Goodflex Growth Strategic Update 2025 – Driving Efficiency and Innovation in UK Manufacturing

Goodflex Growth Strategic Update 2025

Market Conditions and Economic Pressures

At Goodflex Rubber, we continue to strengthen the foundation of our business while adapting to a rapidly changing manufacturing landscape.

The October 2025 Strategic Update highlights presented by Rick Whittle (Business Development) – explains how we’re improving performance, increasing efficiency, and diversifying across new markets to secure sustainable growth for the future.

The UK manufacturing and automotive sectors remain under pressure. Recent events — including JLR’s export pause, a major cyber-attack, and closure announcements from Vauxhall and Lotus — have shown how fragile the automotive supply chain can be. These challenges underline the importance of diversification. Goodflex has already been targeting growth in Rail, Defence, Off-highway, and Marine industries to reduce dependency on automotive and create new long-term opportunities.

Rising costs continue to shape the wider economy. Employer National Insurance contributions have increased from 13.8% to 15%, and minimum wage rates continue to rise by more than 6%. Although Goodflex pays above these levels, these increases still influence overall wage expectations and cost structures across the industry. Managing inflation, energy costs, and competitive pricing remains a key focus, ensuring we stay agile and responsive to market realities.

Strategic Focus

Our strategic direction is clear — strengthen the core of the business. We’re improving on-time delivery, raising quality standards, and streamlining every process to deliver more value for customers. The leadership team has reorganised departments to align with these goals, while continuing to invest in technology, people, and systems.

Our Commercial Manager, Natalie Benwell details how the EFACS system, implemented over a year ago, has transformed how we operate. Automated WIP reporting, real-time stock visibility, and live alerts have reduced manual data entry and improved decision-making. The upcoming FastPlan module and new barcode part-marking system will further increase efficiency, accuracy, and production flow — keeping Goodflex aligned with digital best practice across the industry.

Key improvements driven by EFACS include:
• Automated reporting, lead times, and stock management
• Instant alerts for sales order changes, credit holds, and overdue actions
• Reduced manual data entry and improved inter-department visibility
• Planned rollout of FastPlan and barcode part-marking integration

Sales & Growth

Financially, Hannah Dufty (Group Finance Controller) demonstrates how Goodflex continues to evolve. With a stronger financial framework in place, we are increasing focus on forecasting accuracy, cost analysis, and tighter stock control. These improvements support better budgeting, pricing, and long-term planning.

Sales and business development remain focused on diversification and performance in the UK Rubber Manufacturing industry:

• Strong ongoing partnerships with existing customers
• Evolving partnerships with new customers and suppliers
• Active participation in more exhibitions or events

On the production floor, we’ve built a stronger and more connected team. Stuart Smith (Technical Director) continues to lead production management, supported by Grzegorz (Production Supervisor) in quality and engineering, and Laura (Despatch Coordinator) in production administration. Together, they’re driving progress on delivery performance, communication, and safety — ensuring customers receive consistent quality and reliability every time.

We’re also investing in new machinery and workforce development:

• Hose part-marking equipment linked to EFACS and barcode systems
• Calendar roll production upgrade for improved efficiency
• Rewinding system for higher material yield and product quality
• Continued training in first aid, capacity planning, and equipment operation

Goodflex Managing Director, Mark Dufty closed the session stating:

“Goodflex remains committed to teamwork, efficiency, and continuous improvement. By focusing on operational excellence, embracing technology, and empowering our people, we’re ensuring that Goodflex Rubber continues to grow as a resilient, forward-thinking manufacturer — working smarter, faster, and better together.”

Want to work with us?

We are proud of what we have achieved over the last year — but we are even more excited about what lies ahead.

Learn more about how we can work together, the people and values behind our business: Goodflex Rubber Team.