KEELA was set up in 1989 to provide outdoor clothing to the public and emergency services. It is now providing PPE to the NHS. During lockdown, sales director Sam Fernando helped to expand the company’s facilities by 10,000 sq ft and created 50 new jobs.
Name: Sam Fernando
Position: Sales director
WHAT IS THE BUSINESS CALLED?
Keela
WHERE IS IT BASED?
Glenrothes
WHY DID YOU SET UP THE BUSINESS?
IT was set up in the 80s. We manufacture clothes for normal people and outdoor professionals like ambulance and police services. We make garments for hot or humid conditions and for weather under 50 degrees. We are the only company in the world that has a Queen’s Award for fabric.
It’s a family company set up by my father with two other partners, one is retired and one passed away. I did sciences at university and had no intention of doing this. I thought I would give it a go and became a sales rep in Nottingham. They had a crisis at the head office so I became office manager. My father never forced us to take part in the business – it was up to us. It has given me lots of opportunities and I have enjoyed building the company up.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
WE started off manufacturing for other brands in the UK. We could see brands selling overseas and the business landscape was changing – if we didn’t adapt we would struggle. We did contract work for the police and Royal Mail in the 80s. We decided to give things a go and innovate and develop – the cornerstones of who we are as a company.
The company has coped with coronavirus really well. We have a good team which I always knew but the crisis has confirmed it. Our previous space wasn’t big enough to social distance by two metres so a company lent us a building but we then bought a new one and refurbished it during lockdown. Old employees who were on furlough volunteered to help. It’s a time I will never forget. Our office staff are still working from home.
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We were working with Scottish Enterprise and the NHS regularly as we had manufacturing facilities to make PPE. We use Scottish-produced fabric from Cupar Angus. It was recognised by the NHS that we know what to do, have a production facility and lots of experience of ramping up our production for big contracts fairly quickly. We are shipping PPE to the NHS every week. We needed extra people because cutting and packing takes as long as it does to make it. We have taken on an extra 50 people, including students, people on furlough and people who haven’t worked for a while.
WHAT IS YOUR TARGET MARKET?
WE’RE based in Scotland but most of our customers are in the UK and we export a lot. We do all of the engineering and customisation and we have some manufacturers here but also have a factory in Sri Lanka run by us. It is very ethically run. Our products are more expensive but you are paying for quality and peace of mind.
HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM COMPETING BUSINESSES?
WE are quite a flexible company and we are very innovative. We are one of the few left in Scotland, if not the UK. It’s a bit of a dying industry. Our existing staff are slightly of the older generation. There’s a decline in manufacturing and a skills gap in the industry. The older generation could train the younger people because in 10-15 years the skill won’t be there. Those who have joined us started with simple garments and are taking time to build up to more complicated ones. We need to start valuing manufacturing. We don’t get everything made in China because it’s cheap.
IS SCOTLAND A GOOD PLACE FOR THIS TYPE OF BUSINESS?
YES. The UK has fantastic potential.When expanding during lockdown we had no time to go through a funding process so we purchased a factory and machinery with our own money. The support from Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish NHS was exceptional. We have weekly Zoom meetings with them. The NHS staff are working incredibly long hours to make sure they have PPE. In some cases they are going through more than 100 times more product than they would in a week.
WHERE DO YOU HOPE THE BUSINESS WILL BE IN 10 YEARS’ TIME?
I WOULD love people to recognise Keela when I say I work there. It would be nice to be widely known.
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