CASE STUDY
JA HARRISON
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Factory move Little surprise then that in recent years the company had started to outgrow its existing Cheetham Hill facility. “We would convert or acquire another building on the site only to find we were quickly running out of room again.” Shepherd says a key moment was a visit from a potentially significant customer from Texas. “It was another of those light bulb moments. He really liked our products but not the building, which proved to us that it was definitely time to move.” Even so, he still describes the move as “a leap of faith”. “We used the proceeds from the sale of our old building to essentially buy the new factory, while we then borrowed £1m for the refurb cost. For some companies of our size borrowing this amount might have felt too risky, but we were a long established business
presentations to customers and they are simply blown away when they come here. For a gasket manufacturer this facility is as good as it gets, and we can now deal directly with major players in sectors such as aerospace, nuclear, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, food processing and defence.”
and had the depth of experience and background to make the leap of faith. Sure, there were sleepless nights and we kept asking ourselves ‘are we doing the right thing’. But today I can definitely say that the move is already paying real dividends. “For instance since opening we have already had a number of high-level
Jobs The new factory, which incorporates computerised industrial presses, lathes, ovens and cyber-safe security systems, is expected to generate at least 30 jobs, as well as a number of apprenticeships, over the next three years. Shepherd says one of the great benefits of the new factory is its flexibility. “We have a very diverse customer base which is a real strength to us. For instance if one sector is a little quiet we can shift resources into another fairly seamlessly,
Founded in 1900 by James Arthur Harrison the company was originally based in Ardwick and was established as a metal founder and mill furnisher serving the textile industry, a sector that was enjoying significant growth and prosperity at that time. The Shepherd family bought the company in 1940 at a time when the company was manufacturing essential machinery components for munitions factories across the North West, in particular ensuring ongoing manufacture of Lancaster Bombers. In the late 1960s the company moved to a new purpose-built facility in Cheetham Hill, and would go on to make a number of acquisitions including hard gasket specialists Corrugated Joint Ring Co. and Cardiff-based Alliance & Heat Shield Engineering. In more recent years the firm has entered a number of joint ventures overseas, and has operations in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Australia. w
and the new factory gives us the room to do that much more nimbly and efficiently.” He says the more specialised plastic side of the business, and the company’s expertise in the PTFE market, is a particular growth area. Does he therefore see the business becoming more specialised in time? “It’s a good question and one we have thought about a lot, as obviously the more specialised we become the higher up the value chain we could go. However I don’t think we are at that point yet. Also, to get there we would need to bring more skills and talent into the business in order to make us more innovative. One of the big issues we face here, like the rest of the manufacturing sector, is the skills shortage. Something I would certainly like to do over the next few years is strengthen our links with universities and get graduates to come in here, look at all our processes, and suggest what changes we could make.” Competitive Meantime there is plenty to go at within existing markets. “One of the things this new factory also enables us to do is be much more globally competitive and responsive, and benefit from the
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ISSUE 2
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accelerating onshoring trend. Production is increasingly being brought back closer to UK factories, say from the Far East, and we can benefit from that. Some very big companies are knocking on our door now and we have the capacity at our new factory to look at their demands, whether
it be through adding extra shifts or potentially expanding the shop floor.” To accommodate and capitalise on this growth Shepherd admits that the family will also need to start bringing in more outside knowledge into the business. “To be honest this is something we have shied away from in the past but we have reached a tipping point now. We are turning over £7.5m and we need to consider it.” And finally what about the ‘B’ word which we have managed to successfully avoid talking about all morning? Will Brexit have any impact on the business? “Personally I think it is an opportunity,” says Shepherd. “Deals will still have to be done with our European partners. But as a firm we are now very busy in other parts of the world too, such as in the Middle East. For us it is business as usual. We just need to get on with it.” w
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