A company providing ferrous and non-ferrous components for a wide range of industries has proved its mettle to overcome the impact of the recession. The late Bob Allsop founded Allsops Limited with just three employees in 1959. From being a traditional sheet metal sub-contractor using conventional tools, it has developed to become one of the industry’s leading names.
It was forced to reduce its 170-strong workforce to fewer than 100 at the height of the downturn about two years ago but, since then, it has increased numbers to 120 – re-employing many of those made redundant. It is now winning new business from major global names in sectors as diverse as food processing, retail, electronics, logistics, pharmaceuticals and wastewater treatment.
Recent contracts have included a three-year deal to provide all the metal components for a new generation of mail sorting machine, metal enclosures for telecoms and cable companies and self-serve kiosks for a number of leading retailers. Another major contract now under way is to build a range of stand-alone video conferencing rooms for a top US-based computer systems company. The finished rooms will be sited in its offices in Singapore, Egypt, the USA and Lithuania.
Sales and marketing manager Andy Jowett said, “We are now reaping the benefit of long-term investment in our design and manufacturing capabilities – including the latest equipment using state-of-the-art technology. We have installed computer-controlled metal punching equipment and robotic welders and laser cutting kit to increase speed, accuracy and flexibility and to help reduce waste at a time of rising costs for raw materials. The investment at our 85,000ft2 Hope Bank Works site also includes a powder-coating plant with metal coating treatment lines and an assembly plant.”
Together, the investments have underlined Allsops’ reputation as a one-stop shop for design and assembly of metal products ranging from metal furniture, lighting fixtures and conveyors to industrial ovens, video game machines and components for fitted kitchens.
Technical director Stephane Lericolais said, “Most of our customers are local and we like to work with local companies but we have some large clients across the UK and many of our products finish up in use all over the world. Things were quiet at the height of the recession, but we are much busier now. Because we cover so many sectors, we have been able to recover quickly and because we are investing in the latest equipment, we are able to expand our areas of activity.”
For example, Allsops services the water industry by manufacturing products in sheet metal and heavy plate, including ferrous and non ferrous materials. These include filtration and dewatering tanks of all sizes (both platform and ground mounted) which are engineered in our specialised heavy fabrication area to a very high tolerance.
They also produce discharge and storm guards, body fabrications and water elements for the water industry. All of the parts produced here can be chemically cleaned, to avoid the corrosion process.
Andy added: “When I joined the firm in 1991, we had 30 employees but now we have 120 people with the prospect of building the business still further. Due to the wealth of expertise within our organisation we are able to aid clients by value engineering each stage of manufacture. This not only enables us to utilise our best methods of production in each working arena but it also removes unnecessary costs which, in the current climate, can only be seen as a real positive.
“Awarded ISO 9001:2008 in March 2010, we put a huge emphasis on “Precision, Quality, Repeatability and Sustainability”. By adding the technologies we now possess, we can generate the smallest one-off jobs to large fully operational contracts. Over the past twelve months we have satisfied the needs of end users such as Nike, KP, Cadburys, Tesco, Argos and Morrisons”.
For further information please telephone 01484 661447 or visit www.allsops.co.uk
