We have been, and continue to be, focussed on reducing waste and 'noise' in our business. This means constantly looking for better and smarter ways of working. Over the past 12 months we have done such things as develop more efficient processes, establish better communication, and create effective cost structures.
We have a very positive outlook, with good sustainable growth projected for the next five years. We believe the overall economy is improving and with our very strong plans for our brands, our ongoing focus on strengthening the relationship with our customers, as well as our improved ways of working within the business, we are well placed for a successful year ahead and beyond.
We operate in a very competitive environment where our consumers and customers are more and more demanding. The categories in which we operate have a high level of competitive activity and our employees have high expectations of the company to provide a great place to work. For our ongoing success, we need to have a very strong innovation platform for our products and how we run our business overall.
Our company values are Courage, Accountability, Networking, Drive and Oneness (CANDO!) and we go to great lengths to make sure that new people joining the business are aligned to the company's values. This helps ensure a good fit both for the individual and the business. We are always on the lookout for commercially focussed people who have proven strong personal leadership skills and a real desire to make a difference.
In 2010 we will be embedding the new structures we developed in late 2009. Having found a good mix of new talent blended with longer-serving, experienced talent in our business, our efforts during the coming year will be centred on further development of our current team.