Wintwire

Business Loans Case Study

The company

The Penistone-based business manufactures wire on rolling and drawing machinery, which is supplied in coils on spools or cut lengths.

The company was formed in 2003 and employs 30 people. It reported a turnover of £2.7m for the 12 months to May 2016.

Wintwire exports around 25 per cent of its products to customers in the European Union, India, China, US and South Africa.

The challenge

Wire rod - the raw material of wire - was being transported to a third party supplier for cleaning prior to manufacturing. This incurred transport costs.

Finance Yorkshire involvement

Wintwire received a £50,000 Business Loan from Finance Yorkshire, as part of a larger investment, to fund the purchase of equipment that cleans wire rod. The equipment contains tanks that clean, treat and dry the wire rod using chemical baths.

Marc Turner, managing director of Wintwire, said: "The equipment uses a new chemical system on wire rod coatings to remove mill scale. It does the job better and more efficiently."

The Investment Rationale

David Ward, Portfolio Manager at Finance Yorkshire, said: "The Wintwire team has considerable experience in the wire industry, blending manufacturing heritage with the latest technology. The new cleaning plant will speed up the production process and enable the business to enhance its service to a growing and global customer base."

Future Expectations

Marc added: "We can now get the wire rod cleaned immediately prior to production, which means that turnaround of customer orders will be faster.

"The equipment also makes us more environmentally-friendly because it does not use as much energy. In addition, we are not sending lorries up and down the motorway with wire to be cleaned."

Note: this case study is from Finance Yorkshire’s previous fund. Read more about Finance Yorkshire