2023 YOU WERE A BLAST

2023 YOU WERE A BLAST 2023 is drawing near to an end, so there’s no better time than to reflect upon what has been a truly fulfilled year. Let’s take a look at the best bits! Hello January We opened the doors this year with a newly designed reception area, including Marie, our front-of-house support. Marie is not new to the business, she boasts a huge 20 years’ service, but Marie’s presence now makes the Filon entrance a warm and friendly welcome to all our visitors! We are very lucky to have some fantastic local talent, and we collaborated with the team at Personalised Nation, to create a feature wall that represents our core values. A great feature that we are proud of! Customer satisfaction Customer care and satisfaction is at the heart of what we do, and we are delighted that we have received a continual flow of customer feedback. Each bit of feedback that we receive is welcomed and cascaded through the business so that team know exactly how much they are appreciated. Saying goodbye is never easy In March, we saw the retirement of Steve Vickers, former Managing Director. Steve left the business with an outstanding 45 years’ service, having been an integral part of Filon’s continued success. Steve’s contribution will always be remembered and the hard work, commitment, leadership, and integrity that he demonstrated over the years will always be appreciated and admired by many. A new addition Launched at this year’s RCI Show held in October, we were delighted to see Filon’s Profile Finder attract significant interest from the roofing and cladding industry. Making roofing specification easier, the profile finder is the go-to tool for finding the correct profile for new and refurbishment projects. The Snowdon Challenge And what a challenge it was! In what can only be described as brutal weather conditions, the team left at 9am on Saturday 24th June on their 1085-metre ascent via the Llanberis path, to the summit of Snowdon. Unfortunately, the strong wind and rain impaired the visibility, and the team did not get a chance to fully appreciate the magnificent views that the Summit offers. Nonetheless, 33,000 steps, 9-mile and just under 7-hours later, the team descended back safely with a real sense of achievement having raised a target-breaking £4,724.00 for Alzheimer’s Research UK and Cancer Research UK. A collective effort with the entire team pulling through together. An exemplary example of one of core values, teamwork! Charitable donations and partnerships As a business, we support and encourage fundraising efforts, either individually or collectively, specifically for charities and communities that are close to our heart. Over the course of the year, we partnered with several local and national organisations and pledged £5,000 worth of sponsorship opportunities, ranging from community school events, youth sports teams and our customer led charity events. Through fundraising events that our team held, including our Snowdon Challenge, we also raised a further £5,032 for The Pathway Project, Royal British Legion, Save the Children and Macmillan Cancer Support, Alzheimer’s Research UK, and Cancer Research UK. And let’s not forget the wonderful individual achievement from our Sales Administrator Sammy, who raised a further £1,415 for Macmillan with her selfless commitment to their brave the shave event. A truly outstanding effort from all involved and a key focus continuing into 2024. Wellness training Putting our people and their health at the top of priorities was achieved during 2023 with the introduction of the Wellness Team with, six additional employees completing Mental Health First Aid and Champion training. With the stigma around mental ill-health we recognised that some people may feel that they don’t want to speak to a manager or HR in case it appears as if they cannot cope. Having a newly created network of mental health first aiders goes some way to addressing that problem and the team have plans ahead for 2024. Summer Social And relax! Our Summer Social was a blast. What better way to end the summer holidays, than with a Summer Social for our team held at The Chase Golf Club. We got our Hawaiian shirts on and laughed and danced the night away. It was great to see so many out on what was a beautiful summer evening. AJW Distribution Golf Day In September, the sun was shining brightly and three of the team joined the AJW golf day at the beautiful Wyboston Lakes Venue. It was an enormous success for AJW and we were delighted to support their event raising money for the charity of their year. But the best bit… #teamfilon won the event even with one player down! Well done team. Can you do it again in 2024? Employee service We recognise our employees’ service monthly, but this year we saw a significant milestone. Our workforce came to a standstill to celebrate a remarkable 30-year service achievement for Paul Carney, our raw materials supervisor. Paul joined the business in 1993 and Paul’s loyalty, dedication, and contribution to Filon is an accolade that he holds proud, and we hold even prouder. The future ahead We are excited for the future ahead. With plans to build upon the successes of 2023, our future is shining brightly. We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to our employees, our customers, our suppliers, and all other partnering businesses. Without your support, these achievements wouldn’t be possible. Have a safe and restful break and we look forward to seeing you in 2024