Road safety barriers and building and construction products do not immediately spring to mind as priority areas for innovation.

But one of the region’s leading plcs has shown that it is product improvement across a broad range of industries like this that makes the difference for the region’s best companies.

This kind of innovation is at the heart of the success story of West Midland based Hill & Smith Holdings PLC, a company whose shares have starred as one of the best performing manufacturing companies in the UK in recent times.



Chief executive David Grove is convinced of the link between innovation and shareholder value. He explains: “To be successful in manufacturing, you have to put continuous improvement at the heart of your strategy.

“The flight of volume manufacture to low labour cost countries, has combined with an increasingly competitive environment to support this need.

“For us, a real competitive edge has been built on investment in product development and the ability for our products to provide solutions to customers’ needs.”

Hill & Smith supplies the buoyant transport infrastructure market with products ranging from road safety barriers to street lights and is also a major supplier to the construction industry.

Mr Grove said: “Our markets will continue to be strong, thanks to planned government spending on transport, but market growth alone is not enough to secure success.

“That is why we have acquired businesses that go well alongside our core operations and why we are continuing to invest in new technology.

The Hill & Smith management team keeps a close eye on all of its technologies to make sure that they are being used to the best advantage, as Mr Grove explains:

“We have recently bought one of the UK’s leading suppliers of electronic information display signs for the transport sector.

“The business has a huge potential as the trend to electronic signage on the roads gathers pace in response to the increased challenges of congestion and the need to warn of road works and road lane closures”.

Much of the group’s activity on the transport side of its business is aimed at developing and marketing products that directly lead to improved safety for maintenance workers, as well as road users and passengers, on the road and rail network.



There are productivity gains too as workers who feel safe are in a much better position to concentrate on the job in hand.

“We have to stay ahead through focusing on product development and, for our part, we are planning to keep the momentum going on this.

“More generally, this is the great challenge for West Midland manufacturers and we have to meet it we are to secure the future of our manufacturing industry” he said.

Mr Grove identifies one other key factor that he believes needs to be addressed if West Midlands businesses are to move ahead once again.

“Apart from the need for innovation and continuous improvement, we also need to restore our reputation as a region with a high level of manufacturing and engineering skills.

“The two aspects go hand in hand, because sophisticated product improvement and building sustained competitive advantage needs skilled people behind it.

“I would like to see the option of a career in engineering receive much more attention. Young people need to be given encouragement to consider this road if they have the aptitude.

“We have to end the prejudices against manufacturing and engineering skills if we are to innovate and keep the competitive advantage as we look ahead.

“The region’s companies need a wide base of support for this and I hope that education authorities, higher education institutions, colleges and teachers can support this and training agencies can give it their backing too.”