Forty years in the commercial vehicle business has been celebrated with the completion of a £1.4 million expansion at the East Yorkshire headquarters of Britcom International.
Launched by Ray Urwin as a specialist exporter to developing markets in the midst of the early Eighties recession, overseas sales remain at the core of the operation, while an increasing domestic market focus prompted the major investment.
A six-bay engineering workshop has now been revealed by son Chris, who together with first employee Paul Mercer now head the £23 million turnover Market Weighton firm, which also has sales sites in Manchester and Kenya - with a 75-strong team.
The addition supports the chassis and bodybuilding elements of the business, complemented by a commercial paint shop.
Mr Urwin, who lost his father in 2009, has been around vehicles all his life, with his grandparents running a petrol filling station in the town.
He said: “While it is disappointing that the current Covid-19 situation has prevented us arranging any wider celebrations of this auspicious anniversary, it is still a proud moment to recognise how far we have come and state how we are confident of further success in the future.
“We are particularly keen to develop the 海角视频-focused side of the business following the construction of the new workshop as we do see significant opportunities for our vehicle engineering services.”
With his father fearing the axe for his team having begun to dabble in exports from the Hedon Road DAF base he was group sales manager for, they decided to go it alone.
Most Read
W&A Chassis Developments of Camerton was acquired in the early Nineties, and the business kicked on again with the move to the present location in the mid-Noughties.
The 14-acre purpose built site sits on York Road, with Hull’s Geo Houlton and Sons completing the recent addition.
“The biggest catalyst has been the move, it gave us a lot more space and made us fit for the future,” Mr Urwin said. “It allowed us to develop to a different level.”
The latest investment takes capacity up to 20 workshop bays, with the new build incorporating a 10 tonne overhead crane, authorised testing facilities-approved inspection pit and brake roller.
Joking that Britcom has operated in reverse, with most businesses looking to take domestic success overseas, he said of the 海角视频 push: “It is something that we have really concentrated on for the last seven to eight years, having always been a smaller part of the business.
“We opened the Manchester sales site sx years ago, and that expanded our reach, and the engineering has greatly expanded too. Most of it is for external customers, we do a lot with truck manufacturers, a lot of work with the caravan industry when it comes to specialised transporters and trailers, and we do a lot nationally for steel stockholders - that’s a real specialism.”