Manufacturing Today Europe Issue 125 February 2016

Page 30

Mini Gears

A range of gear cut components for power transmission industries

Big developments Following 50 years in operation, Mini Gears has developed a strong reputation as a leading specialist subcontract-engineering firm that delivers high quality products at competitive rates

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elebrating its 50th anniversary in 2016, Stockport based family-owned subcontract engineering company Mini Gears began when Reg Darwent, an engineer and specialist in gear cutting, realised there was a growing market for small gears as demand grew for smaller gearboxes. In response to this, Reg, a partner in a company supplying spare parts for textile machinery at the time, moved the manufacture of small gears into its own business segment and started operating as a separate manufacturer. Proving highly successful, the company soon required its own premises and name; in response to the current trends of the Mini Cooper car and the Mini Skirt, Reg called the company Mini Gears. Five decades on and the small company is not so mini, with gear cutting capacity increasing from being mini to a size of 600 mm dia. In addition, the remainder of the company was taken over by the Darwent family in 1993 when turnover was just over £1 million. Since then Mini Gears has enjoyed more than a decade of incredible growth, with the company approaching £10 million turnover in 2015. In line with this growth, the company has moved premises twice and is now based in its 35,000 square foot Stockport facility. “For us as a business, 2015 has been the best financial result for Mini Gears in our entire history, with a turnover of £9.7 million hit. This record

Left: Mini Gear’s 35,000 sq.ft. machining facility

28 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com


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