HotSeat | Katie Reed, Commercial Director at BEC Group

Katie Reed has been driving growth and innovation as Commercial Director at BEC Group since April 2024. Joining BEC as marketing manager in 2021, Katie now oversees the marketing department alongside the financial and business administration functions. Now, Katie faces her latest venture—the PlastikMedia HotSeat!

What trends do you think will shape the future of UK plastics?  How will BEC Group respond?

What trends do you think will shape the future of UK plastics? How will BEC Group respond? For much of UK industry, and certainly BEC Group, the focus will continue to be on emerging technologies, particularly in the green sector. As large producers of filters for the automotive industry, this is already proving to be vitally important for BEC.

Of course, sustainability will continue to be the word on the lips of every manufacturer. Using more efficient machinery, renewable energy sources and utilising recycled and biodegradable materials will become a greater priority for both customers and manufacturers. With solar panels and EV chargers already implemented at BEC along with our recycled and biodegradable plastic ranges that are available, we will be looking at ways to offer our customers even greater sustainability.

The advance of Artificial Intelligence is also creeping into the world of injection moulding, AI based control systems to improve part quality and consistency; predict maintenance issues before they become significant and identify opportunities for process optimisation will all become more commonplace in the next few years. Embracing these technologies as they become viable for BEC will give a definite edge in manufacturing efficiently at scale.

How has BEC Group developed during your tenure?

I joined BEC fresh off the heels of the Covid pandemic in 2021. In the intervening three and a half years a lot has changed within the business.

Our focus in the factory in the past year has been on optimisation across both tooling and moulding, whether that means tooling modifications to reduce labour post moulding, producing jigs to reduce the time quality checks on multiple parts at once, or investing further in robotic automation. This focus will continue into 2025 and beyond as we continue to work on high-volume moulding jobs reshored from abroad.

An ever-important aspect for our customers, our quality department has received significant investment and several new staff members in recent years, allowing us to carry out rigorous quality checks (particularly for the automotive industry), maintain our ISO 9001:2015 certification, and continue to serve our customers with bespoke quality requirements.

Sales and marketing have also received a boost in team members and investment, with more attention paid to digital marketing techniques to up website traffic and sales enquiries; and a greater trade show attendances across categories allowing us to meet old and new customers and understand their needs in the flesh.

What do you credit as the key to your success?

A can-do attitude is so important. From producing a rapid prototype tool on a very tight timeline to complex overmoulding projects and having to be reactive for our customers and ship parts out on short lead times, we say yes and find a way. This involves getting creative sometimes, but we’re lucky to have amazing staff who work together to get the job done.

We’re also fortunate enough to have many long-standing customers (some have been with us for several decades), without their loyalty, BEC wouldn’t be in the strong standing it is today. We work closely with these customers on tooling and moulding for innovative new projects, as well as continuing to mould historical work.

What has been the greatest challenge in your career?

It can be incredibly challenging to adapt to changes within the manufacturing industry that are out of your hands. New national insurance laws, increases in energy bills and R&D relief changes to name but a few have all impacted BEC during my short time as a director. Being able to pivot quickly and ensure business is still viable isn’t always easy, particularly when you don’t want to pass cost increases onto your customers. That can-do attitude I mentioned earlier is key to making the best of such changes. Sometimes more tricky circumstances can have an unexpected upside – making your operation more efficient at every turn.

What advice do you wish you’d had on entering the industry and does that differ from the advice you would give to an apprentice joining now?

Coming from a totally different industry and joining BEC meant a steep learning curve around tooling, injection moulding and manufacturing. My advice for anyone in a similar position would be to always ask the “stupid” question. The answer is not usually as obvious as you may think, and it’s the best way to learn. Anyone who has spent any length of time around engineers will know that asking them how something works is a surefire way to get an in-depth education!

I’d also say don’t be afraid to do things differently. Just because something has been done a certain way forever doesn’t mean that is the only way to do it. From the shop floor to Google ads -trial and error is the best way to test out ideas quickly.

What hidden talents do you have?

I make a mean homemade pizza. Spending several days fermenting the dough, sourcing the best cheese blend, perfecting the toppings and getting the pizza oven to the perfect temperature- it’s a labour of love!

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