Russell Finex’s Managing Director Ray Singh talks about why the machinery manufacturing company feels like home, why

Talking to Ray Singh, it’s easy to find his passion for Russell Finex infectious. Having worked there for 44 years, it “feels like home” to him and his enthusiasm for the business is clear for anyone to see.

“I never think ‘Oh, I have to go to work today – I never have done from the day I joined the Company’. I absolutely love it, my work life and personal life have merged, and I feel very much at home here,” he said.

Russell Finex, established in 1934 and celebrating its 90th anniversary next year, is a global sieving and filtration specialist which has been based in Feltham for the past 60 years. With roles in a variety of fields including welders, fabricators, polishers, lathe operators, assembly workers, packers, shipping, finance, IT, engineers, quality, marketing and sales, the firm, which is a very supportive member of the Chamber, is now keen to take on and nurture the next generation of the team.

Ray started as a Sales Clerk when he was 22 and, with his University education, he grasped opportunities and quickly moved up the ranks.

Managing Director since February 2011, he is now the longest serving member of Russell Finex with many others racking up between 10 and 25-years’ service, plus a few heading towards 40 years. The firm’s turnover has risen from £17.6m in 2011, when Ray took the helm, to £47m.

“We promote from within the company, unless we don’t have the skills in house. That is always our first choice” said Ray.

“If you take myself as an example, I started as a Sales Clerk and had the opportunities to move within the business as have many others who work for the company who now hold very senior positions.

“We strongly believe that when opportunities arise, we will look to give those opportunities to people internally and then backfill their roles. We have got a lot of long-serving colleagues within our team.

“Over the years, since I’ve been in more senior positions and been part of interviewing panels, there is a question that candidates always ask: ‘What is my future if I work here?’. I always reply with ‘It’s up to you, it’s whatever you make of it’. If you work hard, take whatever opportunities that are put in front of you and do a decent job, then the sky’s the limit. I’m a living example of that. It’s the people who are willing to go the extra mile that go places.”

And although the firm is growing all the time, “every single person in the company matters – people are not just numbers here”.

The secret to retaining staff, says Ray, is the wealth of benefits each employee enjoys – and with such a range of roles on offer, our benefits are attractive to more people as we grow as a business.

The Feltham site is currently undergoing renovation works costing around £1.5m – the Chamber recommended the architect who has helped with the redevelopment designs. Russell Finex bought the building next to the organisation’s headquarters and are currently making it fit for purpose. Once completed, their site capacity will be increased by 50%. The firm has planning permission in place to add more office and manufacturing space.

“We’re an expanding business,” says Ray. “We have grown from 100 to 200 employees in the last 10 years and are continuing to grow. We are a very stable, successful business. “We’re always looking for high calibre candidates to join us.”

Russell Finex has no outside shareholders. Ray says the firm “gets a lot of interest from others who want to take it over or buy a stake into it but it’s not of any interest to the company to do that and as a result of our ownership structure, it gives us stability”.

“We have the ability to think long-term without the pressure of outside shareholders,” he said. “And because of the structure, we can offer a fantastic range of benefits which are the envy of other employers.”

The company has a defined benefit pension scheme (final salary), which is non-contributory for employees; all costs are picked up by the company. The cost of running that is equivalent to 40% of a person’s salary. There is a profit-sharing bonus which is paid to all employees based on the firm’s profits – over the last three to four years, it has been over 50% of people’s salaries “so if someone has worked here two years, then they would have been paid for three”.

Employees receive 22 days’ holiday a year plus an additional day for every three years employed at the company, up to a maximum of five days.

Office roles benefit from flexitime with start times between 8am and 10am and finish times between 4pm and 6pm. Colleagues can also accrue time when things are busy and take that time as additional days off.

Factory staff have paid breaks and finish at lunchtime on Fridays so effectively work a four and half day week and are paid overtime as required.

There is a discretionary sick pay scheme which provides up to 13 weeks’ full sick pay and then another 13 weeks at 2/3rds if someone falls ill.

At Christmas, all staff members receive a £500 bonus advance and have the festive period off as the company shuts down over the festive period.

Other benefits include an on-site subsidised canteen for all employees; long service awards after three years; a cycle to work scheme; life assurance for employees; those who use VDUs receive free sight tests and a free set of prescription glasses every two years; there is free tea and coffee and regular other ‘lifts’ like the quarterly business update where everyone on site gets together for a free lunch.

“We believe in making our staff feel valued in a host of different ways” added Ray.

Employees can work overseas at one of the company’s subsidiary sites. Russell Finex has two sites in Mechelen, Belgium. The second one was bought last year as it had outgrown its current facility and is 50% bigger than their current site; a facility in India which was built from a green field site and opened last year, having rented previously, as well as technical centres across India; a base in Charlotte, North Carolina in the US; a site in China; and a small base in Brazil. Next on the list for the company’s expansion plans is Southeast Asia.

“We have had a few people who have gone from here in Feltham to the US on a two-year secondment and decided to stay there,” said Ray.

“The president of the Charlotte site started working here at 22 and then transferred to the US after he had been here for a year, now he oversees that subsidiary.”

Every year the firm takes on four or five apprentices, with many remaining at the firm holding more senior positions. They recently launched their own Apprentice Development Programme.

Russell Finex also offer work experience for 16-18-year-olds and work with the Reach Academy to assist with work experience.

The company is proud to give back to its local community - “We do work with the local community on various projects such as Safer Business Hounslow, St George’s Youth Club, the local charity Storehouse, which is a food and clothing bank, and Reach Academy, and we are delighted to have teamed up with a local cancer charity, The Mulberry Centre, to be their corporate partner last year and this year. We thank the Chamber for the introductions to both The Mulberry Centre and Reach Academy. We are immensely proud of our staff who are engaging in a number of fundraising events on their behalf.”

The company has won and been highly commended in several of the Chamber’s business awards including Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2021 Hounslow Business Awards and Employer of the Year in both 2021 and 2022.

Russell Finex is recruiting for several roles including:

Stores and Facilities Controller: Receiving, issuing, packing and crating machinery and spares. This role includes problem solving alongside the Stores and Stock Control team.

Polisher: Working to the highest levels of quality, under ISO9001 procedures, this role involves grinding, polishing stainless steel components. A strong team player will suit this role as the jobholder will be supporting colleagues as and when required to do so.

Panel Wirer/Electronics Engineer: Responsible for testing, inspection and assembly of electrical and pneumatic panels complying with ISO 9001 procedures.

Welder/Fabricator: Working with mid steel and stainless steel manufacturing component parts using engineering drawings and using MIG/TIG process.

Business Development Executive: If you have a passion for engineering and technology and are looking to develop a sales or commercial role within a fastgrowing global UK based manufacturer, this could be the role for you.

Development Electrical/Electronic Engineer: To design and develop new and modified equipment to extend the company’s product range and to meet changing and new requirements of customers, and to pre-empt/react to competitors’ actions. This is a challenging role for an enthusiastic individual that can work using their own initiative.

Internal Sales Engineer: An opportunity for a technical and engineering knowledgeable person to be part of a vibrant sales team. A multifunctional role which includes liaison with other departments, keeping engineers and managers up to date; maintaining sales order files; logging, forwarding and processing inquiries and other tasks.

Apprentices: Russell Finex has introduced The Apprentice Development Programme and will be recruiting soon.

Email: for full details of the available positions.