Loyal workforce key to firm’s success

16/10/2011

Long-service awards have been presented to three employees at Zicam, a leading specialist in state-of-the-art surveillance and detection systems.

Yvonne Houlston, office manager/personal assistant, Neil Hayes, senior engineer, and Eric Bearham, engineer, have all worked for the company for more than 10 years. In recognition of their loyalty, all three were presented with certificates and gifts by Zicam’s managing director Milan Mazic.

Zicam can boast many other long-serving employees, with the vast majority of its 18-strong workforce having worked for the company for at least eight years or more.

“We have a very loyal workforce and we are very proud of them,” said Larry Mazic, Zicam’s business development manager , “There is a very low turnover of staff here because everybody is treated equally and given the same amount of respect.

“Despite being a national company, Zicam still manages to maintain a friendly atmosphere and engender a good team spirit among its staff.”

For a wide variety of clients in both the private and public sectors, Zicam provides surveillance and security systems, covering virtually every kind of premises, from factories to executive homes. Zicam is at the forefront of CCTV design and works with many of the world’s leading camera manufacturers.

The company was founded 15 years ago, starting out from a small office in Kings Heath with “just two guys, one selling, one fitting”. The business expanded steadily and later relocated to Dudley. In the early days, Zicam relied on subcontractors to install its security and CCTV systems before it was able to employ its own full-time engineers.

“For the first few years, we couldn’t afford to have engineers sitting around waiting for the next job to come in,” added Larry. “The company wasn’t big enough to do that as work wasn’t flowing in all the time.

“As we gradually built up the business, we were able to take on our own engineers. Whereas subcontractors would often install a system as quickly as possible and then go home, our dedicated engineers take extra care to ensure every one of our installations is carried out to the best standard possible.

“Our customers certainly noticed the improvement in quality and service we were able to provide. Today the quality of our work is still ensuring we keep existing customers happy as well as helping us to win business from new ones.

“One of our customers in the UK is a global market leader in the logistics industry. This company’s representative from Ireland came over and was so impressed by the quality of not just our workmanship but also our systems and processes that he has now asked us to work for him over there.

“We also have a very good after-care service at Zicam. Nothing is too much trouble for our customers and we will always go that extra mile to deliver the service they require.”

Neil Hayes worked as an electrician before joining Zicam to fulfil his ambition of specialising in security systems. “As the company has developed, so have I,” he said. “I joined as an engineer before being promoted to senior engineer and I have had many opportunities to develop my skills.

“I put Zicam’s success down to the company ethos. Everybody here supports each other. We will always do our best to look after the customers and do a good job for them and at the right cost.”

Yvonne Houlston joined Zicam in 2001 as an admin clerk before working her way up to her current role of office manager/personal assistant.

“I’ve seen the company grow tremendously in my time,” she recalled. “In all the years I have been here I can only remember three people ever leaving the company. The turnover of staff is so low because working here is like being part of an extended family. Everybody is friendly and we all look after each other.

“I think the reason why the company has been so successful is because every aspect of our work is completed to the very highest standards. If you can’t meet those standards, there is no room for you at Zicam.”