We recently welcomed Paul Hollywood to our team at Kudos Blends. After a month as our Senior Development Manager, we sat down with him to discuss his journey and experience so far.
Welcome, Paul. It’s been fantastic to have you with us for the last month. How have you found your first weeks at Kudos Blends?
Thank you. It’s been very interesting! I first worked in production and warehouse, to see the different manufacturing and see the guys that work in that area. The warehouse is amazing. They keep it so tidy and the production really works well in the way the guys operate. They seem to have a great schedule in place. They worked really efficiently and they have two great friendly teams. And from what I’ve heard, you don’t get many complaints, so that’s really good.
In the Bakery, the girls that are in there, plus Matt, have been absolutely brilliant. They’ve helped me along so much. They’ve shown me all the things that I need to be shown. They’re always welcoming. They’re always there to share anything that they need to tell me. And then obviously there’s Dinnie. Dinnie is just amazing really. For the owner to be the way she is, so enthusiastic and keen. You can see she’s so driven but in a very nice way. When I came for the interview for this job, Dinnie really inspired me to come and work here. I had a few opportunities to go to other companies, and it was Dinnie I really liked. That’s who I wanted to work for.
You mentioned the bakery team. How have you been welcomed into the company? Are there any moments that made you feel particularly included?
Early on we went out for a meal and we mingled and that was interesting! You get to see the other side to people and they were all really nice and friendly. At work and in the bakery, everybody’s been so helpful. They’ve shown me all the equipment, the ingredients, their processes, and they’ve also come to me and asked for help in certain things, which is really good. The best comment I had was from Lucy who says,’ I think we will work really well as a team’. And that made me feel really proud and pleased.
What would you say it’s like to be an employee at Kudos Blends? Has anything surprised you?
As an employee, you see enthusiasm as a big thing. And I see a lot of people are enthusiastic about the job or the company and whatever role they are doing. What I have found, is that lots of people have moved about here, for example there are people in the lab and sales who began in production. So, people have moved about and there’s an enthusiasm to do well within the company. And that stems from the top. You can see what Dinnie’s presence is, and I think that inspires people to do well.
Strong communication is the heart of how we work. Have you felt well-informed and supported? Have there been any standout moments where effective communication or collaboration has made a difference to you so far?
A lot of people from different sections are involved in the training program. So, people have communicated what they do, what they offer to the business, plus how they can help me right from the start. I found out about the warehouse, the laboratory, the test bakery, sales, marketing and there’s been communication across the board. Matt, who’s my direct boss is great at communicating everything to me. I’ve found that through all the departments, it’s quite free to go to whoever you need, and they’ll help you, or they would put me on to the right person. I wouldn’t be scared to go to any section at all, whether that be Tilly in production, or even Dinnie, who’s the owner of this business. Communication is really, strong here.
Consideration is important to us. Have you seen examples of kindness and support within the team, and how has this helped in your role?
As I said, everyone is so willing to help. My initial challenge was working out the machinery and Jo has been really helpful there. She’s really guided me. And even when she thinks I’ve got it right, she’ll keep coming in to check up on me in case I break her computer system! Matt’s so helpful to me if there’s anything I’m not sure about. And he won’t just say what to change it to, he’ll explain why it needs to be changed and what the benefits are of changing. So, things like that will help me when I go to bakeries. I’ll understand the kind of pitfalls, so I’ve been empowered for when I’m using it applications. I’ve been helped so much by people. I can’t complain!
We see creativity as key to our success. Have you had any opportunities to share ideas or see innovation in action? And what do you think encourages creativity in our workplace?
Well, being creative all boils down to enthusiasm. If people see enthusiasm, there’s willingness to experiment and try new things. Everyone is not just sitting in an office, they are down in the bakery, working in the lab and working together. I see from the bakers that they want to bake and want to learn. They’re really, really enthusiastic and keen to learn. For instance, Jo and Lucy are doing projects at the moment, and they’ve asked my advice on what could soften a product, what could benefit the shelf life, what could strengthen the structure etc. They could just do the job but they’ll ask their questions and make changes. I believe if you show enthusiasm, everybody will get involved to be creative and develop better products.
Honesty, transparency and integrity are important to us. Have you found the company to be upfront and honest in how it communicates and operates?
When I’m speaking about baking powder with customers, I ask about other ingredients. We had a customer that needed help not just with the baking powder, but with other parts of the production process. My management, Matt and Dinnie, told me to be honest and share the information on the ingredients as well. We are here to sell our baking powder, but we’re also here to help the customer. And I thought that was brilliant because you don’t hear that too often. Everybody’s always out to make the buck rather than to actually help the customer. So, to hear that from the top just says to me that it’s an honest business.
Can I ask what you are looking forward to in your future at Kudos Blends?
I’m obviously looking forward to learning more about baking powders and what they can do. There’s a lot more to baking powders than I originally thought! I knew the flour side, ingredient side and process side but baking powders was one that I had previously not really had a lot of detail on. So, I’m really looking forward to seeing what they can and can’t do. There’s a lot of excitement with the patent projects, like ZEUS™ C120 and G90. They are really good products, something a bit different. I’m looking forward to taking them out there and showing customers the savings they can make and the value these products can add.
I also want to help the bakery staff, let them pick my brains, because the industry is losing people and we’re not replacing them. The younger ones that are coming in have not got as many people to learn off of these days, so I’m really looking forward to teaching them as well as getting out and doing the job I’m doing.
And if you could suggest one thing to make a new starter’s experience even better, what would it be?
I think as long as they get the same training program as I got, they see everything. They see the whole structure of the company and I think if you see the whole picture from the start, it gives you a good understanding of the business, and it should help you move forward. In some businesses, you just work in one department, like the bakery, but you never know what production are doing, for example. But spreading that knowledge from all the different departments, I think that’s a great start for someone in this company.
And I think the friendliness of the people here is great, getting settled has not been a problem at all.
Thank you so much to Paul for these insights, we can’t wait to see the impact he will make at Kudos Blends, to learn from him, and to see what solutions he can provide for our customers!
