Bob Hayward & David Gearon's 2021 Business Growth & Plans

Today we're talking to Bob Hayward (MD) and David Gearon, training director of Key Performance Training. The company offers forklift, HSE, First Aid and Fire Marshal Training and is based at Unit 1. Headlands Grove Training Estate, Swindon SN2 7JQ.

It's April – how does this month fit into the ebb & flow of your year? 

We have been operating at 50% capacity with forklift training and no classroom training for HSE, First and Fire Marshal Training so this April and Spring is important to us as we can begin to open up to full capacity and begin to book classroom events. 

Are you in a business which is either opening up this month – or preparing to open up? 

One popular event we’ve not been able to run in over a year is Forklift Friday – a two-hour taster session for people who want to consider becoming a forklift operator. In the past we ran that in the morning of the first Friday of each month. We’d advertise the event on Facebook and at the job centre. 

We’d regularly get eight to twelve people attending. Each person tries out on two different trucks, a reach and a counterbalance, they get to see a film about forklift safety and hear from an employer or recruitment agency on the employment options. 

We plan to run our first Forklift Friday on 7th May. We are so excited. It is creating a real buzz about the place in anticipation.

What are you most looking forward to as the country tries to ‘open up’?

We are most looking forward to having a sense of “freedom” again – free to go to the barber’s, to the pub, to a restaurant or the cinema and even going to visit people, clients as well as family. 

For us that is what has hurt the most – feeling restricted – not being allowed to do the simple things in life, that make life enjoyable and meaningful. 

It’s also Stress Awareness Month, what measures have you taken in your business to reduce the stress on yourself & your team?

From a business point of view, we did what we could to reduce our overheads, reduce our revenue targets and work more flexibly. The furlough scheme from the Government took some of the pressure off and our suppliers and landlord have been brilliant. 

What do you do personally to support your health and wellbeing? 

Bob - from a personal point of view, like many, I’ve had to work from home for the past year and do everything I can by phone, email and Zoom so getting time away from the computer screen every couple of hours to rest my eyes has been important as has getting out for a walk at lunch times. The other thing that really helped me was playing music quietly in the background, either Swindon 105.5, or something relaxing from my CD collection.

Do you see your product/service as one which supports the health and wellbeing of others such as your clients? 

We see Key Performance Training, particularly the forklift training as a pathway to employment, which can help someone get a job or a better job or help kick-start a new career. In that sense forklift training can change someone’s life. 

Since we started the business at the beginning of 2018, we’ve trained 195 people. Many of those were either not working at all or working whilst on benefits. Knowing you have a skill that is in demand and knowing you have a reasonable and stable income – that kind of thing changes the outlook we have on ourselves and our life. 

As the year goes on, will you take health and wellbeing more seriously going forward?

Bob - this crazy period has brought home the reality of life to me. That it is the simple things that really matter. Time with my family, walking through our great local countryside, being able to go to the pub, hairdressers or out for a curry when you want. It has also brought home the need to look after each other. 

In the village I live in, just outside Swindon, there is a much greater sense of community, of helping each other – even down to buying food and essentials from the local farms and businesses rather than always going to the supermarket or online. So in a strange way I am going to take some things less seriously and make somethings far more important. 

Have you got any Spring services or special offers you’d like to mention?

Yes – Forklift Friday on the 7th May. We are so excited by that. We love spreading the opportunity that forklift driving can bring. 

And finally:

Yes, we would like to thank Tom and Clive Page at Mr Shifter, Paul Preddy at Azone Logistics and the team at RTITB – without them we would not have made it through this crazy period. 

For more information visit https://keyperformancetraining.co.uk/

*Picture shows David on the left and Bob on the right.