Ivor Searle
Engineering excellence since 1946
Agricultural engineer Ivor Searle started an engine reconditioning business – the Wicken Crankshaft and Bearing Company – in the village of Wicken in 1946. Sadly, Ivor passed away at the age of just 40 in 1956, but the firm that now bears his name still lives on. The title above the door changed to Ivor Searle Ltd in 1977 and the company moved to its current premises in Soham six years later.
Things only got bigger and better during the Eighties, too – in 1987 Ivor Searle started selling remanufactured engines to reconditioners and factors throughout the UK, then in 1991 it began exporting engines and cylinder heads to France and Germany, with exports to Holland and Belgium following from 1998. Today, the Soham site has grown to an imposing 70,000 square feet in total and distributes remanufactured products throughout the UK and Western Europe.
Quality and Factory Operations Manager Michael Kitching gave PC a tour of the main facility and explained: ‘Today we have 105 employees and produce around 70 remanufactured engines each week. The Ford Transit Duratorq is the most common engine that we rebuild these days, while classic-related rebuilds account for 10 percent of production.’ Trevor Gilbey of the Engine Machining and Rebuild Services (EMRS) department showed PC around while Matt George’s TR6 lump was given the full Ivor Searle treatment – see Staff Car Sagas (p100). ‘Here in the EMRS we do lots of TRS,’ said Trevor, ‘plus plenty of MGS and Jaguars. But we mainly do work for local garages, fixing damaged cylinder heads and pressure testing them.’ Times have changed, too. ‘Twenty years ago people thought that the older engines we’re talking about would die out, where in fact the classic car side of the business has grown in recent years. The services we undertake are more in demand than ever and we still try and take on a new apprentice each year.’ The work going on is superb, with the level of industry knowledge and the sheer engineering dexterity on display being equally impressive. In this day and age where we often bemoan the loss of the traditional craftsmanship that has kept our cars going since their heyday, it is heartening to know that there are places like Ivor Searle dedicated to keeping on doing just that.