Member Article

Sales growth helps Worcester press on with new home and identity

Major demand from customers in automotive and white goods has helped a Black Country manufacturing specialist relocate, putting it on course for another record year.

Worcester Presses, which provides a range of mechanical and hydraulic presses and coil processing equipment for clients all over the UK, has completed a move from its traditional home in Stourbridge to a more modern facility on Peartree Lane in Dudley.

The new site features built-in offices, central stores, a large machine shop and a dedicated 6000 sq ft engineering area that is supporting the firm’s desire to offer more turnkey solutions on the equipment it supplies.

It marks a new era in the company’s 68-year history, as the relocation has paved the way for a new corporate identity and the appointment of Ivan Littlewood as Engineering Director. He will be in charge of the management and control of Worcester Presses’ engineers, including in-house manufacture, commissioning of new machines and servicing.

“2016 was a very good year for our business and that upward trend is continuing with the first eight months of 2017 delivering even more deals and the real possibility of achieving record breaking turnover,” explained Charles Higgins, Director at Worcester Presses.

“Whilst some firms are understandably nervous about Brexit, we’ve seen nothing but growth since the vote, with this increase being driven by our traditional automotive customer base and emerging opportunities in white goods and the building trade.”

He continued: “In particular, we are being asked to supply more turnkey machinery packages and that really drove our decision to move to the new factory in Dudley, which is better suited to adapting presses and coil handling equipment. Whilst only a few miles away, we have also seen a massive difference in transport times.”

The mechanical Chin Fong range of presses is still the core of the Worcester Presses’ business, closely followed by its growing range of Tomac Coil Handling equipment, Yeh Chiun hydraulic presses and press transfer equipment.

Employing 12 people in Dudley, the company has seen a 35% increase in sales for its Yeh Chiun range of hydraulic presses, offering both C Frame and straight side presses to customers involved in the metal forming and stamping industry.

As part of its desire to expand its offering, the firm has also signed an agreement with a press transfer system specialist to supply complete automation packages in the UK, providing clients with a way of streamlining labour intensive manufacturing applications.

Russell Hartill, Sales Director at Worcester Presses, went on to add: “Since 2015, we’ve probably grown by about 25%. When we sat down and looked at what was behind that it was clear that our customers were demanding more configurations from their machines and the ability to customise presses so they can carry out more complex operations.

“This was a key driver in our relocation as we needed more space, a higher roof and a layout that wasn’t restricted by the confines of our previous site that was built in the 1800s.”

He concluded: “Our product offering has also been strengthened with a series of new agreements. Not only can we offer our existing equipment - mechanical presses, hydraulic presses, decoilers, straighteners and servo roll feeders – but we are also now in a position to supply a fully automated press transfer line, with complete after sales support.”

Worcester Presses has recently taken on an apprentice to assist in the electrical division and have plans in place to increase the workforce between now and the end of 2018.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Russ Cockburn .