Why Eddie’s wife lost out on a new carpet and he wanted a lathe ...
If Eddie Neesom had lost a domestic debate with his wife Marilyn over a new carpet his multi-million pound firm Hunprenco may have been just a pipe dream.
The couple moved to Hunmanby when Mr Neesom was a salesman for a Sheffieldbased firm.
His then boss lived in Scarborough and encouraged the couple to move to the area. They had some money left over after moving house.
His wife wanted a carpet, he wanted a centre lathe.
Mr Neesom, a trained engineer, persuaded his wife to let him spend the spare cash on the lathe and indulge his ‘hobby’ of manufacture.
“Manufacturing was just the way my mind works,” said Mr Neesom, now in his 80s.
“I had to have something to do, fortunately my wife al- lowed me to buy the lathe.”
He set up in a workshop behind the White Swan in Hunmanby in 1969 and set about finding himself a customer.
“Five years on and it was apparent that the hobby was becoming serious when Mr Neesom was approached by the leading glass container manufacture in the UK asking him to repair used plungers,” said Hunprenco’s works director John Lapping.
He did – and his company is now the largest plunger manufacturer worldwide – exporting to hundreds of customers across the world including Australia, north and south America, China, Europe and the India.
A map complete with lights to indicate its customers across the globe takes pride of place in Mr Lapping’s office.
Exports account for up to 90 per cent of the business for the firm which operates from an industrial estate in the village of Hunmanby.
It employs 125 people, including five apprentices, and has invested in expansion – buying up nearby units and refitting them for its manufacturing needs.
Mr Neesom and his wife turned the first sod of the industrial estate in 1974. It was and still is a family firm.
His daughter Jane Kipling is joint managing director, her sister Sarah Ainley works in the office, Sarah’s husband David and Jane’s husband Stuart are both employed in the business as is Jane’s brother Tim.
“My father has never shied away from technology, we’ve got state of the art machines here,” said Mrs Kipling.
True, the hi-tech firm is a far cry from the centre lathe – on display in the Hunprenco reception office – that Mr Nessom learned his trade on.
His original firm was called Hunmanby Precision Engineering Company – it was shortened to Hunprenco by taking the first letters of the words of the original to form the new name.
A tour of the factory shows machines, turning, coating, grinding, angling,
spraying and cooling the plungers which are packaged and despatched from the same site.
It was one of the first firms in the area to use robotics . “It installed robotically controlled thermal spraying, its first robotic thermal spray system was installed in 1996,” said Mr Lapping.
“As technology never stands still, this has now grown to five units over the past 20 years, resulting in Hunprenco being one of the largest thermal spraying company in the United Kingdom.
“The world glass container industry strive to produce environmentally friendly light weight containers utilising recycled glass, Hunprenco plungers play a huge part in this process, this is why it is now rated as the number one manufacturer in the world for outstanding quality and service for the supply of plungers and coolers to the world’s glass container manufacturing market,” he said.
Due to the substantial growth pattern of 20 per cent this year, last month Hunprenco opened its new 1,600sq metre extension to its workshops.
“This extension incorporates new state of the art machines CNC grinding, machining and milling utilising five axis technology,” said Mr Lapping.
The company recognises the need to have good engineers and has introduced a four-year engineering apprenticeship programme 20 years ago.
Two of its five apprentices will complete their apprenticeships at the end of this month and the company will take on three more by the end of the year.
It works closely with Yorkshire Coast College in Scarborough to recruit young people. “As there is a global decline in engineers it is extremely important that these skills are not lost for future generations. This investment is Hunprenco’s commitment to future generations of engineers and other employees,” said Mr Lapping.
The firm also invests in the village. Hunprenco has donated £25,000 to the local youth centre and has sponsored local football clubs.
And all this because Mr Neesom’s wife did without a new carpet ...