North West Christmas convo: Nina Wyers of Floorbrite

Christmas is almost upon us and it’s been a well and truly exciting year for the North West business community.

With many of the region’s business people no doubt looking forward to grabbing a glass of wine and putting their feet up, or allowing themselves to slip into a post-roast dinner snooze while pretending to listen to the kids, at Bdaily we thought we’d bring you closer to the personalities behind some of the North West’s most exciting enterprises.

Today’s festive catchup is with Nina Wyers, marketing director of cleaning and facilities service provider Floorbrite.

What did your business achieve in 2015?

Wow, what didn’t we achieve! We reached £10m turnover, became a national service provider, now employ over 1,000 staff, launched a waste and environmental division, came out of the closet and went PR crazy, entered and won awards for the first time and continuously exceeded targets and expectations.

What were some of the bigger challenges you faced this year?

Keeping up with it all. But joking aside, the challenges have been making sure the infrastructure is robust enough to deal with the growth. The right people in the right places with the right support across the country.

Does your business have anything exciting planned for 2016?

Absolutely, my brothers Alex and Nik Wyers will become joint managing directors in January. We will be exhibiting at The Manchester Cleaning Show in April. We are continuing to invest and will receive delivery of our brand new £160k 30-metre boom cherry picker (MEWP) at the end of March, and we are entering Family Business of the Year awards for the first time.

Do you find any other North West businesses or their owners inspiring? If so, who?

At the beginning of 2015, I was introduced to the CEO of Wax Lyrical, Mike Armstead, who I went to see in the Lake District. He told me how he bought the failing company a few years ago and turned it around to become a multi-million pound success. Through networking I also met Mark Woodward CEO (Chief Excitement Officer, as he calls himself) at The Printed Cup Company. He won’t mind me saying that he is off the wall. I loved his story, he thinks outside the box and it’s ok to realise there’s nothing wrong with that and nothing to fear.

I also met Matt Carr from Carrs Pasties in Bolton earlier in the year. He is in a similar situation to us, working in the family business with his brothers. He and his family have also instilled a strong family culture in their business, which is so important and unique to family businesses as it’s what makes us different. We are planning to meet up in the new year at his factory so that I can sample some pies

Give us one tip for a budding entrepreneur

You must have passion for what you are doing and believe that you will succeed.

Where’s your favourite village/town/city in the North West, besides where you live?

I love to be able to dip into the bustle of Manchester city centre on occasion. It’s so vibrant and the regeneration and development is exciting, but I drove through Prestbury the other day and thought how lovely the village looked with pretty little cottages and tree-lined lanes. It’s nice to have both options so close.

What would be your dream job?

I think I’m doing it right now, I absolutely love coming to work every day, but if I had to choose something else I would have become an antique auctioneer or had my own salvage/reclamation yard like Drew Pritchard in Salvage Hunters on Quest TV. You never know, I may still do this as a crazy old lady.

Do you have a favourite Christmas song?

It has to be Slade and Merry Christmas Everybody but I am quite partial to The Darkness and Don’t Let The Bells End. It’s something about the ’70s rock band style, long hair and ridiculous outfits. I love it.