Wakefield-based Group Rhodes is flying high after the group’s founding company; Joseph Rhodes was presented with the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade.
The award was presented by Dr Ingrid Roscoe, Lord-Lieutenant of West Yorkshire at an Open day on Wednesday at The Hepworth in Wakefield.
This is the second time the company has won a Queen’s Award, the first of which was in 2010 for Innovation in recognition of its continuous development of Super Plastic Forming and Diffusion Bonding Presses.
Group Rhodes employs 245 people, has over 20,000 sqm of production capability across its four UK sites, and exports approximately one third of its multi-million pound turnover to more than 30 countries. An upcoming project for the company includes a £9m export contract to supply forging presses to Asia and the supply of a robotic and press assembly line to a bulldozer manufacturer in Brazil.
An on-going business expansion plan recently led to the purchase of Slater and Crabtree (also Wakefield based) one of the region’s leading precision engineering firms. Group Rhodes has also invested in Rhodes Technical Services (RTS), a new start up business in Stockport, which has just moved into a purpose built unit offering a full suite of design services, plus the manufacture of turnkey robotic and automation solutions.
RTS supply robots that are used throughout the manufacturing industry. As part of the event to mark the presentation of the latest Queen’s Award, three robots were transported to Wakefield, where they were put through their paces in front of guests.
Group Rhodes Managing Director Mark Ridgway, said everyone involved was honoured and delighted to have been presented with a second Queen’s Award.
“The last few years have been challenging for manufacturing in the UK, and our success really has been a team effort. The award is recognition of the hard work, high skills and determination of all our people,” he said.
