Steel stockholder John Chorley & Co's workforce has risen above pre recession levels as the company branches out beyond its North West heartland to drive sales.
The firm, based in Warrington, employed 50 staff in September 2008 but was forced to shed 15 posts and scrap one of its three production shifts as demand declined during the downturn.
Mr Terry Shanahan MD of John Chorley said that it began recruiting again at the start of this year and currently has a workforce of 53. It is back to operating on a 24 hour basis and has recruited operatives as well as sales staff, who are behind an influx of orders from regions such as Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Shropshire
The business, which is owned by the Caldwell Group, has also continued to invest, spending about GBP 1 million on new equipment and additional space to increase capacity.
Mr Shanahan said that it is on track to achieve sales of GBP 20 million in the 12 months to March 2011, up from GBP 12 million in 2010. It will supply about 22,000 tonnes of steel this year to sectors including agriculture, energy and construction as well as fabricators, manufacturers of containers and commercial body builders.
John Chorley, founded in 1860, provides services such as precision cutting, drilling, scribing, shot blasting and painting. It has added shot blasting and painting by investing in a state of the art automated machine, which has enabled it to bring in house work which was previously sub contracted out.
Mr Shanahan said that "It will make our processes more efficient, enhance margins through higher added value work and enable more accurate costing. It is strategically important to John Chorley in that it both broadens the firm's appeal to its existing customer base and opens doors to new customers. We've remodeled and diversified the business and, although the economic climate is still challenging for any business, we believe John Chorley has the correct mix of product and value added processes to be successful during these tough times."
(Sourced from www.menmedia.co.uk)
