As part of the Northern Powerhouse Live initiative, Jake Berry, MP for Rossendale and Darwen and Minister for the Northern Powerhouse, toured the factories of Produmax in Baildon and CW Fletcher in Sheffield. His aim was to understand better the needs of the north by meeting people who work in businesses, own businesses and are starting businesses. At Produmax the lines stopped so he could meet with the 70-strong team, while at CW Fletcher 120 of the day shift stayed after hours to ask the Minister questions.
Image: L-R: Jake Berry MP, Mandy Ridyard, Philip Davies MP, Andy Page
Both companies are beneficiaries of Sharing in Growth, the industry-led business transformation programme that helps aerospace supply chain firms to improve their productivity and competitiveness, so they are better placed to win a share of continued growth in the global aerospace market.
Mandy Ridyard, co-owner of Produmax, a global expert in flight control components that exports 80% of its production to USA, Canada, Japan, Morocco, the Philippines and Italy, explained how Produmax had set a vision of “being engineering superheroes” to engage and inspire their team so they could further develop their skills and contribute to growing the business.
Said Ridyard, who bought the firm with husband Jeremy in 1997: “We were selected for Sharing in Growth in 2014 and this has been key in transforming our business. Aerospace is a huge market with huge growth, but we recognised that the UK lagged behind the majority of G7 companies, in terms of productivity, and we needed help. We’d won a £50 million contract that would bring work back from China to the UK. We were struggling with capacity and knew this could limit our growth, so we turned to Sharing in Growth, a government-backed programme that brings world-class expert training and coaching to support ambitious aerospace companies.”
With help from Sharing in Growth, as well as Bradford Council and the local LEP, Produmax invested in a new plant at Baildon, increased turnover by 55%, increased headcount by 60% to 70 people, improved productivity by almost 40% and secured contracts worth over £50 million. The company is also investing for the future, so is opening a second plant later this year, has set up links with universities, colleges and schools, and has created its own apprenticeship programme.
At CW Fletcher, the Minister toured the factory with managing director Steve Kirk and director and shareholder David Fletcher to learn how the 127-year-old company had become a leading supplier to the aerospace and nuclear industry. He saw high quality parts and components being produced for customers such as Rolls-Royce, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, GKN and nuclear power stations.
Said Kirk: “We were one of the first companies to be accepted onto the Sharing in Growth programme in 2014 and since then we have, without doubt, improved our competitiveness and achieved real growth both in Europe and in Japan. Our first priority was to work with staff to improve productivity, so that we could meet customers’ needs more efficiently. This meant we could retain 200 highly skilled jobs, take on graduates and apprentices and we are now looking to expand with a new factory.”
Since joining the programme, CW Fletcher has increased its turnover from £19 million to £24 million and has secured £88 million in contracts. Its target is to hit more than £25 million next year.
Sharing in Growth is the aerospace business transformation programme, set up by industry in 2013 and supported by the Regional Growth Fund and more than £150 million in private investment. It is endorsed by Airbus, BAE Systems, Boeing, Bombardier, GE, GKN, Leonardo, Lockheed Martin, MBDA, Rolls-Royce, Safran and Thales because it is helping the UK advanced manufacturing supply chain to become more competitive and win a larger share of global aerospace contracts.
There are 63 companies on the Sharing in Growth programme across the UK. Each company participates in a bespoke and intense training and business transformation programme which focuses on leadership, culture and operational capability delivered by SiG’s own 120-strong team of business coaches, as well as a bank of world-leading experts including The University of Cambridge’s Institute for Manufacturing, Deloitte, Industry Forum and the National Physical Laboratory.
