Wire manufacturer boosted by Finance Yorkshire investment

Speciality wire manufacturer Wintwire has boosted its productivity and green credentials following fresh investment.

The £2.7m-turnover business, based in Penistone, near Sheffield, makes bespoke wire from carbon alloy, stainless steel and copper alloy for the engineering, textile and medical industries.

Around 25 per cent of orders are exported to customers in the European Union, India, China, US and South Africa.

Wintwire has 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 raw material of wire - prior to manufacturing.

The equipment contains tanks that clean, treat and dry the wire rod using chemical baths. Wire rod was previously transported to a third party supplier for cleaning.

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.

“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.”

Wintwire manufactures wire on rolling and drawing machinery, which are 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.

Marc added: “We are not a volume manufacturer. We are a bespoke producer. We make exactly what our customers want from a technical and packaging point of view.”

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.”

Since its inception, Finance Yorkshire has invested in more than 460 companies, enabling those businesses to increase their turnover by a collective £377 million and attract a further £273 million from private sector sources. Finance Yorkshire investment has helped those SMEs to create and safeguard more than 12,000 jobs in the region.

Finance Yorkshire provides seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15,000 to £2m to help a range of small and medium sized businesses to meet their funding requirements for growth and development.

The project is supported financially by the European Union. It has attracted investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), as part of Europe’s support for the region’s economic development through the Yorkshire and Humber ERDF Programme, UK Government and the European Investment Bank. Finance Yorkshire is also supported by the Regional Growth Fund.

For more information about Finance Yorkshire, please visit www.finance-yorkshire.com or call 0300 030 6060.

Note: this news article is from Finance Yorkshire’s previous fund. Read more about Finance Yorkshire