“It feels rewarding when you find a way to make it work”

Before Paul joined the company, he was working abroad in the same market. “At a certain point, I wanted to move back to the UK. Cefetra Ltd. were hiring, and it turned out to be perfect for me,” he says. “I’ve been here for just over 20 years now. I started as a general trader. As time moved on, I started focusing on soya. It’s good fun. You never know exactly what your day will look like, and that keeps you on your toes.”

“In Great Britain and Ireland, we have a lot of customers in the feed industry. Essentially, we are their supply chain manager for a variety of products.” Cefetra Ltd. sells about 750.000 tons of soya a year. “That’s one of the things I’m most proud of: building up the soya book to that size and sustaining it. Especially being up against some very big competitors.”

People often think trading is just buying and selling, but there is a lot more to it. “It’s about building good relationships,” Paul says. “That’s something we do well at Cefetra. We like to look after our customers and our partners well. We’re grateful for their trust because that’s not something you get overnight. If you walk into our offices today, you will see the words ‘Customer First’ on our walls. We work hard to make sure they feel that way.”

This ethos is helpful in times of change. “Sustainability, for example, is clearly a hot topic today and will be here to stay. We have been working hard to develop our sustainability strategy and offering since back in 2009. Our customers rely on us to guide them through theses changing times. The way the world buys commodities is changing a lot. But, as my boss once said, we’re good at change. A lot of our job is about adapting quickly.”

There is a lot of teamwork involved, says Paul. “We spend a lot of time discussing strategy and exchanging information. It’s a great team here. We socialize well: we play football, we play badminton, we go for a beer, and we do charity work together. A good life-work balance is important to everyone here. It helps you come back fresh in the morning, ready to go again.”

“In the two decades I’ve been here, Cefetra Ltd. has grown ten-fold. There aren’t many companies in our sector that have grown like that. I think a big part of our success is that people genuinely enjoy working here.” He laughs. “I’m one of those annoying people who enjoys their jobs!”

“Something interesting is going on every day. You can be watching the news at night, thinking ‘well, that’s going to affect my job in the morning’. Problems come at you on a regular basis from various angles. But you find ways to make it work and you come up with new ways of doing business. That feels very rewarding.”

“People who flourish here tend to be driven, eager and always looking for something a little bit different. They don’t accept the status quo. And they like to take responsibility. You are basically given your own little business within the bigger one. It’s not always easy, but then if it was, everyone would be doing it. Just go ahead and do it.”