True North x Change Makers: Northern Star — Rachael Baker

A third of construction materials in the UK end up in landfill or left rotting in the rain, we can't find enough skilled people to build the homes that we desperately need and somewhere between primary and secondary school we're losing girls who love building things.

Rachael Baker, Managing Director of century-old woodworking machinery firm JJ Smith, is paying attention to all of this — and she's doing something about it.

True North recently partnered with the Change Makers podcast for a special series featuring a number of the network’s Northern Stars. These inspiring business leaders are driving impact in their communities, nurturing skills for the future and driving bold ideas that make the difference. 

Rachael is the first guest, talking about what it's like to run a fourth-generation family business, why construction is stuck in the dark ages and what happened when three people with 48 years' experience each all retired in the same year.

Leadership & taking the long view

I’m fourth generation in our family business and with that naturally comes a huge sense of responsibility. Some of the people here started before I was even born — I’ve known them my entire life — and that changes how you lead.

In a family business, you’re very aware that you’re a small piece in a much bigger puzzle. You know there’ll be good times and bad times, so you tend to take the long view. It probably makes us more cautious because we’re always conscious that behind every decision are people’s mortgages, pensions and families. That’s real responsibility.

One of the biggest challenges is knowledge. This year alone, I’ve managed three retirements of people who each worked for 48 years in the business. That’s an enormous amount of experience walking out the door if you don’t plan for it. Family businesses tend to retain people for a long time but that only works if you’re intentional about passing on what they know to the next generation.

Building for a better future 

While we desperately need more homes in this country, we also need to build them better. The technology already exists to build zero-carbon homes where you never pay an energy bill and we should be using it.

Traditional construction sites allow a phenomenal amount of waste. A third of materials can end up unused — left out in the rain or sent to landfill. No factory in the country would accept that level of waste, yet we’ve normalised it in construction.

If you build houses inside factories, you transform construction into a manufacturing process. Suddenly, waste drops dramatically. You can use timber from sustainable forests that’s already capturing carbon and put it into buildings designed to last.

If we’re serious about solving the housing crisis, we need to think differently about how we build — not just how many homes we build.

Skills, apprenticeships & “you can’t be what you can’t see”

As a country, we didn’t do a very good job of training engineers for a long time. There’s now a huge cliff edge, with many people approaching retirement and not enough trained to replace them.

Businesses can’t leave the skills challenge to schools and colleges alone — we have to play a part. For us, that means working with young people early on and showing them what’s possible. You can’t be what you can’t see.

Show me a seven-year-old girl who doesn’t like Lego. By the time those girls reach their teens, a lot of them will have already decided that engineering isn’t for them. Something happened along the way — the edges got taken off.

At JJ Smith, just over half of our workforce are current or former apprentices, including people who’ve progressed all the way to director level. We didn’t do this overnight. About ten years ago, we realised that we had to re-engage seriously with training and we’ve stuck with it.

Most of our people come from the local community and that connection matters. We work with schools, colleges and young people to build skills and support the ecosystem around us. It’s about giving people opportunities early and investing in the places that we’re part of.

A Northern perspective

I think there’s something very special about Northern businesses. There’s a warmth to how people treat each other and a genuine care that extends beyond our own teams. There’s also an integrity and honesty that feels very rooted in this part of the country. 

For us, it’s about building long-term relationships with customers, doing the right thing and supporting people on their business journey — however long that takes.

Reflections for purpose-led leaders

1. Think long-term — progress in people, skills and sustainability comes from taking a decades-long view.
2. Lead with responsibility — leadership means carrying the weight of other people’s livelihoods and making decisions with that in mind.
3. Invest in people & communities — skills, loyalty and resilience don’t happen by accident. Nurture talent early and stay connected to the communities that sustain your business.

My northern star is people. If I do the very best by the people I work with, they’ll go on to do the very best for the businesses, communities and economies that we all serve.

Shape what’s next for the North

Rachael is just one of the members of True North who want to build something better — together. 

If you’re committed to supporting the future of the North, join our growing collaborative network of purpose‑driven leaders.