Worcester Warriors players Ted Hill and Francois Hougaard took part in a virtual business webinar with Made in the Midlands, to provide insight from their experiences of elite rugby, to help local manufacturing businesses continue to adapt, evolve and tackle any challenges they face.
Through its UK-wide initiative, ‘Tackling Tomorrow Together’, Gallagher, the title partner of Premiership Rugby, is promoting the stories of six UK businesses and a regional children’s charity that have shown real resilience and a pioneering spirit during the COVID-19 pandemic.
One of the businesses is West Midlands-based Made in The Midlands, part of the ‘Made In’ group which is a network supporting and championing over 600 manufacturers in the UK. The pandemic forced the cancellation of its annual Made in The Midlands exhibition last year, but the organisation moved swiftly to build an effective and interactive virtual version to replace the physical event.
Made in The Midlands also quickly adapted its popular events to a virtual format, which led to a large increase in participation of its virtual exhibition, hugely benefitting its members with continued knowledge share and networking opportunities throughout lockdown.
As part of ‘Tackling Tomorrow Together’ Made in The Midlands has been paired with Worcester Warriors and Wasps, offering the business new promotional opportunities.
Warriors players, Ted Hill and Francois Hougaard joined a virtual business webinar alongside Made in the Midlands spokesman Charles Addison and Gallagher business specialist Richard Grosvenor to share perspectives on their personal challenges during the pandemic both off and on the field, and talk about how support systems in place at the club helped them overcome these effectively, and the importance of having robust mental health initiatives in every workplace.
Recognised by Gallagher for its resilience, Made in the Midlands is being rewarded with a host of opportunities to promote the business through the power of the Gallagher Premiership, helping them to reach new audiences.
Gallagher helped to support Made in the Midlands during the pandemic with free online ‘Cyber Security’ webinars for members to highlight not only the tools cyber criminals use to infiltrate IT systems, but the increased vulnerability firms are experiencing due to greater reliance on online activity and remote connectivity during the pandemic.
Charles Addison, Managing Director of Made in the Midlands said:
“For many manufacturers in our membership network it has been a turbulent and tough year and it was no different for us as a support organisation – having to go 100% virtual overnight was a daunting task but a huge team effort and collaboration enabled us to demonstrate our resilience in adapting to the new world.
“We have learnt an enormous amount over the last 12 months about how we can best utilise technology to provide consistent support for our members and Gallagher has helped us deliver business-critical risk advice to our members in a timely way, particularly through its cyber security webinars and the latest business webinar. Listening to Ted and Francois break down how they identify and tackle challenges in their own hugely competitive world with confidence was fascinating. It is clear that there are many parallels between the world of sport and business when faced with adversity.”
Thanks to Gallagher’s Tackling Tomorrow. Together campaign, Made in The Midlands and its specialist services will be promoted on match day at Worcester Warriors and Wasps, when COVID allows, with the local business benefiting from increased exposure off the back of the in-stadia advertising. Employees from the business will also have the chance to attend a game to support Ted and Francois from the stands, whilst hosting clients.
In addition to the rugby-related package, Gallagher will continue to offer specialist broking advice and support to the organisation.
Visit madeinthemidlands.com to find out more about Made in the Midlands.
