in terms of renegotiating contracts, getting better prices for raw materials, getting better prices on things like raw materials, etc."

So is its rapid turnaround down to positive thinking, of which Wells claims to be a believer? "It's the Robert Peston effect; if you keep talking the market down, it will go down. If you start talking the market up, then things start to get better," he says.

Wells is keen to insist that contrary to recent media speculation, manufacturing in the UK is alive and well. Bell's is one such example of superior manufacturing quality. The company operates in three different ways: one third of the business is dedicated to exports, another third manufactures own-label goods for major retailers like Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Superdrug and Morrisons; finally, the other third of the firm produces its own-branded products under Bell's and Kilkof.

"We are looking at the effectiveness of our manufacturing, to diversify into more non-licensed products, which would fit into the health and beauty sector," says Wells, an area that would allow him to play to his strengths and draw on his own experiences in the industry.

The Kilkof brand has been one of the UK's most trusted cough remedies since 1879. The formula has certainly stood the test of time, so what's its secret? Wells has the answer: "There was a report recently about iconic brands and in times of recession, people start to feel a little bit vulnerable. "One of the things they tend to do is look at their own comfort zones to try and make themselves feel better. We're actually seeing quite a renaissance in traditional brands."

Consumer trends aside, what it really comes down to is the fact that Kilkof actually works.

"We are very well distributed throughout all retailers," he explains. "We're probably also one of the cheapest on the market as well. So we are value for money as well as a brand."

Exporting makes up a third of Bell's business but with ongoing currency fluctuations, exchange rates continue to change. Despite this, export was a big area of growth for the company, according to Wells. This year, with distributors likely to be taking advantage of its pricing, Bell's will be looking to source more within the UK.

At the same time, there are deals to be had in Eastern Europe, which are of interest to Wells: "As regulations change throughout Europe, in terms of licences and medicines, then we see opportunities in the rest of Europe - places like France, Germany and Spain."

When asked what it is that retailers require from a manufacturer like Bell's, Wells insists that it's quality of service and innovation; the company prides itself on taking a proactive role to win contracts. He gives one such example: "We've just developed a foot cream for Tesco's. Now that was something that we presented to Tesco with the formulations; they liked it, they supplied the artwork, we now have a brand new product going into Tesco's in their heal balm section."

Employees are a vital cog in any organisation, and Bell's is no exception. It currently employs a workforce of 150, some of whom have been with the firm for about 30 years.

"The advice I would give to other companies is don't be too ready to actually reduce certain parts of your workforce," says Wells. "When you lose somebody, you tend to lose a complete library and experience. It's not just another headcount, it's not just another saving of thousands of pounds on a salary.

"They have an amazing amount of experience and expertise, and if you allow them to use that, the company will prosper."

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