Stakeholders in Business (OCR GCSE Business): Exam Questions

Shirtz Ltd

Shirtz Ltd is a private limited company owned by Shamira and her husband, Zubair. The business manufactures colourful T-shirts with logos and pictures on the front.

Shirtz Ltd has been operating from a room in their house. Shamira and Zubair make the T-shirts and sell them through online stores such as Amazon and eBay.

Shamira and Zubair would like to expand the business. They have created a business plan to help them.

Shirtz Ltd’s business plan

Aims and objectives
To grow by purchasing new machinery and renting a new location for production

Finance
New finance will be required to fund the business’ aims and objectives

Business needs

• New machinery

• Larger premises/location for production

Market research

Changes to the marketing mix

Product – expand the range of T-shirts produced and sold
Price – set price to gain highest revenue
Place – develop links with a high street shop to sell Shirtz Ltd’s products
Promotion – use point of sale promotion

Human resources
Employ two full-time production workers

Nina’s Knitting Supplies

Nina runs a successful business selling knitting wool and sewing products. She opened her first shop 15 years ago. The business has grown organically and now sells products from 10 shops and a website. Nina uses market segmentation to target customers. Nina employs 80 people. She works hard to meet the shared objectives of her employees, as well as external stakeholder groups such as customers, suppliers, lenders and the local community.

Nina produces a weekly update that is sent by email to all employees every Friday. The updates contain information about the future development of the business, plus other stories of interest to employees. Recent stories include congratulating an employee on the birth of a child and the charity fundraising activities of one shop.

Nina plans to develop the business further over the next five years, especially as knitting is becoming an increasingly popular pastime. This has led to more competitors entering the market.

Shinz Ltd

Five years ago, brothers Tom and Amir set up a car washing business called Shinz Ltd in the town of Littlelong. The business has been very successful and currently offers ‘economy’, ‘gloss’ and ‘high-gloss’ washing services. Tom is responsible for the administration, finance and marketing functions. Amir is responsible for the car washing operations and supervises two fulltime employees. The prices Shinz Ltd charges are not low when compared to its competitors. Customer service is a priority for the business.

Tom and Amir are keen to expand the business and are planning to launch a new ‘resin polish’ service, to protect car paintwork during the cold winter months. Many of Shinz Ltd’s customers have requested this service. ‘Resin polish’ is not currently available in Littlelong but is offered by a business in another town five miles away. Tom is considering whether to use competitor pricing or price skimming for this new service.

Littlelong Motors Ltd is a used car retailer. The business has three owners. They have suggested a merger with Shinz Ltd. Littlelong Motors Ltd offers a basic car washing service in addition to its car sales. It prides itself on offering the lowest prices in the town. 26% of Littlelong Motors Ltd’s customers are ‘extremely satisfied’ with the car washing service provided. This compares to 68% of Shinz Ltd’s customers saying they are ‘extremely satisfied’.

The car washing market in Littlelong is valued at £460 000 per year. The chart below shows the market share of the four car washing businesses located in the town.

Greggs

Greggs is a modern ‘food-on-the-go’ retail brand. It specialises in selling sandwiches, cakes, pastries and pies. Most of these are made by Greggs, using raw materials such as flour, meat and yeast. The company opened its first bakery 80 years ago and has since grown significantly. It currently has 20 000 employees. Greggs’ aim is to become the customer’s favourite for ‘food-onthe-go’ in the UK. This sector is growing quickly and is forecast to be worth £23.4 billion by 2024 (up from £18.5 billion in 2019).

According to The Vegan Society, the number of people in the UK choosing a vegan diet has increased during recent years (see Fig. 1).

Using the market data, Greggs responded to this change by launching vegan sausage rolls in January 2019. The publicity generated helped Greggs’ total sales to increase by 9.6% in its next seven weeks of trading. Following this success the business launched other products, including vegan doughnuts and vegan steak bakes, based on consumer demand.

Managers at Greggs constantly monitor changes in consumer tastes. Similarly, they keep up-to-date with changes in employment law. Greggs’ managers also take pride in the business being named one of the happiest places to work in the UK. Greggs offers many ways of working, including part-time roles.

EDF

EDF is a limited company which supplies gas and electricity to homes and businesses throughout the UK. It is the largest producer of low-carbon electricity in the UK and owns two fossil fuel power stations, three wind farms and eight nuclear power stations.

In 2016, EDF started to build the new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset, which will eventually provide 7% of the UK’s electricity needs for 60 years. Managers at EDF expect it to open in 2025.

During the construction stage, the project has created thousands of jobs. A number of these construction jobs are filled by self-employed workers. Once it is fully operational, the power station will employ over 900 people, most of whom will be employed by EDF.

EDF produces around 20% of the UK’s electricity and is the largest supplier. As EDF operates in a competitive market, the price that it charges its customers is very important.

EDF

EDF is a limited company which supplies gas and electricity to homes and businesses throughout the UK. It is the largest producer of low-carbon electricity in the UK and owns two fossil fuel power stations, three wind farms and eight nuclear power stations.

In 2016, EDF started to build the new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset, which will eventually provide 7% of the UK’s electricity needs for 60 years. Managers at EDF expect it to open in 2025.

During the construction stage, the project has created thousands of jobs. A number of these construction jobs are filled by self-employed workers. Once it is fully operational, the power station will employ over 900 people, most of whom will be employed by EDF.

EDF produces around 20% of the UK’s electricity and is the largest supplier. As EDF operates in a competitive market, the price that it charges its customers is very important.

Beautiful Buds plc

Beautiful Buds plc is a company which grows plants that are sold to garden centres throughout the UK. Beautiful Buds plc has a new Managing Director who has proposed a merger with Green Gardens plc, a chain of garden centres selling a wide range of plants and other garden products.

Green Gardens plc is currently one of the country’s largest plant and garden retailers, with a market share of approximately 12%. The vertical merger will result in one company owning a chain of garden centres as well as growing the plants which are sold in these retail outlets.

Beautiful Buds plc currently has 124 employees. Its Managing Director is looking to make the business more efficient and is planning to change its organisational structure by removing two layers of management (see below). This change is planned before the proposed merger. The Managing Director believes that the tasks carried out by Middle Managers and Team Leaders can be effectively completed by employees either below or above them in the structure. The estimated redundancy costs due to the restructuring are £200000.

Beautiful Buds plc’s current salary structure