Supplier Spotlight: How The Osprey Group is making a splash
With plans to recruit more staff to support its growing production in the northwest, the firm has never been busier. THIIS caught up with Paul King, Director at The Osprey Group, to find out more.
Founded 13 years ago, The Osprey Group is made up of three companies, Osprey Healthcare, The Osprey Sling Company and Timo UK. Each company offers a range of products designed to aid in different aspects of day-to-day life such as for showering and bathing, toileting and moving & handling.
Due to the popularity of its Snugfit slings, The Osprey Group recently opened a second sling factory in Lancashire to support its sling company in Oxfordshire. Paul King discusses how the company has evolved…
Can you tell us a little bit about The Osprey Group and how it has grown over the years?
Paul: “The Osprey Group was started when a group of friends and colleagues decided that we could offer customers something a bit different and better than the norm. We started with two companies, Osprey Healthcare based in Wigan, which was responsible for the manufacturing of our range of showering and bathing equipment and The Osprey Sling Company based in Oxfordshire, which was responsible for the manufacturing of the patient lifting slings.
“We chose Wigan because it has convenient transport links to the rest of the country and because it was our hometown. We chose Oxfordshire for the sling side of the business because of the established labour market expertise in the specific area of patient handling.
“As the company grew, we started to look for other products to complement our existing range and we came across the Timo range of shower trolleys. We headed to Slovenia to meet the owners of their own family run business and we established a great rapport from the off.
“We set up a standalone company called Timo UK and established a long-term exclusivity deal with our Slovenian friends, a relationship that has been getting stronger for over 11 years.”
How has your role evolved with The Osprey Group?
“My own role with Osprey was initially as a product demonstrator and assessor, using my 20 years of prior experience within the industry. It is a role I still enjoy today. I have always loved the face-to-face role with OTs and clients in the community, and you will still find me putting in the miles daily.
“My official role is Company Director with a responsibility for sales and marketing activities and I am always on the look out for new products to add to our extensive range.”
Have there been any stand-out projects you have been most proud of at The Osprey Group?
“It is probably building the brand from a totally unknown quantity to a well-known and well-respected company within a relatively short period of time. We’ve certainly attracted attention from some of the bigger fish in our industry and our products are well known for being high quality and cost effective.”
The Snugfit sling designs have proven to be popular for The Osprey Sling company. How did these products come about?
“When we started The Osprey Sling Company, we wanted to design a small range of patient lifting slings. With our combined knowledge it didn’t take us long to develop a modern and comprehensive range which we called the Snugfit Slings range.
“The new range was quickly adopted throughout the industry by dealers and OTs alike. It is now a well-known industry-leading brand which is recognised nationally and internationally. We continue to innovate and have added many new styles and sizes to our ‘off the shelf’ stocks.
“Demand continues to increase, and we have recently undertaken a major investment in a new manufacturing unit in Lancashire to complement our existing highly skilled team in Bicester, Oxfordshire. The investment has resulted in a 20 per cent increase in our available labour, which is helping to bring down lead times, with the aim to get back to pre-pandemic lead times by the end of the year. Our decision to start a whole new unit in another part of the country was simply a question of availability.
“Bicester is a thriving town, with huge housing developments, the Bicester Village shopping outlet, and its own strong transport network. Warehousing and factory space is at an absolute premium and when you consider the competition for employment on our doorstep, there was a real shortage of expert labour too.
“Wigan has a strong tradition of garment manufacturing and whilst many of those industries have naturally evolved and moved abroad, the skill set still exists there in the northwest of England. We have been pleasantly surprised at how quickly the team has made an impact.”
What are your plans with regards exporting these products abroad?
“The increased capacity has enabled us to increase our export capabilities which has meant we now supply throughout the EU and as far afield as Australasia. This year we will once again be exhibiting at Rehacare in Dusseldorf, on the British pavilion, as we continue to promote our products at home and abroad.
“As a group we are always looking to design or source innovative products and we have launched a number of these over the past year. We brought a new Hi-Lo Wash Basin to market at the beginning of the year and this have proven popular with the wetroom installers who adapt properties for differently abled users.
“We have also updated and relaunched our Aspire range of affordable slings which are proving very popular with loan stores and dealers who sell predominantly to nursing homes where price is the key distinguishing point.”
Can you provide an insight as to any new products that have been launched this year by the osprey group?
“Our new Toilet Raiser won the prestigious Innovative Product Award at the National Association of Equipment Providers Annual Conference and has been flying off the shelves from the minute it launched. This range of toilet raisers are compatible with the leading wash/dry toilets in the UK and Ireland and is helping many hundreds of people to stand from the toilet without the need for outside assistance.
“We were particularly proud of the award considering the bigger and more established competition that we were up against. Just goes to show you don’t have to be the biggest fish in the pond to make a splash!”
How is The Osprey Group planning to expand its workforce?
“The Osprey Group has grown every year since we started, and we are always looking for new members to join the team. The production and sales teams are always expanding to meet demand and we’re particularly proud of the low turnover of staff throughout the group.”
Can you tell us a bit more about how your products are distributed in the UK?
“We currently distribute our product range through direct sales, via social services departments, local, national, and international purchasing groups, the NHS and through our dedicated, established, and ever-growing dealer network throughout the globe. We transport our goods by air, sea, and road, using a variety of our own transport and specialist carrier companies.”
What are your favourite mobility trade events. Are there any that you are particularly looking forward to in 2023?
“We do have some favourite trade events that we like to exhibit at every year when the schedule allows. The OT show being primary amongst them as it targets the key decision makers within our particular section of the market. We can also be found at the OTAC shows up and down the country, Naidex, Kidz to Adults, RISE 4 Disability and of course NAEP.”
Are you looking to expand your dealer network, and if so, what kind of dealers are you looking for?
“The Osprey Group are always on the lookout to build new partnerships and extend our network of dealers, in particular we are looking to expand our offering in the EU, hence our decision to once again exhibit at Rehacare in Dusselfdorf in September.”
How has The Osprey Group managed to navigate challenges in the past year, such as covid and global shipping delays?
“The pandemic hit the group really hard. There was a three-month period right at the start of lockdown where it felt like the local councils had shut up shop to try and ride out the storm. Once that initial period of uncertainty was over things picked up a pace.
“We found safe ways to do assessments through a variety of technology and PPE and we ensured that our customers and service users didn’t suffer as a result. In fact, I would say that our availability meant that we picked up some customers that would normally have used other options, that simply were no longer available. By being available we were able to service customers who usually would have gone elsewhere.
“This brought its own challenges as our order book increased massively during a period where we were struggling with labour availability due to the pandemic. So, whilst there were many challenges throughout the pandemic, I think overall we have come out the other side bigger and stronger than we were before.”
What’s next for The Osprey Group over the next 12 months?
“Over the next 12 months we will continue to expand our production capabilities which will lead to better service for our customers. We are also expanding our sales and administration teams both on the road and within the office.
“We have a full programme of trade shows planned for the next year and we look forward to seeing some old and new faces from within the industry. We are always looking to introduce new products but we’re not quite ready to announce anything just yet. Watch this space!”
