Richard Carter Ltd, the UK’s original hand tool manufacturer, plans its celebration year.
As Britain prepares itself for another General Election, one Yorkshire manufacturing firm is celebrating having been in business throughout every single political office, since the first British Prime Minister Sir Robert Warpole back in 1740.
To mark its 275th anniversary-making it the second oldest family run firm in the whole of Yorkshire- Richard Carter Ltd is announcing significant growth plans.
The Huddersfield based firm, which manufactures a wide variety of quality hand tools, is planning to build a new 800m² warehouse to cope with increasing customer demand, and will also commemorate the occasion by burying a company time capsule underneath the new site, alongside time capsules created by key customers and local schools with whom the business has long standing links.
The new warehouse will be built next to the current factory and is the first time the company has expanded its premises since it moved from its old manufacturing site in 1999. It will provide vital additional storage, allowing the current site to significantly expand its manufacturing capabilities, proving UK manufacturing still has a lot to offer and those businesses who have been built upon strong foundations are still going strong.
Managing director, Richard Carter commented: “This is a landmark year for us, 275 years since our founder, Jeremiah Carter, made the very first Carters hand tool and I’m thrilled to mark the occasion by expanding our premises which is testament to the skill and workmanship of all the staff who work for us, past and present.
“We have exciting plans for 2015, not least creating our very own time capsule and opening the new warehouse, which only goes to strengthen our commitment to UK manufacturing, providing jobs and skilled work to local people, for another 275 years to come.”
Ricard Carter Ltd, which is a sixth generation family firm, has seen 10 monarchs reign over Britain, the first of which was King George II, survived the Boer war, First World War and the Second War, watched the industrial revolution change the landscape of Great Britain, saw the rise and demise of the coal mining industry and felt numerous booms and crashes in the housing market.
Despite a near-disastrous fire in 1957, which almost saw an end to the business, Richard Carter Ltd has defied the odds to maintain its status as the original hand tool manufacturer.
Founded by Jeremiah Carter in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire in 1740, and now operated by his great-great-great-great-great grandson, Richard Carter, the firm maintains the original ethos of its founder; heritage, quality, and tradition.
