Monthly Meeting – 6pm
Monday 3rd June 2019 Address Details: Fox Williams LLP, 10 Finsbury Square, London EC2A 1AF
Simon Lawson
‘Building a £100m Business on Quaker Principles’
“Can the employee and employer serve each other for the greater good – while still being a profitable business?” asked Simon Lawson in his Master’s dissertation. And at Lawsons, a family business that supplies building materials to the London area, Simon has achieved just that.
In 1993, Lawsons had two depots and 50 staff and by 2017 they had 17 depots and 450 staff. The company has a staff turnover of just 13% – compared to their competitors’ average of 30% and the retail average of 45%. In the Lawsons’ staff survey in which 72% of their staff took part, 90% said that they are proud to work for them and 85% said that they trust the company – much higher than the competitor average of 20% and 52% respectively.
If you want to know how to grow a business, this presentation is for you.
Simon Lawson, Chairman, Lawsons
Simon Lawson is Chairman of Lawsons, a timber and builders merchant in London, employing 450 people. Simon graduated from Bristol University in 1981, then completed an MBA, followed by a Masters in sustainability which focused in his second year on a dissertation entitled ‘Love at Work.’ The last decade has seen him put that into practice.
Simon left the corporate world in 1989 to pursue a career in the family business and develop a compassionate business model that could not only deliver profit but sustainable business practices – and have a positive social impact.
Coming from a long line of Quakers, Simon’s spirit and soul is with people who want to ‘have a sense of belonging’ to a company. Simon’s journey has been to explore values within in a business context and to see where employee and employer can serve each other for the greater good.
Lawsons is overall one of the fastest growing company within the sector and is based on the Lawsons family values:
• Job Security & Honesty
• Empowerment & Delegation
• Training
• A Sense of ‘Belonging‘
• Good Working Conditions
• Fit For Purpose Equipment
• A Fair Package
• Job Rotation & Promotion Prospects
• Sponsored Events: Family Day, Children’s Christmas Party
• Improved Communication
• Give Something Back to the Community
Who should attend?
For anyone who wants to run a business that is not based on the “Shareholder Value” mantra or short-term goals only.