One of Gloucestershire’s longest running family businesses, GR Lane Health Products (Lanes Health), has been navigating success through the generations, with executive chairman and fourth-generation leader Jonathan Groves highlighting key secrets spanning more than 90 years of prosperity — including investing in your business, team and future.
Trading as Lanes Health, the purveyor of well-known brands across the UK and internationally counts Pro Plus, Olbas Oil and Kalms as some of its top selling products; the business also owns Jakemans, the Lincolnshire-based manufacturer of Jakemans Mentholated Lozenges.
Committed to expanding its reach and impact while staying true to the principles that have guided the family for more than nine decades, the business has had a consistently clear vision: to become the UK's leading family-owned supplier of branded household health products. This foresight is driven by a deep-seated belief in the power of health and wellbeing to transform lives.
Reflecting on Lanes' success, while lending advice to others, Jonathan Groves said: 'It's essential to invest your company — and within a family business, there's a unique ability to build upon the foundations that previous generations have laid.
'While it’s important to stay true to your roots — ensuring that your morals and company values still remain the same — embracing change and investing in new technologies to keep up with supply and demand are key.
'Don’t be scared by change, that’s probably what made your business successful in the first place, because you were doing something different.
'Retained knowledge and experience passed down provide
unrivalled insight which can help mould future decisions, but driving
innovation and investment back into the business is key to propel companies
forward.'
Jonathan also revealed the key to a successful business is looking after the team at the helm: 'It's those doing the work on the
ground and delivering the product or service to the customers.
'Never underestimate the power of cultivating a strong employer brand, this is how you attract and retain top tier talent who will be crucial to your business.
'By fostering a culture of integrity, respect, and teamwork, you will be able to build a team that is not only highly skilled but deeply invested in the success of your business.
'Family businesses are already at a strong advantage to
attract talented employees as new research reveals two thirds of
people who work for a family business would recommend doing so.'
Research commissioned by Lanes Health and carried out by 3Gem — 2,000 UK respondents — September 2023
This can be seen within Lanes' own 250-strong workforce, with the
average length of employee service being 9.4 years for the Lanes site and 6.6
for the Jakemans site, with the teams longest serving employees being with the business for 34
years.
Looking at the future of your business, it's imperative to ensure that you're not afraid to be innovative and change things up; adapting your service or product doesn’t mean changing your
company’s ethos — stay true to your values but embrace
change.
Commit to your staff and retain talent that can elevate your business to the next phase; and lastly, make sure you have a clear and defined vision that drives the direction of your business. This is crucial to future success.
Claire Campbell, senior product manager at Lanes Health said: 'The advantage of working for a family business is that we’re able to adapt to the changing landscape of the sector quickly and efficiently. We listen to the market and can produce products to meet evolving demands. We have a team dedicated to finding new innovations that will continue to meet consumer needs and help grow our business.
'It’s this agility that
enables us to bring new, exciting innovations to markets under the brand names
that UK households have known and loved for decades.'
For more information, visit laneshealth.com.
