In Focus : Burnley - our resilient borough Burnley businesses standing the test of time

Setting up a business is no mean feat, so to do so and be successful over a long period is an achievement worth celebrating. Successful businesses bring employment opportunities and raise the profile of our borough, spreading the reputation of Burnley globally in some cases!

To acknowledge this three of Burnley’s longstanding businesses have been presented with awards to mark their commitment to the borough and their long-term investment in the area.

Burnley Council has presented Business Excellence in Burnley awards to BCW Manufacturing Group, Crow Wood Hotel and Spa, and HycAero (formerly known as Hycrome).

Senior managers at HycAero were presented with a 25-year award, while 20-year awards were given to BCW and Crow Wood to mark their long-term commitment to the area.

All three businesses were identified as leaders in their field, with national and international reputations. The award not only recognised excellence but also investment, innovation and a drive to be the best.

BCW Manufacturing Group – a driving force for 20 years

Claire Whelan, BCW group managing director, said: “What a great surprise to receive the Business Excellence Award!

“It is fantastic to have been recognised for our innovation and investment over the 20 years we have been in business. We are really proud of the company’s achievements and the fact we have been able to do this in Burnley with the fantastic support of the council has been instrumental in our development.

“Thank you to all involved; it is appreciated.” BCW Manufacturing Group (formerly BCW Engineering) began life as three people working out of a small unit with one machine and has developed into a multi-million pound business with more than 100 machining centres as a leading supplier to the automotive industry to clients such as Jaguar Land Rover.

It has steadily expanded in Burnley over the years and recently acquired the former Lotus anodising plant in Wellingborough, more than doubling the business’s anodising capacity and giving it a key strategic base in the West Midlands.

As the company has grown it has supported apprenticeships for both school leavers and mature apprenticeships, with around 35 people

Crow Wood Hotel and Spa –tranquillity and luxury in the heart of Burnley

Andrew Brown, managing director of Crow Wood, said: “I’m delighted to have received this award on behalf of Crow Wood. Investing in growth and development is important to us, both in terms of what we offer to our members and guests and also in the personal and professional development of our colleagues. They are what makes Crow Wood a very special place to be.”

Crow Wood opened in December 2001 and the business has grown from strength to strength since then, not even letting a global pandemic stop its progress.

The award-winning leisure complex began with an £8 million investment in a site just off the M65. Further investment saw the creation of £1.5 million equestrian and soccer facilities, the opening of the £4.5 million Bertram’s Restaurant and Woodland Spa, refurbishments of the leisure club, family restaurant and children’s playground as well as improvements and new additions to other parts of the site.

In 2019 a 76-bedroom hotel opened its doors, offering first-class conferencing and wedding facilities, only to have to close its doors almost immediately because of Covid!

However, since May 2021 the business has continued to surpass revenue expectations month-on-month. The business now employs almost 400 people.

Sustainability is at the heart of its business strategy. Alongside driving long-term growth and profitability, Crow Wood promotes the inclusion of environmental and social issues in its business model.

Deployment of innovative approaches such as the use of solar power, combined heat source pumps, a borehole water supply and other measures help reduce any negative impact on the environment.

Andrew explained: “We have a policy of continual investment at Crow Wood. I’m confident, that despite the economic challenges on the horizon, investing in growth is the right way forward. Undoubtedly, as we all feel the squeeze of rising energy prices, we can expect a slight slowdown in the demand we’ve seen recently. That said, people are now travelling from further afield to enjoy our facilities. The very concept of affordable luxury has the resilience to help weather the storm.” completing qualifications across various departments. It continues to invest in the development programmes and presents apprenticeship awards on completion as a recognition of staff achievements.

Claire added: “We’ve always had a long-term vision for the company and worked hard to reinvest profits back into the business over the past 20 years.

“Our vision now is one of continuous profitable growth built on a proud heritage driven by innovation, knowledge and dedication of our staff.”

HycAero – moving towards a more sustainable future

Andrew Bailey, managing director of HycAero, said: “Thanks to Burnley Council for recognising HycAero and the success that we have had since we relocated to Burnley 25 years ago.

“When we moved into our current facility we brought with us 45 employees from the Colne site. We now employ 185 people and we have further plans for expansion which will allow us to continue to provide highskill, high-technology roles to the local workforce.”

HycAero is one of Europe’s leading suppliers of special processes and precision machining to the aerospace industry.

HycAero has been operating since 1947, but a big turning point for the business came when it won big contracts in the 1980s with Rolls Royce and British Aerospace. Realising its value, The Score Group acquired HycAero in 1989 and then carried out a huge investment project, leading to the relocation to Burnley in 1996.

Andrew, who started out as an apprentice with Hycrome over 40 years ago, said: “For many years we have been recognised as a key supplier of protective coatings, precision machining and other special processes to the aerospace and oil and gas industries.

“Our company has a long legacy of specialising in chrome plating and chromic acid anodising, two processes which we will discontinue by the end of 2023 in favour of more environmentally friendly protective coatings.

We started a new chapter on 1st January 2023 as we evolved our aerospace business to become HycAero. This was driven by the need to reflect the change in our activities as we completely exit chrome plating and continue to develop our more sustainable processes that are used on modern aircraft.”

Being resilient isn’t just about businesses pivoting during times of crisis, but also personal and mental resilience too. In this inspiring interview, we speak to the founder of CUBE HR, Lisa Sourbutts, who has overcome more challenges in her first five years of business than most people go through in a lifetime.

“All eight airbags went off and there was a five-mile tailback as a result. The car shunted my legs, and my wrist went into my arm. I’d only earnt £400 by this point, and I could have so easily just packed it all in.”

Lisa Sourbutts is describing the terrifying car accident she experienced just four months after setting up CUBE HR, on her way to see a potential client. She’d walked away from her high-flying corporate HR career, where she’d earnt a large salary and bonus every year, after realising she no longer felt like that world reflected her values. She set up CUBE HR in October 2017, with the accident in February 2018.

“Despite only earning so little, I’m stubborn so I carried on.” And still in her first year, Lisa began to grow, after finding a gap in the market for personal HR services, especially for smaller firms who didn’t want to speak to a faceless person in a call centre. She brought in Claire Brockbank part time to help with admin support, then Lisa faced the next challenge: she needed a hysterectomy.

“Being me that couldn’t be simple, I had a tilted womb so couldn’t have keyhole surgery and therefore had to have full surgery. I was doing emails from my hospital bed that same night - that’s my dad’s fault for instilling such a good work ethic into me!” Lisa continues.

After a rollercoaster first two years in business, CUBE HR continued to grow, and Claire became full time. Over a quarter of CUBE HR’s business comes from client referrals and Lisa was beginning to feel like she was getting somewhere in building her brand. Then Covid hit.

“We’d just got to a level playing field and we went from steady to horrendously busy – I’m talking 140 calls a day busy. We were working all hours, I was trying to home-school my then six-year-old Naomi and my husband Dale worked in the travel industry, so he was firefighting

– it was chaos,” Lisa explains. Then one day, she had a call with a plumber called Frank that changed everything. Frank had eight employees and he couldn’t afford to pay them as at that time, they weren’t allowed in people’s houses. He rang Lisa asking for help as he couldn’t afford redundancy. She advised him on what to do and then he asked her how much he owed her.

“A lightbulb went off in my head. I was watching doctors and nurses leaving their families to fight the battle and I thought this was my contribution. I rang Claire and told her that I thought we should offer our services for free, it just felt good, and it felt right, so we did. We were lucky to have many retained clients to help us with income, but we treated everyone the same.

“Claire would sit there at 8pm when Boris Johnson did his updates and within ten minutes a newsletter would be in our clients’ inboxes simplifying everything that had been said. The clients asked us to add their clients to the mailing list and in the end, we supported between 60 and 70 businesses for free.”

BUT LISA’S RESILIENCE DIDN’T STOP AT COVID

The newsletter saved dozens of calls from coming into CUBE HR all asking the same questions and Lisa says she’s proud of what the then team of two achieved. She admits she questioned her actions for a split second after seeing competitors offering Covid packages at a cost, including buy now pay later schemes, but she knew it didn’t sit right with her, so continued on her path.

“Then Rishi Sunak came out with furlough, and no one really knew what it was. I rang Frank the plumber and said, ‘bring those lads back!’ and he couldn’t thank me enough.”

Lisa then recruited Stuart Wright in January 2021, with Claire Hewitt joining later in the year. The future was looking great for the business, but then the next challenge came in August 2021. Lisa had returned from holiday to the news that her dad Jim had been taken to hospital. There, she learnt that with no prior health issues, her dad, 82, was sadly dying.

“They told him they had found a mass in his stomach and they could operate, but he would have a five per cent chance of survival. My dad being my dad, told the doctors to save the time and money and use it on someone who could be saved. That was my dad, he never had much but would give you the shirt off his back. He was so selfless,” Lisa explains.

Jim made the decision that he wanted to come home to die, but he refused to take his medicine. Lisa decided to take the matter into her own hands in the only way she knew how.

“It sounds awful, but I told him if he took the medicine, I’d get him home in time to watch the Burnley match. I’d also been toying with the idea of getting my dream car, an Audi R8, and I said I’d show him the photos. As a child, our thing was to look through The Loot together and choose which sports cars we’d buy if money was no object. But I knew he was unwell, as all he said was ‘that’s nice love’. One morning, he got up, went to sleep in his chair and peacefully passed away.”

Jim’s last job had been working for Burnley Council as the caretaker for Padiham Town Hall. It was a job he was proud of, so much so that he wouldn’t let a then younger Lisa try out the floor buffer in case they got caught!

“After he passed away in September 2021, I just thought that life is so short, so I’m going to get the car,” Lisa adds. She chose her car the day after winning a Hive Award, an award she knew her dad would be proud of.

Lisa then took some time away from CUBE HR as she supported her mum Trudy through the loss of Jim, whilst also helping her with everything that needed to be done.

“It was a crazy time. Burnley

Crematorium was having work done and we were told there would be a few weeks delay for the funeral because of it, so they recommended Skipton. I told them my dad would kill me if he was laid to rest anywhere but Burnley, so we waited. In the meantime, we’d found out CUBE HR were in the BIBA finals, which would have been three days before the funeral. I told my mum I didn’t think I should go,” Lisa reveals. However, her mum’s response convinced her otherwise.

“She said dad would have told me to get my slap on, get a frock on and put a smile on my face. So I did, and we won. It was a lovely night actually, as it distracted me for just that short time.”