Robotic mower maker Husqvarna UK is officially a cut above the rest after bagging the big one – the Company of the Year title at the Make Your Mark Awards.
And for manufacturing director Caraline Robinson, it was quite the moment in a career at the company which began 45 years ago when it was Flymo.
In that time, Caraline has seen massive change – it currently employs 273 permanent staff but that goes up to 600 when agency staff are included.
Then there’s the products it makes – literally the best in cutting-edge technology.
But for Caraline – who was presented with the award by Senstronics managing director Andy Reed – it’s all about Husqvarna UK’s people.
She said: “It’s an absolute team effort. People work so hard to deliver what we deliver as a business. We got two awards last year and we’ve got two this year, which is wonderful.
“It’s all about cooperation – our people really support each other.
“We get new people coming in and they always say it’s been so nice to be welcomed and helped when they needed something or have questions.
“It’s from that ‘day one’ experience that lets people understand what our culture is like.”
Saying the firm was “thrilled and proud” to win the Company of the Year trophy, she said it was partly down to how Husqvarna rose to various challenges it’s faced in recent years.
Those challenges included switching from making Flymo hover mowers to “vastly more complex” robotic mowers, coming through Covid, constantly industrialising new, innovative products and developing new manufacturing methods.
She added: “We develop our people to be the best they can be and we care for, and support, each other, providing the best possible foundation for great teamwork. In doing so, we have overcome all of these challenges.”
And with new products always being developed, she was confident the Husqvarna UK team would keep rising to the challenge.
She said: “A lot of our success is down to recruiting the right people in the first place – bringing people in with a similar sort of mindset to the others in the business.
“We often ask people to demonstrate, for example, a caring thing they’ve done or an example of where they’ve supported somebody or gone above and beyond to help colleagues.
“That’s the type of thing we look for – it’s not always about skills. Skills can be trained – you can give people experience and training but it’s about having the right attitude too.”
The seventh Make Your Mark Awards were delivered in front of just under 300 guests at Hardwick Hall Hotel by Resolution Media and Publishing, on behalf of Aycliffe Business Park Community.
