MANUFACTURING CHAMPION 2022

Weatherite Group

Over thelast15years Weatherite AirConditioning,part of theWeatheriteGroup,has grownfromannualturnover of £10million to £28m

It manufactures made-tomeasureheating,ventilation andair conditioning solutions andisthe UK’s leader in making airmovementequipment

Thecompany,based at WeatheriteHouse,CredendaRoad, West Bromwich,formedin1972 andemploys 202.

BurntwoodbusinessLesters is one of Staffordshire’sfastest growing manufacturers.

It is aspecialistinlarge packaging, providingmillionsofcorrugated boxes, largeformatpackagingand heavy-duty cases

Therise of online shopping has seen salessoarand Lesters, founded in 1983,has takenon15new staff to take itsskilled workforce to 60 people

Astrategic expansionplanwill seethe companymove towards£25 million annual turnover by 2024 andthiswill create afurther 30 new positionsatits 45,000 sq ft site at Mount Road

Thelastyearhas been transformational forLesters with itsgrowth driven by investmentinskillsand a£7m investmentprogramme that hasresulted in theinstallationof anew £3mTCY JumboCasemaker andthe impendingarrival of aTCY N6 3colourcasemaker machine. These acquisitionshavehelpedthe companyreduceleadtimes andincrease capacity

Lesterscreates bespokepackagingsolutions that areasuniqueas theirrequirements, whetherthatis storingcars, luxury bathroomproducts or high value engineeringcomponents. Thein-house design team works with customers to develop exactlythe rightsolutionthatwill packagetheir productbetter, saving them money on packagingcosts

Therehas been a£2.5m investment in anothernew production line, whichboastsa rotary diecutter.

LESTERS JENKS &CATTELL ENGINEERING

Although turnoverisimportant,Weatherite’smotto ‘turnoverisvanity-profitability is sanity’– whichhas been thesamefor thelast five decades–remains at theforefront of itsbusiness strategy

With four individual operating companies, Weatherite Group hasestablished itself as one of theUKleaders in thehighly competitiveHVACindustry. Unlikemostofits competitors whichoffer products from a brochure,Weatheritestartsthe manufacturingprocess from a blankpiece of paper, andcovers allaspects of thebuildprocess–from development,design, manufacturing,testing,instalment andcomplete aftercaresupport

Part of Weatherite’s sales strategy is to obtainrepeatbusiness whilst continuallylooking fornew sectorstotarget.

It provides an outstandinglevel of expertise within itssales, technical andapplicationsteams ensuring clientsreceive acompetitive,bespoke,high quality, energy-savingsolution.

Morethan70per cent of Weatherite’s business is ‘repeat’ with anumberofmajor retail/ telecomclients that it hasdelivered HVAC solutionstofor well over25years

As well as retail andtelecommunications, Weatherite also operates in thecommercial, lei-

Sheetmetal manufacturingservice

Jenks &Cattell Engineeringplans to invest around £300,000 in anew state-of-the-art machining centre this year

It comesdue to demand from existing customers whowould like to expand theirportfolio with the Wednesfieldcompany

Thebusinesshas alreadyinvested more than £3 million since2015, includinganew lasercutting machine andnew pressesfor amorediverse capability at itsNeachells Lane site whereitemploys 100.

Jenks&Cattell,foundedin1886, offers metalpressing, lasercut fabrication andbothmanualand robotic welding.

It is oneofthe most established sheetmetal workers in theUK.

Thebusinesshas exported automotive components across theworld sincethe 1990sand now competitively supplies customers in Europe, SouthAmerica andAsia.

Itsoriginwas in manufacturing garden toolsand thequality of manufacturing hasalwaysbeentothe highestlevel

Despite adifficult period with the global pandemic,Brexitand the Suez Canalblockage, Jenks &Cattell’s salesperformance is something to be proudof.

Turnover grew from £7.5mto £9.7mbetween 2020 and2021and itshas securedbusinesstoachieve

£15m turnover by 2024 sure,hospitality,pharmaceutical, healthcare andeducation sectors.

Thecompany hasheavily developed itsusage of aluminiumand introduced aluminiumTIG welding.

Weatherite AirConditioning hasrecruited26peopleinrecent months,including eightnew apprenticesacrossthe groupof companies.

Apart of itsdrive fornew employees,Weatheritepledges a substantial investmentintoits apprentice trainingscheme, ensuring thecompany hasnew talentwithwhich to plan forfuture growth.Itreaps therewardsof itsinvestmentinthe scheme and hasasteady flow of high achievers–manyofwhom choose to carryonwiththeir educationaftertheir initialapprenticeshipis completed.

Thecompany hasarateofwell over 80 percentofits apprentices remainingatWeatheritefor many yearsafter gainingtheir qualification

As with many otherbusinesses nowstrugglingwithprocurement of components, Weatherite Groupin2021, invested £2.5m, doublingthe size of oneofits existing factoriestoincreasestoragecapacityand updating major manufacturingequipment,to ensure that itsproductionfacilityhas excellentreliability

The5,000 sq ft extensionhas increasedofone of itsfoursecondary factorypremises by 50 percent, from 10,000 to 15,000 sq ft

Thecompany hasalso installeda newhot wire cutter whichwill be usedtoaccurately cutthick polyfoam insulation Thishas been made necessary to comply with newregulations whichrequirethatthe company’s airhandlingunits be built with much improvedthermal properties andthereby providing amoreenergyefficientproduct Weatherite hasintroduced several lean manufacturing strategies to reduce wastewhilst maintaininghigh quality. Weatherite continuestolook at ways of reducingenergyusage whilst helpingtoreduceharmful greenhouse gasemissions www.weatheritegroup.com