Stourbridge manufacturer, Worcester Presses is celebrating the best twelve months in its 67-year history after selling more than 50 machines and seeing turnover double to £2.8m.
Worcester Presses produces a range of mechanical and hydraulic presses and coil processing equipment from its Titan Works Factory in Stourbridge.
The growth in sales was thanks to a strong performance by the UK’s automotive, aerospace and construction sectors. The firm also received its first order from the US last year, exporting a machine to Detroit for use in producing riveted aluminium parts.
Thanks to the firms strong performance it has taken on five new members of staff to cope with the demand, which the business expects to continue when it exhibits at MACH 2016 in April.
Sales director at Worcester Presses, Russell Hartill explained: “We’ve never seen demand reach this level before, especially in such a short space of time; if you think we’ve more than doubled turnover, you begin to understand the scale of what we’ve achieved.
“There has been specific interest in our Chin Fong range of presses, with 27 sold since last January – most from stock due to faster deliveries. Demand has been for the hugely popular GTX range [offering variations from 160 to 500 tonnes] including four state-of-the-art models for nearby automotive suppliers.”
He continued: “Sales of our hydraulic presses are also up 40% and investment in Tomac coil handling equipment has paid dividends with nine lines purchased as part of bespoke configurations.”
Worcester Presses – which now employs 13 people – has beaten off international competition thanks to its ability to customise the machines to suit bespoke configurations.
On the back of increased sales, there has also been expansion in the firm’s servicing department, with the recruitment of a new manager, engineer and fitter.
Director, Charles Higgins continued: “A strong range of high quality presses [both mechanical and hydraulic], excellent servicing team and an ability to source, prepare and install machines either from stock in the UK or within a six month timeframe have all contributed to our success.
“There have been many highlights in 2015, but my personal favourites were the sale of a 600-tonne Yeh Chiun hydraulic press to a leading UK car maker and a heavy-duty straight-sided 500 tonne Chin Fong press to a major automotive supplier.”
