For anyone to return to a previous employer, there has to be a strong feeling of trust, opportunity and positivity. It is easy to burn bridges and look for a new pot gold, but to stay connected and see how each party can benefit from a new chapter takes open-mindedness and honesty on both sides.
For Kirsty Mumford, commercial director at European glass and plastic packaging producer Pont, coming back to work for this family-owned, pan-European business was an easy decision to make, even though it meant returning to a company she’d left three years ago. Kirsty has over 25 years of experience in the European packaging industry, having gained a degree in Engineering that led to a solid career spanning nearly three decades, including nine years with British Steel and the steel packaging industry, working with an injection mould producer for plastic packaging, and six years with Pont.
Credit: Pont Packaging
A married Manchester United fan with three daughters, 47-year-old Kirsty has recently returned to Pont as commercial director following a three-year hiatus to the cardboard packaging sector, where she further built on her knowledge of European packaging and the issues that the industry faces. She says, “I’ve worked across packaging materials, European markets and various types of company. I’ve worked hard and I’ve been lucky. I am good at my job, and I expect others to be good at their job too, that way, we all get to reach our targets and feel good about ourselves.”
An engaging, open and enthusiastic communicator, it is easy to see why Kirsty was welcomed back by Pont. Founded in 1906 in Amsterdam by Constant Pont, Pont has been producing glass packaging ever since, adding rPET and bio-based materials to its portfolio in recent years. Still family owned and proudly retaining its local approach, Pont sets itself apart with sustainable actions across the business, both in environmental and practical ways. Promising to only produce packaging with non-carbon black pigments to support the circular economy is one example, as is its ‘close to the customer’ service and local network.
Looking after its employees is another way that Pont shines, as Kirsty explains. “I know it’s the kind of thing that people say, but it really is a family culture here. Pont is an honest, straight-forward business. We’re fair to our suppliers, our customers and our employees. Our CEO Michael Watson is very much continuing the work of our founding family and our previous CEO. Everyone is treated with respect, everyone is listened to and valued. It’s wonderful. We’re all at work for many hours, many years of our lives. I want to spend that time in a place that appreciates me and the skills I bring to the business, and that’s why I’ve come back to Pont.”
Kirsty is committed to continuing that culture in her role as commercial director, having been offered to renew her position as commercial director. She is pleased to take on the interesting challenge of taking Pont forward in the UK, as during her previous tenure it was just starting in this particular market as an established European player. Kirsty says, “During my first time with Pont, it was all about expansion, change and building the company in the UK. Now, we’re a profitable, stable business here and there is more structure, but it’s still exciting and entrepreneurial. There is a huge opportunity to build our future, while keeping those same magic ingredients that make Pont, Pont. It’s a different job that needs to be done in a different way, but with the same heart and soul.”
Evolving industry, evolving career.
That ‘different job’ is what Kirsty is already getting stuck in to. Her clear understanding of how the European packaging industry has evolved over the past three decades reaches forward to the coming years, identifying new trends and challenges that will impact on producers, brands and suppliers. She notes, “I’m accountable for the health of the business and the welfare of our individuals. I’m responsible for the wider team. All my decisions need to be good practice and tick both boxes – the business and our people. I’m here to support a profitable turnover. All this has to balance carefully; it all sets the tone. A big part of making that happen is being aware of everything that’s going on around me, being the eyes and ears of the business in conferences and events as well as just listening to people. I like poking around, seeing the trends, talking to all sorts of people.”
Kirsty explains how understanding drivers for trends comes from listening and learning, being open-minded to where information and insight can come from. She concludes, “We can all see that the big commercial influences are energy, sustainability, raw materials, transport...these are so important. But it goes beyond that too; service drivers like having a single point of contact, being able to rely on your contact having the expertise you need time and time again, having a local supplier that gets whatever quantity to you exactly when you need it. And we have to consider the language we use too, being authentic, helping our customers to trust us when they’re making purchasing decisions. That’s what Constant Pont believed when he founded Pont in 1906 and I still believe it’s just as true today.”