Derbyshire-based manufacturer of overhead cranes, hoists and related components, Street Crane is celebrating its 70th anniversary and has announced further plans for growth.
Started in 1946 by Peter Street in an 800 sqft workshop based in Sheffield with just £88, the family-run Street Crane has gone from strength to strength, now employing 350 people on sites in High Peak and Sheffield.
With a UK client base that includes leading brands such as Siemens, JCB, Hitachi Rail and Rolls Royce, Street Crane has also grown to be a global exporter, supplying cranes and components to customers in almost 50 countries around the world.
Chairman Martin Street explained: “We’ve experienced rapid growth in recent years and that’s mainly as a result of our latest product range which has expanded our exporting capabilities.
“Twenty years ago we had just three export partners, today we have more than 100. This business model means that we’re placed to continue to build on our success.”
With plans to double its turnover within 10 years to more than £100m, Street Crane is also investing in developing new products that it hopes will continue to keep it ahead of the competition.
Street continued: “With a large in-house research and development team, we have a number of new products in the pipeline with the first expected to be launched later this year. We are also continuing to develop new sales software that will make it easier for our distributors to sell our cranes and hoists.
“Despite the current economic and political uncertainty surrounding the UK and other parts of the world, it’s very much business as usual for Street. Having made recent investments in our manufacturing operation and with a focus on continuous development and improvement, we are looking forward to the next few years with confidence.”
Originally stablished as a crane repairer, Street moved into crane production in 1953. It relocated to Chapel-en-le-Frith four years later to enable it to build the larger cranes needed for modern factories.
In the mid-1960s, Street Crane Express was set up to provide a dedicated service operation, and in 2000, the company launched its initial range of ZX wire rope hoists and started to develop its export component sales strategy.
More recently, it opened a new £3m hoist factory in 2014 to meet the growing demand for its products around the world.