MEET THE WOMAN WHO TURNED HER BACK ON HER DREAM TO DANCE TO BECOME THE MANAGING DIRECTOR OF A LEADING ENGINEERING FIRM

Joanna Robinson is a working-class Leeds lass who has defied society’s expectations to get to the top of the business ladder.

She was the first non-family member to take on the role of managing director at Bradford’s Mansfield Pollard and since then has seen the company grow, going from strength to strength.

And she is determined to help others follow in her footsteps by encouraging more women to take on roles in business, particularly engineering and manufacturing.

Joanna brought a zeal for change and modernisation to Mansfield Pollard – a long-established family engineering firm dating back to 1866 – first as financial controller, when she was first appointed back in 2000, and ultimately as MD, the role she took on in 2013.

Mansfield Pollard are air management experts and one of the UK’s leading specialist providers of air handling units, kitchen ventilation, specialist ductwork, refrigeration, controls and acoustic solutions. The firm uses the phrase ‘a breath of fresh air’ to describe itself – and those words could equally be applied to Joanna and her achievements since she joined the firm. Brought up by her mum in Armley, Leeds, Joanna’s first passion was dancing, which she took up at the age of three, qualifying as a teacher at 21.

But her closeness to her mum and love of home meant she couldn’t make the decision to pursue that as a career, which would have meant travelling to London.

She is also brutally honest about the other reason. “I’m really short, so it was quite challenging! They like dancers to be taller,” she said.

Instead, she studied at Park Lane College in Leeds, which she left with a BTEC in business and finance.

She got a job as a trainee accountant at a small firm in Headingley, completing her accountancy qualifications via home study after doing a full day at work, before becoming an audit manager at another firm.

A chance conversation about the background of an applicant for a job at Mansfield Pollard with a friend in accountancy probably changed her life.

“My friend had been tasked to recruit an accountant for them. She contacted me because one of the candidates for job had worked at my company, so she was asking me about him, but I didn’t know him,” said Joanna.

“I asked what role was for, and she said you’d be good for it.”

The rest, as they say, is history.

She was heavily involved with the senior team from the start, attending board meetings to present on the accounts and then taking a more active role in other areas.

She became company secretary a couple of years after joining, and in 2007 was promoted to finance director.

“When I first came here, the finance systems in place were pretty dated and the department as a whole was not functioning as it should. A change in working practices combined with a streamlining of processes significantly increased efficiency levels and the department also became far more cost conscious,” she said.

The work she did to help take the company forward obviously had an impression, as she was appointed MD in 2013.

“Being asked by the shareholders to become MD was certainly the proudest moment of my career. I had always been very passionate about the business and could certainly see the potential for growth. I think the recognition of my drive and enthusiasm to modernise the company combined with the fundamental principle of work force development were the main factors in my appointment.”

When asked whether being a woman had proved difficult in taking on the top role, she said there were advantages and disadvantages.

“In some areas you have to earn respect – it’s a little bit harder in some people’s eyes. But on the other side of it the diversity a female brings can offer different options and different ways of dealing with things, finding a path that’s not the obvious way,” she said.

When asked about mentors, Joanna credits only one person as being inspirational to her throughout her life.

“My mum has always inspired me and always wanted me to be the best I could be. I was in nursery from the age of six months because she wanted to work to provide for me. That ethos of working hard to achieve things in life has certainly stuck with me. ”

While there is no doubt that continued modernisation and growth are important, a key part of Mansfield Pollard’s ethos under Joanna is its people – and it is no surprise that the company has won a number of awards specifically recognising that, including being named Employer of the Year at last year’s Bradford Means Business Awards.

“I learned early on in my career that any business needs a good team. You need to both support and also be supported by the team around you”

Joanna Robinson, Managing Director
Mansfield Pollard

“It’s important to recognise that everybody has strengths and weaknesses and I see it as my job to channel each employees’ strengths and develop any weaknesses to enable them to contribute fully. Developing the culture of the business and recognising that diversity encourages innovation and change, has resonated with me from the beginning of my career.

“I want everybody who works for us to feel valued and recognise their achievements, in particular the contribution they are making to the future of Mansfield Pollard.

She said the company has financial, turnover, and profit goals, but it was also very important to have an engagement goal.

“We want our people to enjoy themselves when they come to work, getting job satisfaction, so yes, we have a goal for that.”

Customer service is another key goal for Mansfield Pollard.

As Joanna says: “Customer service isn’t a department, it’s a mindset. We want to offer all our customers the best possible service and have continuous training and development for all our staff. It’s a simple thing to say, but without customers, we haven’t got a business.”

Going forward, Joanna said: “We are in a period of growth and have recently bolstered our sales force to maintain our market leading position. Our sales strategy is to offer great service to contractors and end-users alike whilst maintaining a focus on consultants and specification. We have recently restructured internally to streamline our workflows to support a burgeoning order book. We are a very agile business and have a continuous improvement and modernisation processes to ensure that we are able to support this growth.”

One area of growth Joanna is determined to encourage is in the number of young people – particularly girls – to chose a career in manufacturing and engineering.

She was involved in setting up a social enterprise group called STEER to try and help bring students in from the world of education into the industry through mentoring and guidance.

And the company has also established relationships with local schools and further and higher education establishments, including Skipton Girls High School.

Joanna says of the number of women in business: “It is improving, but it is really slow going.

“It’s important that we continue to showcase women in engineering without becoming too over the top. I think it’s important to at least educate people as to what roles are available, we are a diverse business with many different product lines with a lot of opportunity for both males and females.”

Joanna Robinson, Managing Director of Mansfield Pollard

“Gender doesn’t come in to it, if you are good enough, you are good enough.”

And Mansfield Pollard is certainly bucking the trend when it comes to gender balance at boardroom level, which, alongside Joanna, is currently made up of chairman Alan Pollard, sales and marketing director Lou Frankland, and finance director Allison Howgate, with the ops director role currently being recruited for.

“We have a number of women that have joined us over the past few years, some in senior roles,” she said.

“It’s just very difficult to get through and the channels are not there. It’s important we educate parents and teachers, people who children listen to, because it’s important we inspire both males and females to enter our industry, because it’s an industry that is not the first choice anymore, although it used to be highly respected.”

She said events like last year’s Bradford Manufacturing Week – due to be repeated this October – are excellent ways of engaging with young people.

“It’s great that we get the opportunity to open up our doors to young people.

“If we can inspire one or two to come into the industry it’s been worthwhile, and I think, also, it just shows what diverse businesses there are out there”

When asked what advice she would give to women who see what she has achieved and want to follow in her footsteps, Joanna said: “Just to work hard. Keep trying.

“Take opportunities that are given to you.

That’s what I’ve done. I’ve been fortunate, I’ve worked hard and I’ve been given the opportunities that have got me where I am today.

“It’s not about talking a good talk – it’s about doing what you need to do, but in the right way. You need to be seen as someone who gets things done.”