Widow takes over at helm of business

The widow of a successful Staffordshire businessman has now taken over at the helm of her husband's firm with help from Business Link West Midlands.

Stuart Davies, from Norton Canes, established Croft Building and Conservation Ltd in 2002, but was tragically killed in a skiing accident last December and his wife Marian was left to decide whether to sell up or take on the top job herself.

The company, based at Hemlock Park, Hyssop Close, Hawks Green, specialises in conservation and restoration of historic buildings and employs stonemasons, lead workers, bricklayers, carpenters, lime plasterers, roofers, and decorators.

After her husband's death Mrs Davies decided to take on the top job rather than abandon the company's 100 workers.

She said: "After the accident I had to decide fairly quickly what I was going to do. It was close to Christmas and I was very conscious of the well-being of Croft's 100 employees.

"The situation we were suddenly in was not their fault and I felt I just couldn't sell up so I decided I would take over.

"I did have some knowledge of the business, but it was all from behind the scenes. I realised that we needed to restructure because our MD was no longer here and so new systems and processes had to be introduced." The firm, which turns over £5 million a year, approached Business Link for funding to set up a website which goes live in the autumn.

As part of this process the company received a full business review which identified other issues that could be addressed with the support of a leadership and management business adviser.

Croft was one of the first in the region to sign up to the £2 million leadership and management scheme, which is funded by Advantage West Midlands and delivered by Business Link in the West Midlands. The project will work with more than 1,000 senior managers over the next three years to boost skills and expertise.

Specialist business adviser Ian Russell said: "Marian and I drew up a list of five areas to work on.

"These included setting out the MD's role and employer responsibilities, evaluating and upgrading the workers job descriptions and putting in place induction schemes for new starters.

"The transformation in Marian has been extraordinary.

She has come on leaps and bounds, has gained tremendous confidence and is now fulfilling the role of an MD."