2M Holdings Ltd
Who are 2M Holdings Ltd?
Entrepreneurially founded and led, the 2M Group is a portfolio of strong branded Life Sciences companies headquartered in the UK, with international subsidiaries. 2M provide the building blocks of everyday life for a massive range of industries and applications. The group is privately owned and was founded in 2004 by Mottie Kessler MBE, the Chairman and CEO.
2M is the parent company of a group of companies specialising in the distribution of specialty chemicals, industrial gases and value-added services. With an international presence in Germany, China, Benelux, Ireland, Poland, Scandinavia, Brazil and the UK, 2M exports to over 90 countries covering 6 continents. 2M have almost 300 employees around the world.
2M serves customers in personal care, household & industrial care, pharmaceutical, automotive, precision cleaning, paints & coatings, oil field, water purification and treatment, metal treatment and precision cleaning industries.
2M companies represent leading global chemical manufacturing companies in their fields and as such can provide a wide portfolio of solutions to customer requirements, this is further supported by a wealth of in-house industry and technical experience and knowledge.
2M’s largest businesses Surfachem and Banner Chemicals have invested in innovation through partnerships with local universities across the North of England. This is now being developed further at our international locations. 2M has technical and formulation centres in the UK, Germany and Brazil supporting its various businesses.
2M also has an extensive STEM skills outreach programme, 2M-STEM, which has helped hundreds of young people access a career in STEM.
What projects / schemes / initiatives to support women’s recruitment, retention and progression in STEM are 2M Holdings Ltd involved in?
The 2M Academy set up by 2M in 2017 is one of the initiatives to develop talent across the group. We have just started our second cohort of Future Leaders and this has over 50% female representation.
2M has a Mentoring programme whereby junior staff and management are supported by senior management and directors to achieve their potential and again over 50% of the participants on this programme are female.
“We are looking to WISE to provide us with exemplars of best practice in development and retention of female talent.”
At 2M we give flexible working opportunities to men and women alike, give employees time off to care for sick children, and overall, line managers are compassionate and considerate. We provide an enhanced maternity and paternity package and women re-entering the work force after maternity leave and supported and given flexible working opportunities where possible.
We have an active group of STEM Ambassadors who visits schools and colleges encouraging young people about the benefits of STEM to our lives and the careers that it opens up.
“With support from WISE, we aim to become an even better place for our colleagues to develop and realise their true potential.”
Why did 2M Holdings Ltd join WISE?
“We recognised that our female directors, management and staff sometimes need different support in achieving their goals and realising their potential. We also recognise a shortage of women in the industry. While we already provide opportunities and support, we see WISE as one of the ways in which we can help women be an even bigger asset to 2M.”
– Dr Richard Smith, Director & Liran Maller, Group Director of HR, 2M Group
