| What or whose was the spirit that captivated Andrew | | | | workers are not forced to use unpleasant and basic |
| Mason one dark and dreary night when he broke | | | | 'thunderbox' toilets on site but instead have decent |
| through the barrier surrounding three semi-derelict mills? | | | | facilities. |
| It may sound like some sort of Edgar Allen Poe | | | | "If you treat people with respect, they will respond to |
| mystery but the notion that perhaps Henry Mason, | | | | that. It shows very clearly in the bottom line because |
| who built Victoria Mills near Shipley in West Yorkshire | | | | we have very, very low sick days and no one at all |
| back in the mid-19th century, somehow had an | | | | has left the company in the last four years since we |
| influence upon the restoration project is appealing. | | | | began this project." |
| That Andrew Mason, Managing Director of | | | | It would be a mistake however to suggest that |
| Newmason Properties, should have taken on his wife's | | | | respect and an egalitarian structure is some sort of |
| name when he married in 1993 cannot but add to that | | | | cop-out. Andrew Mason does not shy away from |
| sense of positive fatalism. Henry Mason, Andrew | | | | difficult decisions nor is he frightened of conflict. What |
| Mason, Newmason and perhaps a stone mason or | | | | is clear is that he does not need personal arrogance or |
| two seem to have conspired in a unique project worth | | | | pomposity to prove himself. He is a clear example of |
| an investment of £80 million. | | | | the adage that it is the most humble of men who are |
| Henry Mason constructed his textile mills during the | | | | the greatest real contributors. |
| Victorian era when that sector was thriving. The model | | | | In Andrew Mason's estimation that enviable record has |
| employer, Sir Titus Salt, had already established his | | | | come about not specifically as a result of his own |
| unique village of Saltire nearby with its innovative | | | | personal skills but because of the entire peer group |
| approach to providing a secure, caring and positive | | | | that exists around his workforce. People talk and chat |
| environment for mill workers. Titus Salt built houses and | | | | to him; they meet him around the site every day and |
| streets named after his eleven children. He provided a | | | | share the football scores as well as new ideas about |
| library, baths, reading rooms, schools, a church and a | | | | the development. It pleased Andrew immensely when |
| mechanics institute for his workers on the basis that a | | | | the Investors in People assessment team revealed |
| good working environment was not only good for the | | | | that management, staff, sub-contractors and suppliers |
| individuals but good business practise. | | | | all shared the same positive view of the company. |
| His influence on the textile industry was massive and | | | | Andrew Mason is living his dream on two levels: he is |
| lives on in the approach of Newmason to the project | | | | restoring and renovating the mills that surrounded his |
| Andrew Mason began just four years ago. "I'm | | | | childhood and he is implementing an ideological |
| flattered by the comparison. I am purring like a | | | | structure which while fashionable in the 1850s he has |
| Cheshire cat here because this construction business | | | | succeeded in reshaping to meet today's business |
| is wonderful. It is incredibly rewarding to set out with a | | | | environment. |
| plan and an idea and actually make it happen. Titus | | | | "It is all about positive reinforcement. When we were |
| Salt clearly had a mission in Saltire and our mission | | | | working on Byron Halls in Bradford, we were very |
| now is in many ways similar. | | | | sensitive to the diversity issues so we went and |
| "My Auntie Mary worked in Victoria Mills and my | | | | knocked on people's doors. We explained what we |
| father remembers it all well. He worked as a joiner and | | | | were doing and why and we visited the mosque and |
| recalls swimming in the canal here; walking 14 miles to | | | | worked out agreements that we wouldn't take any |
| make three and sixpence for example. Yes, fashions | | | | deliveries on a Friday so that there wouldn't be parking |
| change and his recollection of being tasked to turn all | | | | problems for Friday prayers. A little bit of consideration |
| the six panel doors of Saltire to flush doors that have | | | | goes a long way. |
| now been restored to that original state is a good | | | | "We all saw enough antagonism and confrontation in |
| example of how fashions change and come full circle." | | | | the days of the mid-sixties when people were being |
| But property lives on and these wonderful, solid mills | | | | promoted to incompetence and the breakdown of |
| with their huge windows and high vaulted ceilings are | | | | labour relations ran right up to the winter of discontent |
| being restored and preserved for future generations. | | | | because of the 'them and us' approach. I can't honestly |
| They will not be spinning alpaca or cotton but instead | | | | remember ever telling anybody on site to do anything. I |
| will be the dwelling places of new generations in the | | | | have asked them. I have never taken the 'I'm the |
| mellow surroundings of living history. | | | | Managing Director. You'll do as I say' kind of approach |
| "People's needs and demands change over time. We | | | | because it makes people bridle. It is much better to try |
| have moved from providing baths and reading rooms | | | | to bring them in and to show that you care and |
| to offering a tennis court, a sauna and gym, a panini | | | | respect them. |
| bar and I think a wonderful environment, but we are | | | | "There's a man here just now whose wife is, I know, |
| doing it with an awareness of what we have here." | | | | about to be made redundant and that is going to be |
| The site, which was a working mill up until the 1990s, is | | | | hard for them. We have to cut a little slack there. |
| five and a half acres within the buffer zone of a world | | | | Another guy is studying for an MBA. He gets study |
| heritage site. The buildings themselves are listed and | | | | leave but it doesn't affect his holiday leave. If he only |
| there has been no ripping out of old interiors. Instead, | | | | got study leave, his wife would never see him and he's |
| the demands of modern day planning for fire security | | | | entitled to spend time with her as well." |
| and health and safety have been integrated without | | | | In the Newmason lexicon, the values of a bygone age |
| compromising tradition. The interior stone stairs remain; | | | | are being preserved not only in the fabric of the |
| the steel support pillars are still holding the building up | | | | buildings but in the immense goodwill and loyalty |
| and the new roofs come with a 150 year long | | | | apparent in the workforce. It is telling that Andrew |
| guarantee that puts the whole project in perspective. | | | | Mason adds: "it's not all about altruism either. Goodwill is |
| "I have two children, aged nine and 11, and I want them | | | | repaid tenfold on site. |
| to be able to stand on this site and be able to say | | | | "At 18 I worked on North Sea rigs and learned from |
| 'Daddy did this.' We are passionate about what we're | | | | tough, hard Glaswegians, then concrete factories and |
| doing. We are committed absolutely to delivering the | | | | later in places like Costa Rica, Chile, Nicaragua and |
| very best quality in every way here and that means | | | | South Africa on social housing schemes where I saw |
| using the right materials like oak and stone and the | | | | the terrible plight of so much of humanity. I am so very |
| craftspeople who take pride in their work." | | | | grateful for what I've got and achieved here. |
| Indeed, Andrew Mason's relationships with his staff | | | | "We are creating something at Victoria Mills; a |
| reflect a set of values Titus Salt would have felt | | | | community that people want to live in and are enjoying. |
| entirely comfortable with. "Environment is everything. If | | | | Like the Red Indians who have no word for 'ownership' |
| people are happy at work, as I am, then they will take | | | | I see myself as a steward. My name may be on the |
| pride in using their skills and raise the game to the best | | | | title deeds but we don't really own these properties. |
| of their ability. It is about creating the right environment | | | | We are protecting the industrial heritage for our |
| for people to flourish in. We want people to feel happy | | | | children and our children's children. Whatever we do |
| about coming to work." | | | | today will affect several more generations and we will |
| That's all very well, say the cynics, you talk the talk but | | | | be leaving it in a rather better state than it was in |
| what about delivery? When it comes to the bottom | | | | when we found it." |
| line, when it comes to profit, all this ideology just flies | | | | Property, bricks and mortar, has a satisfying solidity |
| out of the window, doesn't it? Not for Andrew Mason | | | | about it that is missing from other investment portfolios. |
| who fills the office fridge every Monday with a wide | | | | Money invested in something so fundamentally |
| variety of snack foods and drinks that his staff help | | | | enduring and essential must be as safe as houses - or |
| themselves to; who makes sure that construction | | | | mills - in Andrew Mason's hands. |